Thrifty Treasure Transformation – colorful candlesticks

I shared this over at the DIY Club a few weeks ago but wanted to share here too. When I saw this Martha Stewart image…I loved the coordinating colorful candles and candlesticks.

colorful candlesticks

So, I started collecting wooden candlesticks from thrift stores and yard sales…

 wooden candlesticks

I wanted a fun colorful accent to go with our family room plans:family room design

What I used:

  • Wooden candle sticks
  • Candles (color matching my Patio Paints)
  • Deco Art Patio Paint (dark eucalyptus green, waterfall, fuchsia, buttercup)
  • Deco Art Patio Paint reusable Home & Garden stick on stencils
  • dark glaze (TransTint Dye by Rockler)

How I did it:

1. I gave my wooden candlesticks a few coats of Patio Paint each. Because I didn’t sand the wood, I used a dry brush technique. I preferred an antiqued look. I let the candlesticks dry between coats.

2. I brushed on and wiped off my glaze (TransTint dye) to give it an old finish.

3. The Deco Art stencil was sticky (and reusable) making stenciling super easy:

 

Ta-da!

painted candlesticks

{fabric is waverly santa maria desert flower – I’ll be using it for my drapes}

Love them – fun colorful accent to add to our family room…if I can ever get back to working on the makeover!

DIY Club
DIY Show Off - FacebookDIY Show Off - TwitterDIY Show Off - PinterestDIY Show Off - Feed


I Love Thrifting Day – fun, finds & friends

#ilovethrifting

Groups from all over participated in I Love Thrifting day this past weekend. As you know, I had the pleasure to organize and host the North Pittsburgh event.

DIY Show Off #ilovethrifting

Our group was small, consisting largely of family sprinkled with a few friends

#ilovethrifting

and the opportunity to meet 3 local blog friends!

Kim {Reposhture} and me. Love her creativity. I’ve featured her before. We just didn’t know that we were practically neighbors. Now I can ‘borrow’ her ski pole lamp or have her professionally DIY a piece of furniture for me! ;)

reposhture

Reposhture and DIY Show Off

I don’t know why I didn’t get my picture with Susan from Oh My! Creative {so many fun crafty features}, but you can see her in her green/white striped shirt in some of the photos. Love her and can’t wait to get to know her a little better. I have local blog friends!

And dear sweet, Jessica who I actually met last year. Jessica’s a local pet sitter at Sittin Paws, providing an awesome alternative to kenneling. Now I can consider getting a dog {I miss Niski} because vacations won’t be a problem with a friend like Jessica in the neighborhood! She’s also blog author at Craft Frau Times…but she’s lacking the ‘time’ to blog right now. 

Roeshel and Jessica

Our scheduled was as follows:

9 a.m. we arrived at the North Hills Goodwill.

North Hills Good Will

Lots of thrifty treasures!

#ilovethrifting

Next up was Wexford GoodWill. It’s a more intimate store (not a donation center) but packed full of treasures and the service was a little more personal.

Wexford Goodwill

At this point, our entire group of lucky #13 was gathered…

Pittsburgh 2012 #ilovethrifting

North Pittsburgh #ilovethrifting 2012

Yep – there’s my aunt, my cousin, my GRAM! My sister, niece, daughters and friends! 

We also had a scavenger hunt at each store. Just a piece of paper with one word. The more hideous, the better.

#ilovethrifting scavenger hunt

A little prize was awarded for those finding their “thing”. Ali won $5…

#Ilovethrifting winner

Some really fun finds…

thrifty treasures

Next up, we headed to Cranberry Twp. to another GoodWill and more shopping! If I had room in the vehicle, this would have found it’s way to Ali’s tiny apartment where I would give “painting a loveseat” a little DIY trial. It was like new!

love seat

Time for lunch! Place: North Park Lounge ClubHouse where seating was limited for a small group, but booths were all in the same location. Food was good. Company was amazing.

#ilovethrifting pittsburgh lunch

Last stop: Gibsonia GoodWill.

#ilovethrifting shopping

It was a long HOT {104 degrees} day…we shopped til we dropped…

#ilovethrifting

Some of us headed to my house for a little thrifty show and tell

#ilovethrifting

#ilovethrifting

What did I come home with? Surprisingly, very little, but LOVE

my thrifty treasures:

thrifty treasures #Ilovethrifting 2012

  1. A pouf! Price: $15.
  2. An old clip board for filleting fish – $2.99.
  3. Target shower curtain $11
  4. $2.99 ticking bed skirt for me to cut up for a project.
  5. Garden gnome. A little pricey at $9.99 but I couldn’t resist his cuteness.
  6. Picnic basket $4.99.
  7. Pitcher – I don’t remember. Maybe $1.99.

A special thanks to Rashon at Mr. GoodWill Hunting, the brains behind #ILoveThrifting day. Remember, we finally had the chance to meet a few weeks ago at the Haven Conference.

Rashon and Roeshel

And a special thanks to GoodWill of Southwestern PA for the discounts! If you’re local – the Butler GoodWill store is having a fun event this Saturday! I might even gather my friends and where our shirts and partake of some refreshments and sales!

Joining the party at Rhoda’s: SouthernHospThriftyTreasures copy_thumb Check out all of the fun thrifty treasures’ links. You’ll want to see her latest progress in her new home too!

Deco Art Projects at the DIY Club

Today I’m sharing two Deco Art projects at the DIY Club:

Patio Paints and Patio Paints Home & Garden Stencil…

Thrifty Candlestick Transformation

before

wooden candlesticks

after

colorful DIY candlesticks

and Decoupaged Chandelier

decoupaged candle chandelier

DIY Club

Reminder: LAST DAY!!!

I’ll be drawing the winner first thing tomorrow morning. There’s still time to enter to win!

Granite Gold cleaning kit & $50 Bed, Bath & Beyond gift card

granite gold products Bed Bath & Beyond gift card

A Chair Affair – thrift store dining chair makeovers

Just a quick “after” of the chairs my sister Patti got for around $2-3 each for her dining room (she just moved her family back and is on a tight budget for furnishing her new home). Shopping was done at thrift stores, 2nd hand furniture store, yardsales and auctions.

thrifty store chairs

A little clean up and all chair cushions were re-upholstered. Patti chose coordinating royal blue floral and paisley patterns.

  • Remove seats from wooden chair base.
  • Remove old fabric (usually stapled on)
  • Lay out new fabric with seat upside down in the middle of a piece of fabric (about 1/2 yard should be more than enough). Cut fabric to size (a couple of inches larger all the way around).
  • I fold my unfinished edges under while working my way around the seat, stapling as I go.
  • Start with the center of one side, fold fabric under then pull and staple to the under side of the seat. Do the center of each side, pulling tight as you go.
  • After each side center is stapled, I move the corners. Taking the corner of the fabric, pull tight and staple. I wrap the corners the same way I wrap a gift.
  • Staple the fabric all the way around (fabric folded under) the bottom of the chair seat.
  • Reattach the seat to the chair frame with screws.

reupolstering chairs

We love the dark stain on these and that they’re all different but all coordinate now…

dining room chair seat makeover

Click the pictures below for original links to more beautiful dining room chair makeovers by some super talented blog friends:

DIY Show Off - FacebookDIY Show Off - TwitterDIY Show Off - PinterestDIY Show Off - Feed


Thrifty Treasures – Part 2

Yesterday I shared some of my recent thrifty finds {Thrifty Treasures – Part 1}. I’m back today with more super sweet finds. Some of these are a little more rustic and the prices too good to pass up. I know I have quite the collection of thrifty treasures. Now all I need is to find the time to work on certain pieces and put them in place. Working on that and looking forward to sharing. :)

thrifty finds collage

  1. Set of two dry erase boards, set 4 wooden folding chairs for $5 total! Textured lamp shade, jar of old bingo chips (oops…those are Ali’s), pretty globe (one of 3 now) and a vintage cardboard Necco cookie container with lid.
  2. Vintage wooden mold and heavy cast iron anchor decorative accent.
  3. Vintage banker’s chair. Needs some work but brand new banker’s chair is over $150!
  4. Frame for a folding dressing screen that needs a little DIY fabric treatment and I couldn’t pass up the $2 price tag.
  5. Wooden architectural scraps. I’ll be channeling Rosemary from Villabarnes{pop over to enter her beautiful giveaway!}.
  6. Huge vintage milk can with spout. A lovely accent for the barn patio.
  7. Another vintage wooden brass mold piece. Love these things – no purpose other than decorative at this time, but this one looks like a tiered cake.
  8. Bat box. Last year we sealed up the attic and reclaimed our home. But bats serve a good purpose so we’re giving them another option.
  9. Round accent table. This is actually Bri’s $3 auction score but it’s sitting in my house…if it sits too long, it’s mine, right? ;)

Cant’ wait to share the makeovers and everything in their places. Some things are for our home, some for my relocating home sister’s rental house and a few items for my daughter’s soon-to-be-home apartment. Time to get to work! Do you have some awesome finds, thrifty treasures or repurposed DIY to share? Link up to the DIY Project Parade to show off! Let’s see!

DIY Show Off

I’m joining the party here:

SouthernHospThriftyTreasures copy_thumb

DIY Show Off - FacebookDIY Show Off - TwitterDIY Show Off - PinterestDIY Show Off - Feed



Thrifty Treasures – Part 1

I haven’t shared my auction, estate sale, thrift store and yard sale finds in quite a while so I thought I’d catch up.

thrifty finds

  1. Set of two vintage gallery wrapped framed prints with apple green frames. I love the feminine, vintage girl and think these will be a great addition to a gallery wall.
  2. Set of two brass lamps got a coat of Valspar’s spray paint in SATIN SUMPTUOS PURPLE. It just so happens my niece has purple bedding so we’ll be giving her new room a fun and glamorous new look. Check out this inspiring bedroom makeover from Courtney (discovered via Young House Love) that’s given us ideas for Angel’s room.
  3. Beautiful accent table with hidden drawer. Bri will be painting this for her sister’s teeny tiny apartment.
  4. Set of two distressed coral/red metal roosters which now decorate the bulkhead in the kitchen. Perfect color – no work!
  5. Vintage typewriter in aqua. Ali found this and it’ll be a super cute accent piece for her new apartment.
  6. Owl plaque (painted the same pretty purple as the set of lamps) for my niece’s room.
  7. A cabinet with pull out shelving – perfect for cable box and DVD player with a makeover in the near future and the beautiful hardware. Right now they’re out in the open. I prefer hidden tv components.
  8. Bronze cup/vase and bronze horse. Just couldn’t pass these by. Love the shiny bronze color.

Ali {isn’t she cute?} snapped this picture of us at the estate auction, unsuspecting me and Bri in the background…girls days are so much fun!

Ali, Roeshel & Bri

Cant’ wait to share the makeovers and everything in their places. Some things are for our home, some for my relocating home sister’s rental house and a few items for my daughter’s soon-to-be-home apartment. I have more to share tomorrow. Do you have some awesome finds, thrifty treasures or repurposed DIY to share? Link up to the DIY Project Parade to show off! Let’s see!

DIY Show Off

I’m partying here:

SouthernHospThriftyTreasures copy_thumb

DIY Show Off - FacebookDIY Show Off - TwitterDIY Show Off - PinterestDIY Show Off - Feed


Girls’ Chevron Room Reveal

When I first saw Ang’s girls’ sweet room reveal, I couldn’t wait to help her ‘show off’. It’s crammed full of DIY accents and the result is super fun.

Meet DIY’ers: Ang and Matt from

Slaughterhouse Rules blog

The walls are soft gray,soft yellow and a fun chevron pattern accent wall. The comforters are $20 Target finds (awesome!) and the headboards are a DIY door project…

sweet gray and yellow girls' bedroom makeover

An old hand-me-down accent table…

accent table before and after

gets a fresh coat of paint and new knobs for a cleaned up look and new purpose between the beds…

accent table before and after

Jersey fabric strips from a ruined pair of pants are the perfect shade of gray for a shade makeover…

DIY lamp shade makeover

Coordinating fabric creates a cute bunting and dresses up an old window frame for wall art with a vintage vibe…

old window and bunting wall art

This old chest of drawers…

before

dresser before

gets a new look from one of Ang’s talented friends

dresser after

The other side of the room is all DIY too!

girls' room makeover

See all of the details on the Girls’ Room Reveal and MORE about this lovely family at Slaughterhouse Rules.

DIY Show Off - FacebookDIY Show Off - TwitterDIY Show Off - PinterestDIY Show Off - Feed


DIY Eye Candy from Little Yellow Barn

A mid week DIY treat: I recently had the pleasure of meeting two talented DIY’ers,  Ashley & Jourdan from

Little Yellow Barn
They’re the blog authors of Little Yellow Barn which specializes in furniture restoration.  Like us, Ashley and Jourdan share a love of anything handmade or simply one of a kind and they also dabble a little bit in the kitchen, mostly with recipes that are impossible to botch {my kind of cooking!}.  Both girls are building their dream from the ground up, a partnership in a little yellow barn to house their power tools and collection of furniture, home decor and stupendous, stock pile of squirreled away vintage valuables. Making something from nothing always gets them giddy {us too, ladies!}.  Ashley and Jourdan inspire readers to save money by providing inexpensive avenues for designing their own homes as they each design theirs.

Today they’re sharing a little of their inspiring DIY candy…

DIY dresser makeover

Not only is their painted furniture gorgeous, the photos look like something out of a home decor magazine, don’t they? Beautiful styling.

DIY teal ombre dresser

If Little Yellow Barn was a catalog, I’d add one of everything to my wish list.

chair, books, vintage lamp

So many fun DIY ideas…

frames

Beautiful furniture makeovers…

DIY reupholstered chair

DIY inspiration…

DIY topiary

DIY gray painted dresser

vintage print

Makes you want to go restyle a vignette or paint a piece of furniture, doesn’t it?

Gorgeous!

Pop over to say ‘hi’ to Ashley & Jourdan, follow along and see more DIY at Little Yellow Barn.
DIY Show Off - FacebookDIY Show Off - TwitterDIY Show Off - PinterestDIY Show Off - Feed


Seaside Shelter

Meet:  Dani from

Seaside Shelter blog

The guest room in Dani’s house has been redone more times than any other room in their house. It has housed numerous guests, served as a home office, slept an infant son, housed two foster daughters and was most recently turned into a sitting/television/game room. Spring has arrived in Newport and Dani has lots of overnight company so as of last week the “round room” as they call it, is back to- and will forever remain - The Guest Room.
The biggest challenge in choosing a purpose for this room has been that it is round. The room is actually a turret with only the inside wall being flat. It’s good sized, 16′ in diameter, but without flat walls, where do you put your furniture?
Secondly, if you stand in the center of the room and speak, your voice will swirl around your head in the most awkward and uncomfortable echo (the office concept was short lived).
before
family room
coastal cottage bedroom
Details:
Dani took down the matchstick shades to make the wood a real focal point to create a clean, white backdrop.
DIY plank/pallet headboard.”drift”…
DIY pallet, plant headboard
Shopping around the house is always budget friendly! The basket that held the kid’s video games now holds spare blankets for guests.
blanket basket
Antique ceiling tin accented lamp…
antique ceiling tin lamp
Hemp tie-back accent has a nautical feel and adds texture…
hemp tie back
I LOVE Dani’s latest yard sale finds too!
before
lamp beforeside table before
yard sale finds before
beautiful after…
thrifty treasures after
Get the details at Seaside Shelter Turquoise.
Beautiful, right? You can see more from Dani at Seaside Shelter. YOU MUST SEE HER HOME before and after. What an amazing change! I can’t wait to see more!

DIY Show Off - FacebookDIY Show Off - TwitterDIY Show Off - PinterestDIY Show Off - Feed



Dining Room Plate Wall

I love the look of plate walls – a great way to fill a wall with so many options to fit your own personal style.

Meet: Hilary from My So-Called Home.

dining room before

Hilary shares my issues with indecision. What to put on the walls? She finally realized it would be better to put something there and change her mind later on than to do nothing at all. And of course, lots of Pinterest browsing helped, specifically these two lovely rooms:

Then her idea became a reality. Now all she needed was a whole mess of random plates and she knew exactly where to get them– the same place she scored her awesome campaign dresser. This place has more dishes so many dishes (how dreamy!) Most of the dishes Hilary got were about 50¢ each.

Hilary washed and dried and numbered (masking tape) her plates.

Secret: One of her plates is not actually ceramic but this sweet little incredibly tarnished silver dish that took a couple coats of primer and white paint to fit in with the rest.

 

Hilary found adhesive cloth hook hangers in the “hooks and hangers” section at Lowe’s.

Hilary used paper plates and paper patterns to create a template.

Before:

And After!

 

 

Who knew that a few thrift store plates could create such a big fun impact?

Hilary is also happy to report that three moons have passed since these plates went up and they’re all holding strong.

I love Hilary’s collection of plates. I also love every other dining room detail. A beautiful appetizing dining area.

Do you have a plate wall?

I have a dining room plate wall too. Let me clean up in there and I’ll share an update in the near future. Hilary, thanks for sharing your beautiful dining room, inspiring plate wall and tips for a hanging! Pop over to see more budget friendly LOVELY DIY at My So Called Home.
DIY Show Off - FacebookDIY Show Off - TwitterDIY Show Off - PinterestDIY Show Off - Feed


DIY Starfish Chandelier

When I first ‘e-met’ Debi from

Debi's Design Diary

and first saw her gorgeous starfish tutorial and adorable video,

starfish chandelier

I was hooked. I couldn’t resist checking out all of her cute videos and creative DIY ideas.

Today Debi shares a few tips for making this pretty blingy starfish chandelier. Here she is:

I wanted to create a light fixture that had all of the wow factor of a chandelier dripping with crystals but without the big price tag.
DIY starfish chandelier
I used 36 white starfish and about 10 yards.
supplies for starfish chandelier
I have to say that every project I dream up has it’s challenges and this was no exception. 
Here are some important tips I discovered along the way:
Use a small dremel if you have one, it is much easier on the delicate sea stars and you will have more control when you get to the part where you need to drill the extra holes as the starfish are hanging on the chandelier.
Lay your starfish out in a mock set up to determine how many to use and how they will hang, I used a total of 36 starfish,( 12 strands of three). six of the stands had 3inch links of chain a at the top to attach to the metal ring and the other six 1.5 inch links. I did this to stagger the starfish so they would not bang into each other or overlap too much.
Keep in mind that the bottom starfish on the strand only needs one hole but the rest of them will need two or more.
E600 is the glue I used, although it  is messy and needs to be used in a well ventilated area it works well. You can find this glue at Walmart or Michaels.
of crystal chain and about 10 yards of rhinestone chain.
Ps. Materials (and this chandelier – just 1!) can be found in Debi’s Etsy Shop: Debi’s Design Diary.
rhinestones and starfish

Thanks, Debi! If you’re attempting this project {or even if you’re not}, check out her video tutorial for tips and to get a glimpse of the girl behind the blog. I love it!

See more inspiring ideas at Debi’s Design Diary.
DIY Show Off - FacebookDIY Show Off - TwitterDIY Show Off - PinterestDIY Show Off - Feed


Thrifty Treasures

I love spring and nicer weather because it means time for yard sales“! This past weekend, my daughter and I stopped by a few in addition to an estate auction. I didn’t get much but here are some of my treasures…

an old vintage clock face…

vintage clock face

I haven’t set the clocks yet…oops!

There are never any AA batteries when you need them and I felt it best not to ‘borrow’ from the remote control. ;)  The clock face on the wall is the one I purchased.

DIY vintage mantel

Ever since Aimee from It’s Overflowing shared this image from Martha Stewart Weddings in the DIY Project Parade, (thanks so much, Aimee – I can’t stop thinking about copying this for a centerpiece in my favorite colors…)

colorful candlesticks

{no, no wedding plans…I’m already married to a wonderful man! I just love the look.} I’ve been collecting wooden candlesticks (+ a wooden tray)…

wooden candlesticks

Wisteria used to sell these vintage elephant bells…

Wisteria vintage elephant bell

and I found my own cute little vintage brass elephant bell with a beautiful patina. I love the sound!

vintage brass elephant bell

and because I might want to ‘work out’ (ha! haha!) these fun vintage dumbbells…

vintage wooden dumbbells

I’ve also recently scored another outdated chandelier that will get a coat of spray paint and a little chicken wire accessorizing. And clothes. One of these days the girls and I will do a fashion show. Most of our favorite things are from thrift stores.

What have you found lately? Feel free to leave a link to your thrift store/flea market/yard sale finds in the comments…we want to see. Then join me in linking up at Rhoda’s fun party:

SouthernHospThriftyTreasures copy_thumb

DIY Show Off - FacebookDIY Show Off - TwitterDIY Show Off - PinterestDIY Show Off - Feed


Vintage craft/office makeover

Meet: Shelby from

Honeysuckle blog

She’ll be having a baby in a few short months and to make room for baby, switched around several rooms in her house. One of Shelby’s biggest challenges was to combine her office and craft spaces into one multi-functional, organized splace.

The large L-shaped desk was a DIY project…

vintage craft room/office

Don’t you love the windows, the light and that view?

The rest is creative fun vintage finds turned useful. So many treasures, such clever ideas.

craft room pegboard

wrapping paper roller

gallery wall

vintage office chair

craft room/office French doors

vintage mail sorter

craft supplies

vintage canisters

vintage office/craft room makeover

Shelby shares all of her DIY at

honeysuckle
and vintages treasures in her Etsy shop…

honeysuckle

Ps. Look for her beautiful mud room – gorgeous transformation!
DIY Show Off - FacebookDIY Show Off - TwitterDIY Show Off - PinterestDIY Show Off - Feed

Let’s Talk about Chandeliers!

I’ve been really lucky with finding thrifty {used} light fixtures. Want to see? Ever wonder how a creative idea strikes? Read on, my DIY friend…

This week, I may have squeeled with excitement when I saw this at St. Vincent de Paul for $9.99 {except that I’m the quiet type and even if I did squeel, you wouldn’t have heard me…but I was THAT excited. I still am!}

thrift store chandelier

and I’m thinking it’ll go in the family room {which, as you know is a work in progress…so what it looks like now isn’t a reveal and those pretty doors aren’t finished either!}…

turquoise doors

Then Lindsay had the idea of making it into an accent table – isn’t that brilliant?! ::light bulb over my head:: Re-wire it to plug in, add a glass top and ta-da!  It’d be gorgeous all rigged up – no need for a table lamp if the table is a chandelier!  Hmmm…now that she’s planted that seed…I just don’t know! {You know I’m indecisive!} But when it’s sitting on the floor, it DOES look like a table!

But I do love to play around. Here’s just an old window on top and an idea of how it’d look. Pretty awesome, I’d say!

DIY upcycled side table

repurposed coffee table

This one was purchased for $20 from Habitat ReStore…

 thrift store chandelier

and I’m pretty sure it’s replacing the light fixture in the dining room…

 thrift store chandelier

Now the dilemma. I love that they’re both huge and will make a beautiful statement in each room. But did I choose the right rooms for each chandelier? I think either light would work in either room so I’m certain I’m going in the right direction. I think. lol! What do you think?

And I love each of them and their aged gold color but I’m so tempted to give them a “WOW” with a coat of spray paint. Check out this inspiration…

yellow chandelier

{Pretty Handy Girl}

green chandelier

{Addicted to Decorating}

purple chandelier

{houzz}

magenta chandelier

{Vickie Howell}

blue chandelier

{design sponge}

I’m no stranger to spray painting chandeliers:

My dressing room chandelier used to be brassy gold…

The room that Cassity (Remodelaholic) and I designed for Shaw/HGTV Home last summer and the painted chandelier:

Guest Room Chandelier

  1. Keep my current placement plan?
  2. Spray paint one or both or none?
  3. Chandy side table?

Ps. Mr. DIY pictures a big palm leaf ceiling fan in the family room so the light fixture there will be temporary until we decide to choose and invest in the perfect one. And he’s sort of liking our current dining room light fixture, but maybe he won’t notice the swap? Or he’ll fall in love them when they magically appear in place? Didn’t happen with this one in the powder room:

powder room before and after

{powder room}

He’s not a fan of the ‘snot monster’. But he tolerates it for me. Love him {and the tear drop light}. They’re both keepers! ;)  

After writing up this post and playing with the idea more, I’m thinking if I keep the current dining room light fixture {we’d love a pulley light there anyway}, use the lantern-chandelier in the family room and the caged chandelier as a coffee table/accent table … problem solved, right? What do you think? I am LOVING the chandelier coffee table idea! So, I’m going to work a little do-it-yourself magic, make it sturdy, add a top (I like the window) and change the electrical from hard-wire to plug-in. It’s just too perfectly my style not to go with that idea. Here are some more pictures of the repurposed chandelier table idea (I see a tutorial in my near future).DIY chandelier coffee table

repurposed chandelier coffee table

I’m so glad we had this chat. It’s been a huge help in curing my indecisiveness. ;)

old window, books and globes

But I might still change my mind.  {After all, I do have these for making a coffee table too.}

Funky Junk's Saturday Nite SpecialPhotobucketSouthernHospThriftyTreasures copy_thumb
Redoux Friday Feature Party

DIY Trash to Treasure Home Sweet Home Chalkboard Message Center

Just a quick note today. I’m sharing a trash to treasure “Home Sweet Home” chalkboard message center that I actually made a few months ago (I’m a little behind) over at the DIY Club today.

Before: this tray or calender holder or whatever it is from the thrift store…

thrift store tray

After: becomes a sweet housewarming gift with a new life as chalkboard message center…

tray to chalkboard tutorial

Continue reading

Farmhouse Kitchen Updates

Our farmhouse kitchen is still evolving. We still have some finishing touches such as baseboard trim, little pot rack/light fixture DIY, stove backsplash and kitchen island. But I wanted to show you how it’s looking today.

I’ve decided to go with red as an accent color.

farmhouse kitchen

Continue reading

Thrifty Treasures – TRUNKS

Check out what I bought yesterday…

steamer trunks

A lot of 9 steamer trunks. I couldn’t resist. Mr. DIY may consider an intervention. But you guys! The price was just too good to pass by and it was an all or nothing type deal. And you know I’ll find somewhere for a few of them. So will Bri. Ali will probably want one too. How about you? ;)

I love imperfectly perfect!

Continue reading

Thrifty Treasures

My trip to the thrift store this week resulted in two Venice prints. A little more expensive than I’d normally consider ($10/each) but the retail price shows $40/each and they have an old world feel that’s perfect for the living room.  $80 for $20. Not bad.

living room wall decor

I needed to add some steel wire to the back to hang {tips for hanging pictures on plaster walls}…

wire cable for pictures

and now they fill a previously empty wall space:

living room

Continue reading

Introduction to Dumpster Diving

Redoux
Today Karen aka Good Time Charlie from Redoux has stopped by to share an introduction to one of her favorite hobbies.  She’s spent so much time peering into dumpsters that she’s developed some handy tips on scoring the best junk, with the least amount of effort.

Karen loves to restore and refurbish furniture and she’s so good at it! For example…

painted furnitureand if lucky enough, even use pieces she finds on the side of the road, Craig’s list Free, or….DUMPSTERS!
Continue reading

Pottery Barn {knock off} Easter Eggs Tutorial

This tutorial is from last year, but I wanted to share it again since the the time is right. These Easter Eggs are still in the Pottery Barn catalog but they’re also super easy to do-it-yourself.

I fell in love with a Pottery Barn vignette as I often do. This one was for Easter. The PB one is pink but I wanted yellow.

Pottery Barn Easter vignette
Problem:  Silk flowers/branch, pitcher, 2 bunnies = $200 for seasonal decor!
So pretty much not going to happen on my budget.
However, out of budget inspires DIY projects.
do it yourself paper mache Pottery Barn inspired Easter egg
Materials:

DIY Chair Makeover – before and after x 2

Think a thrift store find with a little DIY love can’t be every bit as gorgeous as a high end find? I beg to differ.  Meet:  Kristen from 

Farmstyle Studio

Kristen often says that design wouldn’t be a challenge without a budget. What fun would it be to walk into a high end store and say “I’ll take it!” without even so much as glancing at the price tag? 

But it’s not nearly as interesting or satisfying when there isn’t a bit of a challenge involved. At least that’s what we tell ourselves when the budget is tight. 

Kristen scored these thrift store potential beauties…

{before}

379924_257177777675332_109672569092521_700043_1609861333_n

and now prepare to be amazed…

Continue reading