My Favorite Makeovers from 2016

I had planned to create a collection of furniture makeovers from 2016… but I couldn’t just stop there! Our DIY house has been a huge labour of love, and working on the exterior siding of the original farmhouse, as well as all the landscaping has been one of my favorite transformations to date. Our progress on most things is slow and steady, and I’ll be honest that my makeover energy comes in little bursts. I worked on quite a few furniture projects in the early part of the year- and then turned most of my energy over to working on the house come spring and summer.

Here are a few of my favorite makeovers from 2016- starting with some furniture pieces.

Furniture Makeovers

| Drop Leaf Table |

My husband brought this table home from the dump. Yep, we are those kind of people… It was actually in great shape, and was a bit chewed up on one of the feet. However, I most definitely would not have classified it as trash. I stripped the finish and sanded it down- then refinished the top with a custom stain and antiquing wax after adding a bit of character to the smooth top. AKA, hitting it with a hammer and nails. The base is painted in one of my favorite colors from Country Chic’s line of paint, Pebble Beach.

| The Gilded Chair |

This chair was from a set of 3 that I found on kijiji for $20 each. I have a secret love for french style- and adore the look of gilded chairs. I decided to try and recreate the look using a can of gold spray paint, antiquing wax- then reupholstered it with a bleached drop cloth. I love the way it came together, and enjoy playing musical furniture with it in different rooms of the house.

| The Marble Topped Table |

I picked this marble topped table up for $15 at the second hand shop. My boys have broken it twice, but after the last repair and a stern talk from mama, it has remained in good, working order. I used MMS Milk Paint in Ironstone, and I love the chippy look of it.

| Hand Painted Mint Dresser |

I refinished this dresser for my daughter, and tried my hand at adding a few subtle hand painted details. I love the sweet color on this piece- it is Pistachio from Country Chic Paint, which is the sweetest minty green.

| Floating Media Console |

While I haven’t actually written a post about our DIY Floating Media Console- this was such a transformation. We purchased 2 media cabinets from Ikea As Is years ago. The plan was to use them as benches… which we did for a while. Then they moved to the boys room and held toys. I never really liked them, but they were sturdy solid cabinet boxes. I decided to paint them white to see if I just might use them somehow in the loft, during the ORC. It was my scrap wood doors that really did it though… I literally didn’t even size the scraps- they just fit! So you’ll notice they’re a bit off kilter- as they need to be squared up. I have plans to clad the doors with reclaimed wood-however, removing the feet and adding doors completely made me love these little boxes that were other wise headed out the door. You also can’t beat a “free” project- upcycled from stuff you already have.

Exterior Makeovers

Sometimes it feels like we have been painting siding for 4 years… oh wait! Thats because we have… can any of my fellow fixer upper home owners relate? When we started our addition several years ago, we had always planned to refinish the cedar siding on the existing house.It was tucked beneath 80’s vinyl that was buckled and poorly installed. It was a major job! Here is how our house looked when we bought it:

And here is what it looks like now…

Our house looked like frankenstein for far longer than I’d like to admit. It’s been a process…

And while it’s still not quite over… (I have a small patch on the back of the house and a few more windows to finish) it’s been so very worth it! I love our cedar clad, lakeside home- and the blue always cheers me up no matter the season!

On that note- our backyard landscaping has come leaps and bounds! We focused a lot of energy on our back yard this year- completing flower beds, boarders, and a play area for our kiddos.

It’s hard to believe it was a pile of dirt 2 summers ago! It’s also hard to believe that yard and all of it’s flowers are real when I’m surrounded by a few feet of snow!

I don’t think I’ve actually every blogged about the kids play set we built… maybe next year? 😉

Well that’s a wrap on my favorite makeovers from 2016! I think I’ll share some of my favorite room reveals next… 2016 was the year of finally making our house a home!

-Miss Ash

Our house color is Arrowhead Lake from Behr- in case you are wondering.