Refurbished Dresser from the Garbage Room

Things have been a little slow around the lab lately, so I've had a wee bit more time on my hands. This coupled with my new obsession with DIY blogs and HGTV have lead to a few little projects.

I love DIY blogs. Love love love them, for a few very simple reasons. First, they promote recycling. Second, they can promote NOT shopping at the various Garbage-Marts out there (im looking at you Walmart, Zellers, Ikea, Canadian Tire...). Third, they give me a reason to accumulate other peoples crap and turn it into something cool to decorate our apartment with. And lastly, and perhaps most importantly, its super cheap. Like, mostly, free.

As mentioned in a previous post the Garbage Room generously provided us with a MUCH needed dresser. There was only one problem: it was absolutely freaking hideous. It was a little gross actually. But, in keeping with my DIY attitude we grabbed it, hauled it up to the apartment, bought a can of glossy white rust paint and a set of rollers (with tray) from ye olde Dollarstore, for a grand total of about $15.

The first step was to sort of take it apart, clean it and repair any of the broken drawers.

If you want to take on refurbishing a dresser make sure that you reinforce any drawers that look weak before you start to paint. Im sure everyone has experienced the bottom of a drawer falling out...and the sheer impossibility of trying to get the drawer out.You also want to remove any drawer pulls that are on there...even if you are painting them!

Ok, so once everything was taken apart and fixed up it was time to paint!

My only real words of advice in terms of painting the drawers is to 'cut in' the same way you would when painting a room. [Cutting in is when you paint the wall edges and corners before you paint the surface of the wall, so that when you roll on the paint you dont bump the ceiling or floor with your roller, and its hard to paint a square corner with a round roller!]. Also, try to enjoy it! Have some tea and peanut butter cookies, that works for me! Oh, and sponge rollers!! They provide much better coverage and you can sort of squish them into the corners. If you are painting the drawer pulls make sure they are nice and dry before you reattach them to the drawers.

Two coats of paint and a few small repairs later and this baby looks about a million times better than it did before. And our bedroom is that much better organized!

I love having old/vintage furniture and other items in my place. They have so much more character than something you would pick up and a large retailer. So keep your eyes open and be on the lookout for good deals. You'll save money and add a personal touch to your home too.

-- TinieBop

It Ain't That Onterrible

Well... I love Ontario. I know, I know, put down your pitchforks and torches... I know a Nova Scotian is contractually obliged to never say that. It's kind of like saying that the bluenose is just a boat or that the cabot trail is an okay drive. They will kick you out for that sort of stuff.

It's kind of strange what it took for me to say that but here's why it's okay Bluenosers, the Ontario Governemnt gave me $100, just to get ready for the HST. Suckers!!! I've had that for years, and I got ready the hard way... without $100.

So now, me and Kristine, we got a cool $200 between us and after traveling the last few weeks and with me just starting a job, that is greatly appreciated. Things were getting lean and when I get home I'll post a before and after shot of our fridge, cause I'm stuffing it with $200 of groceries tonight. It'll go from white haven of an onion and the milk jug to a veritble paradise of exotic items such as apples and oranges and maybe some pizza filled pastries. Oh my god, 10,000 pizza pockets all to myself.

And... we get two more of these cheques to wean us onto the HST, plus our GST. Americ... I mean Canada, What a country *sigh*. In Nova Scotia, money checks you!

So in closing, I like anyone who gives me money... unless it's Toronto... Toronto Sucks.

The Garbage Room Provides

Weekend Update

Quick Post...

Spent the weekend in Timmins attending the wedding of a friend of Kristines. Stop.

Found some great yard sale stuff including dishes, a petzel maker, yiddish to english dictionaries, and a credit union brochure rack from 1953. Stop.

Met a Cape Bretoner and a television personality. Stop.

Pictures and more to follow. Stop.

End Transmission.

Today in Good Find History #1

Today in good find history:

June 4, 1760 - A group of New England settlers happen upon a good piece of land that has French Flags and "Welcome to Acadia" signs surrounding it. Pretty good find due to there being houses and farms that were already built, as if by the grace of their Anglican god.

The French, always throwing away good territories. Quelle dommage.

Le salle de garbage fournit.

Apologies to Her Majesty

Well to start, she deserves it, this old lady has a major scam going and I'm just taking my share. To be honest it's not just her but her whole family to be precise that has been pulling the wool over our eyes for a long time. Somewhere, back in 1066 lets say, her great, great, great, great, great, grand-dad got the idea to conquer a little island and call it England. Then her Great great great grand-pappy decided to send people looking for new countries and John Cabot found Canada. And her great grandmother made the colony a country that we now live in, with Elizabeth owning everything that we pay taxes for... yes the queen owns the streets and the library and even the fire engines!!! Fire engines!!! And I pay for them... or would pay for them if I payed taxes. It's true, look at a government sign or logo closely enough and mostlikely you'll see HRH. Hermoine R. Hippo.

But to digress, we were in Kingston, Ontario (not Nova Scotia or Jamaica) 2 weeks ago for Kristine's aunt's wedding, and lets just say things weren't going well at all. Makeup sucked, everyone was rushed, hairdressers didn't show up and a friend of hers forgot the flowers. So at about 6:30, I bring the bouquet box up to the bridal suite for her. This was going to be the one thing that went right, the thing that would set things straight. Well she opened it and lo and behold... all the guys flowers were there... not hers. It was anarchy in there, people started crying, dresses caught afire and all I heard was "Do what it takes..." from Kristine.

Well I don;t know if you know me but "Do what it takes" is a pretty empowering statement for me... I was trying to figure out schemes to get some reproductive parts of flowers like 1)throwing a chair through the flower shop window and leading a tulip raid unlike any the Dutch have ever seen. Or 2) enlisting the help of Queens University botanists to grow a super plant that's flowers were perfectly bouquet shaped and smelled of cinabon.

By this point of daydreaming I was outside running frantically around the hotel where the nuptials were to take place in 15 minutes looking for someone to help up. And what do I spy across the street... Tiger Lillies! and Orchids!!! and Lilacs!!! It was a plant taxonomist's wet dream. I quickly ran across into this garden and started tearing.... straight out of the ground gathering and gathering... It was amazing a work of horticultural genius to see this arrangement of flowers. But as I ran out of the garden... I saw HER name on the sign, or at least Parks Canada's name on the sign and I realized... I might be in trouble...

Now the reason I knew I was in trouble is I spent 2 years working for this old lady as a Parks biology intern, doing some amazing research. And as a warning, Parks Canada has some pretty stiff laws... like lifetime bans from parks and huge fines.. and what I just did would put me on Captain Planet's Dead or Alive list... I just turned myself into a poacher.

I didn't have3 time to worry about this though... there must be an exemption for weddings. And I ran back across the street and delivered this ill begotten bouquet to the bride in the nick of time. She was grateful, I was sweaty and the flowers were full of bugs.

Long story short, I took your flowers queen but I gave them to a bride so I think this crime is okay in my books and those are the only books I worry about... and Kristine's books. She was proud of me, aside from the sweat and soil all over me. And in the end the only trouble I got in was that guy who came across the street late r in the night to ask if I stole flowers. I'll let you in on a secret, "If you say you are drunk and don't understand" things usually work out.

And to the queen, "You'll never get them back".

The Garbage Room Provides

The Garbage Room Provides

My boyfriend and I have been noticing for awhile that whenever we need something, it will fortuitously make it's way to us, be it money, furniture or food.

For example, our futon broke, and being the broke/cheap/starving grad students that we are we just continued to sit on the broken futon. Correction, Myles fixed it...by propping it up with a rock. We talked about getting a new one but never had the cheddar.

About a week later they were cleaning out all the residence apartments at the university (we live on campus) after the undergrads had gone for the summer and there were about 20 couches in the Garbage Room just sitting there, ripe for the picking. So naturally we dug through, found the best one and hauled it up to our little abode. Its not the nicest thing, but it was free! We also got a sweet coffee table and a dresser that was in need of a little TLC.

The Garbage Room Provides