I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend! I’m enjoying all the blog posts and Facebook photos that everyone is posting of their holiday events. After an outdoor concert on Saturday night, I was one of those brave souls—out of 300,000—who endured a trip to the east coast beaches (I don’t know what I was thinking). After spending a week vacationing in Florida, I was in a better frame of mind and I think that’s what helped get me through this weekend. Although I spent an extra two and a half hours on the ride home and a lot of other little things went wrong, spending time on the beach with my favorite yellow lab and kayaking through the bay on Monday made it worth the trip.

My Florida vacation was absolutely wonderful. The weather was perfect—with just one overcast day and the rest of the week sunny and breezy and staying in the low 80s—I had nothing to complain about. Whatever I was doing to pass the time that week, I made sure to enjoy every minute. Time to bond with my family was just what I needed.

I know I promised that I would come back from vacation with some new beach-themed ideas, and I do have ideas to share with you, but I was eager to do something more hands-on this week. I’ve always wanted to do a before and after project on a piece of furniture. Last week I finally found a piece at a thrift store that had my style and “makeover” written all over it!

At first I was afraid to paint this beautiful piece, but it really did need a lot of help. The wicker was missing in a few areas, the bamboo was cracking, and the stain of the wood was discolored throughout. Finding second-hand furniture that is made from real wood is important to me as well.

I used black spray paint for the wicker areas because it’s easier to get to the woven areas from all angles. I did this with an old set of outdoor furniture last summer and had so much fun with it.

When you are using spray paint, make sure you spray outside and leave it to dry outside for several hours because it does smell. When you are selecting a type of paint to use, make sure you go with a glossy or semi-gloss finish. Anything else, like eggshell of matte finish, is more likely to flake off or scratch.

I plan on putting this in my second bedroom and staging it for a better photo so that I can send it into one of my favorite blogs that posts before and after projects. I’ll be sure to blog about it when I do!