Love and the apocalypse.

Today is a very special day.


It is the day that I made the best decision of my entire life. My man and I have been together officially for nine years today. NINE YEARS. Wow. When did I get so old? 


For the most part he is my biggest supporter, unless I get locked into 'work mode' and the whole world starts to tune out a little bit. He doesn't enjoy that so much. :)


I can't express in words my love for this man. What he has given me in our life together, makes me the happiest girl in the world. The term soul mate is so cliche, yet I know that's what he is. Anyone that knows him, knows that he is a pretty weird kid, yet no one REALLY knows. He saves the good stuff for me! I love it. One of my absolute favorite quotes is from Dr. Seuss. I feel he describes it perfectly. 

“We are all a little weird and life’s a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.”

Like I said. Perfect.

We have made it through some pretty hard times together. I wouldn't and couldn't imagine anyone else I would have ever wanted by my side other than him. 

I made him a little something that fits us, and expresses how I feel. 

Happy Anniversary baby. 

New work space.

Are you ready?

Are you ready to see this awesome desk? It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I love it. It's not officially 100% done though. I want to add something to the side, and potentially the front (side without all the drawers). I can't fully make up my mind as to what I want to design for it though, so it will stay as is for now until that magic light bulb goes off above my head! 

Just to refresh your memory as to what it looked like before....

A lot of work went into this baby. 

The top was kind of gross, the drawers were all marked up (inside & out), but overall it wasn't in too bad of shape. The top needed a very good sanding. Instead of painting it, I stained it. I was very proud of myself, it was my first time staining. The wood was beautiful, I just wanted to enhance it. I used a red mahogany for it. The drawers (which I didn't take a picture of, and I'm too tired to do it now -I'm sorry-) are a deep navy blue on the inside. This eliminated all the marks everywhere and gave it a cleaner look. 

With the paint I did several things. I couldn't decide on one blue, so I used three! I sprayed a very light blue for a base coat to cover everything. Then painted (with a brush) a bit darker blue on top of that. Once that dried I used a different light blue to even all of the color out. Once that was all dried I went over the whole piece with a tea stain glaze. 

Like I said before, I was having a hard time with what to do with the drawers. I had tried several different things before deciding on this. Once they were painted, I did the tea stain glaze on them as well. If you know me, you know I LOVE color. My house (specifically my living room) needs more of it. I love the colors I went with, they will tie into other pieces that will be in the room. Plus this is my art desk! It needs to be awesome! 

I can't wait to set this up in our 'new' living room once we move!!! 

So without further hesitation, here it is....

So I think it's safe to say, it's a little bit different, and a little bit more awesome! :) 

A is for Antelope.

Today has been go, go, go. 

There has been a lot of work going on with this desk of mine, a couple design projects, family life, and dealing with a fun soon-to-be military move. 

I am falling in love with my desk. I really can't wait for it to be all finished. What I am most excited for is this coming fall, when we move to our new base, I get to decorate a new house with new pieces of furniture. Oh the colors.....  I'm very excited. 

Unfortunately, there is no showing how glorious this desk is, until it's finished. 

In the meantime I have been working on a few design projects. 

I have a medical/beauty brochure I'm working on, advertising Botox and a few other similar products. 

Then I designed a poster for my referral contest winner. I think I may have to have one of these printed for my little man too. I think it came out really cute. 

How cute is that.

That's all for today. Time to sleep so I can work just as much tomorrow. 

Update and doodle.

Hello hello!


I promised someone an update and here it is! 


Life is a little crazy right now. I have been working on a few different projects both in design, and with some awesome furniture. On top of every day life with three little kiddos. 


I must admit, it is rough trying to get in time to actually work on a piece of furniture. Between making three meals a day, maintaining a house, being a mommy, always a million loads of laundry, it's really hard to be able to sit down and work for a lengthy period of time. Then if you throw in things like letting paint dry and whatnot, working can be very fragmented. 


So here it is. My latest project. It's been driving me a bit crazy! 


I get all irky trying to think about explaining projects, or even showing anything until it's done. You can't picture whats in my awesome brain. No point in trying. 


I found this awesome desk at Goodwill. I love it. I have been having a hard time with color though. I have realized that my house isn't as colorful as I feel it needs to be.  This is going to be my 'new' desk, in our new house when we move. When working on this desk I wanted to add more color, or patterns. Something. I attempted several things, then would have to fix them because I didn't like it. 


Here it was when I picked it up....

I think it's pretty amazing. It is solid wood all the way around. Not some cardboard or cheap material on the back. It was COVERED in dents and scrapes, but had so much potential. 

I have done several things to the color like I said, however I think I have finally decided what I am going to do. It may take a little while to completely finish it though. I give it a week tops. Maybe. :) 

That's all for now, I'm off to the garage to paint some more while the little man is asleep. 

Here is a fun doodle for my special friend who has been asking for updates. It's nothing fancy, there was no time, however this reminded me of 'you'. 

From there to here.

I'm excited to share this project with you.

This has been a work in progress for about a year now. It took a good amount of elbow grease to make it look the way it does now. 

A friend and I found another table that was just going to be trashed. To be honest, I must say, out of every piece I've ever bought, found, or picked up this was probably in the worst shape. It had so much potential though!!!

I love the mixing of the wood, with metal, and glass. The design of it is just something you don't see every day.

Now I apologize for not having a good before picture. Remember, I've been working on this here and there for over a year, and a year ago there was no blog in the makings at all! 

The top was DISGUSTING! Did I emphasize that enough? I honestly don't know what happened to this thing. It was covered in wax, some sticky, gross, brown stuff. Part of it looked like some creature, maybe a small child, chewed like crazy on it! 

Here is what it looked like after I had started working a little bit...

For some reason I just loved the bottom of the table. Other than the scraped up brass part of it that was covered in 'stuff'. I'm not quite sure what this 'stuff was. I bought a textured paint. I love how it changed the feel of it. It made the bottom look stone-ish. 

Here is after one coat of paint on the bottom....

After lots (and LOTS) of scrubbing, and chiseling off wax, some sanding, painting, weathering, glazing, screw hunting, and sealing, a beautiful new table has been born. 

What do you think? 

I'm having a hard time parting with furniture. I love it all. I have three tables in my dining room right now. Yes. Three. I can't have three tables in there. I look crazy. I think I may actually have to cave and get rid of this baby. It's just so hard, especially since we are moving soon, who knows where this could be displayed in my new house! We shall see. As for now, I am just wicked proud of how it turned out! 

Creatures and cuteness.

Ok, so I didn't get around to pictures of what I finished up yesterday. Sorry. That will come tomorrow.


I just wasn't into furniture today. Today was all about something special. I worked almost every waking minute today. Design, design, design. 


There is something I have talked about wanting to do for a long while now. I'm talking like all the way back to five years ago in design school. Today was the day. Late last night I came up with a quick sketch of what I wanted to do. I spent a while cleaning it all up and making it pretty throughout the day today. 


Here he is....

After he was all done I wanted to try something fun. That 'thing' that I have wanted to do. I used the Silhouette Cameo to cut out a piece of vinyl. I used it as a stencil and made my little man a special little piece of awesomeness. It's not 100%, exactly as to how I wanted it, but I think it's pretty great. Nothing makes it more perfect than being wrapped around a beautiful little man!!! 

Now come on, how great is that!? I am so in love. 

I think I am going to have to do a little bit more homework on screen printing. I love this too much to not do a bunch more!!! 

I hope you love and enjoy even half as much as I do! 

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I have to share a new furniture project! 


I found this piece over a year ago. It just sat for so long because I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it. By the time I figured it out, I was overly pregnant, and had put a lot of projects on hold.


When looking for furniture I don't really care what the exterior of it looks like. I care about wood quality, shape, and design. There is so much you can fix and change. Color, hardware, texture; all easily changed. A friend saw this specific piece on the side of the road and called me saying we needed to pick it up! We went like creepers, asked if it was definitely trash, and took it. The guy looked at my like I had two heads, wanting his trash. The design of it was just so beautiful though. I was in love with it's sexy legs. 


This beautiful thing was in really rough shape. Scratched all on the top, edges chipped, cracked, potentially even chewed on. It was covered in paint splotches, and had little gouges here and there. 

Here is what the top looked like before lots and lots of work. 

I didn't take a picture of the legs, but I'm sure you can imagine. This is what they started to look like once the whole painting process began.

After lots of sanding, some wood putty, more sanding, paint, paint, paint, 'weathering', and glazing, it was time to add some awesomeness. 

If I am going to be putting any quote up in our house, I want them to be very meaningful to our little family. I decided to put:

 "Replace fear of the unknown, with curiosity." 

I just love it. I think it is a great motto for little ones. Actually, it's pretty great just in general, not just for kiddos! Well, I'm pretty sleepy, so I will just get to it, and share the final beauty. Now PLEASE keep in mind this beautiful piece was FREE! Most of the paint that I used, I already had. It may have cost me $10 tops to make this look the way it does. 

Really quick before my little reveal, I just have to give a shout out, and a big thank you, to the wonderful Jennifer Esparza! She is a pretty amazing photographer at  

Life.Love.Birth Photography, and you should definitely check out her work (go look at my little man over there -- she did a great job capturing his cuteness!) 

Now the moment you have been waiting for. I am super excited, and totally in love. Some of you have already seen some of the beauty. Once a piece is officially done though, it's like a little bit of magic has been sprinkled on it! 

There you have it. My new love. 

Tune in tomorrow to see what I finished up today!!! :) 

Thank you.

*Thank you*


Thank you to all of those who have been spreading the word about Uniquely Refined Designs! It is very appreciated!


And a huge WELCOME to any and all new followers!!! 


I had to come up with a little 'friend' as a little virtual thank you card. If you ask my mom, she will tell you, I am not a very polite girl who tends to give out thank you cards! This is kind of a big deal for me! :) 


There is one more day left in the referral contest! Spread the word my friends! The winner receives a free design of their choice, that will be made just for them. SHARE. SHARE. SHARE. Every single person you know needs something designed! Birth announcements, invitations, business card, stationary, cover photos for small businesses, posters, ads, and the list just goes on, and on, and on. 


I worked on a bunch of random things today. A little design, inspiration hunting, and a some furniture. We also took some time today to make bird houses! The girls have been begging to work on their own furniture, but there is absolutely no room for it right now. I said we could start with something small though, and thats what they chose. It occupied them ALL DAY! It was pretty great!  

One little lady had a tendency to get distracted, play with dinosaurs, and paint this sweet picture. 

I honestly feel that it has been a good day if there is something that has been covered in paint. Today paint has gone on paper, bird houses, a table, splattered on the wall, all over the dining room table, and my hands! Good day indeed! 

A New Start.

Welcome to my new design page!!! 


I have been pondering getting back into the blog world for a while now. Last year, it just became too overwhelming, while trying to do everything else in life. (Move to a new house, have a baby, you know, the little things in life!)


I have had several people ask me when I would start posting my work again. Well here it is. Friday the 13th. A perfect day to start something great. 


This is going to be my little hub for all of my awesomeness. (At least, what I consider to be awesomeness.) From the graphic design work I do, the art that I feel I need or love, to tutorials, and some amazing furniture I work on! 


To start off, I am trying to build a bit more of an audience; or at least assemble the followers I used to have, and maybe pick up a few along the way. This weekend I am doing a referral contest of Uniquely Refined Designs facebook page! Check it out, send over some people, win some free designs. 


I'm pretty excited to start this new little chapter! I really hope you enjoy it at least half as much as I do! xxoo