Project Time...

Upon the last day of school this past June, I (Kari) breathed a huge sigh of relief that school was finished for the year, and simultaneously felt a thrill of anticipation for all the great projects that I would have soooooo much time to complete this summer. (Insert hysterical laughter directed at my complete naiveté here.)

School starts back up for me on August 23 and, I will admit, I feel an impending doom hanging over my head.

I do not wanna go back to school.

True, I have no one to blame but myself and I only have a year left of this silliness, but I'll just tell you that I'm really, really ready to be finished. My husband is also really, really ready for me to be finished. He is anxiously waiting for me to be finished with school so that I can get a gourmet dinner on the table for him every night by the time he gets home from work. (Insert hysterical laughter directed at his complete naiveté here.) :) And, both of us are excited for me to be finished so that I can actually get projects completed in a timely manner instead of always having to defer to some crazy school project.

This summer, I had a grand to-do list of some really fun, creative projects that I was going to tackle. Funny, but not a one has been touched. My sewing machine has been sitting lonely in its box, and I never once dipped a paintbrush into paint! Yes, this has been a sad summer when it comes to creativity. (But, lest you think that I've had it rough, I must admit: I've been traveling with the hubby for the most of the summer and it's been great. I love, LOVE tagging along with him on his business trips 'cause it's really good time we get to spend together. And, no matter how much I complain about my unfinished projects, I wouldn't trade time on the road with him just to get a sewing project finished for anything. :)

So, for the next week, I am going to try to tackle a couple (not all) of my projects. I have one week left before school and I am gonna squeeze every drop out of it. The most pressing project is this one...

Yep, check out the bamboo loveliness! (and sorry about what appears to be a very dirty wood floor. Would you believe me if I blamed it on my cruddy iphone picture-taking abilities? Please?)

I scored this baby on a flea market junket a couple months ago. My dear sweet friends Linda and Carin set up a great girls-only weekend for the three of us. It was a great weekend and I treasure those two ladies. (Aren't good girlfriends the best?!) We headed down to Pasadena, stayed at the lovely Langham, and hit the Rose Bowl flea market on Sunday morning. Then, Carin was a real trooper when I bought this buffet and she had to sit for two hours in the backseat with this thing scrunched up next to her. (My SUV ain't really big enough for furniture...but we somehow made it work!) Thank you, Carin---I owe you for that one! :)

Anyhoo, check it out:

This piece is a very sturdy Thomasville piece from back in the day, and I love it. And, I got it for $80. I think that's not too shabby! I'm thinking of setting it with pretty decanters a la Mad Men. Then I can get myself a drink when I've had it up to here with a school project. :)

I am still waffling as to what color I'm going to paint this beauty. I have a couple ideas, but I'm open to suggestions. Most of you saw this part of the house when sweet Camila from High Heeled Foot in the Door highlighted it on her blog, so if you have an opinion, I'd love to hear it! (FYI: I am transitioning the green out and more curry yellow in---I always do a little color change in the fall. The room will essentially be the same because I mostly have neutral pieces of furniture, but the accents will be different. One of the colors I'm considering painting this bamboo piece is a curry yellow...any other thoughts?)

I did, however, start to shine up the fab hardware on this piece.

Before:

And, midway through the scrubbing...

See, it's starting to get shined up a bit. After I finish this, I'll be doing some sanding on the piece and then I need to make a final paint color decision.
Any suggestions?