Chairs, lots of them

Remember my faux bamboo Chippendale chairs, and remember how I asked you to suggest some paint colours for them?  I appreciate your help and in the end decided that since I’m going to be selling 4 of them, I should go with a safe colour. So I did.



I primed them with spray on Zinnser cover stain and they still ate up the additional white spray paint as if they had been starved.



I have been working on 4 new chairs that I picked up at the Goodwill for $5 a piece. I thought it would be fun to add some embellishment to make them unique. I am waiting on the wipe on poly to dry before I can bring the inside, but here is a peak at what I have done to them.



That blue is the cats meow, and I’ll tell you all about it in an upcoming post and why I will never use Valspar spray paint again.

Teeny tiny budget bedroom makeover

There wasn’t much wrong with my bedroom as it was but when I was out with my blog buddy last week, I found 3 meters of fabulous Robert Allen fabric, and that inspired me to freshen up my bedroom.

The best part of this makeover was that my best friend came over half way through and helped me finish it. We got to spend some time together and accomplish this makeover in just a few hours. I am still working on accessorising and quite frankly, don't like too much stuff on the walls, it may just stay this way.





All of the changes were made with things that I had bought at thrift stores.
Here’s the breakdown:
8’ x 6’ jute rug – $10
Fabric for headboard and cushions – $4
Maltase coverlet and two pillow shams –  $16
Curtains – $14

Total: $44

I had left over paint from the kitchen and painted the one wall that was previously chocolate brown. I also  painted out a square above my dresser because I had previously had a tv on that wall and painted around it last time I painted, don’t be a ding dong like me:)



The jute rug was a steal at $10 and is in great condition



The fabric is so pretty and there was just enough to do the king sized headboard and two pillow covers.



It’s not how I had planned to spend my Sunday, but when inspiration hits, you just have to go with it.

I hope you are having a great weekend.

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DIY chalkboard paint

I have wanted to make my own chalkboard paint for a while and finally got around to doing so. of all of the colours I could have chosen, I went with grey, boring! 

After I sold my rattan étagères, this wall was left blank. Not that there is anything wrong with a blank wall, but this one is 15’ high, so without anything there, the room didn’t feel anchored, which is especially important when you have high ceilings.

I moved this dresser over from it’s old position where it hosted my tv. The frame was one I have had kicking around here for well over a year. I bought a piece of wood cut to the dimensions of the frame and painted on two coats of the diy chalkboard paint.

Is anyone else confused about DIY chalkboard paint versus DIY chalk paint? I used 1 tbs of unsanded grout in 1 cup of paint. Well isn’t that the same formula for chalk paint?  I’m a slow learner.  Either way it worked out fine. The only caution I have is to be absolutely sure you get every last little grain mixed in really well, stir for at least an hour, ok, maybe not quite that long.

Maybe some day I’ll live on the wild side and paint with something other than neutrals :)

Family pooch memorial sign

I was asked to make a memorial sign for a family who lost their family dog to a tragedy; it involves a groomer and a table and being leashed to that table and not being paid attention to. So sad.

This sign was made with a 16” x 16” piece of plywood. I added banding to the edges then painted it in three coats of Behr linen white (which is my fave new white).

 

Sorry for the crappy photos, I finished it last night and couldn’t get a good picture, then I rushed to take a picture of it before I left for work this morning.

The picture frame was attached with Velcro so that the photo can be changed if the recipient wants to. The edges were rubbed with black distressing ink and that’s that.

These signs are easy to make and the velcroed (is that a word?) frame makes it easy to change!

Have a wonderful day.

Putzing about

It seems like I have so little time to actually get anything done. I start on something and then have to dump it to deal with life’s little details.

I made some new cushions for my patio chairs with some thrifted fabric. I have since power washed the stones, please ignore the algae. LOL





I followed a fantastic tutorial by Christy at Confessions of a serial diyer. Easiest covers, ever.

I found this utility box at a garage sale for $2 and gave it a few coats of different colours to come up with a pretty little display box.

Before

After

We drink tea in our house every night after dinner, it must be our British roots. I found these EAT letters in a bright yellow but toned them down to better suit my space. And, rearranged them to be more appropriate for us.



I have fulfilled some sign orders and have one more in the works.



Today I am off to meet a fun and wonderful friend that I met through my blog. She is visiting from North Carolina and we are going to make a day of it, I can’t wait.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Faux bamboo Chippendale chairs

I’ve done it again, found a fabulous deal on a set of 6 vintage chairs. There are five side chairs and one arm chair.

One of the side chairs has had a repair to the strut on the bottom, but it’s not a big deal. All of the seat caning is in pristine condition.



I’d love to get started right away but it’s a scorcher out there today, not weather to be taken lightly.
Ok, so any suggestions on finishing them?

Junkin Junky

Coffee table redo in blue

I picked up this coffee table a month ago, intending to paint it as it was not in great condition.  Painting furniture is like torture to me; so many steps!  But, this one I actually enjoyed.



It was only $20 and I figured was worth the work, as it has some pretty features and is a good size, but that stain is horrendous.





I started by taking the table apart in order to get to the bottom shelf properly. I followed that by a coat of Zinner Cover stain, spray for the legs and roll on for the table tops.

I hung the legs from twine on a tree to make it easy to get all of the areas covered at once.



I used the same blue/grey paint that I used in my kitchen, followed by linin white in all the grooves. It has some pretty details.



I applied 3 coats of polycrylic to the top, which turned out streaky :(  I am NOT redoing it. I should have known better than to do this in high heat, high humidity in the garage…grrrrrr.  It’s good enough for me.



I was inspired by Crystal’s table redo. which you can visit at My Elements to Elegance Crystal lives close by and has some great projects, please stop in and pay her a visit. Her table is gorgeous, don’t you agree?

Happy Canada Day!

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Junkin Junky

Changing chairs

I’ve had a nice break and was able to concentrate on my new job, but I’ve been dying to show you my new chair.

Back in May I was fortunate enough to find 2 faux bamboo Chippendale chairs for $50. I had to get some repairs made to my vehicle, so I had to let them go. I made a nice $500 profit, so it didn’t hurt too bad. I also sold my rattan pagoda etageres and again I made a good profit on them. The good news is that my van is purring again :)

One end of my living room looks so bare. I am considering making faux built-in bookcases using billy bookcases, so I’m pouring over Kijiji looking for a good deal on 4 of them.  While looking I came across a chair that I wanted as soon as I had laid eyes on it. The buyer was asking $100 but I noted that it had been up for a week, so I sent an email offering $60 and I got it.

This fretwork pagoda chair is made by Century Chair Company in Hickory, NC It’s from the 80’s and in very good condition. The only unfortunate part is that it’s hunter green. Do you think I should wait for hunter green to come back in or should I banish it  back to the 90’s where it belongs?






It came with a ripped seat so as a temporary measure, I replaced it with some crushed velvet that I already had.



I did a little digging around to find out more about this chair, but was not able to find out much about it. I did find a pair of armless chairs, but done in a silver leaf finish on 1st dibs for $4800. for the pair!!! that’s outrageous!

source

I doubt this will live long in my house, so I have to come up with a finish and fabric that will make it resalable. What would you do with it? I can picture it as a perfect desk chair.

I’m off of work until July 2nd, this weekend is Canada’s birthday and I’ll be heading in to Toronto for some festivities.

I’m so sad to see Google Reader go :(   If you follow me via Google Reader, I hope you will continue to follow me via BlogLovin or or sign up for email via FeedBurner, they are on my sidebar (right there on the right). 

Have a fabulous weekend!

Where is my fridge? – Inquiring minds want to know

Just a brief pop in to answer the question: Where is your fridge?

After Lindsey from Better After featured my kitchen makeover, I had a lot of questions as to where my fridge went.

I sometimes forget that there are people that may have not seen my posts as I documented every step of the way. For those of you that are wondering, my fridge is here, I just didn’t post any pictures, well, because it’s an old ugly fridge LOL

There it is, next to my pantry. I wish I could make it disappear, but it’s a necessity. 

Others wanted to know if my cabinets are the same, and yes, they are the same cabinets.  If you take a look at this post, it documents how I added moulding and new handles to change them.

Thanks for all of your sweet comments, I really appreciate it.

Blogcation

After working for a few months on my kitchen, I feel the need to take a break from all of the diy stuff.

 

I recently started a new job and the learning curve is exhausting; who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? *smile*

I’ll see you all in July, rested and rejuvenated.

DIY kitchen makeover reveal

It’s done!  I could tweak it forever, but all of the hard stuff is done.  Thank you so much for sticking by me as I posted yet another step in my makeover, but I wanted to be sure to capture everything along the way.

I had to include some before and after pictures, of course. Moving the fridge to where my desk used to be really opened up the space.

I left most of my receipts at work, so I don’t have a cost breakdown, but I was not able to buy a new fridge as planned, but soon very soon :) 

I am sure I have not gone over $2,000.00. Here is a breakdown of where I spent that money

new subfloor and Allure vinyl flooring after removing 5 layers of flooring

new microwave

new countertops

new cabinets where the fridge used to be

new pantry door

new lighting

new backsplash

new cabinet handles

new to me chairs

paint, brushes, rollers, new skill saw, new circular saw, wood and moulding and innumerable trips to big orange.

 

This was the biggest project I’ve taken on yet, and I’m so glad it’s over. No more thinking about what colours to paint, what backsplash to go with, what flooring, how to install counters, how to install cupboards; it was a whole lot of thinking and a little less doing. LOL.

 

And now some gratuitous photos because I’m just so proud of getting this huge task done.

 

Thanks again for sticking with me throughout this process, and for your sweet comments that encouraged me along the way.

I will post later on the details of what products I used and how I solved issues that came up along the way.

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Junkin Junky