So I'm trolling craigslist [like I've been known to do] and I found a modern dresser in need of some TLC. Now normally, I would pass right by a laminate dresser but this piece was... special.

It's hard to tell in this pic, but this "white monster" as I've affectionately nicknamed it, had a weird cream/white two tone thing going on. But it was still a modern dresser with glossy-fronted drawers that slide like butter. It the perfect candidate for Furniture Flip Bucket List item No.2: wrap a piece in a wood shim treatment.

wood shims taper off to one end so that you can wedge them in to help level something. I could have used flat wood and gotten more of a butcher-block look, but I wanted to use shims to recreate this uneven affect in my inspiration photo:

Source:  The Rycotewood Furniture Centre at OCVC — Source: The Rycotewood Furniture Centre at OCVC

So I went about covering the bright-white yucky laminate portions of the dresser with the wood shims: the top, sides, and toe-kick. I started out with the intention of creating a polished modern look like the photo above but as I worked on it, it began to steer me in a different direction.

I liked how raw and rustic the cedar shims looked untreated (and not to mention the cedar smelled AH-MAH-ZING). So I just went with it and ended up with a piece that's both modern and coastal:

To play off the unfinished wood's beachy vibes, I styled it with some tropical leaves [that I may or may not have harvested from a decorative potted plant in a parking lot. I kinda felt like Chelsea did when "smuggling" home some paint sticks for this DIY project].

I then added a couple seaside touches like this piece of coral.

To play up the dresser's more modern side, I added vintage candle sticks with clean lines. Despite the uneven surface, the shims are narrow enough that items large and small can find a flat surface to rest on anywhere across the top.

And modern satin nickel knobs on the glossy drawer fronts make a nice modern finishing touch.

All together the piece sings a modern-coastal song:

Modern Coastal Dresser
$600
SOLD

As for the progress on my 2015 flip bucket list, that means I've got 6 down and 1 to go before the end of the year. Woot Woot!

Want to catch up? Since January, I've crossed off items:
No.6
No.5
No.7
No.4
No.3
and now No.2: wood shim treatment

Here's to hoping that I can squeeze in item No.1: Build my Own Bakers Rack before 2016!

Hi friends! As Summer and Fall seem to be in a bit of a tug-of-war here in Northern Virginia, this coastal inspired home tour seems pretty perfect for this 80 degree Friday in November! Amber, (Restless Arrow, @restlessarrow) has been a beach lover her whole life, but more recently began using it as her primary inspiration for decorating her home. After a good run with loads of color, she's found her nitch with creamy neutrals - and it suits her young family just right!

From Amber:

My first living room had one brown wall, yellow walls and black and red furniture! I used so much color and used it so wrong! Now, please know: I absolutely love color and so many of my friends do it so extraordinarily well. But me? I’m much better with soft whites and neutrals. Our white couches stand up to the test of our wild boys, yet provide the perfect backdrop for my love of neutrals.

Fact - White slipcovered seating is incredibly easy to keep clean. Zip off, toss in wash with a bit of bleach, and it's new again. NEW I tell ya!

This mantle was dark, dark wood and one day, I finally got the nerve to paint it white and I never looked back!

I found this table at Goodwill when we began the process of renovating our foreclosure. I painted it white, of course, and then added stripes since I can never find a tablecloth long enough.

Well there's a fun trick - paint on a pattern rather than use a tablecloth!

I love this little bench in the corner because, again, it provides just a few extra seats for any surprise guests.

Our kitchen is by far the biggest transformation in our entire home. Tearing down a chimney and ripping out all of the walls allowed us to start from scratch. Laminate counter tops, stock cabinets and open shelves helped us achieve this look on a budget. A DIY hood my dad made and butcher block counter tops as our island made our kitchen complete.

Can't you just smell the salty air of the beach from looking at this space?!

As the story of our yellow house evolves, we fall more in love each day. It seemed the more I started doing what I loved and not what I thought I was “supposed to do,” I saw my style evolve. What worked for us turned out to be comfort first then style. And somehow, for us, it ties together perfectly. Not for anyone else, but for our wild family of young boys and a little girl on the way. It may not look perfect but it welcomes a basketball team on Saturday mornings and a group of girls every Tuesday morning to gather around this imperfect little ottoman and stained couch cushions. And that, we would not change for the world. The story of our house is a true story of love at first sight. A relationship that certainly took way more than it gave for the first three years of the journey, but today, it is our dream come true.

We sure love a happy ending - thank you, Amber, for sharing yours!

If you've got some time to swoon, head over to our SPACES page where we collect all our Reader Designs for your viewing pleasure - and then tag your own home so we can feature you, too! Tag #stylemuttspaces on Facebook or Instagram, or email a few photos to admin@stylemutthome.com.

Thank you so much for kicking off your weekend with us! Have a good one!