Big-boy room

When Jeff and I bought our house in 2003, we didn't really have any plans to have children. But since we have nieces and nephews, we designated the smallest bedroom for them. We painted it a pretty mint green with white accents and had a basket of toys and games for when they were here.

Fast-forward a couple of years, and after being around our nieces and nephews and some friends' children, we decided that having a couple of our own kids would be the way to go.

Not long after we made that decision, we were at a baby store getting a shower gift for a friend, when I saw the most beautiful crib set. It included a patchwork quilt that had a mint green border and had all different colors in it that could've suited a boy or a girl. It was perfect for that the former niece/nephew room, soon-to-be nursery. Or so we were hoping.

Then fast-forward three loooooooong years later (and many drugs and much drama), and Biscuit was here.

We started with a crib that we borrowed from my brother. His three kids slept in it, and I really liked the idea of it being a "family" crib. Then Biscuit graduated to a cute little toddler bed. He still sleeps in it now.

The bedding is light blue with cars and trucks all over it. It doesn't exactly match the mint green walls, but when we were looking at bedding, we wanted something that reflects his interests. And boy, did we get it right. That boy never leaves the house without some kind of car or truck.

Now, we're thinking about his big-boy room. Biscuit's room is sort of isolated, and it's the smallest of our three bedrooms. So we'll eventually move him down the hall to what is now the guest room. The room is a lot bigger. It has two closets. And it's right beside the upstairs bathroom. We don't have plans to move him anytime soon, but when he's ready, we'd like for his room to be ready, too.

When we moved into our house, I had a dresser, but Jeff didn't. So we went to an unfinished furniture store and bought a dresser he liked. I put a light stain on the top and sides and painted the drawer knobs black. But I never got around to staining the drawer fronts of putting a second coat on the top and sides.

So I told Jeff that I thought we should go back to that same store, buy the same dresser and have THEM stain it how he wanted it. Then I could take Jeff's old dresser, sand it down and paint it to go in Biscuit's big-boy room. We had a plan, and we were excited. (Okay, I was excited. Jeff was going to be fine with whatever.)

We got up on a Saturday, got ourselves and Biscuit ready and headed out to the furniture store. The store isn't on a side of town we frequent, so we didn't realize they had started making room for a road-widening project. The store was on a lot right behind a drugstore. But as we turned the corner at the drugstore, there was nothing there. Not only had they closed the store, they had leveled the lot. There was a big concrete slab where the store used to be and another one where the warehouse used to be. 

And unfortunately, the store isn't going to open back up somewhere else.

I was flabbergasted. I was really at a loss for words. And anyone who knows me knows that is not at all a common occurrence.

We ended up going to the furniture store where we got our bed and nightstands. They didn't have our exact style anymore, but we found something that was the same wood color and that had similar hardware.

So our plan was changed slightly, but we are still painting Jeff's old dresser for Biscuit's room. Well, I am doing the painting. Jeff's part won't come until it's time to haul the painted dresser up the stairs!

I went out this morning and did the sanding, then throughout the day I managed to get two coats of paint on it. It went a lot easier and quicker than I thought it would. I'm going to put at least one more coat on it, so it will have the rich finish that I want, but that'll have to wait for another day.

I did have one complaint, though.

I started sanding the top of the dresser with my little electric sander. But the dust was bothering me. So I got a face mask from Jeff's tool bureau. That kept me from breathing wood dust, but every time I breathed, my glasses would fog up. It was hard to see what I was doing.

Then I started blinking a lot and realized the dust was getting in my eyes, too. So I went back to the tool bureau and grabbed a pair of goggles. They kept the dust out, but every time I exhaled, they fogged up, too.

I called Jeff out to take a before-and-after photos of the dresser, but as soon as he saw my fogged-up goggles, he turned the camera on me. I wasn't at my most photogenic, but then I realized, nobody can see me, anyway for the fog and dust.

So here's what I looked like. Then you can see what the dresser looks like.