My New Entryway Table {Before and After} Makeover

We have had this little chest of drawers for a long time. I think it was Todd's when he was young. Then after we were married we used it in Monica's room when she was a little girl. This is my very first furniture renovation. I didn't get a real "before" picture, this one was taken after we already started. We took out the top two smaller drawers and boxed in that space to use with two baskets.

Todd seems to really enjoy working out in the man cave on a project, it just seems hard to find the time to do it. Finally life is settling down a little, now that we are "empty nesters". Here he is doing some of the finishing work on the dresser.

After we boxed in the top part, we added a little piece of decorative trim around the opening to make it look nice. And, we changed the hardware to my favorite glass knobs. That really changed how it looks.

For the finish, I painted it Sherwin Williams Tricorn Black {no primer, because I didn't want it to show through when I distressed it}. Then I used some sand paper to distress the edges. I went over the edges with a dark brown stain touch up pen. And lastly applied a coat of poly to seal everything. I love how it turned out and its perfect for the new space I wanted to use it for.

Here it is, in its new spot, right inside our front door. Its the first thing you see when you enter. We finished right before Christmas, so it was really fun to decorate it for the holiday season. The window in the photo above was saved from our very first investment property, the one that got demolished after the flood. I cleaned it up a little, gave it a coat of  Sherwin Williams, Alabaster, distressed it and put on a coat of poly. Todd made the shelf, I made the little tissue paper balls and the hollly berry letter "S". All of these I found on Pinterest!! I Love Pinterest. I will give the links to these projects on another day, soon.

I love how it all came together, what do you think? 

Yes, I Am Still Alive! And, I'm Back! And We Are Finally Finished with ALL of our Flooded Properties!

The last part of 2011 was very long for us. And also very rewarding. We finally finished our last flooded rental property and actually got both units rented. Three years and six months after the flood of 2008 we are FINALLY DONE! I hope to share all the final photos and some before and after photos also this week.

It was such a feeling of relief to actually realize that we were going to make it, going to get back to normal. I have to say one thing, I do realize that there are so many people in this world that are going through things that are so much more tragic than what we have been through and I am thankful for all that I have, everyday of my life. I have learned so much about life and about myself from this whole experience. This is just our story of what we have experienced and I hope that by sharing it, maybe I can inspire or help someone else even a little bit.

This is our duplex and the last of our properties to be renovated after the flood. It worked out that we had a construction crew do most of the work on this last property. Mike Cutter Construction started working in July of 2011 and after much red tape, working with the City of Cedar Rapids and Small Business Administration we were finally finished with the upper unit and the exterior by the beginning of December 2011. It looks so nice with its new windows, doors and siding, Cutter Construction did a great job!

Here are a few photos of the finished upper unit:

Everything is so clean and new and fresh!

I really like the colors. The wall color is Sherwin Williams, Killim Beige and the trim color is just straight out of the can white, Sherwin Williams.  I love it, and I am so happy its done!

This unit is a two bedroom with the whole upstairs as a loft.

And, a shot of the happy new tenants on moving in day. They may look familiar to some of you, it's our daughter Monica and her fiance, Drew.