Lest You Think I'm Superwoman

If you've ever read any blogs before, you know that what you typically see is a perfectly clean house with perfectly painted everything and slipcovers changed out for every season.  Well, I'm determined to be honest in my decorating adventures AND misadventures lest you think I'm superwoman.  Don't worry; I won't show you my dirty dishes or laundry.  You probably don't want to see your own, much less mine.  I will, however, show you my total flops.  Without further ado...

What started out as Monday's project quickly turned into this week's project: the desk.  When I first bought it, I painted it a nice, creamy off-white color.  It's survived several moves since then, but the paint was dinged up and peeling in some areas.  I didn't have any paint leftover from the original paint job, so I painted it the same color that I'd used on the refinished dresser.  But it just never looked "right."  I'd saved up my swagbucks and used Amazon gift cards to buy some nice hardware, but it disappeared when matched with the dark gray.  Since I wasn't sure what color to use, I let the desk sit for a while.  Finally, I picked up a light gray color called "Embellish".  It looked so nice on the swatch, but with the brown carpet, the color looked as though it had a pink tint to it.  The desk looked awful!  It was late, so I just went to bed and thought to myself, "Maybe I'm just tired.  It'll probably look better in the morning."

Well, it didn't.  I went back to our paint stash and grabbed "Coffee," a light brown color that looks great in our bedroom.  I painted the whole desk again, let it dry, and put the hardware on the drawers.  Still hideous!  Desk-2  Emily-0

I went to the paint stash for the THIRD time and grabbed an "oops" can that we got for a couple dollars.  It's a beautiful, deep red that I picked up without any thought of how we could use it.   I'm not really a statement furniture kind of girl.  I prefer classic furniture with trendier accessories.  But I painted the desk red...  And I loved it!  I guess the third time IS a charm!

So there you have it- the misadventure of Emily and the desk.  Thankfully, this one has a happy ending.

Before- I tested out "Embellish" on the inside.  See it?

After- Much better!

I love how the red desk draws more attention to the door!

I cut some fabric off the bottom of the curtains to make a piece to go across the desk.  It ties it all together!

Do you see the bookshelf to the left of the desk in the "before" picture?  That's my next painting project.  Here's hoping for one paint job!