My furniture posts are quickly becoming fewer and farther between.  We don’t have a heated garage, and so living in Alaska, that greatly inhibits how much of the prep work I can do on furniture pieces that need a substantial makeover.  I tried stripping a night stand about a month ago in the 40 degree …

I don’t know if it’s just in Alaska or everywhere, but furniture at thrift stores usually is not such an incredible steal anymore.  Like they caught on to the DIYers and want to make them pay more for putting extensive blood, sweat and tears into a broken down piece of furniture.  For that reason, I don’t …

I am always on the lookout for French style furniture to makeover.  In particular French chairs or settees.  I have also come to discover, I enjoy reupholstering even more than painting.  I’ve been looking for a pair of French chairs for over two years, but, I’m telling you, in Alaska they are very hard to come by …

When I married my husband eleven years ago, I moved into the house he had been living in for the two years prior.  It was his grandmother’s guest house, and it is our joke, that she furnished and decorated it with all the leftover stuff she no longer liked.  It was like a living museum of …

(This is the story of the first chair I painted and reupholstered two years ago.  Because, well, we all have to start somewhere, and why not share with you the beginnings of the process?) Once upon a time there was a chair. It was used, abused, and forsaken. Renters had little respect for anything in …

I have long admired Pottery Barn’s throw pillows, you know, the ones with embroidery, that cost $60 for the cover alone.  Then one must purchase the inset in addition to shipping to Alaska.  By the time it’s said and done, a sweet little throw pillow would end up costing me $120 or more.  I don’t think so…  …

When my first baby was born almost nine years ago, my husband and I had nearly no money.  I wasn’t craigslist or garage sale savvy at the time, and so we bought a little sleigh style dresser at WalMart.  It lasted until the boys were old enough to start using it, and then of course, …

I’m always on the look out for a great mirror.  The heavy old ones, wrapped in pure wood.  I’ve found they’re pretty hard to come by, and if you do, they’re around $100.  And it’s not that I couldn’t scrape up $100, it just doesn’t seem worth it to me for a mirror. So I …

Summer’s winding down here, school starts next week.  I am always sad to get  my kids back to school.  But we have a had an incredible summer as a family, camping, hiking, BBQs, and warming up (we had a record breaking summer here, and it was quite nice).  As we’re winding down and getting ready …

For quite some time I had been looking for a serving tray.  I would go to Target or other stores and think how it would be nice to have a serving tray, both for practical and decorative use.  But I could never spend as much money as they seem to require, like something else in the …