One thing we knew we'd need for the nursery was a changing table/dresser. I wanted to get a combination of the two because our nursery is not huge and I figured it would be more practical. Plus, I just really like the look of a long dresser used as a changing table.

For months I scoured Craigslist looking for just the right dresser. I found a set that was really cute and drove 45 min to take a look at it. It was at an antique shop, so the prices were just too high for us. We wanted something we could redo, but this dresser needed work AND was still a bit expensive. I was sharing my lack of luck with my supervisor at work when she mentioned, "I have a dresser we were thinking of getting rid of, you can have it for free if you want it." Well only an idiot would say no to that! I told her we'd take it. It wasn't until I saw it in person that I was really pumped! Look at this beauty:

Yeah, I have the best supervisor ever, basically.

I knew I wanted to do an ombre paint feature on the drawers and figured it's a girl, so what better colors to use than soft pinks? I painted the main part of the dresser Behr's Vermont Cream which is an off-white as I wanted everything to be soft and not a glaring white. For the drawers I chose three pinks beside each other on a color swatch and ended up with Valspar's Brushed Rose, Salmon Bisque, and Snow Pa. We just bought a sample pot of each to keep it cheap.

For the knobs I chose these really pretty glass rose petals from Hobby Lobby. I waited until they had a 50% off sale and then snatched up 6 of them for just under $26 with shipping and tax. I am really happy with the finished product! Here are some before and after side-by-sides :)

We are so happy with how it turned it! It's exciting to see the nursery come together and we can't wait to fill the drawers with little girl clothes and have our precious angel with us to wear them. Here's one final photo for the road :)

Final cost:

Dresser - Free!

Paint - $5 each for a total of $15 and $20 for a gallon of the off-white

Knobs - $26

Total: $61!

EDIT: Apparently this dresser is a rare McCobb Planner Dresser and multiple people have felt the need to email and tell me how horrible of a person I am for destroying a piece of art. Honestly, we had no idea it was a rare piece of furniture! So for anyone else who feels the need to cut someone down for recreating a piece of furniture for her daughter's nursery when she had no idea of it's value, you can save your time... I know! But thanks for your kind words :)

Happy New Year...and a DIY

It's hard to believe it is already 2014! There were a lot of changes in our lives this past year and we are so thankful for God's provision and leading. This year we:

• Celebrated our 1 year anniversary
• Moved from Singapore to the US
• Found out we were pregnant with our first baby
• Ended up settling in my hometown because of an unexpected job offer for Clarence
• Bought a new car

2014 will bring the biggest change to our lives yet, the arrival of our baby girl! We are so excited (and a little terrified) about all the changes to come. And how does someone who enjoys crafts and DIY cope with the coming changes? Throw myself into making stuff for the nursery, that's how!

A few months ago I was in Ollie's and saw a big canvas for $8.99. I had no idea what I wanted to do with it, but figured I could come up with something nice for the baby's room.  It was too cheap to pass up. I considered a few different things, but when I saw this pic on pinterest, I was sold.

I was even more sold when I found out how easy it was. There are LOTS of blogs out there who give the steps on how to create one on your own, but here is one that I followed. It's super simple! 

I used leftover paint we had from the dresser/changing table makeover (reveal to come!) and the nursery wall paint. Just slap it on the canvas until you're happy with how it looks, place painter's tape in a herringbone pattern overtop leaving spaces between each one, get your husband to take it outside and spray paint the whole thing to save you from the fumes, and then remove the tape! It probably took me a couple hours tops. I'm so pleased with how it turned out! 

The nursery is horrible to photograph and gets no direct sunlight throughout the day, so this is the best I could do. Anyone can make this, so if you're thinking of creating some cheap art, do it! Not bad for $8.99, I'd say :)