Back in Black!!!

Well, it looks like I've done a mighty fine job of keepin' up with the ol' blog here :) Since I didn't have any readers before, I probably don't need to explain that things have changed since my first post:  Ryan and I tied the knot and have been truckin' along through married life and enjoying every minute of it!  Things are pretty darn good.

Now, to the other meaning behind this post's title.... I wanted to share the project I've been working on for awhile.  I transformed an old gray (yellow?) buffet into a black beauty. 

 



"I've seen better days"



Well, at least I think she's a beauty.



Fresh and clean



The buffet was full of loose papers and junk and had been sitting in the dining room for a few months.  I really wanted to free up some space in my kitchen cabinets by relocating some serving pieces to the buffet, so I got down to bidness!  It took a lot of hours and involved sanding the top down, giving the whole thing a quick rough up with the sander and then painting and staining.  I ran into some trouble when I sanded through the paint on top and found the veneer....which had several water stains.  I tried my best to cover the water spots with gel stain, but you can still see them. bummer.  My master plan is to cover the spots with strategically placed junk decorative items.

 



Sanding hotness.  This picture was from a different project, but I used the same stance on this project.  It's my go-to stance.

 

I also applied gel stain to all the nooks and crannies in the buffet, which took massive amounts of time and cussing.  I also changed out the old hardware on the cabinets and drawers.  I could NOT find any cabinet pulls to match the original holes, so Ryan ended up drilling new holes for me. 

The best part is I've turned her into a little bit of a bar too :)  I fit all of our bar glasses, shakers, straws, shot glasses, cocktail napkins and other goodies into the drawers.  The cabinets have all of our serving pieces for parties and gatherings :) 



Yea, we put all these bad boys to use.


After everything was dry I rubbed on Minwax furniture wax for protection and some shine.  All in all, it was fun to work on and I'm really excited about how it turned out. I love having the extra storage!  The updated buffet has now prompted us me to repaint not only the dining room where it lives, but also the adjoining living room :)



We're still trying to pick a color.  Don't judge.



 And I printed this cute 1'x3' photo of our wedding party to hang above.



I'll fill you in once the room is finished!



Allow me to introduce myself....

Hewo!  Welcome to my first blog and my first blog post!  This is the space where I hope to share the things that inspire and shape my life as a twentysomething: home design... on a budget, cooking... on a budget, entertaining... on a budget, wedding planning... on a budget, DIY... on a budget.  Sense a theme? :)  I also hope to discuss things I encounter in my everyday life as a twentysomething:  fun and humorous episodes and adventures with family, friends and my fiance, music, movies, books, career decisions and indecisions, politics, homeownership and other "adult" things of the sort :)  I want to start a dialogue with the big world out there; to create and share great things on this blog.  Most of all I want it to be fun!

I hope you will stick with me as I figure out this new blogging world. 
I anticipate this blog will allow me to share and indulge in the things that inspire my life.  I hope it will do the same for you.

Let's get to know eachother, eh?