New things and projects

Something about living in a nicer apartment makes us want to have nicer things. I guess that makes sense. Most of our furniture is either hand-me-down from one of our families, or thrift store finds, so none of it really goes together and most of it is pretty beat up. We decided that the couch we had was no longer practical (it was really more of a love seat and could only fit two people comfortably) and since something about sitting on a used couch (and by used, I mean a couch that comes from a stranger or Goodwill, the couch we had was used by Phil's brother, but that was ok) grossed us both out we decided to splurge on a new couch and then save money on everything else we wanted by  painting or refinishing in some way.

After a couple of weeks of looking around and comparing prices. we found a couch we really liked. And, even better it was on clearance. Normally priced at $1000, it was marked down to $499. Plus, we received a $250 gift card when we signed the lease to our apartment, so we used that toward the couch and so only paid $250 for it! I love good deals.

Old couch Before (in our AZ apartment):

New couch After (I'm planning on sewing new, colorful throw pillows soon):

With a nice couch that will hopefully last us forever (because we aren't going to have money to buy another one anytime soon) I have been trying to find ways to update our other stuff. My first project was our desk. I wanted to get it done first because it sits in our living room and is noticeable right when you enter the apartment. It is a desk that Phil has had since high school, and nothing too special, but I sure love how it turned out (although I don't think these pictures do it justice).

Before:

After:

I had originally hoped to replace the knobs and pulls with shiny silver ones, but I haven't found any I like yet (and that don't cost an arm and a leg) so I just reattached the original hardware. It doesn't look too bad for now (I also am thinking about just spray painting them silver, but haven't decided yet).

My next goal is to finish up Luke's room with a dresser-turned-changing table project that I will hopefully be able to start this weekend. Happy 4th and DIY!