before & after

One of the many benefits of having a budding interior designer working alongside me during the week is that my home keeps getting beautified. Left to my own devices, it would be a Miss Havisham festival around here.

Seriously, I am pretty much one of those people who puts something in place and boom, it will still be there twenty years later.  My niece, Lauren, however--- she is someone who keeps tweaking things, making it better, dialing it in to an even finer degree.

She just has a way.

For example, my closet space in this apartment would likely cause Carrie Bradshaw to stumble off her stillettos.  Which is to say--  it's limited.  And so I cast about and found a couple of old bureaus that needed a bit of TLC.  (Why I didn't just head to the nearest furniture store and buy something brand new?  Well, that's just my way-- I don't really ever find myself in a real furniture store which is a story for a different day).

I knew these two pieces still had a lot of life left in them and I knew Lauren was just the person to whip these puppies into shape.  And damn, if the girl didn't do just fine. 

In case you, too like rescuing old things and giving them a second chance (or, like me-- just reading about such things), below is a bit of a recap on how she just made my office space (which doubles as a guest room) a bit more lovely and infinitely more practical with just a few slaps of paint and a couple of rubs of soap.

BEFORE:  the space had a small bookcase and Rothko print. 

STEP ONE:  We took out the drawers and primed the bureau (*ed. note:  all references to "we" should be read as the royal we as there was only one person doing the work, ahem).  We did this outside in the drive because it was a beautiful day and because primer is smelly.

STEP TWO:  we removed the knobs and hardware.  Painted all the drawer faces white and then the bureau itself.  We got a low-VOC paint so we did this part inside as there were no yucky fumes.

STEP THREE:  don't old bureaus have sticky drawers which make them a pain, you may ask?  Why yes-- they do, unless of course you rub down the runners with a bit of soap, which we did.  Double bonus-- drawers glide easily and, smell pretty!

STEP FOUR:  place liners in the bottom of the drawers.  This may not be needed in new furniture, but definitely for old furniture if you intend to, you know, put your clothes in the drawers.

And voila!  A little elbow grease, a little bit of creative vision and you can go from this to this!

So now with this lovely tableau that I gaze on from my desk and the windows open to this amazing soft breeze, I am thinking we got Spring all up in the house!  boo-YAH!

bisous, e