Nike Told Me To Just Do It

Sometimes (all the time?) jumping into a project can be a little frightening. And sometimes, it takes six (!!!) years to actually decide you can do it. Or maybe that’s just me.

Say hello to this super bit of ugly furniture.

This guy came into my life right after my husband, Daniel, and I got married. It had seen better days, it was not my style at all, and the door always stuck a little when you tried to open it, but it was free. And free is what made two newlyweds take it home. Even though it was super hideous, I remember putting the one pretty thing we owned right in the middle and just staring at it, happy that we were starting to decorate our little apartment. About a year later I found myself immersed in the world of decorating magazines and blogs and seeing amazing makeovers of furniture and spaces. I can’t say I really fixed anything back in our first home. Looking back at the decorating decisions I made then let’s just say I’m glad nothing is permanent.

We moved to our next apartment and I had a fresh start to decorating. My style lightened and brightened up a lot and I started to do bigger projects. I painted a very small dresser for my son and upholstered the headboard in the master bedroom, I was making things prettier and gaining some confidence. But I still didn’t think I was capable of tackling this ugly beast.

Side confession: I watch some really bad TV. And one day while watching 16 and Pregnant I actually see my hideous breakfront in one of the girl’s homes. And yes, I did pause it so I can take a picture. I’m not saying you can’t have good taste and be a teen mom but this show was not helping my breakfront’s reputation at all. Plus, I knew that it was actually uglier in person.

I even saw my same exact breakfront on this blog.

She had painted it all white and while it was definitely an improvement, I thought I would take the makeover a little further and add a different color on the inside and some gorgeous new hardware. Except I still didn’t think I had the DIY skills to actually do it.

This summer I decided to stop being a coward and just do it. It couldn’t possibly look worse when I was done with it, than what it looked like already. Some key players in my life were super supportive and a big reason I finally decided to try my hand at redoing the breakfront. Daniel had been trying to convince me to write a blog for a pretty long time. But then he said he’s was just going to beat me to it and start his own blog called “Crap, My Wife Is Doing Another Project” because all of my ideas tend to lead to more work for him. But he’s a super awesome guy and was my head cheerleader and right hand man through the makeover. I also had a really awesome friend acting as my therapist and giving advice and encouragement.  In the end by breaking it down into little pieces it didn't seem so unmanageable. It took a long time but was so worth it. A little paint and new hardware goes a long way in changing a piece of furniture and making it more you. I’m going to write a step by step how to, but until then here’s the sparkly after.

Has anyone else tackled a makeover they never thought they had the skills to accomplish? How did it go?