Stripes

OK, I know I’ve done this same look before.  But my first drop leaf table, painted with multi-color stripes was received so well,  my thinking was “why reinvent the wheel?”. So I found myself with another small, drop leaf table, and also a corner desk.  Their lines were both screaming “stripes” to me.  So I gave in to my lack of creativity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Red has also been a kick I’ve been on lately, so I spray painted the metal base and metal chairs of the table with a gloss red.  And while I was at it, I painted another metal chair from my stash glossy red to go with the desk. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And to top it off, why not cover all the seats with burlap?  One of my favorite default fabrics to reach for.

So here’s how the sets turned out…

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m pleased with the final result, but I am going to try to move on… leave the stripes alone for a while. 

Oh, and while I’m at it, here’s what these guys looked like in their previous lives: (Crap…no before shots of the desk)

Fixer Upper

This little guy has been long gone, but I just wanted to share…

 

Man, this was a sad little table.  I grabbed it off of Craig’s List just because it was so cheap.  I thought whatever I get out of it, I’ll probably make a decent return.  I used all materials I already had at home.

 

 

  Green paint that was 10 years old.

And drawer pulls that were recently attached to a tree in my backyard.

The close ups shows how rough the surface was.  So I decided to embrace that condition and rough it up even more.  I also used my orbital sander to take all the hard edges off, rounding the edges, corners on the drawer, trims, etc.

Then with a quick “glaze” of diluted brown paint to fill in all of the imperfections, I was satisfied!

Here’s what I started with:

“I Need a Home!”

This is another piece that I recently completed.  As of right now, it is still posted on Craig’s List.  It was solid, sturdy dressing table and in good condition, so the improvements were strictly aesthetic. 

I’ve really been having fun with painter’s tape lately, so I decided to give a Greek Key design a whirl.

  And of course, I HAD to dip the legs…

and I got so lucky finding these ceramic pulls at World Market that were the perfect shade of coral…

and finally, I painted the chair white and added this GREAT Ralph Lauren paisley fabric to the seat (actually a table cloth I found on clearance at TJ Maxx).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here’s what I started with…

Get ‘er Done!

Another before and after!

This one went pretty quick.  Just a few cans of black glossy spray paint.  Unfortunately, I had to break out the old Singer…I have lost my love for sewing, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.  IKEA fabric makes anything special!

   

This little guy came straight from the late 50’s/early 60’s.  The wild wild west upholstery was the giveaway!

Trash to Cash

I’ve just finished another batch of makeovers and have put them on the market.  So I thought I’d share a few of the before and after photos.I love before and afters!  They always amaze me and give me a happy feeling that something old and unloved can become beautiful and give joy to someone once again. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now here’s a look at this piece in it’s previous life:

The bottom drawer is sitting on top because it needed some repairs.  It had been given a poor coat of white paint and had pink flowers painted on the drawers.  Bless it’s heart.

One of My Favorites…

Well, my striped table found a new home yesterday.  I had a lot of fun making this one, and it always makes me happy when someone else is excited to adopt one of my “babies”. 

I think drop leaf tables are so versatile, because with the leaves down, they can be used in a foyer or living room. And put the leaves up, and your ready for dinner!

 

Thanks for clicking me!

Laurie

IKEA Makes Anything Better!

I sold this whole set this week.  It’s so much fun to fix these things up…and a little sad to see them go.  I guess I get attached after all those hours we spend together sanding and painting in the Bat Cave. 

But they have a new home in the bedroom of a 7th grade girl.  I sure hope she enjoys them.

The chair in these pics is the one that I used in an earlier post on how to dip legs.

I honestly think the adorable IKEA fabric was the key to success on these pieces. I bought eight yards of it a few years back and couldn’t decide where to use it.  Now I think I’ll be cranking out lots of grey and black pieces, at least until the fabric runs out! 

Thanks for clicking!

Laurie

Good-bye Baby Girl

This past Thursday, August 30, we lost a very special family member.  Our Brittany Spaniel, Belle.

• Favorite Activities: chasing squirrels, camping,  opening Christmas gifts (unassisted)
• Favorite Foods: beef tips, malted milk balls, cat food, Baskin Robbins ice cream cake, french fries 
• Favorite Memories: cross-country drive, doing the “barky dance”, taking a nap with anyone that has a warm blanket, tracking paint on mom’s hardwood floors
• Favorite Nicknames: Miss Belle, Jelly Belly, Cupcake, Pork Chop, Little Doggy, Baby Girl

She gave us fourteen years of unconditional love and has left her paw print on our hearts forever.

The Big Dipper

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I LOVE DIPPED LEGS!

First of all, it’s so easy even I can pull it off.  Second, it can dress up a rather drab piece.  It’s great for pulling out a second color that may be in your fabric or adding an additional color to your space. 

So I thought I would give it a try on this tired, little chair:

So here’s the steps I took…and I’m pleased with the results!

Rather than measuring from the floor up to get a level line for painting, I found an object that was about the height I was going for.  I sat that object on the floor and drew the pencil line using the top edge of the template as my guide.  Repeat the process on all four sides of each leg.

I used ScotchBlue Painter’s Tape Delicate Surface to tape off the legs.  I put the tape slightly above the pencil line so the the line would be painted over in step 3.  NOTE: I found it easier to use one short length of tape for each side of the leg.  If one long piece is wrapped around the leg, the tape starts to go either up or down hill.  So to keep the line as level as possible, use four short pieces. 

Just be sure that when you wrap the tape around the corner, and then place a piece on the next side, the bottom edges stay perfectly matched.  This will give you a crisp, straight paint line. (Picture illustrates how tape goes uphill when wrapped around the leg. The next piece of tape will overlap this piece, staying right above pencil line.)

 

Paint time!  First be sure to rub your finger or maybe a plastic putty knife on the bottom edge of tape to be sure it is securely adhered.  I paint from the top dragging the brush down over the tape.  This keeps you from forcing paint under the tape.  I give the legs a fairly thick coat (in hopes of just needing one coat). 

As soon as all four legs have been painted, and the paint is still wet, carefully pull the tape off.  If you can see a few streaks and prefer a second coat, you can either retape the legs again after first coat is dry, or I just free hand the second coat…being very careful to paint to the edge of the paint line without going over!! (But don’t worry…you can always touch up any boo boos).

AND HERE YOU HAVE IT!

Now that’s a cute little chair…thanks to paint and adorable IKEA fabric!  I love the dipped leg process so much that I tried it on this table too…

In an upcoming post, I’ll show the desk I paired with the grey chair, and also a set of red chairs that I have paired with the striped table.

Thanks for clicking me…

Laurie

Happy Birthday Honey!

My hubby is sound asleep and the clock has struck twelve.  That means today is August 12th…Randy’s birthday!  So tomorrow (uhh…later today) he will be the guest of honor all day.  He REALLY likes being the birthday boy (must be a childhood thing).   I will cook him a delicious dinner, have the family over, and open presents.  He likes lots of presents!  My daughter is baking his favorite devil’s food cake with buttercream icing and I’m dusting off the ice cream maker that’s been on the top garage shelf for years. 

I also need to thank him for picking me up a great piece of furniture at the thrift store today (wait…that’s actually yesterday now).  Picked it out all by himself…and I love it.  A 70’s credenza with two sliding doors on the front.  Sounds like it will be another media console!  The Rubbish Heap is filling up fast. 

My First Real Post!

Today being Friday, AND my day off, I usually try to catch up on household errands and then squeeze in a little thrift store/garage sale action (or maybe it’s the other way around?).

Anyhow, I stopped at a local thrift shop with no luck, then ventured on to Goodwill.  BINGO.  I found this great mirror for $15!  It’s very large and in surprisingly good condition.  And there was no extra charge for all of the lovely stickers.

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I will have to think on it for a while to decide exactly what I want to do to it.  So it has been moved downstairs to my “shop” (fancy word for basement) and is resting in the Rubbish Heap.