Introduction & First Blog Post

Hello everyone! My name is Shayla Martin, 27 years old, currently living in Pewaukee, Wisconsin.  I have created this blog as an outlet to share my projects and methodologies to my new found love of refurbishing furniture. I have always loved to make crafts and be creative as I don't get to in my finance job during the day.  I used to make jewelry and knit/crochet during high school and college. I still do those projects when I need to take a break from furniture. I recently started getting into refurbishing furniture as I was looking to furnish my condo I bought in June 2014 on a budget while also trying to make some updates to it.

It all started with a perfect spot that I had for a desk in my main living room. I wanted a desk to fit perfectly in there width and depth wise and also hide all my cords and router. I looked online at all affordable websites: Target, Overstock, Amazon, West Elm, Ikea etc. I found some I liked but they were never the perfect dimensions. I also suggested making a desk with my boyfriend, who happens to conveniently be very handy, but he said after all the costs and time, I would be better off buying one. Then, one day I was perusing a local Facebook for sale group and happen to find this amazing old teachers desk with plenty of storage for $25. After seeing the measurements, I knew it would be a perfect fit! When I went to go pick it up, I met the nicest lady, Kim. She said that she had bought it as a project for herself, but just didn't have the time.



After getting it home, I started looking for ideas for it. I decided wanted to do a dark wood top and grey for the rest. Needless to say, this was my very first project and I feel I have come a long way since. My pictures are not that great but I tried to include some for you to see the progress. I tried Miss Mustard Seed Paint in trophy for it, and did not have very much luck mixing it or applying. It would take a lot for me to use her paint again. Kim turned out to be a great resource during all of this. I felt bad for messaging her after I had bought it, but she told me she had painted a few items and to reach out if I needed help, and I did. She was so nice and walked me through a lot of it over the phone and offered so much advice. I had found my first furniture friend and we are still great friends almost a year later. We are also hoping to do our first flea market together this September. 

Thanks so much for reading my blog, I am hoping to do a few more posts of old projects soon.

XO,
Shayla