Nope, this isn’t a weight loss post. The scale that I’m talking is this too small had-it-so-we-used-it bookshelf that we shoved into the guest room (just days before my mom arrived) a few months back. Talk about teeny tiny:
And somehow we forgot to update you guys about a little switcheroo that took place after we got our new (well, very old) dresser for the bedroom from John’s dad. So here’s a very belated dresser related news flash: we moved our old malm (from Ikea five years ago when we moved to Richmond from NYC) into the guest room. So it looked like this:
The scale is definitely better. Someday we’d love to get a thrift store dresser or cabinet (our old malm guy has a wonky drawer and more than a few scratches if you look closely enough). But for now it works. Especially because it’s in the we-already-had-it-so-it-was-free category.
There it sat looking a little lonely and still a bit bare up top for a while until late last week. Something got into me and I decided to hunt around in our crazy storage room (aka: the future playroom/second kids bedroom) to find the big mirror (scored for $5 at a garage sale a while back) that used to rest above this very dresser in our old guest room (and then in our old sunroom once the guest room turned into our office as well). It was still wrapped in bubble wrap from back when we moved and leaning in the corner of the playroom. Talk about delayed reactions. It has always been a little bit too big for our malm dresser, but since we someday hope to upgrade to a great thrifted dresser (preferably a smidge wider and made from solid wood so it’ll really go the distance) we’re ok with the 1″ overhang on each side for now (it was like that in our former guest room and sunroom so maybe we’re just used to it).
As for baby safety, Clara’s never in this room alone (we keep the door closed) and we’ve slammed the door and tugged on the dresser a bunch to make sure it’s not too tippy (thankfully it stays put) but if we ever use the room more with Clara we’ll be sure to mount it to the wall (along with the dresser). You know, in the name of maintaining our Captain Careful nicknames.
Oh and of course I added some guests-might-like-it stuff to the top of the dresser too (do you know me at all?). Like a stack of magazines, a book called The United Cakes Of America (who doesn’t like reading about the history of cake and looking at so-amazing-you-wanna-lick-the-book iced creations?)…
… and our piggy bank (that’s really where we drop our change- no idea why it always ends up in the guest room but it was in there in our last house too). So to those who stay with us: look how much we trust you. We must really like you.
I love that the dresser provides a place for guests to store clothing (and for us to shove things they might need like spare shampoo and towels, which we’ve stowed away in the top drawer):
So thanks to inheriting our new dresser from J’s parents when they were selling their house, all this guest room tweaking was free. And nothing feels better than spending zero point zero zero dollars.
Have you guys done any furniture rearranging or swapping? Or wrestled with scale issues of your own? How about finding something awesome on the curb or near a dumpster that’s perfect for your house and totally free? I love those stories. Even though they never happen to me. Hearing them makes me feel like someday my perfect curbside find will come. Gotta keep the dream alive.
Kim says
We found a large sette/couch on the curb. It has woven leather sides (in a square pattern), bamboo trim, and two large seat cushions that besides being a bit dirty have an unattractive tropical pattern. I’m thinking we can get the seat cushions recovered and get some pillows for the back. The bamboo has a lot of wear and maybe even a couple of spots of termite damage. The leather can’t be painted, so I’m not sure what to do with the bamboo trim. Sand it? Paint just the trim? Or stain? I think it could be amazing for our screened porch.
YoungHouseLove says
Stain or paint could have it looking a lot more refreshed! Just see which look you prefer and search “staining rattan” or “painting caned furniture” to hopefully find a tutorial (if I were to paint it I would use spray primer like Kilz and spray paint (to get into all those cracks better than a brush). Good luck!
xo,
s
Serina Shook says
I love the hotel-like towel and soap set-ups, you guys are too funny!! I actually moved around a total of about 8 (I think that was all)dressers, coffee tables, and bookshelves that I already had in the house all because of buying one new dresser! So yes, I know the feeling of being able to use what you got, and it’s a good one!!
http://applesforolive.wordpress.com/2011/05/06/bedroom-progress-part-iii-the-big-table-and-dresser-shift-about-the-house/
YoungHouseLove says
That looks great! Love the switch (well, switches)!
xo,
s
Wom-mom Ethne says
We’ve scored lots of cool free stuff from our parents, but never too much curbside – I’ll keep the dream alive too. If you want to up your chances, go to MI – for some reason people put stuff to sell/give away at the front of their yards all over the place. You can find anything. At least in the Bay City area (crook of the mitten) where my fam is from.
Linda says
Your great and free ideas always amaze me! :)
And why is it that it seems no one sells solid wood furniture? It drives me nuts because it’s night for things to last for the long haul.
Angela N says
I totally just scored a free (already painted on) canvas from the trash of my neighbor. I was going to go buy one because I was hoping to silver leaf it like here…
http://daveandjoi.blogspot.com/2010/11/diy-silver-leaf-canvas.html
I just painted over whatever painting was on it already and leafed away. Love it when the universe delivers up just what you are in need of. :-P
YoungHouseLove says
That project is amazing!!! Love it.
xo,
s
Lori and Ethne at wom-mom.com says
WOW–i want to be a guest in your guest room. I love the small soaps/towel idea–very hotelish!
LOVE IT!
Lori
http://www.wom-mom.com
Robin @ our semi organic life says
Question: how do you guys feel about those door stops on the top/backs of the doors? (do you even have thoughts on those?) I’ve never noticed them in general but somehow top of the door just stands out to me – like hello! I’m a door stopper so everyone can see!! Weird, but who else to ask?!
YoungHouseLove says
I guess we don’t really notice them. Our old house had them on the floor and both Burger and Clara played with them (which was cute sometimes and not so much on other occasions). So we might appreciate fewer boooooooiiing sounds since they’re high. Haha. They’d be easy to move down later though (just unscrew and putty and reattach them on the bottom).
xo,
s
Suzanne says
I prefer mine on the top, I think they are much less in-ur-face. A picture can show things that in person you’d rarely notice, and I think these door stops are one.
Sandi says
Love the placement and reuse of the dresser and mirror. I have the same dresser in espresso. I’ve been thinking of adding knobs or pulls to spice it up. Have you considered that? Any advice?
All the best,
Sandi
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yeah hardware is such a fun way to spice things up. Just measure and mark where you want it, predeilled holes, and screw on those new knobs.
xo,
s
Kate says
Love the towels and toiletries! We just bought our first house and (at least for now) we’ll have a dedicated guest room. This is great since we live 7 hours from where we grew up, which means we get quite a few parents and friends visiting us. I think we’ll have an extra dresser when we move, so I planned to fill it up with the extra towels and sheets and blankets for the guest bed (the guest bedroom is in the walk out basement, so it’s on a different level than the linen closet). Love the idea of the toiletries in there too!
Micha says
My first thought was “Look, YHL’s doors are all the same size!” :o) Here at the Ugly Duckling 9and typical for old houses) closet doors are about 5 to 10 inches shorter than doorway doors :o)
I like a dresser in that space but could also see an airy demi-lune table in that space with a great mirror about it.
Ashley says
Love. The scale is MUCH better. I move around furniture, frames, accessories, etc. at LEAST weekly. I wish I was kidding.
Question: what is that paint color? I love it. I’m trying to find a good color for some furniture in our living room. We kind of have the same color palette. (Also have those UH-freakin-mazing target pillows! They are my fav) And where are the curtains from? I’ve always loved this room in your house.
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks. The curtains are from Ikea and the paint is Plumage by Martha Stewart (color matched to Olympic no-VOC paint).
xo,
s
Blair says
Scales are so important. I have read so many articles where people will stack to items and them paint them the same color to unify them into one piece. Have you ever thought about doing that with your dresser and bookshelf? It could be one way to help with the scale issue (and I have always wanted to see it done in real life versus a magazine article)!
~Blair
YoungHouseLove says
That’s a fun idea! You definitely could put a bookcase on top of a dresser like that and paint them to match! I prefer not to paint Ikea laminate (which is what the dresser is made of) since I have experienced peeling and cracking (even with primer – sad face) but maybe someone else will have luck!
xo,
s
Necole says
That video was hilarious! I love the use of the mirror on the dresser.
alg says
I’m the biggest curb scavenger ever. (We got a free TV a few months ago!!)
In Tucson, where we used to live, EVERYBODY got/put stuff on the curb. My husband & I were constantly coming home from the grocery store with curb scores :) :) :)
Here in Western PA, when people put stuff out on the curb, they’re usually expecting a garbage truck to haul it away — not a mom in a Hyundai. I’ve been getting the weirdest looks. A few weeks ago, I spied a fantastic leather club chair with a “free” sign on it. I made the whole family stop while I tried to drag it to the car. Then the homeowner came out & told me that some other ladies had come by and called “dibs” on it a couple of hours earlier.
I’m still a little salty about that. NOT curb protocol, dude. Where I come from, if you want it, you’d better be ready to haul it NOW. (And teasing people with inaccurate “free” signs is just plain mean.)
PS — I’m refinishing a TV armoire (Goodwill score) today using color-tinted stain. I’ve never tried tinted stain before… should be interesting! The project will be available for viewing/praise/(mockery?) tomorrow on my new blog, Rental House Rules. My first (5 part) post about upping our rental house’s curb appeal is posted now. I’d love it if you guys would come by & check it out sometime. It’s a DIY site that helps renters turn their rental properties into homes — without breaking the budget or the lease!
YoungHouseLove says
Sounds fun! We’ll drop in to check it out.
xo,
s
Lesley says
Am I the only one who finds it ironic that a person who collects ceramic animals has a piggy bank — that ISN’T shaped like a piggy? Hahaha! Love you guys!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha it’s true.
xo,
s
Denise says
Earlier this year, I found a vanity with a mirror in front of someone’s driveway. There was a “FREE!!” sign on it so we took it home.
After stripping the various layers of paint off. it turned out to be a beautiful piece from the late 1930s-early 1940s. It got a coat of light stain, some poly, and some very minor repairs and looks wonderful. Since three of the four handles were broken in one way or another we had to replace them. Our daughter fell in love with it so we put it in her room.
alg says
DUH.
http://www.rentalhouserules.wordpress.com
It might help if I got my own URL right.
Melody says
I can’t believe you got that mirror for $5! wow!
Rachel Tatem says
Love the use of the dresser. I have a old wardrobe in our guest bedroom used for guest towels and the like.
Skint in the City says
Really like the mirror on top of the dresser – though agree it’ll look even better in time with an older, slightly wider dresser. Nice guest room touches with the toiletries etc.
I love street shopping! Was introduced to it when I lived in Barcelona for a couple of years – it’s quite the thing there with whole families heading out for an evening of street scanning on rubbish night!
My favourite find was a dining room table – old and heavy but with the lovliest carving detail. It took four of us to jostle it up the stairs to my apartment, but boy was it worth it when a couple of months later several of us ate Christmas dinner round it. Few things beat the kick I get from great street finds.
emmy A says
I actually made my husband dig an old chair out of the dumpster behind our apartment. It was one of those metal breakroom chairs with an orange vinyl seat and back. REALLY ugly. But I spray painted it white, recovered the seat and back with polk-dot fabric, added some padding on the seat, and finished it with some ric rac trim…it’s oh so cute! We use it all the time and you would never know it was from the dumpster!
Heather @ REOlisticRenovation says
Looks great! I am always fighting the scale war in our house. Things never look quite the right size when they come from a different house with different sized rooms.
Jen @ The Decor Scene says
Love it! It looks great and much more to scale now.
We were able to get free wood fencing from someone I knew online and they were throwing away their small stand alone freezer because it was beat up. It still worked, so we fit it into the truck with the free fencing and everything worked out well when we cleaned it up. Some dents, but it works. And the fence was painted white and installed. :)
Don’t know if you remember from the other day, but I was asking you about curtain material. Well I found fabric and we are going to make our own curtains to hide our furance & hot water heater in our Laundry Room. We are very excited to have found this goregous material. We plan to follow your directions too. Thanks for always sharing your DIY projects and directions. :) Here is the link to the material if you want to see it. It’s Waverly fabric. Yummy!!! http://thedecorscene.blogspot.com/2011/06/its-all-about-details.html
YoungHouseLove says
Such cheerful fabric. Love it!
xo,
s
Ashley @ DesignBuildLove.co says
I LOVE to rearrange things in our house! My hubby keeps telling me it’s because I’m “never happy” with the furniture arrangement. I tell him because it’s tons of fun to swap things around and the great thing about it all…. it doesn’t cost any money! :D
LOVE what you guys did the guest room so far and FREE is always the way to be, whether it’s hand-me-downs, curbside finds, or work-with-whatcha-got! I’ve been playing furniture swaperoo with our Master Bedroom furniture accents for a while. Trying to finalize our design, but it’s just so fun to play around!
Patricia says
OMG. The shirt you’re wearing to take the picture BLENDS IN WITH THE WALL!!!!! I looked at the picture and saw your left arm up in the arm but didn’t know it was your arm…. so I kept looking and was like WHAT IS THAT BY THE BED.. I scrolled down and up looking for a clue. Looked at the old pictures of the guest room. Nothing could help me. So I kept looking at the picture trying to figure it out. Then I realized, it’s you. haha. Gave me a good laugh.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, too funny. Sorry for being such a sneaky little picture ninja. Haha.
xo,
s
Lindsay says
I love your guys’ blog and I always enjoy your creativity, resourcefulness and positivity. I was reading through some of the comments and I’m always so impressed that you are able to remain positive and accommodating with comments that aren’t so positive. I think it’s amazing that you don’t get defensive and allow everyone to have their own opinion. Keep up the good work!!!
Natalie Schoellhorn says
Love the $5 mirror find. I stumbled across one for $3 just last weekend – I’m trying to clean out our house before we move at the end of the summer, but a solid wood framed mirror for $3? I just couldn’t pass it up! :) Also, here’s our favorite curbside find: http://americadreams.blogspot.com/2011/03/one-mans-trash.html We love this table and are constantly finding new places for it each time we move.
~natalie
p.s. love the paint color in your guest room!
Gracie says
Hi Sherry, I had a completely non-post realated question for you. We have some wood walls in our house that we are getting ready to paint. Do you know of any oil based primers that are either low VOC or no VOC? I am really not looking forward to messing with oil based paint, but am afraid if we skip it the wood will either bleed through the latex paint we use or the latex paint will just not adhere well with out it. We were going to paint over the primer with a no VOC latex paint, and so I did’t know if that would seal in the oil based paint and keep it from off gassing or not? Thanks for your help!
YoungHouseLove says
I have the same fears. From what I understand oil-based paint is the only one guaranteed not to cause bleeding but if you paint over it with no-VOC paint, once it’s dry the VOCs from the primer should be “sealed” by the paint. Therefore if you wear a mask for the oil-based priming part (and get kids/pets out of the house) after you paint over the primer and it dries you should be all clear. Of course leaving windows and doors open with fans running always helps too.
xo,
s
Annie in Indiana says
I totally picked up a wingback chair off someone’s curb… it was dirty and a little big broken but had good lines, and I decided to try my hand at reupholstering. I’m not really a sew-er (I typed “sewer” first– I’m definitely not that!), and I’ve never tried anything like it, but it’s coming along. Having four children 4 1/2 and under slows everything down. :) By the way, I now have my own “Oh Brother” and I’m learning how to use it. It’s the first sewing machine that doesn’t give me fits. (If you want to peek at my chair project, you can start here: http://birdsintheattic.blogspot.com/2010/08/tick-tick-tick.html)
YoungHouseLove says
Good luck with it! The lines are awesome.
xo,
s
Molly says
This is not furniture related, but while garage sale-ing (I call it sailing when I talk about it, like “Come on honey, we don’t have anything to do and it’s a beautiful Sunday afternoon, let’s go SAILING!”) I saw in a box of free stuff a whole bag of hair dye conditioner – that awesome stuff that comes with the dye that smells great and makes your hair super soft and I always cling to until the last little drop is squeezed out… I haven’t dyed my hair in months in order to donate it and I was SO EXCITED.
Barbara says
Once I found a five foot tall Craftsman Tool Chest. I was so excited and worried that it would dissappear before my husband got home to help me, that I managed to beast it into the hatchback of my car. It was only missing one wheel, and we replaced all four wheels for a whopping $15 or so. Yay!
sarah o. says
love the way the mirror looks over the dresser.
i just saw a old yellow fold-open desk at Patterson Antiques that made me think of you guys… it’s really worn, and some of the paint is stripped, but it was cool looking.
(Ever been there? It’s in the Food Lion plaza at the corner of Lauderdale and Patterson. They’ve got crazy amounts of stuff.)
YoungHouseLove says
I don’t think we’ve been there but we’ll have to change that asap!
xo,
s
Emily (Comfortable Home Life) says
When my BFF and I were living together, she scored this dinky coffee table that was next to the dumpster. It was basic, chipped in some places and super wobbly. It traveled with her when she got married and it’s now kind of a joke between us. Can’t complain too much because it was free and served the purpose! I totally share your dream of finding the perfect curbside though..
Megan says
I love the idea of moving furniture around my house, but I don’t have enough to do it too! However, we finally bought a great, antique dresser to replace our Target cheap-o entertainment system. The Target cheap-o went upstairs to our blank TV area to be used with our free, hand-me down TV. So I guess we kind of switched things up there… but only until I can find the perfect tv console for our newly remodeled bedroom! And soon, we’ll be getting a free desk from my parents, which is always nice!
I honestly don’t think many people would have noticed your mirror being too big – it looks like a perspective issue more than actual measurements, and especially with the lean of the mirror. But I like it and as you said, it’s not permanent.
Megan – http://www.thependletonhouse.blogspot.com
Anna says
I definitely try to do the furniture rearranging thing as much as I can until I finally get things to a place where it just feels right. For instance, I had my dresser (which I scored for $15 at a yard sale as opposed to $100 at Target) sitting along the long wall of my rectangular room, but it just sort of stuck out and blocked a little bit of the window. Needless to say it was awkward.
Then one day, it occured to me that maybe it was the perfect width to fit between my obnoxious square-edged heater cover and the wall…and it did! It felt great to get it into a corner where it just looked so much better, and totally made my room look so much bigger!
Kudos to your most recent update…I particularly like the whole FREE part :)
Janette@The2Seasons says
You might try some Old English on the scratches. It will camouflage them very well.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks!
xo,
s
Kelli says
I love that given your obsession with ceramic animals, your “piggy” bank is not an animal at all!
YoungHouseLove says
Isn’t that funny? It’s actually a little silver “partridge” from West Elm a while back.
xo,
s
Cat @Breakfast to Bed says
I don’t know if anyone mentioned it before, but you can use super strength museum tack on the base of the mirror to the table and from the table to the wall. It’s not foolproof, but it does help for safety.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks!!
xo,
s
Adam says
Looks much better, a more appropriate weight for that wall. A couple of things: what exactly is the planter/container on top of the magazines… I can’t tell what it’s made of. Also, as I looked at the after picture (which in itself is a cool photo because it reminds me of that one fairy tale “behind one of these doors lies immeasurable weath and fame, behind the other lies a horribly gruesome death…muwahaha), I stopped and thought, “what?”
Did you two put the door stops on the top of the doors? I have never seen that before and wondered how well that works. The ones in my house are on the baseboards and they always get hit with the broom or vacuum. I just wondered if putting them on the top corner of the door was your idea or just how they already were.
YoungHouseLove says
They were up there already. We hardly notice them but it seems to work so far. As for the planter it’s from Ikea and made of sort of a woven cork-like material. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Ana Silva says
Yeah, it looks better. Thanks for the video. That was too funny!
Sarah says
My mom actually found an antique buffet tossed behind a dumpster. It was pretty badly neglected.. but had great bones! Lots of moulding details and beautiful spindly legs. We grabbed it, bondo-ed the heck out of it and painted it an antiqued white. The top we replaced with oak and routed and stained. (sort of similar to Clara’s dresser) I have it and LOVE it!
Minimal $$ spent compared to what it’s become. :)
hillary says
The new dresser looks great! I think the mirror on top really helps balance things out with the doors.
My best free-off-the-street find was an awesome midcentury dresser. I took off the attached mirror (will use somewhere else in the house eventually) and we use it for a buffet in the dining room. The people who were giving it away had received it as a wedding gift in the 50’s (along with a matching bedroom set that they no longer had).
Emily says
I had the best luck this weekend. Our neighbor down the street was moving out and couldn’t fit everything in his truck so we got (deep breath now) a dining room table, eight parsons chairs, a bistro table, a wicker chair, two folding cane chairs, a night stand, a luggage rack, a 5 foot tall stuffed giraffe (for my neice) two brand new queen sized comforters,a wicker end table a Persian rug and a storage ottoman. SCORE!!!!
YoungHouseLove says
Holy motherlode batman. That’s awesome.
xo,
s
Shari @ Chicago Cuisine Critique says
The dresser/mirror looks great. I love that you showed us the towels and spare toiletries in the drawer. Too funny!
Carol N. says
I swapped a dresser (actually old chest on chest) for a bag of old golfballs that my husband was getting rid of. The dresser just needed to have one guide replaced and then I painted over the ugly messed up finish. And I have a chiffarobe that my mother-in-law found in someone’s chicken house out in the country and it was free. After a quick clean up, I’ve been using it for storage for laundry items for years. Gotta love the freebies.
Rachelle says
This year’s annual Spring Clean-up has just finished in our area. Everyone puts their unwanted items by the side of the road for recycling. If you see something you like – it’s yours! I’ve managed to finish furnishing my living room and get all my patio furniture and flower pots this way! So much fun! Now I’m just trying to figure out what I could do with that old sled I saw . . .
http://becoming-human.blogspot.com/2011_05_01_archive.html
YoungHouseLove says
That sounds like SO much fun. Lucky lady.
xo,
s
Mel Heth says
Thank you for sharing the video – that was hysterical. Made me laugh out loud at my desk. :) The guest room looks great with the mirror – I bet it makes the room feel even bigger.
Ally says
love the big mirror! garage sale finds are the best, and for five dollars. way to go.
i also would like to say that i enjoy the mixture of decorating and the happenings of your lives. it is your blog after all.
Amy @ Triangle Honeymoon says
The leaning mirror looks great. Must better to fill that wall out and reflect light in the room!
Jessi says
Some old neighbors of ours were throwing out a 100 gallon fishtank and stand because it leaking into their house. $50 on resealing it, and it was as good as new. We ended up selling it before we moved and making a hefty little profit. YAY!