Moving in with my boyfriend has proven to be an overall awesome experience. My pug, Po gets to play with his fur siblings, Mac the German Shepherd and Gilly the lab, every single day. Splitting bills obviously does not hurt, and it is just nice to come home everyday to your “person.” Although we have been dating for a long time, sharing a space every. single. moment. can be a bit of a transition.

I am absolutely anal when it comes to the way I keep my house. Every little thing has it’s place and, even though I have my fair share of knick knacks, I don’t like messiness. When we first moved in together, I was so overwhelmed with the amount of (for lack of a better phase) boatload of shit that Mark and I had. We had nearly double or triple of everything. So it was not only the merging of homes and pets, but the decluttering and organizing that had me stressed to the max.

Mark, on the other hand, is way more relaxed about it all…or should I say, everything. It is honestly something I really admire about him because, unlike his neurotic freak-a-zoid of a girlfriend, he takes everything in stride. There was and still is a lot of we-don’t-have to-get-it-all-done-today talks.

Anyway, we are now transitioned and the stress has finally subsided. I have completed a couple of quick home projects throughout this process so I thought I would share! Here is what I have worked on so far…

We needed a book shelf to put in our living room since we surprisingly did not have one. We found this basic shelf at a thrift store for cheap. It was the perfect size but was teal and distressed…not my style. I decided to leave the inside of the shelves as they were and paint the outside with some white chalk paint. I swear by chalk paint. It gives the best finish, in my opinion.

Once the paint was dry, I buffed on some clear paint wax with an old t-shirt. I like Annie Sloan’s clear chalk paint wax the best. It is best not to use a regular towel for buffing because the terry cloth fibers can get stuck in the wax and not provide an even finish.

It’s amazing what a little white paint can do. Po the pug approves!

Even though my last home was itty bitty, literally 650 sq. ft., it did have plenty of cabinets and shelving for dishes. Since combining everything into one home, it was apparent we just did not have enough storage space in our kitchen. I also wanted something to display all of my various drinking glasses and vintage glassware.

I found this hutch on Craigslist and it was just what I was looking for! I love a good Craigslist find.

I took off the doors and busted out the white chalk paint again! I liked the navy blue color of the hutch, but white just goes better with our kitchen and overall décor. I wanted to leave some of the wood unpainted since I did the same with the bookshelf.

I buffed in the clear paint wax and bam! I love the way it turned out. I found some gorgeous milk glass knobs from Anthropologie and they added the perfect final touch.

This made such a great addition to our dining room/kitchen area. It’s become one of my favorite projects I have done so far.

Stay tuned for more before and afters and Happy Sunday!