Gearing Up.

Oh heyyyy!!  Remember me???  No?  I figured you might have forgot who I am since I have been non-existent in blogger land for most of the summer.  I wish I had some super cool story to explain my absence...like I was jet-setting around the world and just didn't have time or WiFi to blog, but in reality, I just needed some downtime.  And since I couldn't take a break from my busier-than-ever "9-5", I needed to take a break from all things blogging.

Don't let my lack of posting fool you, I was still brainstorming home ideas, and even setting some plans into motion.  If you follow me on Instagram {retroranchreno}, you know the wheels have been turning lately.

For example, you guys know I loooove me some Craigslist finds.  Heck, more than half of the furniture in our house was probably someone else's at some point in time.  This summer I came across two listings I could not pass up on.

The first was a long dresser (and matching nightstand that is still in our basement because I have no spot for it yet)...

This pretty thing now lives here...

And the former-dresser-turned-console I made over has found a new home...

Nope, not in our hallway, but in our master bedroom.

The armoire I made over that used to be in our bedroom is now in the basement.  Any locals looking for one?!

The second listing I jumped on was a white mid-century bedroom set.  It included a desk, two matching dressers and a nightstand.  You only see the desk and one dresser below, because that is all I'm using for now.

I know most of you are wondering where the heck these will go...welp, meet our new "nightstands" for the master...

We like the larger pieces to balance out our large king-size bed...but holy moly, did they need a makeover.  From far away, they looked great.  Up close was a whole different story....yikes!!

I can't wait to share the transformation of this furniture with you guys!!  I had to deal with some new situations I never faced before.  The white pieces had a super slick, glossy laminate top on them, and the long dresser had plastic trim on the drawers.  I used a new primer and some homemade chalk paint to tackle these issues.  Plus, I have some fancy-shmancy hardware to show off that really makes these pieces complete.

Woohoo for being back in the blogging game!  Boy, did I miss you guys! :)

Before It All Goes Down...

Hey...remember me?  I used to blog here every once in a while.  Yup, that's me! ;)

I’ve been on a bit of a hiatus, but not by my choosing.  That pesky thing called life got in the way.  I won’t bore you with all of the details, but a couple little things like a merger, a year end, budget deadlines, my birthday, my parent’s coming up to visit for two weekends and my beautiful neighbor’s baby shower has had me quite busy and unmotivated to crack the laptop open in my spare time.

But my longing for blogland has crept back in and forced me to find time to blog even though my work schedule hasn’t calmed down yet.  What can I say...I’ve missed you guys!! :)

Last time we chatted {ya know, via the interwebs} I was gushing over two pieces of mid-century modern furniture that I was dying to pick up from a Craigslist ad I saw. 

Okay, so maybe I wasn’t dyingggg for the actual transaction, but rather having those beauties in my possession.  Is it just me, or does anyone else feel a twinge of anxiety before buying or selling on Craigslist?  I’m always so excited for whatever treasure I’m about to own, but then the reality sets in that I’m about to have an awkward exchange with a complete stranger.  I get super nervous and uncomfortable.  Thankfully, I’ve never dealt with a really bad transaction before, but that doesn't keep me from breaking into a sweat before each one goes down.

Thankfully, this was the most enjoyable meeting to date!  Hubs and I rented a U-haul van to pick the furniture up.

 

{Unfortunately, we own two sedans, so there is no way we’d be fitting a dresser/mirror or chest of drawers in either car...let alone both!  So for an extra $60...$19.99 for the rental, $10 insurance coverage, $.99/mile and topping off the gas...we were able to comfortably transport two larger pieces of furniture.  I had no problem paying an extra $60 for the furniture since we were getting both pieces for $100.} 

Once we arrived at the house we were greeted by the sweetest elderly couple we have ever met!  We thoroughly enjoyed chatting with them while we brought everything outside and loaded it up in the van.

We even hung out in their driveway and talked some more before the wife insisted they stop talking our ear off so we could get home and on with our day.

It’s transactions like that that keep me going back to Craigslist for more.  I mean, what is better than getting gorgeous furniture, for an amazing price, from such kind people?!?

Anyone else have terrific CL transactions like that?  I’d ask about awful experiences, but I’m too afraid that you’ll scar me for forever. ;)

Sneak Peek! {Part Three}

Welp, here is the third and final sneak peek at our bedrooms {since we purged one to create our master en suite}.  I wish our master bedroom was more masterful, but like every other room in our house, we just haven’t gotten there yet.

A huge reason behind our blah bedroom has to do with my lack of effort to refinish the bedroom furniture I purchased off Craigslist.  Since we splurged and got a new king-sized bed, I was determined to save money on the rest of the furniture for our room.  I scored an awesome mid-century modern bedroom set {solid wood, dove-tailed drawers} for only $200!!!  Not too shabby if I do say so myself!  Included in that was an armoire, a long dresser and two nightstands.

And if there was any doubt as to how well this set was made, I surely found out while desperately trying to sand through all the layers and layers of protective varnish on it.  My goal was to sand everything off, get down to the bare wood and stain the pieces a darker, more modern color that suits our tastes.

Well it took F-O-R-E-V-E-R just to get through the two nightstands {did that back in October-ish??}…so I have totally put off working on the two much larger pieces.  Now I am thinking I may just paint the set {I know, I know…some people shudder at the thought of me painting real wood}, so I don’t need to spend days of my life sanding.

And because of the embarrassing laziness I just described, you can easily assume that we do not have any of that furniture in our room yet.  In it’s place, we have pieces from our old bedroom set so the room could be functional for us until I get my booty in gear.

That darn furniture aside, we have come a long way from where we started. 

Peeking into the room from the hallway...

Former master bath door...

Other side of the room...

View back towards the hallway and door to smaller closet #1 on the right...

We replaced all the doors and windows, closed off entrances and opened up others, installed pot lights and a fandelier, removed wallpaper and painted the walls, refinished the floors and got a new bed.

View in from the hallway...

And again...

One more time...

Our duvet cover was in the wash at this point...and our laundry basket is on the floor...keepin' it real haaa...

View towards the hallway and the master closets/bathroom...

Sorry...the lighting is messed up in this picture {I'm terrible with a camera...booo me}...

Still left on the to-do list for the master bedroom…refinish our craigslist furniture, put together my jewelry storage area {finally came up with a plan for that…can’t wait}, hang our mirror, get a rug, repaint our walls that were supposed to be grey-ish and instead look tan, possibly stencil our accent wall, and add lots of other decorative touches.

Happy Fridayyyyyy! :)