Wanna know what you can do with $1.61? This might be my favorite transformation yet.
Although my original nursery plan included built-in bookcases on either side of the fireplace, the closer I got to my due date the less responsible I felt about spending several hundred dollars on one project. I decided I might feel better about waiting until summer and bringing in some other piece for storage in the meantime. I shopped my own house and ended up with this.
It’s an old “skeleton-closet” from the local elementary school that completes the set we have in our living room as an entertainment center. It has been hanging out behind the dining room door, full of hooks and bins as our makeshift coat closet. Since winter is coming to a close, we figured we could re-purpose it for the nursery and we wouldn’t even miss it.
First, K & I painted it white chocolate – the color of the trim, fireplace and other furniture in the room. See that cute little knob on the front? It was $1.61 at Hobby Lobby and the only money I spent on this project!
Using left-over scraps of fabric from the curtains and a roll of pink ribbon in my craft stash, I covered the glass in the lower half to give us a little room for storage that might be less than pretty.
I attached the fabric and ribbon with hot glue and it worked like a charm. FYI – if you ever burn yourself with an industrial glue gun, don’t attempt to pull the hot glue from your hand. With it, comes your skin and it isn’t pretty. Instead, run your hand under cool water and once the glue is dry, it peels right off without a mark. I had two lovely fingers to show for the first attempt.
After a few shelving snafus, my dad finally managed to install white melamine shelves on the interior of the cabinet and anchored it to the wall in the case of cute climbers.
Isn’t she pretty? Next came the fun part… accessorizing! On top of the cabinet is a metal cupcake stand painted white – I’m not sure what I’ll display here, but I like where we’re going. I also added an antique locker basket full of cuddly sweater blankets that are better reserved for cool weather.
In the lower half of the cabinet we have plenty of toy storage.
And inside there is lots to smile about! The top shelf has a few frames waiting for pictures of Sophie and a “Liberty of London” canvas bin I picked from Target this week to hold stuffed animals {Nana, this is what else you bought!}.
On the middle shelf is a set of books Lane sent us last summer and a set of cast iron Scotty bookends I got from one of my favorite antique shops.
Finally, on the last shelf is a bonnet that Ella wore home from the hospital and one of Ella’s pretty tea sets. We don’t have a place for it in her room and I don’t want her playing with it, so it worked out well to display it here. The colors are perfect and it is at the perfect height for display.
So, what do you think about our $1.61 make-over?
