Finally.

This office & dining room is about as done as it can possibly get. Sure, I could stuff more accessories into it, and I could put more stuff on the walls.

BUT, for now, it’s reached the point where it is done.

Let’s take a look down memory lane and start back at February 2011 when my husband and I first started working on this beast of a room. The dimensions are roughly 15x30, and it’s kind of divided into 2 rooms/areas.

This is what it looked like with the previous owners stuff still in here.

Then we moved in October 2010, and I basically just put my crap in the cabinets and lived with that dark, dark, DARK hot mess until February 2011.

We took down the cabinets, and removed the wood paneling.

Lived in total chaos for a bit.

Drilled holes in all the cabinets for shiny chrome hardware using this template.

Tried this terrible kit, stripped all that paint off and just painted them the old fashioned way.

Then we stripped off the accent wallpaper. WHY??? Why do people use ugly wallpaper?

Painted the walls. As you can see, we planned on installing crown and chair rail, which explains the haphazard paint job.

I went nuts and painted the accent wall urbane bronze. Hated it. Changed it.

Changed the paint color from urbanze bronze to morning fog, and we installed new countertops we bought on clearance.

Installed crown and chair rail.

Plus, we got rid of the fugly floors and installed wide plank, hand scraped, dark cherry laminate flooring.

Got rid of ugly fixtures.

AND WE ARE DONE!!

It took us 16 months, about $3000 in materials (flooring, countertops, chandeliers, moulding, compound miter saw, jigsaw, nail gun, paint, accessories, hardware, sofa, curtains, etc.)

I’ll do a source list at the end of the post, but for now enjoy LOTS of pictures.

Won’t you come into my fabulous office and dining room?

 

I put these vases here because the under cabinet lighting is on top of each vase, so when it’s dark, the vase bounces off all these pretty designs on the walls/counters.

For the story about this chair, check out this post.

Pee Wee has a corner all to himself in here. :)

That map is a $4 thrift store find, and the Paris print is from Walmart and was $9.88.

I framed Restoration Hardware ads in $1 store frames for my “art”. That’s as close as it’s gonna get for me to have that very expensive chandelier in my home.

A LED tealight is used in both sconces. Ya know, to prevent a house fire.

Behind the chandelier print is a AV box thingy, which means eventually there will be a TV there. :-D

My overall goal was to have a neutral, metallic glam, relaxing kind of room. Sort of like if ZGallerie and Pottery Barn were to have a one night stand and have a baby… I did incorporate pops of blue, but should I take those out and do pops of pink or teal, it’d all work. I feel I’ve created a lovely, neutral room that I can change at any whim with colorful accessories and it’d still look wonderful.

Plus it has to function as a dining room and office, and it does both beautifully. I love that the sofa area provides extra seating for dinner parties.

I love it.

Now, I got most, if not all of the accessories on sale/clearance, so some may not be available anymore. If I did find it, it is linked in the source list below.

I know $3000 seems like a lot of money, but the bulk of that was the flooring ($600) and the Chloe sofa ($1000 delivered/with tax), and we had to buy some expensive tools ($250 compound miter saw) to get the job done, so if you take those out of the equation, it’s more like a $1300 makeover.

We did all the work ourselves, except that my BFF’s hubby helped with installing the 2nd chandelier since we didn’t have a light source there previously and he helped a ton with the crown moulding. The chandeliers have blue bulbs in them, and I know it seems odd, but they are actually Reveal bulbs which give off bright white light rather than the harsh yellow light that some chandelier bulbs give.

This is a room I am always proud to show off when folks come over, and I love lounging around watching episodes of Big Love on my tufted couch. And I get to write on these pages to all of you in style.

It is so me.

In. Love.

Other things I am planning on doing include adding more photos/art to the bare walls in the dining area, applying a stencil pattern to my gray accent wall, and adding those moulding rectangles below the chair rail. Oh and adding that TV, for sure.

Source List:
Paint color (main walls): Sahara Desert Sand by Glidden at Walmart

Paint color (accent wall): Morning Fog by Sherwin Williams

Cabinet color: Bright white in SPRED paint by Glidden, primed using Kilz oil based primer

Trim Color: High gloss bright white paint by Glidden at Walmart

Flooring: Krono-Swiss handscraped laminate flooring in dark cherry.

Sofa, Chloe sofa from Macy’s; floor lamp, Marshall’s; Rug, Overstock; Bench, Marshall’s; Ghost Chair, Overstock; Chandelier Art Print above desk, Ross; Curtains, World Market; Plates, JCPenney; Chargers, Walmart, Table linens, Target; Mirrors, Kirkland’s; Sconces, Ross; Blue Pillows, West Elm; Gold Pillow, Cushion Source; Beige Pillow, Target; Peacock Pillow, Marshall’s; Hardware, eBay; Picture Frames, Dollar Tree; Wedding Photo Frame, Target; Mercury Glass Vase, Marshall’s; Quatrefoil tray, Target; Squirrel, Walgreens; Chandeliers, Home Depot; Countertops, McCoy’s, but they also carry them at Lowe’s; Under cabinet lighting, Lowe’s.

Feel free to leave me any questions, etc. in the comments section!

In a happy, magical place there exists a Monica who can buy Restoration Hardware furniture without having to save up for 6 months.

I am not that Monica. Darn it.

I am the Monica who has to scour Goodwill, garage sales and thrift stores to find secondhand furniture with potential. It’s a thing I love to do and hate to do all at the same time. But when I score, I score big.

The goods: 2 Goodwill nightstands I bought for $6.50 each back in 2010.

The task: Make them look kinda like these nightstands. (ie: dentil detail, weathered gray/reclaimed wood look…but kinda glam)

From Restoration Hardware, $1045 each.

From Overstock, $690 each

The supplies:

-Nightstands (mine were laminate + wood)

-2 cans of flat white spray paint (the 98-cent Walmart kind will do)

-Latex paint (I chose a dark gray/brown color: Urbane Bronze by Sherwin Williams in a satin finish)

-Sand paper

-3” paint brush

-Tack cloth

-Cheesecloth or a lint-free rag

-Optional: replacement hardware

Okay, let’s get started. My nightstand was made of mostly laminate (top/sides) yet the drawers have a wood front. I didn’t treat the wood differently than the laminate. Also, this method is fool proof. Anyone can do this. Even you. Yes, you.

You need to scrub down your furniture to make sure it is clean. Super clean. I usually use Lysol wipes for that step. Also, if there are any holes/pieces that need to be filled/glued do that now. One of the side pieces broke off to one of the nightstands, so we just put that sucker on there with liquid nails. I also needed to drill new holes for the handles, so I filled those holes, too.

Now we’re ready to sand.

It may look a little crazy when you sand, but it’ll all be ok. Generally try to go in the direction of the grain/faux grain.

Wipe off all sawdust with tack cloth. I do this twice to make sure it’s dust free.

Now, we prime. Here’s my most favorite primer- the 98-cent can from Walmart. I used about 1.5 cans for my 2 nightstands. Apply one coat (lightly) to the nightstand + drawers. I do use the spray paint adapter thing (seen below in black) so my finger doesn’t hurt when using cheap spray paint. Best $2 investment ever.

It will look splotchy. Don’t cry. This is normal. :) You do not want a solid white finish.

Let the first coat of primer dry about 20-30 minutes, then do a 2nd coat. It will still look splotchy. This is ok. It will be fine, I swear.

Ok, so once both coats of primer are dry (spray 1st coat, wait 20 minutes, spray 2nd coat, wait 30 minutes), you can paint. Sort of. What you’re going to do is get your brush, dip it into the paint ever so slightly and start brushing it onto the nightstand. This is almost dry brushing (as in, do not saturate your brush with paint).

My gorgeous paint color: Urbane Bronze by Sherwin Williams.

Here’s an example of what it should look like. You can tell I’ve brushed on some paint in the top half of the photo, while the bottom half illustrates how the nightstand looks with just primer.

But what happens if you get too much paint on your brush and onto the nightstand? Just wipe some off (GENTLY!) I used some cheesecloth for this and it worked well. Do one coat of the dry brushing, let it dry for about 30 minutes and then do coat 2. You can basically do as many or as little coats as you’d like. For my nightstands I did 3 light, light coats. I love.

I then brought them inside to make sure they were both about the same color. They won’t be identical, but that’s ok with me for this project.

And now they have their spot in their new home (our master bedroom) and they got some fancy hardware from Hobby Lobby.

That lamp is getting a makeover, too. For now, it stays black.

The smooth, satin finish is lovely. You could also add poly after the paint has dried. I am lazy and haven’t done so yet, but I likely will. Maybe.

 

Love the dentil finish. Makes it look a bit nicer, while the curves on the bottom make it look a little shabby chic.

And there you have it! A fool proof tutorial on how to achieve that coveted Restoration Hardware/Pottery Barn/Ballard Designs weathered gray reclaimed wood kinda thing. Whew. That’s a lot of words. I want to remind you that it works on wood or laminate furniture, and it’s so cheap compared to buying this stuff from a store.

Restoration Hardware price: $1045+ each ($2030+ for a pair)

Monica’s Luxe for Less price: $20 each ($40 for the pair)

That’s almost TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS in savings. Fist pump.

Is this something you’d try out? I can only imagine how great this would look on a buffet or kitchen table. Let me know if you try out my tutorial!

Be back tomorrow with some more painting/staining questions. I think I need y’alls help.

And I leave you all with a cute picture of Pee Wee…look at those eyes. I melt.