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Camero Stripes

OUR 2nd HOUSE

 This is a sponsored post brought to you by FrogTape.  All opinions are my own.

Remember that movie Mighty Ducks?  just checking.

It has nothing to do with this post.

Do you also remember when it was popular to wear jean overalls but only fasten one buckle and the other would be tucked into your back pocket?  I did that.

Also…not relevant.

I’m probably rambling because I’m tired and hungry.  You see, six hours ago I got a reminder email from the Haven people and immediately freaked out.  Ten seconds later I started a strict workout and food regime.  I would call it a diet but Michelle Obama won’t let me.  Apparently cutting out your morning s’mores and eliminating the carton of ice cream that you eat right before bed doesn’t necessarily make it a legit weight loss system.   Let’s be honest…I’ll probably be hanging with a certain fun-sized girl who has lady lumps that don’t do the Macarena on their own accord.  And I don’t wanna be able to see my cellulite through my jeans (which YES I will probably be wearing jeans even though Atlanta is freakin hot in August)…so good ole fashion workouts and clean eating from now till then.  If I get desperate I might consider letting Will start breastfeeding again…you know…just for the extra calorie burn.

Okay…so let’s get to this before FrogTape starts questioning the legitimacy of this post.  This was our “mud room”…aka the little hallway from the garage door to the kitchen.  It started  with this brown dresser I got at the thrift store for six bones.

Eventually it got moved to the other side of the hallway.  It was amazing how one little move could change my life forever.  (did I mention I get REALLY exaggeratory when I am hungry?!)

But the dresser was in terrible shape.  It put the rust in rustic.  Put the oooo in oooold.  Put the gah in gah-ross.

Apparently Jesus once owned it.  And then later Sophia Loren.

The little lock fronts were all missing…but the internal mechanism is still in there.  Oh and did I mention this sucker was rustic?

At one time there were different handles.  Ask me how I knew.

And my favorite part?  The way the drawers were held together.  That is called a pin and cove joint and it was popular from 1880 to 1910.  Beautiful.

So the first thing I did was sand the sucker down.

With the sandpaper, I removed all the evidence of the scars and mars.  I left the back side and the drawer sides alone since they have that cute pale bluey green color.

Then came time for painting.  I already had my primer and paint out from the laundry room…so I just grabbed them for this too.

I like to brush the nooks and crannies and then roll all the flat parts.

I also removed the old handles.  There were a couple knobs that were broken…so maybe I’ll find a new home for them later.  Instead of spending more money on hardware, I just slipped some white cord through each hole and tied off little handles.

But it was really plain and I wanted it to be a little more spazzy.  Spazzy like snazzy.  Not like me next to a bowl of peanut M&M’s.  Oh the sweet taste of chocolate and fat in one…

So I got out the FrogTape and taped off some lines.  I just followed the top of the dresser down the front.  I eyeballed it…no perfection needed here.

I went with the Martha Stewart’s Kerry Blue.  It was that paint I used on the inside of the hutch and I think it’s one of those fun colors that has just enough mutedness in it to make it swallowable.

Here she is after two coats and tape removed…

Jeremy says that it looks like Camaro stripes.  I completely agree.  Maybe I should glaze it?  Rough up the edges and show a little more detail?

Okay…happiest part of this makeover…the color perfectly matches the old cough drop tin on it.  UNINTENTIONALLY GLORIOUS.

Like when your chocolate chip cookie accidentally falls into your bowl of ice cream.  Oh help me now.

Anyone else out there have a thing for tins?  or Camaro’s?  or maybe Emilio is more your style?  Spill it ducks 🙂

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Comments

  1. LOVE this update! Honestly that mirror + the entryway + now this dresser = one of my favorite spots in your home. Just killing it with style and hilarity in this post, KB!

  2. Can I drive my cookie around like a Camaro, using my ice cream bowl as the steering wheel? Mmmmm, and I even have softened butter. Gotta go, time to make a batch! Oh yeah, this was a post about dressers. Love it too, but not as much as cookies.

  4. Very cute! I’m pro-glazing or pro-light distressing, if you’re taking votes. It’s cute as it is but I figure if my furniture is imperfect I won’t notice when I scuff the paint by banging into it or spill something on it, etc.

    Since you asked – I absolutely wore overalls with only one strap (shortalls, even, with high-top Converse) and as a 10-year old had a Gordon Bombay crush. It was only as an adult that I discovered Emilio in The Breakfast Club.

  5. I been using the exact sander as you and used it today on the dresser I was sanding down and the frickin sandpaper kept sliding outta the holders and every few minutes I’d have to clamp it in again. Maybe I don’t know how to sand or I press way to hard. bahhhhhhhhhh. suggestions?

  6. After my grandmother died last year, I inherited her old bedroom furniture. One of the dressers looks just like this one (with a marble slab on top). I’m currently using it as a changing table in my daughter’s room, but I’d love to eventually spruce it up a bit.

  7. LOVE the Mighty Ducks – QUACK!

    I was actually in the Outer Banks earlier this summer and went karaoke bar with my sisters and their major draw was that the red headed kid from the Mighty Ducks would be performing. They didn’t even mention his name, just the red headed kid 🙂

  8. Oh I am right there with you…it took 9 months to get huge, it should take 9 months to take it off….oh crap my son is now 10 months! Thanks for the drool worthy post, oh the dresser is drool worthy too! Speaking of drool, I just noticed I have some left over from my little man. Ahhh, the life!

  9. I wish I could find old wood furniture at our thrift stores! All they have is Early Laminate and Particleboard.

  10. Awesome update! I don’t think I’d be brave enough myself, but it’s super cute. We have an oldddd dresser with lock fronts that don’t match the updated handles we just bought for the dresser — any tips on how to fill in a lock hole?? We’d rather not return the handles we got for ones that match the lock fronts better — old, tarnished, faux-gold lock fronts are so not my thing.

  11. You are so funny your posts are so fun to read! I love the dresser. And the mighty ducks question brings back memories or the bash brothers, Gordon Bombay and the knuckle puck 🙂

  12. you had me at cookie. let’s just say it’s because i’m pregnant. the dresser is cute and very camaro-ish. it would even look cute with four little wheels of it’s own… you know, casters. anyway, love it!

  16. Antiquing that dresser would look great.

    Love the stripes. Hate the Ducks, LOL.

    (My late hubby drove a Cherry Red Z28 BTW-so Camaros hold a very special place in my heart.)

  17. Joshua Jackson in MD3 was my first celebrity crush 🙂 And using both overall straps is almost as nerdy as using both backpack straps. My favorite is the green mirror!

  18. “Well, listen, Mr. Zen-master, you may be in tune with the ice universe, but when it comes to my kid, ‘I just know’ doesn’t cut it!” — Charlie Conway’s mom

    Best movie ever. My brothers and I can quote pretty much the entire movie (as well as D2 and D3). Thanks for taking me back. Nice dresser, too 🙂

    Jen

  22. Genius!!! I love it. Something so simple…Simply perfection.
    Way to go, Katie!!!
    Your projects just put a smile on my face.

    B.

  23. Awesome…love it…so glad I found your blog. I’m off to drop a cookie in my ice cream. Thanks for the tip!

    -andi

  25. Looks great to me! This post reminded me of the fact that when I was the “new girl” in school in 6th grade, I apparently showed up to class in head-to-toe denim. Denim skechers, denim overalls, and yes, a denim hair scrunchie. My friends (whom I’m still friends with to this day) like to remind me of the vision that I was, quite often.

  26. I went shopping with my teenage sister last month and discovered jean overals in the teen girl stores again. If only I’d have kept mine :p
    I need to get my butt out thrifting, I’m needing new drawers to make over… I mean for storage. Yeah.. Storage.

  27. Your writing cracks me up. I seriously snicker at work when I read your posts and I should be doing work instead. In particular, I thought: Hahaha, you said ‘backside’. Am I twelve?

    Oh, and nice dresser makeover. 🙂

  28. Definitely glaze that ! I wasn’t sure about the stripes in the first picture, but the last shot had me sold. I prefer the details brought out a little more though. Glaze away! Using rope to tie through the handle screw holes….genius! That’s why I keep coming back, KB, you’re an ideas & money saving gal. Loved your humour in this post, although you nearly lost me when I wasn’t sure if it was a movie review, fashion rundown or foodie post! I hope you’ve eaten now. Hahaha.

  30. I loved this makeover. The stripes were so unexpected and casual, but preppy at the same time. Thanks for the idea!

  31. Did you cut your paper a little long? I do it so it doesn’t come out easily. Plus, make sure the holders are clamped all the way so that there is tons of tension.
    xo – kb

  33. You crack me up with the random references. I loved the Mighty Ducks. There were some hotties! And speaking of hot, I love the makeover. So lucky that it matches the cute tin.

  34. This is gorgeous!! It totally motivated me to start thinking about my entry way. Thanks!!

  36. This looks awesome – what a fun and quick makeover!! Would look equally as awesome if the dresser was blue and the stripe was white – great color choice!

  37. Hi Katie! Where did you get the envelope holder in the 1st photo? I love finding things that will help me to get more organized 🙂

  38. I LOVE the piggie coat rack! The dresser looks great too but the coat rack caught my eye 🙂

  39. Cute dresser! Creative idea!
    And good luck with the clean eating… but I’m befuddled (aka confused)…. what are you doing?? Who are “the Haven people”? I have to apologize Katie… I’m reading through your achives slowly, but I’m still only in 2009! 🙂 LOVE your blog!

  43. Mighty Ducks: check, half fastened overalls: check! Love the cord handles, very nautical! Happy Clean Eating, it’s tough at first but it works – though I think your plan was legit!

  44. This may be one of my favorite furniture make overs of all time! The new handles are awesome! You could even thread big wooden round beads on them…I just impressed myself with that idea!

  46. Love me some tins!

    I have a huge collection….most of it is in two storage bins in the garage because of lack of room in this house.

    I love what you did with the dresser. I have an old china hutch I use for my supplies at work(I’m a hairstylist). I put a quick coat of paint on it when I bought it off Craigslist, but is still needs some love. Stripes might be the thing to do!

  47. I’ll give you credit, you spelled Camaro two out of three times right. I had an IROC back in my “glory” days. Now I drive a Jeep w/ a 5.7L Hemi that could probably blow the doors off a Camaro, but i digress..anyway, my boss at the time (a prissy woman who drank nothing but Diet Coke & only wore Ralph Lauren) was setting up my computer password when I started. I picked “camaro”, she spelled it “camero” & then claimed she couldnt change it once I pointed out the error to her (I think she could of, it just really peeved her off that I corrected her) so for the three (long) years I worked there, i had to spell the name of my car wrong every day. That peved me off. Now my password is “petey”……in case anyone was wondering.

  51. So, am I seeing things or did the wall in the final picture change colors (and trim too) was this done during the kitchen reno? Either way, I love the color of the stripes and the Mighty Ducks, and did anybody else wear any corduroy overalls? My mom was obsessed with overalls, so I had to wear them often. Oy…

  53. Very cute. The blue helps bringing out the detailing on the drawers. Also, diet recommendation: use myFitnessPal if you have a smart phone. It’ll help you track your cals and such. It’s probably not great for dramatic, short term weightless, but it’ll help you be more mindful of how much a serving of ice cream is (1/2 cup which is ridiculous. Should be 3/4 of a cereal bowl, man).

  56. What a difference that dresser looks so high end now!! Great job! Your posts always crack me up! Cooking falling into your ice cream….. lol!

  57. Absolutely LOVELY! Is the paint satin finish? I’m currently painting a dresser to use as a changing table in our nursery and used satin paint but added plaster of paris to make “homemade chalk paint” and it’s just not wowing me. I am contemplating doing a satin polycrylic over the paint but I don’t want to ruin it!

  58. 1. This post was hysterical
    2. The part about your overalls … TOTALLY did that!!! lol… it was “the” thing to do in the second grade, but my parents didnt approve. I thought I was such a rebel for getting to school and then tossing a strap over my shoulder, rebuking the “establishment”. Even at the age of 8, I could hear Twisted Sister sing “We’re not going to take it” as I strolled into class thinking EVERYONE was impressed by how cool I was… … … … Is it possible to be embarrassed about something that happened almost 20 years ago?

  59. Don’t push when you sand. Your manual most likely says this. Each sander is designed so that the weight of the sander is enough, you just hold it where you want it. If it is not taking off as much as you want without pushing you need to go with a lower grit paper. That should make your job a ton easier and be easier on your arms!

  60. I am DYING over that dresser. I definitely think you should rough it up a little bit and maybe rub it down with some Dutch Oil or dark wax (personal preference instead of glaze.) I think it is such a rustic historic piece that having it painted crisp white with crisp lines just isn’t working for it. The stripes will be super cute and beachy if you distress! But it does look so much better! And I’m jealous of your find. Our goodwill think that broken glider ottomans are worth $200. I’m not kidding. I’ve seen dinner tray holders (just the holder without any trays) for $60. It’s so weird. Who pays that much for this stuff???

  62. You’re hilarious. After reading this post I couldn’t stop my brain from saying “And I was like EMILIO!!!!”. You know, from Night at the Roxbury.

  63. I wish I were brave enough to stripe my furniture! I have taped off a piece or too, but chicken out at the last minute. Your dresser looks awesome. And I’ll admit that Mighty Ducks started a life long love of Joshua Jackson. Charlie, Pacey, Peter Bishop. Love him!

  65. Love the dresser, but from the owner of a plum purple ’69 Z28 Camaro — please fix the title of the post, there is no “e” in Camaro! But I’ll totally blame it on the lack of smores and ice cream, since you did spell it correctly in the actual post 🙂 And the stripes are referred to as “Rally Stripes”……

  66. Katie, I’ve read your blog for a few years now–we love fixing things up & I actually have three cherubs close in age to your kiddos!

    Because we recently had the misfortune of discovering lead in our home & subsequently discovered how quickly exposure to/removal from exposure can affect small children, I want to mention that your charming relic-paint *could* be worrisome on the drawer sides. We were advised that paint in window tracks is the biggest culprit because with every open/close, the friction can release lead particles/dust. You’re a careful DIY-er, and I feel badly mentioning this at all amidst your fun makeover knowing you likely already ruled this concern out but I didn’t feel right about keeping quiet when it could save you/someone else heartache & worry.

    Loving the “camero” designation–what fun you’ll have getting your boys to drive on thru that door!

  67. I think you’re great and hilarious but I kinda liked the dresser old and rustic! The wood looks great under the green mirror–But them there’d be no frog tape post so there’s the dilemma!

  68. Thanks for the warning! I’ll have to get one of those ‘lead check kits” next time I run to the home improvement store.
    xo – kb

  69. Obviously if my boyfriend was in charge of the serving size of ice cream it would be somewhere between three cups and a half gallon.
    xo – kb

  70. Ten thousand points to you! You were the first one who caught it and spoke up! I did repaint 🙂
    xo – kb

  73. I’m obsessed with that BHG house. I loved everything about it. Well…except the weird tile above the hood…but maybe that’s just me.
    xo – kb

  74. Katie, I think you are so sweet and funny, but I think this is the last post I’ll be reading. I know you’ve got bills to pay, but lately, it’s mostly sponsored posts. I guess I’m just tired of reading advertisements. Bless your heart, and enjoy those babies, they grow up so fast.

  75. Okay I know this is kinda lame to ask you about an item in the picture besides the dresser (super cute by the way) 🙂 but..I love your gray purse hanging in the picture- I am looking for a big purse that can work as a diaper bag too. Where is it from? Thanks so much!!

  77. I think you blog posts are hilarious and I love this dresser makeover! I was thinking some pewter or brushed nickel cup handles would look nice on it.

  78. You had me chuck-ul-ing. Your pretty funny. And beautifull job on a six dollar piece. And to see the potential!

  80. It looks so good!

    I don’t have kids. Can I spontaneously lactate? Maybe my cats…

    You won’t be the only one at Haven in their jeans. I currently fit in one pair. Let’s see if you’ll be able to pick me out by the end. I’ll be wearing the same pants. Yeah.

  85. Thanks Heather. I totally understand that some folks don’t like sponsored posts. I do try to limit the number of sponsored posts to four each month…so if that is too many for you, I hate to see you go but you gotta do what you gotta do 🙂
    xo – kb

  88. I independently had the some thought as the other commenter (commentor?) who said you should paint stripes on either end now too to cap it off. I’d also then soften the color of the stripes a bit (glaze or distressing, as you said) because I think the contrast is a little too high.

    Or maybe instead of either of those things, leave everything as-is, and paint the very center a third color?

  89. I think you ruined it! Before pics are way better than the after. I think it’s time you step away from the frog tape girl.

  92. Well done! I am impressed with your vision here. I love the mirror and what you did. In my own home I’m becoming increasingly enamored with re-staining (rather than painting) and wish you had a twin to this dresser I could buy from you to do just that.

    Also, I can’t help but laugh (and agree with you) on the cream trim, etc. in your house that you are steadily defeating. I saw the cream fixture covers in this picture and thought, “I wonder if she’s itching to change those, too?”. Any plans?

  93. I am definitely a fan or restoring / refinishing and could see great potential with this piece (particulary since it’s so old). Really, this made me want to find one exactly like it and bring it back to it’s original glory.

  94. LOVE LOVE LOVE that cute little dresser! And that lime green mirror is amaze-balls! I am getting ready to paint my younger sons bedroom and change it in to a baseball room. Can you tell me your favorite gray paint color (dark or light or in-between)? Pretty please!

    BTW – did you mean to spell Camaro (the car) with an e? Or is Camero something else?

  95. Don’t listen to anyone hating on your sponsored posts, Katie! I hardly even notice they’re sponsored because you always let your own opinions and personality shine through. You’ve only done 5 or 6 since June 1st (I just looked) so when someone says all they see are sponsored posts, they’re obviously oblivious to the oodles of un-sponsored posts that make up the majority of your content. 😀 Your blog never fails to make me laugh and is inspirational to boot, so if folks are willing to pay you to tell me about their product and how to use it, I think that is splendid. Keep up the great work!

  97. I like to redo things, but I would never have seen the potentional in that dresser. Kudos!

    I don’t mind your sponsored posts at all, they still read all Katie B to me!

  98. Katie, do you do this on purpose? Are you going to tell us someone’s a ‘retard’ to pair with the ‘spaz’.

    It’s disgusting and repulsive, not to mention juvenile, and added to the racist shit you post and the sick comments about dead people makes me wonder why the hell Haven is associating with you. I’ll be asking them, too.

  99. I’m sorry Annie. Obviously you are very offended by me. It’s evident in the way that you keep coming back to comment. I want to be sure I respectfully answer your questions…and not to further infuriate you (if that is at all possible). No…I do not try to offend anyone. And yes, I have used that word in the past but it was wrong and I don’t use it anymore. I am sorry that you think I am a racist because that really does hurt me and my family. We do recognize the color of people’s skin but we think that the outside isn’t what matters…it’s the inside that counts and how you treat others.
    xo – kb

  101. Just a spelin mistak 🙂
    And probably right now I like Benjamin Moore’s metropolitan…it’s got a cool undertone and is somewhere in the midrange of grays.
    xo – kb

  102. “Apparently Jesus once owned it. And then later Sophia Loren.”

    Pretty much the funniest thing you’ve ever written. Ever. 🙂

  103. Not so much a fan of the stripes. Liked it before you added them, but what a deal for $6 hey?
    Can you tell me what the relevance of your use of the word “spazzy” was? I have never heard the word spazzy used in connection with snazzy so I’m a little confused and trying not to be taken aback. Is this a cultural difference between us, where I’m from, no one would dream of using the word spazzy, as it refers to spastic which, when I read your words I gasped, surely there’s an explanation, that’s so un PC and unkind, that’s not a term you’d use even in humor where I come from.

  104. I look forward to your Frog Tape posts. They are fun, creative, and get me thinking. It doesn’t matter a lick to me that they are sponsored posts.

    I have an ugly grey iPad notebook cover (w/keyboard built in). I don’t want to buy a new one just because this one is ugly. I’m thinking a Frog Tape project would help make it beautiful, although I haven’t got it quite figured out just yet.

  105. Really? It is not something I have ever heard as unkind! People here use spastic or spazzy all the time and I’ve always known it to be like overly excited or acting hyper over something…like a kid with too much sugar. Where are you from that it is offensive? Tell me more. I would definitely stop using it if it meant something unkind because that is totally not what I want to be!
    xo – kb

  107. Australia. You seriously use spazzy all the time? Wow! We’ve had radio announcers taken off the air for using language like that. You call someone or something a retard or a spaz here, you’d get a ‘look’, that uncomfortable shuffle, the ‘I can’t believe she just said that’ vibe. If you were an Aussie blog, you wouldn’t have Frog Tape as a sponsor anymore, that’s for sure.

  108. Here “retard” is definitely very offensive now but “spaz” – no. I’ve never even heard it was controversial until you said something but I will definitely never use it again if it means that in another land! I’m very sorry to be so ignorant of that and if I offended anyone, I deeply apologize! What a cultural difference!
    xo – kb

  110. i never knew the origins of this word, either, until i read these comments. now that i have, it seems it’s pretty offensive in our land, too.

  111. Thank you for your response! Will definitely be looking for that color and putting a sample up on the wall. Would you like to come do his room for me? LOL!

  112. Who the heck is anonymous Annie!?! Why do people get off in being so negative and rude? I have never thought anything that you have said isn’t in a joking manner and I have never taken an offense to things you have said (er, wrote!). Well maybe besides this misspelling of Camaro….LOL! I have never once thought you were racist or rude to other people. And I don’t think spaz is such a bad thing to say here in the states. I have never heard anyone say that it is rude to say. To me spaz means being hyper.

  113. I was about to say what the spaz are these Aussies talking about? Spastic means to twitch -which one can certainly do with excitement over a new dresser….. but then I went to dictionary.com and it actually said it was an offensive slang term. Goshdarnit it’s such a fun sounding word melodically. Poo-ey. (Is that offensive?) I didn’t know it was offensive either Katie B. Love, a north eastern American ps spell check tried to change it to “spam.” Food for thought…. or thought for food. Keep rocking.

  114. I really love your painted dresser. I painted a dresser for my kids room and did a few colors. Since then I use this app I found call Color911. It is great for doing projects where I’m putting colors together. I thing you dresser looks great!

  116. I wouldn’t say you “ruined” the dresser, because the white’s nice, but I don’t like the stripes. The drawers have those little groves and raised trim…now THAT would’ve been gorgeous painted with the blue/grey! Probably look a little nautical, too, now that I look back at that basket and green mirror.

    But of course, it’s YOUR house and YOUR tastes that matter! Just tossing an idea out there for next time…I figure Jesus must’ve had a tall, skinny chest of drawers to go with your little one there 😉

  117. I am in love with the piggy hooks! Where did you find it? I need one to live! LOL

    I got tears in my eyes when I saw you painted this beauty. I love old furniture. I do have to admit your re-do turned out really great! I love the stripes! Reminds me of something you would see at a really nice expensive beach house. Good job!

  118. I have never heard of spaz being offensive either if it makes you feel any better. Literally, I have never come across that.

    As for the dresser, I probably would have painted the natural lines horizontally instead of the vertical stripes, but really the comment is to say WOW those pin and cove joints are GORGEOUS! I don’t think I would ever close the drawers.

  120. So crazy how things can be so different in different places. I am so sorry…I am still learning how to do this world-wide-web blogging.
    xo – kb

  123. I rub the tape and then use a damp paper towel to wipe over the edges. It is like it ‘activates’ the tapes sealing ability.
    xo – kb

  124. Hi! I just discovered your site and I love it!

    The dresser looks fabulous! I’m planning a dresser redo this weekend. Looking forward to reading more of your blog.

  125. I’m little late to the game – we went on a vacation to the ocean so I’m doing a back reading of all my favorite blogs! I just have to say that comment a few commenters above (by Annie) seems so mean! But that’s not really what I wanted to say by commenting – what I really wanted note is that the comment here by “What the what?!” is so….mature…adult…and YAY!

    What I mean is this commenter has a problem with the word, but instead of calling Katie, who is another human a sicko – they actually ask her what she meant by it in a respectful manner! It’s refreshing to see this kind of exchange on the internet.

    I had no clue that Spaz/Spazzy was an offensive word in any other countries – and I don’t think that makes me ignorant, just not a world traveler I guess? So when I looked at the blog here and then http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spastic I was surprised myself.

    What do you know – I not only learned something new, but was given a happy boost in my faith in the human race all on one blog post!

    P.S. Katie – I think your response to “Annie” was very professional as well! Kuddos to you!

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