transformation thursday: free curbside armoire

Posted in Before & After, DIY by thefurniturefinder

i realize that this post is coming a little early. and that it’s not actually thursday, but because of the holiday i thought i would post it anyways and enjoy my family tomorrow.

it seems to be (in my life) i am either really early or really late. never on-time.

one day i shall master that. or not.

until then, i thought i would share a little transformation my hubbs and i did on one of our free curbside finds.

my hubbs was on his way to the grocery store on Sunday and found this sitting on the side of the curb. he quickly called me to ask if i wanted it. (smart man!)

so, he brought it home and my wheels instantly got to work.

at first my hubby thought that he could just fix the door and then we could sell it. but, like most of our free curbside finds, i tend to fall in love and want to keep them.

it had great bones and i could tell it was well built, but you see, one of the doors was completely busted off. and though it probably could have been fixed, i had thought of a way we might be able to better use it.

i knew our house was a little too small for such a large piece of furniture. i also remembered that my son really needed a dresser for his clothes, since i had completely taken over real estate in his closet.

so, my eyes got big and i shot my hubby an all to familiar look that said, “i have a plan!” and he as usual, listened patiently and then went along with it.

here’s what we came up with….

a dresser for our son’s room.

it fits perfect!

it’s the right size, warms up the space with the natural wood tone, it adds a bit of rustic cowboy to his little boy space, and it was free!

and though it has a few rough spots, and a corner molding piece that is missing (my hubbs re-used the pieces from the top part of the armoire)…

i love it!

and so does our little boy.

win/win!

happy 4th friends!

27Jun2013

transformation thursday: man’s catch-all

Posted in Before & After, DIY by thefurniturefinder

my hubby recently said that our house was a little fluffy. he likes it, but it’s just fluffy.

i wasn’t sure how to de-fluff our house, so i went right out and looked for new pillows for our couch that were not fluffy, but i came home with ruffled linen pillows.

oops. de-fluffy fail.

i tried. i really did. our house was built in 1913, which i guess classifies it as a victorian (?) and so, it kinda just decorates itself.

well, yesterday i noticed that some of his non-fluffy, man stuff was starting to accumulate in places that were not its home. (do you do that, too? give things a ‘home’ and if it’s out of its home, then you find it a home? please say yes.)

i remembered that i had that old desk sitting in our garage that i found on the side of the road (those that follow my Instagram, may remember?).

the desk was in really bad shape. the top of the desk had come completely loose, the bottom was falling off. plus, it looked like it had sat outside and been beaten up by the elements.

the drawers, however, were in great shape!

so, i took one of the drawers, cleaned it up and then sprayed it with some spray paint.

(Rusteoleum heirloom white is one of my favorites!)

we had some scraps of wood in our garage, so my hubby cut down a few pieces and then used his nail gun to attach them to the drawer.

(i decided to spray the wood pieces in this light blueish green color.)

of course, i sprayed it after it was nailed into the drawer, which got all over the heirloom white that i had sprayed. i had to go back over all of the inside and outside with more paint. i decided to use Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in ochre. then i lightly distressed the shelves. (rookie mistake)

and this is what i came up with….

a man’s catch-all!

i added some plaid wallpaper that i found at the thrift store and wrapping paper from TJ Maxx.

now everything has a home,

and my man has a spot in our otherwise, very fluffy house.

(thanks, for putting up with my fluff babe! love you. xoxo)

24Jun2013

diy chalkboard art

Posted in DIY by thefurniturefinder

chalkboards are everywhere right now. it’s definitely a hot trend and one i was glad to jump on board with!

i love the utilitarian look of them and how they can fill a room with a message.

after seeing a post on how to make one, on one of my favorite blogs (check it out, this girl has style! mysweetsavannah.blogspot.com), i decided to give it a go and make one myself.

to my surprise, it was pretty easy. it took about an hour.

here’s what you’ll need…

1. chalkboard (you can purchase pre-made chalkboard in the lumber section at Home Depot, and have it cut to any size. or just use a piece of mdf or any piece of wood and chalkboard spray paint by rustoleum)
2. chalk
3. chalk eraser or cloth
4. tape
5. ball point pen
6. chalk pen (optional)

no. this does not mean put salad dressing all over your chalkboard. it’s to fill all of the microscopic holes with dust powder, so that when you go to erase it for the next time, it doesn’t leave the message behind. i have no idea where or when i learned that or if that is even correct. that’s just what i’ve been telling myself. In some cases (or most), your message might still be visible. oh well, i season my mine anyways, because i like the white, cloudy, used look it gives the chalkboard. (feel free to skip this step. it’s a personal preference)

to season your chalkboard, use a piece of chalk on its side and rub back and forth, covering the whole surface. then wipe the chalk away with an eraser or cloth.

(clearly, i forgot to take a picture of my original piece of paper. oops.)

there are many printable quotes on the internet. Pinterest is a great source. i found mine on the blog: mysweetsavannah.blogspot.com. or you can create your own with a program like Microsoft word, or any word processor.

once you’ve decided on the best quote, print it out on regular 8×10 computer paper.

i took my quote to Kinko’s and asked for a ‘drafting copy.’ you could also take it to Staples, Office Depot, any place that has a big copy machine. pretty much just ask them to enlarge it to the size you would like. it might be the easiest to measure the size of the chalkboard and give the salesperson those measurements and they can enlarge it to that size.

using the chalk on it’s side (just like when we were seasoning the chalkboard) rub chalk all over the back of the paper. you won’t be able to see the chalk, but just keep rubbing and make sure to cover all of the letters.

after you’ve rubbed chalk all over the back side of the paper, flip your quote over and tape it to the chalkboard, quote side up.

(side note: do you notice the cute lil’ footprint in the middle? my son managed to photobomb this pic!)

take a ball point pen and trace the letters of the quote. making sure to press down firmly. this step will transfer the quote to the chalkboard.

peel back the paper a little, to make sure the quote transferred. it will be faint, but still visible.

after all of the quote has been transferred, use a piece of chalk or a chalk pen and trace the quote on the chalkboard (jonesdesigncompany.com has a great post on different types of chalk!).

and viola’! you’re done and you have a great piece of chalkboard art to display in your home, or give as a gift, or for a party.

clearly, the uses are endless.

have fun!

come have some coffee with me tomorrow morning as i tour another cute little old house in old towne orange for house tour tuesday!

15Jun2013

transformation thursday: the train table and bubble butt

Posted in Before & After, DIY by thefurniturefinder

tonight i really wanted to tell you about a train table my hubby and i transformed, but you see i have a problem.

what’s the problem?

well, as i was starting this post and thinking about what to tell you on how we transformed it, a song kept popping into my head.

you might be wondering what the song is. i’m not even sure i’ve heard the song before. in fact, i’m pretty sure i haven’t. i heard it plenty on our walk tonight with my lil family though. you see, my hubby likes to randomly break out into song.

tonights song?

bubble butt.

have you heard it? (apparently it’s pretty popular and considering my hubbs is a high school teacher, he typically is informed of the trends before me.)

see, i wanted to tell you about this train table that we got from a friend of mine. And how we transformed it into this awesome farmhouse looking coffee table.

after transformation

how when we got it, it was red and huge and didn’t really fit in our tiny little old house. So, we decided to work as a team and make it into something that would fit in our living room and with our decor.

before transformation

(photo borrowed from: thrifty decor chick because i was too impatient to take a before pic)

but then it happens. my mind gets overtaken with…..

bubble butt, bubble bubble bubble butt, bubble butt. bubble bubble bubble butt.

uh. why?!

why, that song! is it even a song?!

see, i wanted to tell you about how we made it. how we painted the bottom a creamy white by Annie Sloan and made a new top with dark walnut stain.

bubble butt, bubble bubble bubble butt.

there it is again.

let me try to get through this….

i wanted to also tell you about how we still use this table for trains, puzzles, or play doh. how my son loves to sit at it with his little stool and eat lunch.

but no. this random song pops into my head like a bad case of turrets. (no offense, of course, to people who actually have turrets. i totally feel ya. it’s not fun).

so, i’m sorry. sorry, for not informing you better on our little train table transformation.

okay. i’m going to bed and praying this song goes away.

remind me to tell you sometime about how he changed all of the words to ‘Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer.’

i’m still recovering.

(love you hubbs *muah* but, please maybe a different song next time, huh?!)

9Jun2013

for the love of burlap

Posted in DIY by thefurniturefinder

remember the burlap craze!?

if there was a project to be done, there was burlap included.

first, i made a door hanger, from burlap of course, for my parent’s 40th wedding anniversary

i was all over the burlap trend.

my hubby, not so much. he said it smelled.

it did.

i still loved it and its vintage, rustic texture and neutral color.

it reminded me of being on a farm. tending to the animals and walking through the cornfields. (i’m not sure how i got all of that from burlap.)

see i had to buy burlap because it was affordable (*ahem* cheap *ahem*) and most of my projects were quick diy-ers that i just didn’t have time or money to mess up on expensive fabric.

i wasn’t entirely sure how to use my sewing machine at the time, so i used my hot glue gun (gasp) to make burlap pillows. i loved them!

my hubby hated them. he said they were scratchy.

they were.

those pillows had to be kicked out and find a new home.

they did.

on our front porch.

i made ribbon out of burlap to hang my wreaths

(it’s there. can you see it?)

yup. i used burlap on almost everything i could find. chair cushions, bunting, lampshades, as a matte in picture frames.

and then one day my love of burlap turned into my love of old paper. So…

you guessed it.

everything. everything was made out of old paper.

but, i still love you burlap. perhaps we’ll meet again someday. if only i can convince the hubby of your charm.

8Jun2013

stool. it’s one of those words if you say too many times, it starts to sound weird.

Posted in DIY by thefurniturefinder

today, i fixed up the cute little yellow stool i found on the curb the other night.

i really loved the bright, sunshine yellow (or maybe it’s more of a goldish yellow), anywho, i knew i wanted to keep that.

the top, however, was a little….as my son said, “dirty.” it needed a little love.

i grabbed my sandpaper and went to town. and then i realized that getting to that town was going take forever, so i grabbed my power sander.

much better.

after a few long minutes, it was back to the original wood.

i used a cloth and rubbed on my favorite stain, miniwax “old american.” then put a coat of poly after the stain dried.

viola’! all done and looking farmhouse fresh! (and maybe a little rustic, since the stain didn’t evenly take. that’s ok. this is a kid’s stool that will be well loved and banged up, i’m sure.)

now our new, little, yellow curbside stool is happy with its stool buddies. (the red one i found at the Goodwill and the white one was also a curbside find!)