BIG NEWS ya'll! From May 20th to June 30th, you can submit and vote for your favorite #SOdomino spaces at domino.com. Now we love a good space as much as the next one (just check out our SPACES page) so pop on over there and have yourself an ogle and be sure to encourage your fave with a vote! And hey, if you think of us as friends and want to love on our girl Chelsea while you're over there... give her space a vote - we won't be mad. *winkwink*

Even if you don't think of yourself as more than a StyleMutt Home reader, Chelsea and I hope you know how much you mean to us. Seriously guys. Every one of you we have had the pleasure of coming in contact with have been so wonderful and encouraging and incredibly unique. We want nothing more than to take all that you inspire us with and pour it back out as a resource for all breeds of style.

Whether you've tagged your photos with #stylemuttspaces and were featured on our SPACES page, sent us design conundrums for a second opinion on facebook, tipped us off to a fun giveaway or contest on instagram, or just left a sweet comment on a post - we count you as our friends, muses, cronies, pals, besties, and homies. That's right, I said homie. Can you roll with that?

Alright, we get it. You don't have to see us in the same way... yet. Maybe what you need is more convincing. So in a shameless effort to win your vote [and your friendship], we though that we'd make complete and happy fools of ourselves. Here's to hoping the following photo reel will help you see us more as the homies you could roll wif...

So what do you think? Could you be friends with this couple of style mutts?

Pleaseeeeeeeeeee...

So you're saying there's a chance?!

How 'bout now? Is this helping?

It helps a little? Ok good.

Then you should really like what's coming next...

Awwwwww cheah! You wanna hang with this ridiculousness don'tcha?

[Can you tell it was hard to keep a straight face?]

Ok in all seriousness...

We didn't choose the thug life. The thug life chose us...

We really do love you to pieces. Even if this makes you want to run for the hills rather than be our friend or lend us your vote, we hope we could make you smile or laugh at some point.

But if we did prove that we could be your homies and you think the feeling might be mutual, show our gal Chelsea some love and vote for Chelsea's submission!

Just follow the link to click the vote button on the submission page!

And don't forget to enter your own photos on domino.com or tag your pics on Instagram using #SOdomino and @dominomag. We'd love to cheer you on and vote for you too - even if it does toughen the competition ;)

Guys. (well, mostly gals). When I saw this piece on Craigslist recently I tried to do a handspring and almost twisted my ankle. No joke. That's how much I loved it, had to have it, wanted it yesterday.

Please note that is NOT my garage, it's the seller's pic. Not that I have any right to pass judgement on a messy garage... Anywho, pretty epic piece, right?!

And after some TLC and socialization with the world outside of a garage, here's our beauty after!

This makeover had it's highs and lows and I'm not going to spare you any graphic details. Consider that fair warning!

To start, I texted my go-to-gal, Cate, and shared an up close pic of this piece's freckled veneer. That is, indeed, veneer - but it's in SUCH amazing condition that I knew it could stand its own. However, it had freckles! It looked like my arms and legs in July - COVERED in freckles! Fine on people, not furniture. Cate suggested dulling the freckles by rubbing the piece down with a gel stain, and it worked!!

That Cate; she's one brilliant chick! Love running things by her for her opinion and advice. She never fails. Seriously, I think she's batting 1,000 - every pitch I throw she swings a home run idea!

After I stained the body, I was ready to tackle the shelves and cabinet door. I wanted glossy white but was really not interested in using my highly praised Glidden Trim Door Furniture paint. I love that stuff but it's seriously thick, and trying to get it inside every corner and crevice was going to take a lot longer than I have patience or time for. So I tried this:

Gave all drawers and door a coat of Rust-Oleum Paint & Primer In One. Worked beautifully as a solid first coat.

Here comes my favorite part - I tried for the first time Rust-Oleum's Gloss Protective Enamel, (in white), and it's like the SPRAY FORM of my beloved Glidden paint! It's oil based, sprays even and lays thick. When all pieces were dry, they were so smooth and solid - you couldn't scratch if you tried.

Luckilly, I had an opportunity to test this most amazing paint after this happened:

Some bird out there is patting the feathers on his back for this near bullseye. Don't set pieces out to dry under a large tree, folks. Lesson SO learned! To clean, I ran a high pressure hose over this while simultaneously scrubbing with a thick bristle brush. I figured I would have to start from scratch and re-spray this piece. What a pleasant surprise when the water just beaded up and trickled right off and the bristles made absolutely no damage to the finish at all! I am so pleased to say it is now squeaky clean and Rust-Oleum has made me a die-hard fan for life! Amazing product, Rust-Oleum; bravo!

Last to tackle was the awesome custom hardware. This piece would have no other hardware. There are wooden 'notches' made just for these pulls to fit around, so it's already a perfect marriage. They were pretty dirty and dingy, so I cleaned them up and gave them all a coat of Rust-Oleum metallic gold spray paint. They looked a little plastic-y afterwards, though. So, I grabbed a can of dark wax, (by Annie Sloan, but you can find dark wax in most hardware stores now), dragged a thick artists brush around in the wax, and dabbed it into the crevices on the hardware. I covered each piece thoroughly, then took a paper towel and just 'blotted' to remove any excess wax. I let the wax cure for a day before adding the hardware back on the piece

Love the authentic look that the wax adds! Beautiful, isn't it!

Cleaned up nice didn't it. ;)

So excited with how this piece turned out - it made a marvelous journey with a little crap along the way, but all the best journeys have their fair share now don't they.

This pieces is now available for sale in the DC metro area!
$675
69"L x 30"H x 17.75"D
You can email me at chelsea@stylemutthome.com if you have any questions or want to snag it!

Thank you all for stopping by!