Guest room makeover

In anticipation of a very special visitor, our guest room received a much-needed makeover. I'd been looking for the perfect wall color for quite a while. My heart was set on a cheerful, grassy green, so there have been samples taped and splashed on the wall for months. Those who've visited my house know the walls are coated in a generic yellowy beige very popular with showings and general boringness. As someone who cannot stand beige, I will not rest until it is eradicated from every square inch of my home. See below for an example of the "before" color:



Awful, right? Then there's the problem of the dresser. In 2002, I moved into my first apartment, which required a bed, a desk, and a dresser. All this stuff is surprisingly expensive for a 19-year-old college junior, so I scoured the Santa Cruz thrift stores for an appropriate clothes-holder. What I found looked something like this (not an actual photo from that time, but a similar model):



Awful, right? Like I stole it from some 1980s prom queen. That color had to go. With inspiration from a very dear friend, I transformed that sad old dresser into this (pictured in my actual 2002 apartment):



Ten years (and as many moves) later, though, my beloved hot pink dresser was starting to look more than a little worn, dated, and childish. If we were going to make over the guest room, the dresser would have to be included. So began the great dresser repainting of 2012.



When I'd originally painted it, I had no idea what I was doing. In lieu of sanding or any other prep work, I painted straight over the original finish (and original thrift store gunk). Worried about chipping the fresh paint job, I slapped a thick coat of polyurethane over top of the whole thing and called it a day. Did I mention that I completed this task in the middle of my living room? Goodbye security deposit. My initial carelessness turned out to be a positive thing. Chemical stripper made short work of the hot pink paint. The original white and gold lacquer was a different story. Here's what the midway point looked like:





That lacquer was a wily beast. Many hours of scraping, sanding, and attacking with power tools later, a grownup dresser began to take shape:



At long last, it was time to return the freshly-painted dresser to its home in our freshly-painted guest room. Snazzy green walls, new art, fresh curtains and bedding, a wall mirror, and a new nightstand later, our guest room is now the well-appointed suite pictured below (complete with a copy of Fugitives and Refugees and a handmade roller derby pillow from Aunt Carol):







Finished just in time for Ms. Weatherly, who arrives in a matter of days.