Refurbished hutch - before and after

I have one special lady that's visiting Sunny Vanilla today to share a beautiful piece of furniture with all of you.  I'm pretty sure I have her to thank for my creative genes...it's my mom.  Yep, my mom is here today to share with you a project she's been working tirelessly over for the past few days.  And I have to say, it turned out ah-mazing!

My mom happens to live very close to a university in Virginia and rents out a couple of bedrooms in her townhouse to students working on their graduate degrees.  When she discovered this little gem at a garage sale for $15, she knew it would make the perfect desk/storage unit for one of her students.  Now I know I might be partial and a smidge bias, but didn't it turn out super duper with a cherry on top? Mmmm hmmm, that's what I thought!  

First she started with the hardware.  Luckily, the original pieces were in excellent condition and quite pretty.  So my mom decided to hold onto it and just give it a few coats of fresh, black spray paint.

Once she had all of the hardware removed and spray painted, she moved on to the hutch.  Because it is made from pressed particle board, she had to first prime the desk.  To prepare the hutch she used 3M 150 fine grit sand paper to rough it up a bit {this helps to adhere the primer and paint}.   Once sanded, wipe down with a damp towel.  

For the finish, mom decided on a semi-gloss paint and primer in one.  She chose Key Lime Pie for the color.  Love it!!!  

Now, be sure you let each coat dry evenly before applying another.  This may take a couple of days depending on the number of coats and the humidity in your house.  I know with all the humidity down here in the South, sometimes it may take a little longer to dry.

Isn't she stunning?

The chair is a Goodwill find of mine from my early twenties.  She painted it the same color for a complete desk set.

Her cost breakdown:

hutch: $15

sandpaper: $3

spray paint: $8

semi-gloss paint and primer in one: $15

With a little elbow grease and a few coats of paint, you can turn a dingy, old hutch into something beautiful.

Thanks for sharing mom.

Love you!

2 - 26 - Graduate. Hooray!

We've had a busy month so far!  Our family kicked off August with two birthdays and a graduation celebration.

It was a proud day for all of us as my little sister accepted her Bachelor's degree in Economics on Friday.  A lot of hard work finally paid off!  And since I'm a bragging older sister, I should also mention that she was specially recognized during the ceremony for her community work and volunteer service.  We were all so happy for her!  The new baccalaureate also turned the big 2-6!!!!  I guess I still can call her my little sister...wink, wink.

After the ceremonies, we hopped in the car and drove to a great little restaurant nestled right on the river.  It was the perfect atmosphere to kick back, relax, and let the little ones run around.  That's a picture of the best low country boil I've ever had the pleasure of tasting.  Holy moly was it good!

Then on Sunday, our little gal celebrated two years of life.  I'm no different from most parents by saying that I just can't believe two years have already gone by.  {Please God, slow things down just a bit}.  We celebrated a birthday with my family and sister and then had another party back home for more family and friends.  After hearing the birthday song a few different times, she was able to sing along too.  It went a little something like this...

Hoppa birse-day you you

Hoppa birse-day you you

We spent the afternoon at Downtown Disney for more birthday fun!

Here's to all of you celebrating August birthdays and graduations!

xo,

Jen