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Sunday, February 26, 2012

My latest and greatest...

Yellow Side Table
Before: 

After:
$75

Blue Hutch

Before:

After:
$495

I love giving love to old, abandoned furniture!

Monday, January 2, 2012

Stair Collage

I've kind of avoided anything on my stairs because it's a tricky wall and it's easier to design for others than yourself sometimes lol. I have had stuff on there but it was boring. I finally got motivated and did a collage that I LOVE, best part is it didn't cost me a thing! I used stuff I had lying around. Granted, I don't know what others have lying around, I always have a few bins in my basement of decor that isn't being used so it's great when I get creative and have no budget. Super simple. If I bought stuff I would do more elaborate but I plan on adding to it, so it isn't finished but nothing in my house ever is... :) Sorry for the bad pictures, took them with my phone, my bad. At least you know my stuff usually looks better in person than online, right?! :)


Chalkboard Frames and Plates

I am going to broaded my re-finishing business into crafting as well. No sewing things, sorry I hate that craft! :) Right now I am starting with chalkboard frames and chalkboard plates for $15 for 8x11" and $10 for smaller. Larger will be $20 and up.

Here's some examples. I'll put more up as I finish them. I can customize them as well! :) Oh and these are GREAT for a gift or with a gift (cute themed basket with a chalkboard frame at the front with a cute phrase ,etc.).



 This bulletin board looks hung crooked, promise it's not. It slipped off the nail and I didn't notice until I uploaded the pic... :)

Dining Room Table Makeover!

I found this table at DI for $20, talked them down to $15 and am in LOVE with it now. It wasn't all that pretty at the store and unfortunately when the guy loaded it, got a HUGE scratch... but luckily it is covered with a runner and I was planning on keeping it so I can handle that. I had a small dining table I got for free years ago and re-finished but this one is much larger and more of the style I wanted, my old one sat 4 people and this one can sit 6-8 comfortably, yay for dinner parties!


I also got the chairs for a steal and will re-finish them eventually... They're in OK enough condition that I can at least use them for now.

Antiqued Green Buffet Table or Dresser

Love this piece! If I had a place to keep it, I totally would. I have always wanted a buffet table like this so it will be sad to see it go! $295, delivery options available. 32"h x 68"w x 19"d. SOLD.



Also have this vintage night stand / tv stand / or side table. $45. 24"h x 28"w x 18"d.
SOLD

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

EASY Storage Bench

The before, an old cabinet I had laying around...


After some clean-up and painting and pillows, its a Storage Bench for our playroom! Love it!

I have one more cabinet if anyone is interested, I could make another for $45.

New Furniture For Sale!

 Farmhouse Table and Two Chairs (or could be used as a desk). $50. *SOLD*



 Coffee Table. I LOVE this one! Kind of want to keep it... :) $75 *SOLD*

Vintage Night stand, end table or TV stand, gorgeous! $45


Friday, August 26, 2011

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Polka Dot Nursery


 My son is two now but thought I'd post his pics from his nursery. My mom painstakingly painted the stripes for the wall and my sister, her and I did all the rest of the painting while we were also painting the rest of my house (never move when you're 7 months pregnant!). I didn't start on his nursery til after I moved and only had a month or so to really get it going. I wish I would have had more time to do a few other things and different curtains and much more home made stuff but I actually ended up buying all of the furniture online out of laziness time crunch but I think it turned out ok for a quick-pregnant brain design! :) I do still love it because he's a toddler now but he hasn't outgrown his room at all and I haven't even had to take the dots off yet. It's colorful like a kids room should be but muted and will still grow with him. Of course I'm already thinking of re-decorating ideas but that's only because I like to experiment on my house and change it often...



 

Monday, August 15, 2011

Trying some good painting techniques!

 Side Table, Before
Bought it for $5
 After
(I kept this one)

 Table
Bought it for $10, it had glue all over it and was warped and just a light wood top.
This one is for my neighbor, she said she was looking for a table to use as a desk and I found this the next day and re-finished it for her.


Buffet Table
$75 *SOLD

Vintage Bread Box Re-finish
Before, $4:

 After. I decided to keep it.. :)


I'm working on a gorgeous rocking chair I'm re-finishing and a few projects some friends requested! I'm almost done with a vintage/rustic rolltop desk that I'm pretty excited about! Better get to work!

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Vintage Children's Desk

 This desk is adorable and perfect for a kids room!
Has storage space but it's small enough it doesn't take up the entire room.
It is a style that will grow with them!
$50 for desk and chair.
*SOLD


Sunday, July 31, 2011

Projects!

I've been busy re-finishing some furniture!

Before:
 After:
This one was my favorite ever! I hated seeing it go... It sold fast!

Sold these two black side tables with a matching coffee table, I had re-finished these years ago though.


Cute secretary desk! It was all light wood with broken knobs so I painted, got new knobs and gave it to my niece for her birthday! It works great for her room!


I am currently working on:
Kid desk and chair
Buffet Table
Rolltop desk and chair
Farmhouse small dining table and 2 chairs

Wish me luck!
If anyone is interested in any of the items I'm working on,
let me know your preferences, I can customize any for you!

Monday, July 18, 2011

Formica Countertop Makeover

Before with ugly green formica countertops. I will include our step by step instructions since many are curious. :) If you attempt it, research it online, there's a few different methods, it helps to look at the different techniques and then decide which is best for you...
1. Cleared surfaces and cleaned counter very well. I used the blue brillo pads. I went a little crazy and scrubbed all of our cabinets too, just doing all that already made it feel new! ;)
2. Rolled on gray primer.
Cost: $20, I got a gallon. Could have done it with a quart for about $10

3. Once primer dries, roll on black paint. I already had a quart but cost would have been about $10 if not

4. Once black paint dries, use a sea sponge ($5) to sponge on silver metallic paint. I bought a quart of this, cost was about $10. I could have done it with the really small container, which is probably $5. This is how we started sponging but after a while did it more subtle. You also sponge with some black to get the look you want so don't stress if it takes a while to get it right.

This picture below is the amount of silver we ended up liking,
just play with it til you end up with an amount you like.
5. When the silver/black sponging is still tacky, sprinkle glitter. Cost $5

6. Epoxy finish coat. Cost, $30, about $18 with 40% off coupon. This stuff is super sticky and takes a bit to get the hang of. Have two people, read instructions well (better instructions are online than in the box). It self levels but you'll need to use something stiff to spread it around, we tried business cards, stiff paper but liked a wooden painting stick the best. You have about 10 minutes to work with it, only mix enough for a maneagable area at a time. I used a sponge brush for the edges, you need to "lift" up the epoxy a few times because it will pool at the bottom. This is when you use the blow torch for the air bubbles, the carbon dioxide diffuses them. We had more trouble with air bubbles on our bar that we later realized was because we didn't stir the epoxy long enough. We also used a really small blow torch we had. We will probably sand down the bubbles on our bar and re-do the epoxy coat.
 7. Once dry, take off painters tape (don't be surprised if it takes off some wall paint, be prepared for touch ups). It takes about 8-10 hours to dry but it's supposed to take about 48 hours to set completely. Ours was ready to be used after about 30 hours. If you have kids, I'd recommend doing the epoxy after they go to bed at night and then by the morning it will be dry at least, then try to keep them out of the house in the morning just in case! :) You don't want them touched at all and even be careful about dust. Oh and we expected the epoxy fumes to be bad but they weren't at all so that was good with kids.

We didn't do our edges because we were really nervous about vertical surfaces and already had to do the backsplash. It ended up not being too bad though (thinner coat though) so I wish we would have done them.

DONE! Total cost, $80-90.
You can kind of see some of our air bubbles we had problems with on the bar here.
It's definitely not perfect but I think it's a huge improvement and I would definitely do it again! The stuff is very hard but of course is susceptable to scratches and heat, etc. As with most countertops, use hot pads and cutting boards. If it does scratch bad, you can do another layer to fix it so don't freak out. Furniture Polish helps with smudges and protects it. I need to get a "green" kitchen cleaner for them, I'm hesitant to use anything acidic .
I got my method here: http://generalsplendour.bl​ogspot.com/2011/02/ambush-​makeover-my-formica-counte​rtops.html .
Supplies:
1 qt gray primer
1 qt black paint
Sea sponge
Rollers (I like the skinny ones, easier to work with and don't leave things behind so much like the large ones)
Brush to paint corners
Blue Painters tape to tape off edges (we didn't do this until before the epoxy, would have been easier to do in the beginning but we didn't necessarily need it, we paint a lot and never need to tape off)
Silver metallic paint
Black Glitter (we couldn't find the Martha Stewart Onyx kind but got her very fine glitter and it worked well.)
Envirotex Lite Pour-On (Hobby Lobby, get 40% coupons online. . We needed 2 boxes)
Blow Torch (for air bubbles)*borrow one if you can!