Project 365: Day 4 Home Decor!

 For Christmas, Daniel and I got some really exciting additions to our bedroom.

We've been doing without a dresser for the past 2 1/2 years, but did I spend $40 to get a used one on Craigslist? No, I'm too cheap. His mother is finally getting around to redoing her kids' old bedrooms and graciously gifted us this dresser that's been in the family since his father was a child.

A little elbow grease, 2 or 3 sanding belts*, and lots of layers of fancy paint have left us with quite a lovely piece to start off the master bedroom decor.

*Yikes, it was a pain to sand. We thought we could just take the finish on the top right off, but it turned out that power sanding melted a smooth, plastic-y finish onto the belt. Instead of borrowing some stripper from Daniel's brother, we just powered through a few belts.

To match, we got a beautiful cedar chest that was once Daniels great-grandmother's. Its finish had yellowed, but it still smelled delicious, and we needed a toy box. However, by the time we got it all painted and stained, we had fallen in love and couldn't let Gideon distress it any more past what we already added around the detailing. He's pretty rough on furniture... No doubt there's something about the sound it makes when he beats it.

So the foot of our bed get a crown jewel of a cedar chest, which was fabulous because the dresser doesn't quite hold all of our clothes.

Then there's this:

My Singer gave its all for this duvet cover

I slaved over this for hours and hours. I've seen the ruched trend going around and find myself oddly mesmerized, despite my utter dislike of following anyone, ever. Also, Daniel said he wouldn't mind a ruched bedspread, and it's the only duvet cover we both like that I can realistically make. Turns out he loves it! Hooray! (Note: be very careful if you ever decide to use a ruffler foot on your sewing machine. I broke two needles and really screwed up my timing learning that lesson... I may write about that one day when my baby gets back from being re-tuned.)