Freebies- Never say NO

Free furniture, or should I say "hand-me-downs" hardly get rejected in my house! I accept them with OPEN arms.
There are 2 types of freebies:

1. Hand-me-down that is someone else's junk
2. Hand-me-down that is a family antique and you are oh-so lucky to get it!

I am talking about #1 today (someone else's junk).

I have several hand-me-downs in my house. I have painted them, repainted them, and will continue to repaint them until I hand them down to someone else, or until I have sanded them down to their bare bones.
First Hand-me-down: Nursery Dresser.

3 years ago

history: My mom changed MY poopie diapers on this thing, along with my 4 brothers. It was a nasty puke green (sorry mom, but it was a gross color... maybe that was in style in the 80's)..... oh wait, I have a picture of the original color. Some of the paint is coming off so you can see:
When I was expecting my first darling little baby (girl) my mom gave it to me and had to paint it a soft green and added cute little white knobs.

Then, the twin BOYS were arriving! I couldn't possibly leave it the soft green it was, not for my RETRO brown and lime green theme! So it had to be changed, yet again. Bring on the sanding, smoothing, painting and hard work:

I painted it Behr "Bear Rug" and left the knobs the same. I changed the diaper changing pad and added some cute accessories on the side.
** I will soon get to featuring my nursery. It is a room I just adore!



Master Dresser

History: This one was a total nasty dresser from the '70's that came from my husband's grandpa. I wish I had before pics, darn! I mean, we literally changed it completely.
Painted it black and added knobs. It has lasted us a good 3-4 years, but I am ready to hand it to someone else and get a dresser with some visual interest and character (for my master bedroom makeover coming in the new year!)... any takers?

Personal Fave, Makenzie's Bed

Yet again, no before pics :((((((((... I am sure I can find some from my mother-in-law.
History: My husband grew up with this bed! It comes with another one, to make bunk beds. It was a dark, boring, old brown wood color. Not interesting at all (sorry Karen!) but had very interesting lines.

Love that some screws are bare and others are kinda painted

I sanded and painted it white, but only 2 coats and so you could see it was a messy paint job. Then distressed the heck out of it.
Distressing- after you have painted it get sand paper and sand the heck out of edges that would naturally have wear or areas you want to "feature" (like the pretty footboard and headboard curved lines). Do it as much, or little, as you want!
I stained the distressed wood a dark color and I love how the stain sunk into the notches, it is so fun.

My future plan is to paint it, yet again, and make it more "boy" for the twins as a bunk bed set. But I have to say, I am so in love with this bed it will be hard to give up.

TIP: On all my furniture redos I end with a polyurethane coat to protect it and make it last longer (t TOTALLY works! Do at least 2 coats if not 3-4). I skipped it on this one to let the natural wear take place.

Lastly, the playroom bookcase given to me by my mom.
No real details here, it was originally Makenzie's bookcase in her nursery, then moved it to the playroom. I will most likely paint it in the future and move it to a bedroom. But for now, it houses the kids books.

I am linking this post to the DIY Showoff