Southern Blondie: May 2017

DIY Chalk Painted Dresser Makeover

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There seems to be one thing on my mind lately ... and one focus on the blog. House updates. I promise I'll get back to sharing other things soon, but for today, I wanted to share this SUPER EASY dresser makeover. 

When we bought the house last fall, we (mostly me) agreed that one of the spare bedrooms should be turned into a closet. As in, the entire room is used as a closet. It actually wasn't as hard of a sell as I thought it would be. Rich uses the closets downstairs in the master bedroom, so I am using an entire room as a closet upstairs. It's taking some time to pull together because I'm trying to do it all on a budget. 

So one of my first budget-friendly finds was this dresser  I found on a Facebook yard sale site for $40. I knew it would need some updates and new drawer pulls, but it was the perfect size and height for the space in the room. 



The dresser was painted in a light blue color had a bit of a glittery feel to it and that felt a bit adolescent to me. The easiest way to update the dresser was using chalk paint. I had never used chalk paint before but decided to try the Rustoleum's Chalk Paint because it was so cost friendly. I thought why not give it a try! 

If you look at the top two drawers, you will see that there are holes for two pull out handles. These handles were an awkward size and I decided I wanted to update the dresser anyway so I caulked the holes with nail hole filler. 


The nail hole filler applies in a pink color and then it dries white. Once it dried it's easy to sand down to be even with the drawer. You can't even tell there was ever even a hole! 


We moved the dresser out on the patio so I could lightly sand over the top and the sides. It's not required, but there were a few spots I wanted to make sure were even from the previous paint job. Once sanded, I wiped off any dust from sanding and it was time to start! 


I used the Rust-Oleum Chalked Ultra Matte Paint in Linen White. Once the paint was dried, I gave the dresser two coats with the Chalked Protective top coat in Matte Clear


Here's what the Linen White looks like when you open the can. It is in fact, white. 


 

The dresser and the drawers were given two coats of the Linen White Chalk Paint. Once dried, then two coats of the protective top coat. The top coat looks like watered down milk but goes on clear. It also dries clear but just provides a bit of shine to the painted dresser. 


And, ta-dah! 

I added new hardware, a larger lamp, and the closet room is now nicely pulling together! It's amazing how easy the Rust-Oleum Chalked Ultra Matte Paint was in transforming this once blue dresser to a bright, clean white. 

Find the Rust-Oleum Chalked Ultra Matte Paint here

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30 Minute Meal: Cauliflower Taco Bowl

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After a long day of work the last thing I want to do is spend all night in the kitchen cooking dinner. But, I also don't want to (& can't afford to) eat out every night. So, I found the best of both worlds with this SUPER quick and easy cauliflower taco bowl. 

The best part is? I didn't spend any time having to MAKE the cauliflower rice except throw the freezer bag into the microwave.  


A friend of mine had been raving about how good this riced cauliflower was that she bought in the freezer section. Because I've tried to make cauliflower rice once and it was a complete disaster, I thought this might be a better alternative. 

And it was! 


It takes about five minutes in the microwave and it makes a really good size portion. There's about 45 calories per serving and a total about three servings. It's low in fat, sugar, and carbs so it's also diet friendly. 


I topped the microwaved riced cauliflower with some cooked ground beef that I had added taco seasoning too. I like to cook ground beef or ground turkey in bulk in the beginning of the week that way I can season it and use it any way that I want throughout the week. Great for meal planning when it comes to dieting and budgeting! 


Next, I sauteed some onion and peppers. I love getting the veggies from Chipotle on my salads so I thought why not make my own for my cauliflower bowl.


Now here's the part that makes this QUICK. 

I added a bit of shredded cheese on top. 


Then added some jarred salsa. 

Because, I didn't have time to make some, and, honestly, I didn't want to. A little pace salsa on top was DELISH.


The last step was to add a bit of guacamole on top to TOP it off! 

This meal took me about 30 minutes to make because I was cooking the ground beef and sauteing the peppers, and honestly, I took my time by watching videos on YouTube. If you already had the meat cooked, this would take less than 20 minutes, EASILY! 

Share your quick meal ideas with me in the comments!
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Before & After: Home Office Makeover

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It's DONE! 

The office re-do is FINALLY done... or at least for now. It's been a few months since I've done any office update, but I am SO excited to show you the progress I have made! 

If you remember, the last time we were here I was asking which curtains to choose for the room. Well, the popular vote won! For those who may not remember...

THE HOME OFFICE BEFORE






OK. Now for the drumroll, please! 

THE HOME OFFICE AFTER

Home Office Makeover


Home Office Makeover

Pier 1 Allusion Cabinet Home Office Makeover
Peacock Allusion Cabinet from Pier1
Home Office Makeover

Home Office Makeover
The cow head and the small wooden cabinet were both found from a Facebook garage site!

This is one of my favorites rooms in the house right now (probably because it's DONE)!

Here are a few house details: 
  • Mirrored Frames - TJ Maxx/Home Goods 
  • Peacock Allusion Cabinet (TV cabinet) - Pier1 
  • White Desk - Target 
  • White Chair - Office Max 
  • White Curtains - Home Goodes 
  •  Rug - Target
The paint is by Sherwin Williams in color Georgian Bay and lightened it 25%.  

There are a few things I still want to do, get new lamps, change out the fabric on the papasan chair, and get a few more trinkets, but overall, I am very happy of how this room turned out. 

On to finish the next room! 
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Creating a DIY Container Garden

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A backyard can be a beautiful place, unfortunately, mine has not been. A few weeks ago I wrote about what sort of jungle it became and with a little money and someone else's time, it was nicely cleaned up. 

Here is the before... just a MESS. 



















And here is the AFTER. 


It looks SO much better, but it still needs a prettier touch. This 'flower bed' was probably something beautiful at one point, but not anymore. There were weeds, random rocks, and if you look closely a white puppy roaming around.

Here's what I planned to do: 
- Move the rocks around to make an outline of the flower bed 
- Bought some mulch to make it look defined and cleaner 
- Decided it was time to create a container garden. 


On to the DIY container garden...

Since this whole home ownership is still new, I didn't want to put a lot of time and money into starting a garden this year. Creating a DIY container garden seemed much more doable. A guy at work who owns cows (remember, I live in Arkansas) had some buckets that he didn't need anymore that I knew would work for my space. 

Free buckets, check.

We drilled some hole in the bottom of them for drainage. 

Free buckets that I turned into containers for growing things, check.


Because these buckets weren't the prettiest things in the world, I cleaned them up and used gold spray paint to turn them into golden, beautiful container pots. 

Spray paint = less than $10


Now, with a cleaned up area, and free container pots, this spot was looking like it was finally coming together!


Each pot was filled with soil and compost, and a tomato plant was planted in each one. I even found a rock that looked like the state of Arkansas, so I spray painted it gold too. 




Incredible what you can do with a little elbow grease and gold spray paint! 

Here's a before and after for comparison! 


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Planning a Trip to Paris

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If you've read the title of this post then you already know... I'm planning a trip to Paris in August! 

Photo from TripAdvisor.com where I was clearly researching all things to do in Paris. 
 
I am SO excited that when I booked the tickets I actually cried. 

Is that cute, or pathetic? I don't care because I AM SO EXCITED. 

Since clearly, this is my first time to Paris considering the emotion of crying from booking plane tickets, I want to know...what tips/advice/things should we do in Paris? We also plan on going to Nice to looking for advice there as well! 

Help a girl feel prepared! 
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