Meg vs. the Bed: Refinishing done!

Three coats of finish and two layers of topcoat later, here she is. It is nice to have one project checked off. Now I just need to get the room done so I can put the bed together and see the whole thing! Also, you can see the back of the wardrobe I picked up today (a Craigslist purchase) with a great deal of help from my siblings--my sister babysat and my brother did the heavy lifting (and was mostly my bodyguard going to a strange house in Oakland. Turned out it was a small-ish middle-eastern lady, but you never know). The wardrobe will go in that room as well, and my mom is staining my old desk and bookshelf to match all of this so it will all go together. Now I just need to hunt down one more wardrobe for the second bedroom and all the furniture will be ready!

Meg vs. The Garage: New Automatic Door!

Ever since the guy came to put it in, all John and I keep saying is, "Why didn't we get this done sooner?!" I suppose the answer is just that we have too many projects on our list. But it is so nice to have, and nice that it forced us to clean out the garage before the installation =).

The night before--you can actually see the whole garage floor! And we let the contractor keep that awesome car poster.

Our pretty new door! It really highlights how badly the house needs painting.

No more old wooden door falling down. Lovely.

Meg vs. Renters: Staining a new bed.

We found renters! I have been so consumed in finding a place/finding renters/creating leases/getting the house ready that I haven't taken time to post my goings-on, but I will try to catch up a bit, since I really have been chipping away at the projects.

Anyhow, we are going to be renting the house out to three students. We realized that to compete with the rest of the housing market for local students, we need to leave the house furnished. So I have been on a Freecycle kick finding the additional things we will need to turn our little boy/baby rooms into grad student rooms. And once we move, I will be on a new Freecycle kick trying to replace everything we left behind.

I got a full-size bed for the front bedroom that has storage in the headboard and underneath, which is perfect because then I don't have to buy a separate dresser! It was a light honey maple color and pretty worn, but I was planning on leaving it as-is because, well, I didn't really have time or space to do anything about it. Then John reminded me how much better it could look if I stained it the same color as the bathroom vanity, and said that if we put that old bed in the room after re-doing all of the walls and making it look nice, it would "automatically date it ten years." So...I ordered a bigger can of stain from Amazon. Last night I put on the first coat:

And tonight the second coat:

It really does look so much better, and I think it will be a really beautiful piece of furniture, so I'm glad John talked some sense into me, even if it means I won't sleep for a few nights...

I used General Finishes Java Gel Stain (disclaimer: that is an affiliate link), and am following this tutorial from Monica Wants It, just like I did for the bathroom vanity. I love this stuff! Only a very light sanding required before you get to slap that stuff on. Just the way I like a project! Now I just need to get the room done so I can put the bed inside! It is still looking pretty scary in there, and I have less than 3 weeks to moving day. Wish me luck!