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hey there! I'm monica 

I pride myself on making amazing style and design accessible for everyone, regardless of location, budget, or ability! My design philosophy is rooted in authenticity + attainability - If I can do it, you can too! My work has been featured in countless publications, but I take the most pride in homeowners that have been personally inspired by my DIY ideas and have tried something in their own homes!

learn more about ME + MY BIZ

 You guys are the greatest. Thanks for all the feedback yesterday on Monica’s post about long-distance relationships…it’s so nice to know we can share our hearts and have them received so lovingly! And, for the record, Monica is very hard on herself. That’s all I will say about that.

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On to more lighthearted, less important things, people!  My living room furniture.  So this is the armoire that we have in our living room. It’s actually an old cheap computer desk from KMart that we hastily painted with chalk paint and threw into the living room to store some of the kid’s toys. It works...okay. To be honest, the quality of the piece is laughingly poor, and the color just isn’t right.

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This is the kind of picture that I kind of inwardly cringe about….it’s so not “finished” or pulled together the way we would do it for Knock It Off, but it’s real life, so I’m trying to embrace it. My house has always been and will continue to be a work in progress as funds and time allow. But even in it’s unfinished state, I do love this house. Welcome to the mish-mash that is my brain. 🙂

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That chair isn’t staying there. It’s one of 3 chairs that I keep trying out in that spot. And I’m thinking of going a bit darker with the wall color, even thought it’s the most asked-about paint color on this blog.

See how that armoire sticks out so far? I’ve never loved that the side of it is the first thing you see when you walk into the room.

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 Monica and I have to do a lot of shopping for our episodes so I casually keeping my eyes open for something. We were at our favorite thrift store, Liberty Thrift and I saw this little beauty.

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Ahhh, I love it! The legs, the details, the hardware (even thought it’s missing several!). So pretty! It’s really old and has yellowed with age but  its still functional and has such great bones.

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Here’s my problem. I don’t like the color, but I can’t figure out what to do to it. I’m pretty sure I want to go with a wood tone, so I stained a piece of scrap wood with three stains I had on hand: Rustoleum Deep Walnut, Rustoleum American Walnut and Cabot custom blue/gray stain.

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I took them into the room to see which I liked better and guess what?! I still don’t know what color to do. I’m leaning towards the light blue/gray, but ugh, help a girl out!

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 I rounded up a few inspiration pictures of furniture that I really like- all with a different color stains.

Love this classic, neutral living room.    #livingrooms #decorating

Weathered Grey via Country Living

Furniture idea for right hand side of the MB living room designs  #KBHomes

Dark grey via KB Home

Fall-family-room-at-the-inspired-room

Walnut via The Inspired Room

What do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts…soon! I’m hoping to get working on this thing this weekend and need some direction. 🙂

Ever get stumped by a piece of furniture? 

The comments +

  1. Dena says:

    American walnut is always my go-to, but I like light blue/gray. The others blend into the floor. Are you gonna play with the vertical stripes on the top drawers?

  2. Julie says:

    I like the lighter tones a lot! It just seems to match the style of the room.

  3. I’ve been really drawn to the lighter wood tones. So pretty!

  4. Oh I like the one all t he way to the left… but I am bias and love super deep wood tones!

  5. Ann says:

    I think American Walnut’s warm tones would compliment well.

  6. Gina says:

    I like the dark color the best – it matches the floor!

  7. Jen C says:

    American!

  8. Judi G says:

    I like the deep walnut stain – so rich looking.

  9. shauna says:

    I tend to go dark but love the light stain! I also love to try new things 🙂

  10. Barb says:

    Blue/gray will lighten up everything.

  11. Kelly Dietz says:

    I wouldn’t do any of the 3. With that blue wall color, a nice whitewash would look good IMO

  12. Michelle says:

    I love the light gray stain.

  13. lns says:

    the light blue/gray … especially if theres still good grain to the wood under the paint … keep the room light & airy

  14. kipper says:

    The wood stain would be a lot of work, removing the old paint etc. but worth the effort and be the best. I like the darkest shade. If you want to paint it, then go to Miss Mustard Seed’s blog for ideas. . I just painted a worn out (veneer missing/lots of chips) old dresser. Though I much prefer stained/natural wood, it would have been impossible to do that with this piece. I used a cream shade of regular satin latex indoor paint and spray painted the drawer pulls -which are just like the ones you have-gloss black.

  15. Cheryl says:

    I like the Blue/Gray the best. But I don’t think it’s dark enough. I’m wondering what it would look like with a couple coats of that shade though. I’m thinking with a few coats it will look great.

  16. Gina says:

    Weathered grey is my favorite

  17. Cheryl says:

    The reason that I follow your blog is that I am horrible at figuring out décor. So, you decide because you two are great!

  18. Elizabeth Faraone says:

    I’m totally with you on the light blue/gray. It’s a great piece and the light blue/gray will give it an earthiness that the other colors won’t. First thought best thought. Can’t wait to see what the wood looks like when you strip it. Keep us posted every step of the way!

  19. Laura says:

    Definitely either the dark or the light, not the reddish.

    Based on your inspiration pictures, I think deep in your heart you want the light bleached wood.

  20. Joanna says:

    I think I would like the dark gray finish the best. I think it would pull the room together, especially considering the paint treatment on the fireplace.

  21. […] wondering what Jess’s dresser has in common with a nail salon! Well if you recall from her post, she picked it up from one of our other favorite local spots, Liberty Thrift (who is now on […]

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