The One with Jane's Dresser

I've been in "nesting" mode on overdrive lately but haven't been able to put my urges into actions because I need my big, strong, handyman around to help me move furniture around and put it all together, but he's been busy as of late. Chris didn't have school yesterday, so the plan was to go to IKEA and get this dresser:

It's the exact same one as Fox's, which I love, but in gray/brown instead of blue. Then I wanted to paint it mint green:

 And finally, replace all the knobs with ones from Anthro:

But the idea of altering furniture just wasn't sitting well with me. I don't know how, it'd be hard to do it by myself, and I'm sure it would take hours upon hours, which I'm lacking lately... Then an idea came to me! I read the Lay Baby Lay blog (it's mostly nursery style boards with links and everything - always amazing!) and it seems the dressers she finds are exactly what I've pictured in my mind's eye for Jane. Except they're always antique/vintage/one-of-a-kind from etsy that would cost $500 to ship alone... So then I started thinking CRAIGSLIST! Or I could search etsy for furniture in the Los Angeles area! After only a half hour or so, I came across these gems of dressers:

1) I emailed this person and asked if this dresser was still available - 'twas! Score! I made an appointment to go see it Thursday at 5pm. At 3pm he texted me and said it had sold. Dangit!

2) This is a beautiful dresser I found in the Decorating Insanity etsy shop. She would alter it exactly how I wanted for $745. I'm sure that's a great deal for all the time and effort she'd put into it, but I had to keep looking.

3) This is a finished piece from Decorating Insanity. Her workshop is only up in Pasadena, so I'd love to stop by some day and see what else she's got!

4) After that first one sold before we could even look at it I began my search again. This person was nice enough to email me pictures after the dresser I was originally wanting from their listing sold. Seriously! These things are like hot cakes! As soon as I got the email with the pics I replied and said I wanted it. No response. I texted them. No response. I texted and emailed them again 24 hours later. Nothing. So I'm guessing it sold.

5) Getting discouraged, I once again popped my search-words (shabby chic dresser) into Craigslist, upped my max price a bit, and widened the search area. That's when I came across this beauty:

I texted the phone number in the listing and heard back right away. I said I'd love to come take a look at it and asked what time would be good. We made an appointment for 3pm all the way out in Aliso Viejo - a little further than Newport Beach and about an hour and a half away. I crossed my fingers it would all work out and not be for naught.
We borrowed our friend's truck (thank you so much Tyler and Blair!) and headed south. We passed the Newport Beach temple on the way.

We got to the house, saw the dresser in real life, fell in love with it right then and there, forked over the cash, and hoisted it into the truck.

From the picture on Craigslist I thought it was white, but it's actually a light aquaish, grayish, creamish color. It's perfect. We brought it home and set it all up.

The lady who altered it does alterings for a hobby. She scours estate sales, picks perfect pieces, takes them home, then blings them out. See, check out these handles:

And the fancy knobs:

I love all the ornate details, the shapes, the curves and lines, everything about it really!

I know it's weird to get so excited about a dresser, but this is something that Jane will have throughout her life and I'm just so glad we finally found one - not just one - the PERFECT one!