A bedroom evolution

A few months before we got married, we bought our first mattress - a queen - at one of Sears' "50 percent off all mattresses" sale. (In retrospect, I'm pretty sure they run this sale 365 days a year.) This was quite exciting for both of us, who slept in our respective double beds after a childhood in a single. I made Brandon promise not to wet the bed or let any guests sleep in it until we got married, and I moved in.

A few months into our marriage, and after hours spent online searching for my dream bed, we bought a headboard. Once it arrived and we put it together, I was in love. But, my love didn't extend to the rest of our bedroom furniture. It was (and remains) a hodge-podge mess. I really wanted to splurge on the dresser that matched our headboard, but $650 seemed like a stretch.

Fast forward to three months ago, when we scored a $60 solid wood dresser off our local Craigslist. It was a bit rough around the edges and not at all in line with the wood tones we preferred, but it was solid wood, very sturdy, and had streamlined legs that were reminiscent of the Danish Modern furniture we had scattered throughout the rest of the house (all Craigslist and garage sale finds). So we brought it home.


And it set in our garage.

We threatened to refinish it to a color more consistent with the rest of our bedroom, but neither of us knew what we were doing. (And frankly, we're not the do-it-yourselfers that some folks are.) We thought about painting it, but he wanted to paint it black, and I wanted white, and neither of us was budging. Then, we jumped back on Craigslist and found someone trying to start up a furniture refinishing business. Three weeks and a few dollars later, we have a new-to-us dresser.




Satisfaction. It cost us a bit to pay someone else to do our dirty work, but the dresser still cost half of what we would pay for for a new one. Now, I'm onto accessorizing. (Both the frame and the bin have already been moved in favor of less monstrous items.) Once, we replace the (charming) gold handles with some streamlined silver ones, I think I can call it a day.