Great Grandparent's Dresser

I grabbed a dresser that used to be my great grandparents.
Some people believe in keeping it in original condition, as it was.
But for me... I love taking furniture and giving it new life.

So I painted it... and stained it... so it could be used in Maddux's room.

I went back and forth with building a media stand for his tv, but I thought at this age... the drawers adds more storage for all those toys. When we hit the years of less toys... I can probably figure something new out... but for right now, and this project being 100% free. Its perfect.

So we have the refinished dresser.
Moved the awesome Star Wars print we found on Ebay a while back.
Then I took an old ugly canvas and painted that... and hand wrote... Be Brave.
Added in some photos my mom had done of Maddux and Nala
And now we have another little area of his room updated.
I need to find a few more things for this wall, but I'm not too sure yet what I will add. I think I might paint that vent so it blends in with the wall rather than standing out..

And i need to figure out what we will do with that corner to the right...

Not too bad for it costing us nothing and just using what we had laying around.

(before I had his tv just sitting on an old sofa table) so this is a HUGE improvement!

We still have a lot to do in this room.
Build a bed
Add some wall storage crates to display toys and trophies and what not.
wall decor.
Touch up a few areas of paint that need it.
put a new light fixture in
add moulding to the door
paint his closet door
add built ins for the walk in closet
build a night stand

We are thinking about dividing this room into a sleep/tv area and a play area. Im not sure yet. I still need to mark it all out and make a final decision. we are just taking it one small step at a time :)

Little Man. Big Desk

We finally started Maddux's room. Key word = Finally. We have been planning to start it all summer. Now it's August... and we finally got the ball rolling.

We decided to redo his room in a way that suits him. Rather than keep the Star Wars theme, we wanted to fill the room with all things that are him. So this means... Star Wars, Super heroes, Legos, Make Believe, and ART. He loves making artwork, and he loves showing it off.

So we decided to give him an art station in order to just do that.

The desk was originally our sofa table, but we decided we needed more storage down there to hide Madddux's toys that get thrown about, so we moved this upstairs and it worked perfectly. It gives him a lot of room to sprawl out lots of paper (which he loves!)
and a new sofa table project for the living room (which I love!)

 We put some plywood up on the wall so that the pins wouldn't go through to the wall, then used spray adhesive to attach the cork board to the plywood. Then took some molding and framed it out to create a giant cork board. Since.Since we cut the cork board there was a seam down the middle that we weren't very excited about so we took a 1x3 and covered that up. Then we took a small piece of string and hung some Instagram photos across the top! And now he has another place to show off his creativity!

First corner of the new big boy bedroom... Complete!

Playroom Final Reveal

We finished the playroom just in time for the home tour....

We might make a few tweaks here and there but for the most part... this room is D.O.N.E.

DIY Engineer Print Frame

So i was sitting in Maddux's room the other day with him and I was looking at his giant Chewy and Han poster (which is the most awesome thing EVER)

I bought this off of EBay when we first moved in and it was one of those posters that comes in sections. so at the time Jerry attached it to cardboard and we nailed it up into the wall.

Well after framing out the engineer print of Maddux in kitchen. I was thinking that this would look a lot better if we created a frame.

However... it was tricky because I did this the lazy way and just nailed it into the wall (I believe it was 3 in the morning) the first weekend we moved in and all I wanted was to get his bedroom done. So exhaustion and sleep deprivation...

well I wasn't thinking clearly.

So i have this fear if I take it down. I will ruin it. so I decided to avoid it. Since it does not sit flat against the wall Because we used the cardboard. that was the biggest problem. we could not get the frame to lay flat like we did in the kitchen. so it took some improvising.

So I measured the print. Jerry cut the 1x3's at 45 degree angles to create the base frame. 

Its massive... as you can see

It was really simple to make using the Kreg Jig. just a few into each corner... like so

A couple of coats of stain. And We nailed this into the wall on top of the existing poster. Now since that poster was standing off the wall on the cardboard, it was impossible to get flat. So I cheated. And took some stained 1x2s and nailed them into the frame we put up to get rid of the gap created by the cardboard and it appears that it is sitting flush with the wall. There are no photos of this process because really there was no method to my madness. I was cheating and just nailing boards in to make it look like this was what I had planned the entire time

And there you have it. My 6 dollar custom poster frame. Now looking at these photos I need to get rid of that orange wood trim. Bad.

I am loving framed engineer prints. Have you all seen the ones where you take photos of your child's favorite toys? Adorable! 

A-Frame Tent

Maddux has been obsessed with wanting a tent ever since he saw Peter Pan. He loves the Indian scenes with the tee-pees. So when I came cross this no sew version of the A Tent on Pinterest, I just knew it was perfect for him.

We followed this tutorial found ... A-Tent Plans

I am telling you this thing is massive. I was surprised at how big it was. I am planning on moving this to the basement once we have that finished but for now it is put up in Maddux's room. He loves playing in it. His guys hang out int here quite a bit. And he loves the Christmas lights we strung across the inside :)

It is the perfect little tent to hang out in and read stories in and cuddle up.
This was so fun to build, just knowing how much he loves it. And it was simple. Only took about 2 hours total from start to finish! :)

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Kidspiration :)

I have been looking around on Pinterest and there are quite a few things I am planning on building for Maddux's room. And quite a few Kid Items I plan on building for some giveaways.
So while we are in the middle of a few projects I thought I would share some of my inspiration


I am planning on building a table and chairs for the playroom. Somewhere Maddux can sit and color. Or more likely... some where to sit and play with his action figures. These are the chairs I am loving

Source: roamandhome.com via Roam & Home on Pinterest

How fun would this be in his room? I am loving this idea. Easy enough of a project... If only I could sew

Source: khdesigns-khdesigns.blogspot.com via Kellie on Pinterest

Thinking about a new twist to the growth chart I made. Maybe for a giveaway? I love mine I use for Maddux. Plus these make awesome gifts... :)

Source: u-createcrafts.com via Teresa on Pinterest

I have been dying to build a girly kitchen. Giveaway Maybe?

Source: lifeasathrifter.blogspot.com via Samantha on Pinterest

Source: grandpins.com via Lizzy (Eventful Creations) on Pinterest

This would be perfect to hold all of his action figures... Hmmm

Source: knockoffdecor.com via Haley on Pinterest

Table I plan on building for the play room

Source: potterybarnkids.com via Elissa on Pinterest

Desperately needing some closet organization. I really like the shelves in this one

Source: bhg.com via Noura on Pinterest

This picture is adorable. But i was thinking some chalkboard crates to hold toys would be great. I could re-label :)

Source: facebook.com via It's Bliss Photography on Pinterest

So keep watching. I should have some new furniture for Maddux after this weekend. And possibly...  a new giveaway :)

Does Pinterest have you building anything this weekend?

Dress Up Storage Cart

I was asked to make a dress up storage cart for an old friend of mine's daughters.

This was so much fun to make :) It makes me wish I had a little girl. I would love to create mini closets filled with tutus and play kitchens... and doll furniture... so many possibilities :)

I took the plans from Ana-White. Added a shelf on the top for a place to put hats or shoes... or purses... or whatever the little girls may have. Added three purple knobs to the side of the unit and then cut out paper butterflies to put up the other side...

It turned out adorable. And if she wanted she could get the letters and add the word dress up... ballet... princess... dance.. or whatever they are into.

Hopefully the girls love having a closet for their dress up clothes that is their size :)