I started on this project and totally forgot to grab a before picture! Sorry! This picture is the basic dresser but without the handles. The first step was taking the hardware off of the dresser. I then lightly washed the dresser with a moist rag. I let it dry completely before doing anything else!

The dresser was full of little scratches and dents. The goal was to cover them up!

Looking back, I went to a TON more work than I needed to! I stained this dresser ebony (basically black). Because I was staining, I had to strip it first. Stripping wood takes hours and makes a big mess. Then I sanded it to make sure the stain was going to adhere to it. I was finally ready to do the fun part, staining! I put on one coat and let it dry completely. Then, I lightly sanded again and put on a second layer of stain. This is one of the first projects I tackled staining so I was reading the directions on the can of stain and following them pretty closely. After two coats of stain, I lightly sanded again and put a layer of polyurethane to protect the finish. I have learned that polyurethane can yellow or tint the project, but since it was black I was not worried about it being discolored. This project is definitely not perfect, but the end product is 10 times better than before! 

I didn't end up spray painting the hardware, but thought about it. I actually really liked the look of the dark on dark. For less than $3 though, I could have bought some spray paint and updated those too!

Here is what it is currently looking like these days! I am so pleased at how it turned out!

I got my hands on this treadmill for free and didn't have room for it in the house, so I threw it in the garage. I used it a couple of times but could never get too motivated to spend a lot of time out there. I decided to use up some leftover paint and a couple of hours to give it a quick facelift. 

I found an old dry erase board that was on its way to the trash, so I snagged it! I had some leftover chalkboard paint so I put two coats on it and painted the trim white. This project was completely free as I only used leftover paint that was in storage! I hung up some medals and tags from some races I have completed and put my marathon miles right in front of me. 

The facelift definitely helped with the motivation!

I bought my house in the summer of 2016. There was poor lighting throughout the whole house, dull paint colors, and just a very depressing vibe. I couldn't wait to throw some light, natural paint colors on the walls and replace all the lights with LEDs. Here is a before picture. I did a very poor job taking project pictures along the way. Hopefully the before and after pictures speak for themselves.

One of the first things I did was took off the cabinet doors in the middle section to keep an open concept. I filled the holes and gave the whole thing a coat of black chalk paint. I updated the countertop by painting it. I threw a layer of polycrylic on top of the countertop for easy clean up!