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Wednesday, November 7, 2012

A Microwave Cart and a Dress-Up Station

You are probably wondering why those things are in a title together. They have nothing in common and don't even belong in the same space of a home, right? Well, read on. :)

When I was 4 or 5 years old, my parents bought a microwave cart. My mom originally re-purposed the microwave cart to be used as a TV stand. She cut holes in the back of the cabinet so that the cords could come out and the electronics could be hidden. The kitchen in our first home in northern California was a good size, but oddly laid out with not a ton of counter space, so converting the cart back into a microwave cart was necessary in order to have a space for the very large microwave that we had. Over the years, the microwave cart was used again as a TV stand.  I apologize for the poor quality of the "before" picture... but digital cameras were not around... and this is a picture of a picture because, quite frankly, I didn't have the time for it to be scanned. :) You get the idea though, right? 




The glorious "before" picture... circa 1986-1987.

Fast-forward to when the hubs and I got married. We had practically no furniture and not a ton of cash, so we gladly took any hand-me-downs that we were offered. This microwave-turned-TV cart had been temporarily sitting in my parents' garage! We were using an antiqued dresser as a TV console in the living room, but needed something in our bedroom. It didn't match any of the furniture in our room, but we figured that no one was really going to be hanging out in our room anyway, and took it! :)

Once we moved to the central coast of California, we used the cart in the hubs office to hold a TV and DVD player in case he wanted to watch a movie in there while studying or working. The great part about it having wheels was that we could easily roll it into our room if we wanted to watch a movie before bed!


Now we are in Georgia and for the first few months it sat in our garage. I didn't know what I wanted to use it for, but for some reason or another it made the move with us across the country. One day last year, it came to me! Missy desperately needed more storage in her room. So we the hubs sanded it and spray painted it white. Then I used some hot pink and neon green craft paint and painted the little grooves in the doors. Voila! A cabinet that kinda matched the decor in Missy's room!




Excuse the nicks in the paint and a the few stickers... its been in her possession for a little while now.

Originally, it held coloring books and crayons on the shelf and the striped storage bins held puzzles and stuffed animals underneath... but today, all of that changed!


She has been in dire need of a new way to store her dress-ups. The cardboard trunks that her original sets came in were breaking (she was stacking them and then putting her step-stool on top so that she could reach the top drawer of her dresser) and therefore, oodles of tulle and other shiny material were exploding all over her room! So, I emptied the stuffed animals into a plastic storage box in her "baby's room" (ie. her closet floor) and also found a new home for the puzzles. In one storage bin, we put all of her hats and purses and other make believe play toys. In the other bin, we stored all of her play makeup and her Strawberry Shortcake wig and her fairy wings. On top of the cart we have her tiaras, a tin purse, and her piggy bank displayed and an old train case that used to belong to my grandmother. In the train case we housed all of her costume jewelry and gloves. The piggy bank opens by removing the nose, and it is crooked because Budboy has recently learned how to open the bank and Missy is not a fan of him stealing her money... so it has to be turned very tightly now. 






Those bins fit perfectly on the shelf and inside the cupboard we folded all of her dresses and skirts and tops and stacked them... I do realize that they will not stay folded for very long... but I can hope, right? And as you can see... we ran out of spray paint before we could finish the inside of the cabinet and finishing that part has not been at the top of our priorities. Eventually, her dresser will get a face lift and the cabinet will be finished then. :)






There you have it!! A microwave cart turned dress-up station!! Missy is beyond thrilled!!



Until next time!


~Monica

7 comments:

  1. Hahaha!! Love it !! I could use some ideas; for the longest I've been wanting to do something in the playroom that looks nice , doesn't cost much but that I can hang their dresses and have kind of like a Minnie station for their dress up clothes... Any ideas ? I don't want more furniture in playroom!

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  2. You can make a rolling hanging rack out of PVC pipes, some wood posts and casters and then spray paint it to match your decor and then buy pretty hangers for the dresses... or check craigslist and find something that is the size you like and then refinish the color and hardware. Also, on my Pinterest board labeled "Missy" are some ideas of creating a dress-up station that the Hubs and I really want to do but will wait until we find the perfect piece.

    http://pinterest.com/monleighb/missy/

    Hope you find what you are looking for!! Be patient though, it may take some time to find the perfect thing. We are still searching, but for now, this cart works for her! :)

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  3. Hi There!

    Found your blog via Shush Girl who was featured on IHeart today! :) I'm your newest follower! That rolling cart dress up station is genius! I love it!

    Would love to have you stop by!
    Amy @ keepin' up with the Smith's
    lukeandamysmith.blogspot.com

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    1. Hi! Thanks for stopping by! I will hop on over to your blog now! :)

      -Monica

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    2. Hey Monica! Thanks for stopping by! :) I just wanted to let you know that your settings are set to "no-reply comment" which means that I can't e-mail you directly once you leave a comment for me. I had no idea that my settings were set to that until someone should me. So, I just wanted to let you know in case you weren't aware. :)

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