Most people get rid of furniture when they move?

Yes they do.

I, however, am not MOST people

As we were gearing to move from Las Vegas to Utah for my husband to start grad school I started collecting furniture pieces to re-do once we got to our new place

I think my husband thought I was crazy

Yes, he definitely thought I was crazy

I seriously think he was worried about me and didn't think I would ever complete any of these insane ideas that were bursting inside my head

however, he is SO supportive

and let the furniture have his spot in the garage

BEFORE we moved I bought:

2 nightstands (from D.I. thrift store)

1 dresser (from craigslist-$10!)

1 end table (from craigslist)

1 big dresser (from, yep craigslist again)

1 GIANT mirror (from Tuesday Morning-only $10!)
BIG plans for this heavy guy!

{Just to name a FEW}

Our garage was full of furniture 

from people getting rid of furniture because they were moving

and here I was...moving...collecting it!

I'm not going to lie, I did get a little bit worried that I wouldn't be able to complete all these projects

So stay tuned to see if I did!

Inspiration Station

In my master bedroom I knew I wanted to have the color turquoise and while I was browsing at Tuesday Morning one day I came across this metal chest and fell in love:

It was missing one of its little knobby legs soooo that means it was on sale!

(plus the leg was in the box-easy fix)

I had to get it!

My master bedroom all started from this little metal box (it's actually not that little)

I started browsing the web for more inspiration with aqua (my favorite color, btw)

Found an awesome website:

 

(Her favorite color is Turquoise too)

 

I also really love:

 

Brooke is awesome and I have been inspired by many of her projects!

I really loved this aqua table she did:

And seeing her bright nightstand colors in the bedroom definitely gave me courage to proceed with my plan:

I started the quest to find some night stands!

The MOST important room

For the first 6 years of marriage I HATED our master bedroom.  

It was always the last to be thought about in the decorating scheme of things...

I felt like I had to focus first on the rooms that other people actually SEE

and then I never got around to actually decorating the bedroom

I hated being in there, the sheets and quilt set were a very nice wedding gift, but just not me...

I didn't want to buy curtains, because I didn't want to waste money trying to match something I didn't love

The colors made me feel like I was in an old issue of Better Homes and Gardens from the 1980s

The sparse decorations were leftover wall-hangings and pictures that didn't really belong any where else in the house.

I hated our hand-me-down, mis-matched, 1970s speckled dresser and desk


I wish I had a picture.

It wasn't this bad, but sometimes this is what it felt like to me:

YUCK!

Has this happened to you?

I dreamed of one day having a master bedroom that I could just retreat to

after all, it IS the room you spend most of your time in

it's where you wake up to a new day

where you retire for the night

it should be intimate, clean, relaxing and personalized

The bedroom should be your sanctuary...

I made a goal.

since I knew we were moving soon for hubby's grad school

the first room I would decorate would be the MASTER BEDROOM...

I would be thrifty and find vintage pieces of furniture to truly make mine.

It wouldn't be too girly (for the hubby's sake), but reflect my own taste and style

I started to look for inspiration

It so happened that the Pantone color of the year was:

TURQUOISE!

"Combining the serene qualities of blue and the invigorating aspects of green, Turquoise inspires thoughts of soothing, tropical waters and a comforting escape from the everyday troubles of the world, while at the same time restoring our sense of wellbeing."

 I needed this color. That I knew!

Let's get this thing rolling!

Wow, you say you're going to do something and then 50 things happen to make you put it on the back burner.

For example:

*  getting audited by Utah Department of Occupational Licensing for Continuing Education credits for my pharmacy license

*  watching The Real Housewives of New Jersey marathon

*  having a sick child

*  brother getting home from being gone for 2 years

*  another brother getting married

*  watching the Real housewives of Orange County (these shows just suck you in)

*  leaving your camera outside for 2 days

*  the usual cooking, cleaning, entertaining, play-dates, etc

From now on, NO MORE excuses!  

NO MORE procrastinating!

So to start off, let me show you where it all began...

This little beauty of a buffet came to me about 10 years ago when I was still in high school.  I had grown up with it being in my grandma's kitchen.  It was so fun to snoop through.

My grandma is the type of person who holds on to everything 

so this was filled to the brim with all sorts of fun stuff.

She needed more filing space, so she stuck this on her back porch...

That's where I came in, and saved her.

I really wish I had a before picture, she was in bad shape

broken hardware, missing hardware, ink stains, scratches...

but I saw the POTENTIAL

I stripped it, sanded it, and gave her some new stain and some new hardware

(Pretty sure it took a couple years before it was complete and my parents got really sick of it)

But I saved it

I saved this poor, antique buffet

My grandma was amazed at the transformation

Little did I know, this would be the first of MANY transformations...