Vintage Kids Desk Redo
Over the summer we found an old kids desk for $2 at a garage sale. Jeremy might have thought I was crazy, but I knew this baby had potential.
Before:
I sanded her down, and painted a few coats of this lovely grey. Then roughed it up with some distressing. The finishing touch was the adorable new yellow knobs! Here is how she turned out:
Adorable, no?
I’m pretty proud of this little baby and hope that someone else loves it and wants to give it a new home too! 🙂
Toy Box
A project done! The abused vintage toy box started out like this:
The white is actually wood filler, added by me. But, you get the picture. It was old, and rough, and needed lots of wood filler and love. I sanded and filled and sanded some more. Finally I chose turquoise paint and white for the inside. Not as creative as I originally sought out to be, but it turned out fun so I left it there. I antiqued the edges a bit and roughed up the “wear spots”. I like how it turned out simple and fun!
After:
What do you think? I think it turned out super adorable. I was going to replace the handles, but the old ones are vintage ceramic and actually cleaned up nicely. I’m even tempted to keep this one! Why keep a toy box? … more news to come! 😉
Mini Paint Project
I have finally completed a tiny project that has bugging me on my to-do list forever now!
Remember the little downstairs bathroom with the cute antique cupboard… (tiny room = bad photos, sorry!)
Well, here is the very sad, and a little scary inside of this cupboard…
So, a little paint and some pretty things to make the cupboard useful, and… viola!
The cupboard is antique, and therefore has many bumps and cracks, so it will never be “perfect,” but now its not such an eyesore. When company is over I will not be so embarrassed to let them reach in for another roll of toilet paper or necessity!
I even did a bit of decorating to the necessities in the cupboard. These antique jars got new fun lids. And a small box got a bright cover to hold small things.
Aah, much better! What do you think? More projects on the way too! 🙂
Some Handmade Gifts
Hi there! I wanted to do a quick post to show you what we made for our family members for Christmas (and an upcoming wedding!). I started with a few simple stone tiles from Menard’s. I used a flat round brush, a stencil, and some solid paint pots. I dabbed the paint on over the stencil without wiping. I then added some clear coat and some felt pads to the bottom corners. Now…we have personalized coasters! I know I have seen this done before, but I had to share because they turned out so sweet and simple. And, they didn’t break the bank!
What do you think? I think they turned out great and it was a lot of fun making gifts this year instead of buying something no one needs! 🙂
Chair Love
I love love love metal dining chairs. Especially these roughed up Tolix chairs!
See many more gorgeous photos on this blog, even if you can’t read a word of it!
Also, stay tuned for a GUEST POST this week!! 🙂
Rustic Blue Chair Love
I finally got the chance to finish a little antique chair project over the holiday weekend. This little guy was found at a late garage sale. Shabby pink paint hid the cute chunky style of this cutie. Enter my rustic blue paint…
Before…
And after…
Well, what do you think? I think this one turned out super adorable! For sale now in the shop! 🙂
House Tour Continued: The Rest of the Downstairs
Finally here to finish the (inside) house tour! Coming from the living room tour, next you would walk into the “office” room. This room was already red, and I owned a lot of red furniture. It is wild in there. But, soon to look a bit different. This room is so handy. We have room to do computer work, crafts, store paperwork, and lounge. There is also a closet and plenty of floor space for kids and toys. Since it is connected openly to the living room it would be easy to keep an eye on little ones playing.Â
This is the one room that we have a box left to unpack. You know, that one pesky little box that has nowhere to go?
And next, the dining room! You can see there is that shelf in the way still…
The table and chairs we bought from the seller.
The window is a view into the sun porch we saw before. The stained glass door on the other side is the same as the sun porch door, but leads to a storage closet, which has proven to be super handy!
This is the door we use most frequently, but it is actually a side door. The little screened in porch is out that door and there is a big circle driveway there.Â
Directly the oposite direction of this picture is the kitchen…
Isn’t the arched doorway adorable? There will eventually be a small table under the window.
Yes, the curtains are currently mismatched. Soon to be fixed, when I can make up my mind!
I also love the rustic cabinets! The little silverware drwaers are like cigar boxes!
The ceilings are low, but its cozy. Out the door by the window is a stairway to the basement and a storage woom we lovingly call the “dog room.” Unfinished and super ugly, but this area is a life saver!
Now to backtrack into the dining room. The door next to the dining room entry is to a 1/2 bath and a laundry room. Oh, how a mainfloor bathroom is wonderful!
Not fancy, but perfect to us!
Well, what do you think? That is pretty much the whole house, flaws and all! I can’t wait to start making chnages and show you all!
House Tour Continued: The Living Room
I have finally gotten around to taking more pictures of the house! Again, these are semi-befores, as I have put things away and somewhat decorated, but we have not done any remodeling or painting yet. We can start in the living room.Â
Here is the view from the steps that lead upstairs (where we toured before)…
Yes, the room is peach. No, it is NOT staying this way. Also, if I may vent, I hate the couch situation. That is the old floral couch from my “green lounge room” in the old house. We covered it with a slipcover (horrible idea!) and the ottoman is the red one one from the office covered in a sheet. This was our way of making a temporary L shaped couch. Yeah, I hope it doesn’t last long!
Also, I love the curatins, but I think they are getting traded with another room, more on that later! And sorry to those of you who do not like animals in decor, but this room has a lot of it. Fiance and I like it 🙂
The walls will soon be a grey. Also, the empty wall above the teal table has some art…just not hung yet!
Don’t mind the shelf that is in the process of being moved in the last photo! Next is a shot of the entertainment center. The last owners built this awesome rustic thing and left it. We had debated doing away with it, as it is very big, but it has grown on us! I think it may pop in a neat way once the walls are painted, so we will keep her for a while!
A shot of some antique keys hanging inside the entertainment center…
The makers of this cabinet hung a spoon handle on the outside as a coat hook. Such a cute idea!
There used to be a stove where the stone wall is.
Here is the view out our red front door…
fSo, what do you think? Its getting there. I can’t wait to paint! Stay tuned for the tour of the rest of the downstairs! 🙂
Sun Porch Make Over
One of the rooms on the lower level of the new house that I have not yet given you a tour of is the “sun porch.” This room is on the back side of the dining room. We saw potential, but it was initially a bland, useless room. Before:
Unfortunately, these photos are only “semi-before” shots. We do have some things in there. But, you can see the room is blah and in rough shape. What you can’t see is that the walls are blotchy paint, everything is dingy and dirty, and the carpet piece is missing a chunk.
Here are a few perkier after shots:
The carpet is the same… for now. I plan to do some stenciling on it!
The ceiling still needs to be painted. I am waiting to find the perfect light blue…
Here is the view back out the antique stained glass window into the dining room…
And my helpers…
Better, no? 🙂
Desk Chair Redo
I was in an office chair conundrum at the new house. The office is large enough to hold the futon, DVD rack, desk, book shelf, and even file cabinet. But, its just not very comfortable. I loved using the comfy and gorgeous blue wingback chair in my last home office, but in this office there just isn’t enough space for a nice layout with the chair. So, the blue wingback moved to our bedroom. More pictures of that to come. Then there was no office chair. What to do?
During a recent (and quick) trip down to the creepy basement to store a few boxes I noticed a computer chair with wheels! It was ugly. No other way to put it. But, it was sturdy and heavy duty, and in good shape other than the abused crudiness of it.
The before:
First step? Remove the ugly arms. Then it was some paint and fabric…
Not too bad, eh?
So, what do you think? I think for being a completely free project it turned out super cute and will work for us for a while, while we have zero money. Oh, and don’t worry about the BRIGHT red walls. Come winter they will no longer be so obnoxious. It is especially strong paired with a big red filing cabinet and on the other wall is a red futon and ottoman! lol.
Make Mine Eclectic 