TV Console Update

Hello lovelies :)

Tonight I am sharing the simplest DIY that only cost a few bucks, but made a world of difference. 

As some of you may remember from our family room makeover we converted a used and ugly dresser into our TV console. Don't remember? Here it is in all its storage-wielding beauty:

{you can see the whole transformation here}

It has been in full action now for about 9 months, and I would tell anyone even considering a new TV console to not just walk, but to run and find a dresser to use as one. It has been working out beautifully for us! The storage it gives just can't be found anywhere else. 

But, I have to admit there are....downsides to finding an old beauty and fixing her up. Um, like this:

Yeah, that would be what I like to call our dark, little secret - the inside of the drawers were pretty gross. 

Nothing some cleaning and contact paper couldn't fix ;)

At the same time that I picked up the contact paper I used in our kitchen organization project, I grabbed some gray and white chevron contact paper as well. I honestly didn't have a plan for it when I bought it, but once I started working on the family room as part of my one room at a time series I knew exactly where to use it. 

A ton better, right?!

 After covering each drawer, I went through each and organized and purged. The center drawers all hold the electronics:

Wii games and remotes are organized in dividers:

The bottom has their tablets and games {just to prove how much more work I still have to go in organizing out house, I could only find four of the games that go with these consoles!}:

The larger, side drawers hold all our games and activities. We actually still have two drawers empty which is one of the reasons I know this system will work - we have room to grow ;)

Ready to see some ugly again?

Happy Monday {night}!

xo,

Rachel

Kid's Bookcase DIY Makeover

Hi guys!

I am excited to share with you one of the first projects we conquered in our Family Room. 

Here is a little secret about our house: it's full with needs-to-be-done projects. As in ugly stuff everywhere that is looking for some love ;) 

This bookcase I bought a few months back was no exception. 

I picked it up at Goodwill for a few bucks because I couldn't help but think how great it could look...with a complete redo, ha!

Aside from the primary colors that totally don't go with anything in our house, it was covered in cheap fabric that was just inviting a rip to happen:

First thing I did was take it apart and prime and paint it. {sorry- I totally forgot to take pictures of this part!} To keep it looking light and airy we choose a soft white, {Dove White by Glidden} in high gloss.  Since we were taking it from a dark red, it took three coats of primer and two of paint. 

Next up was recovering the fabric pouches. Originally I thought about just making a new one, but I thought that if I just sewed new fabric to the existing one that it would be easier to get the lines right and it would be sturdier. 

All in all I used a little less than 2yds of fabric. I cut it to width and pinned it around the edges, making sure to  mark where the poles went through so I didn't sew them shut. Pinning was tedious, but easy.

The fabric was a find at Ikea for only $4.99 a yard. After the pinning I sewed the edges and across the width  under each pole insert:

Wanna see how this baby looks now?

I am over the moon with how it turned out! It is {finally!} no longer an eyesore. We are using it to store some books and some of the kid's magazines as well. They have a lot of subscriptions, but we never had a good place to put them. 

And since everyone loves a good before and after:

Happy Friday!  

xo,

Rachel

Linking Up....

One Room at a Time :: Kitchen Cart turned Coffee Bar DIY

Hello!

Before I finally share the details of our little kitchen redo as part of my one room @ a time series, I wanted to share one of the projects we did in the space. 

You've caught peeks of the old kitchen cart we have in the room in our post about our kitchen command center, but it's been hidden for a pretty good reason:

It's boring. And borderline country. 

Eh. 

I had Jason give it a quick sand, and I painted the base with leftover paint we had as well as stained the top with stain we had from another project. Some new hardware and it was already looking much better. 

We also gave the cart a whole new purpose by turning it into our coffee bar. 

I made the larger tray out of the top to the ikea storage box we already owned. The top was always being thrown around anyway (because keeping a lid on anything in this house would be a crime according to our children, ha!). I added some new fabric to the top and covered that with clear contact paper to protect it from coffee spills. 

We attached the hardware that was originally on the cart to really make it look like a tray: 

This area now houses everything we need to make coffee. Coffee, (filters are held in the drawer), Truvia is held in the sugar tin I picked up a couple of years ago at Goodwill, cinnamon is kept up front, and mugs are ready to go. 

The inside is equally as functional. The drawer houses our random stuff that I shared with you in our junk drawer redo.

The bottom half now houses our new, smaller microwave (out of sight!) and a basket that we use to hold our potatoes and garlic. 

It's now beautiful AND functional :) Ready to see the ugly one last time?

Aside from new hardware, this entire project was F.R.E.E. 

I can not wait to share the rest with you - including a little tweeking that was done to this area!!

Happy Weekend!

xo-

Rachel