Our good friend, Rhoda is hosting a Christmas vignette link party over at Southern Hospitality today, so I thought I’d blog about the Christmas-y touches I added to our newly-painted secretary. Here it is “before”…
…and here it is now!
As for the secretary itself, I ended up using Miss Mustard Seed‘s “Shutter Gray” milk paint on the outside of it, and I’m currently awaiting the arrival of some “Grain Sack” milk paint to use on the inside of it. I LOVED working with Marian’s milk paint! It’s exactly the finish I’m always drawn to, but can never seem to achieve myself. It took me a minute to get used to the consistency, but man does that stuff totally rock when it’s all smoothed on and dry. And her furniture wax that seals everything when you’re done painting? Total. Perfection!
Love, love, LOVE it!
The drawer pulls came from Home Depot:
I chose them because they were simple, inexpensive, and I liked the way they looked.
Up on top of the hutch, I used some things I already had on hand- including a few of my Grandma’s old crocks:
I popped a bunch of stuff that makes me smile inside the hutch, too:
I had to work Mr. “KP” in there, of course…
The small bowl, basket of ornaments, “joy” stone, snowflake ornament, Christmas trees, cinnamon sticks and cable-knit candle cozy all came from Hobby Lobby, and the green ribbon came from Michaels…
I dug everything else out of our moving boxes- ha! #StillUnpacking
My favorite “thing” though, is the card that’s stuck to the wall behind our “3” tray…
I love not opening it…and just letting that sentence soak way in. It takes me to a Positive place every time I see it…especially today. We received word that our adoption application has been approved by Lifeline Children’s Services! And while there are a lot of unknowns ahead of us on this journey, we’ll take comfort in knowing that One Thing’s for sure…and He’s got a plan for us and our little one.
Get My Free E-book: 15 Common Decorating Mistakes And How You Can Avoid Them
Enter your email to download my free e-book instantly! 🙂
The secretary looks awesome! We have one that looks almost identical to the bottom portion of yours- so interesting to see it with a hutch on top. Love the paint color. And congrats on the approval! What an exciting time!
It is lovely, Layla!
Merry Christmas Layla and Kevin
Your secretary is perfection!
Praying God’s perfect will in your adoption process and in your lives. Know you will make wonderful parents. Be blessed.
So happy your application was approved (of course it was!). Can’t wait to hear more good news. Love your secretary!
Layla and Kevin! Great job. Did you use a bonding agent? Love the finished look. I love the light sanding too!!!
thank you.
B
Love that you used MMS milk paint! Just got some last week and painted our kitchen table’s pedestal base “typewriter”–and went back to Lucketts yesterday to buy “tricyucle” to see if I can fun-up our saddle seat barstools a bit…and THEN was wondering how ‘shutter gray’ would be on top of our table? not sure-but i am LOVING her product. glad to see your gorgeous piece!
Hi Layla,
I love your style! … and, what’s more, I love your heart! Fellow Christian here and I can relate to so much that you say and the way you see things … my husband and I are also in the midst of looking into adoption. We are going the “foster with a view to adopt” route through our local Children’s Aid Society. It is an exciting time as we wait on our Lord to learn of His plans for us and the children we trust He will place in our care. Our journey has been long but our faith has grown SO much along that way. Our God is good – all the time! Amen. We wish you and Kevin God’s richest blessings as you trust in Him who is able to do immeasurably more than we could ever ask or imagine! 🙂 Ephesians 3:20 ~xx
Thank you, thank you, thank you for posting this! I have a secretary that is identical to this (except the glass… mine has panes). I bought it a few years back on Craigslist and thought I may paint it. I haven’t ever gotten around to it and have tried to sell it a few times on CL. Seeing yours has convinced me to keep it and paint it like originally planned! Yours turned out so great!