Secret Revealed

Remember when I said that I discovered the secret to a successful summer with teenagers?  Are you ready for this?  KEEP THEM BUSY.  (Revolutionary idea, I know.)  Pay them if you have to, but keep them productive and teach them some new skills.  They may not admit it to you, but they feel pride in working with their hands to create or improve something.  And you get so much more accomplished!  I’ve been waiting to post pictures of some of our furniture make-over projects until we finished decorating, painting, cleaning, etc. so I could show you a beautiful finished project.  Not sure if that will ever happen, so since some of you have asked, here are a couple of things my kids and I worked on at the end of the summer.
Before:  A 1940’s era twin bed (the wood rails aren’t pictured) that I found on KSL classifieds.

After:  Painted white, lightly distressed, glazed, and waxed.  This is Jillian’s new bed.  We’re going to paint her walls soon, but we also transformed the dresser you see in the background.  It used to be cream and gold.  Thanks, Stephanie, for popping in and helping to prep the dresser that day!

Before:  More of the 1940’s bedroom set.  There is also a dresser, a mirror, a chair, and a stool, not pictured.

Alyssa and her friend, sanding her desk.

Our workshop:  The back patio.  A coat of primer on everything—grey for the pieces that will be black, and white for the white.

After:  Just the nightstand.  The rest of Alyssa’s furniture looks great but she doesn’t want me to post final pictures of her room yet.  There are still curtains and pillows to make, a chair to re-upholster, and dresser hardware to purchase.  We (mostly she and a couple friends) painted her room a soft grey (it used to be the color of masking tape).  Also, don’t you love that cool headboard we also found on KSL?

So, what’s next, Mirien?  I’m glad you asked.  The kids have fall break coming up.  I’ve picked up a few more great finds in the past couple of weeks and I’m itching to get started on them.  I’ll be working on a kitchen table or two (don’t ask), some chairs, and matching headboards for Hayley and Corinne.  (And maybe a dresser that I’m going to look at tomorrow.)  Here’s a sneak peek:

Will she give new life to those baby blue chairs?  Stay tuned.  And will she keep the dated-looking lattice panels on the sides of the headboard?  Time will tell. 

Will the garage ever be clean again?  Yes, Brian.  Before winter hits, I promise! (please don’t let it snow early this year!!!)  Will someone please tell Mirien to stop perusing the KSL classifieds online and just g0 to bed??