So, if we are facebook friends (and if not, why aren’t we??), you may remember me sharing this photo a few months ago.

See… what had happened was…

I was right there just minding my own business. Literally. We were in the throws of our busy holiday season. And the dresser that Ezra and Evie share in our room had broken to pieces. I had drawers and laundry baskets sitting all around and it was keeping me awake at night. So, this sweet deal on Craigslist smacked me upside the head: two dressers for only $30. The good kind of furniture that they don’t make any more. Solid wood.

It was first come first serve so I got there early and froze my tush off for these things. A sweet friend came with her pick up truck to help me get them home and I was sure it was going to be just an afternoon project to refinish them.

Because I’m crazy.

I vaguely remember doing such a project with my mom once and all I recalled was sand paper and sealant. So, I got that stuff and headed home.

About an hour into back labor with these things I concluded there must be an easier way to get the old finish off and discovered paint stripper.

This totally expedited the project, but also attracted a lot of angry yellow jackets.

{Insert mental image of me jumping and screaming and frantically waving my arms about.}

We wont talk about the clumps of gunk currently stuck to the driveway.

I got one dresser finished by sundown that night and it very nearly killed me.

Then it started to rain the next day. While Brent was at work, because this is when all natural disasters occur. I huffed and heaved those heavy mothers up onto the porch and covered them with a vinyl Christmas table cloth. At least they blended in with my outdoor Christmas decor.

After the rain, I got them back out and learnt how to use the rotary sander. Or whatever it’s called. And just like my mamma taught me, I taught my girl how to use the power tools and still look cute.

I was going to stain it a different color, but once I saw how beautiful that wood was under all those many many coats of old 1960s varnish, I just couldn’t do it. Sanding suddenly became a very pleasurable activity and I quickly imagined myself all Cash & Cari like. Refinishing furniture had become my new(est) calling for all I was concerned.

Because let me tell you, when that power sander is going, you can’t hear kids telling on each other, or the baby fussing about her gums. =D

It was also very thought provoking, the smooth side to side, back and forth motion of the vibrating sander. Watching the old stuff slough away and seeing the pure wood underneath. Contemplating about how God sands us good and hard to get to the pure stuff. Thinkin’ about how Punchinello says it hurts to be sanded, and it does. Thinkin’ about all the sanding that has occured in our lives and how merciful and gracious God is to sand us.

And then halfway through this project a friend was killed suddenly when a tree fell on his car while he was driving down the road. Horrible storms had ravaged Atlanta and he was the only fatality. A father of four, a man whose favorite thing ever was to sing praises to Jesus and pray long prayers.

It was really good to sand and think and pray then. To think about the different ways that God sands us down, how hard it is, and how His grace always always always sustains us.

And then two weeks later…

TADA! Dresser number one.

And Dresser Number Two

I bought a tube of black wipe-on staining. I had plenty left since I had decided to only stain the tops of the dresers and the fronts of the drawers. And I only applied one thin layer because I wanted it to look…how it looks.  I also only needed a small can of the sealant stuff. I went with clear matte since I loved the natural wood grain so much.

Brent now has a dresser for the first time! He scored the taller one, and Ezra and Evie share the long one. Each one gets a side. I know that you’re probably supposed to put your kid’s dressers in their rooms, but when you’ve got more people than rooms, you make it work.

I got middle grade doohickies knobs and pulls. They were on sale. And after fifty trips to the hardware store for more sandpaper, I’d say my grand total on expenses came to about $70. I could have kept it way less by keeping the old pulls and no black stain, but I wanted something pretty.

The end.

I’m doing it. I know I said I wasn’t going to.

I am making a Home Management Binder. It seems so faddish, so everyone is doing it, that I don’t want to do it.

But I need a place to empty my brain, so that while I’m making lunch I’m just making lunch. I’m not thinking about how the kids finger nails are getting too long, the grass is getting high, the garden needs to be watered, did I take my herbs last night before bed, what am I making for dinner, when am I ever going to clean the stinkin’ bathroom, and where exactly are everyone’s church shoes? When I see something that needs to get done, I simply write it down. And then at the beginning of the week I choose what will need to (realistically) get done that week. Every morning I will choose from my weekly list what will realistically get done that day and a general time frame.

Of course there is going to be a return to a (revised) edition of the colorful wall chart-– shrunken down to fit in the notebook, and simplified to fit our new life with 4 little ones.  BOY did life change with that fourth addition. Parenting a baby is easier the fourth time around. You can pretty much parent while comatose. But life got a lot more…hairy…with number four. Life doesn’t fold neatly and stay stacked in the linen closet like a crisp top sheet. It’s more like a fitted bottom sheet… stubbornly refusing to be folded into a neat square, requiring you to fold it a little differently each time, and sometimes just giving up and rolling it into a misshapen (does that spell “miss happen” or “mis shapen” ?) mass and shoving it in the bottom of the closet.

I like what Simple Mom has to say on this front and I really LOVED these free printables that helped me get organized a little better.

So, do you have a binder? What’s in it??

We have a lot of stuff. And here’s the thing. I think it’s because there are a lot of people in this house that was built for 2 or 3 people to leave every day to go to work and school. This space was never intended for people to live, work, school, or even eat here evidently. There wasn’t even a pantry when we moved in! (We put shelves in the coat closet and store our dry goods there. It works.)

I’ve gotten rid of tons of toys, knick knacks, clothes, etc. And we are down to what we are actually using right now. The space is crowded and disorganized and it drives me nuts.

So when I saw this idea I knew it was meant for me.

While Grammy and Grandpa were in town we went to Lowe’s with the original intention of building our own shelves. Once we started getting all the supplies, we realized it would be half as expensive to buy some utility shelves (made for the garage) instead. Buying those, we got two sets of shelves for the same price! YAY!

The kids helped me put them together. The only tool we needed was a rubber mallet.

We made two sets just like this one.

I glued felt to the bottoms to make them wood floor friendly.

One sits next to the changing table, and the other in the dining area. We totally rearranged the furniture to meet school/dining needs.

Then I sort of followed these directions to cover it, but I didn’t make it past like Step 2 before I started making up my own rules.

Disclaimer: I do not know how to sew. My method mainly involves making things fit together as I see it in my mind. I left all four sides unsewn and made some fabric ties out of a coordinating fabric. I may not always have this shelf up against a wall and might need to get at it from both sides.

I found myself at home alone on Sunday since I was too sick to go to church, and it took almost all day to do. I had to put some finishing touches on it the next morning still.

For both sets of shelves the entire project cost me $100. I was intent on having something that was going to last a long time, be pretty, AND functional.

The shelving system was just under $70 and the fabric was around $30. I know for you frugal minded folks that sounds awful, BUT you should know that it came from the upholstery remnant section AND I got it 50% during a Customer Appreciation Sale. I bought 5 yards of each fabric, so I’ll have a good bit left over. The Blue Flower print is also STAIN DETERRENT!!!

You could easily do this project for much cheaper with an existing shelf that may just need some aesthetic help, and you could cover it in budget cotton fabric as well.

I’m totally thrilled! It makes a pretty backdrop for the table, and also keeps the kids out of the toys and puzzles. The rule is, one toy out at a time, and putting them in something like this automatically communicates “ask first”. That gives me the opportunity to remind them to put up the previous toy, art project, puzzle, etc before getting out another.