Dresser before and after....

Our "grand opening" was this weekend at Midtown Eclectic so I was ubber busy getting pieces ready last week....no time for flubs. But things don't always go as we plan in the world of refinishing....

First, heat is a refinisher's nemesis! Neither paint nor finish appreciate hot AND humid conditions. And since my garage is technically my "shop" I am a slave to the elements.

Don't get me wrong...this summer has been seriously mild compared to years past. It is the end of August and we have probably only had a hand full of days over 90. And the rain has been super awesome. I am watering my potted plants, but haven't had to water my yard since June!

But because of the mild temperatures and wet summer, and with temperatures returning to normal, the mosquitos and humidity are just horrid! Soooo, if I work during the day I risk battling the heat and humidity...early morning and late evening, when it is cooler, and the mosquitos are unbearable!

Which brings me to my point (I get there eventually!)

Friday I sprayed clear coat on a meticulously refinished dresser top. Because of the heat, it "streaked." Usually the result of it drying too quickly. So when I went to "sand" it with steel wool, the clear coat just peeled off...humidity!!! Imagine sunburned skin...you know, how it peels off in those nasty little sheets after it has blistered. Yeah, that is how the clear coat came off...well some of it...not ALL of it.

I am sooooo impatient when it comes to finishing furniture....and that is NOT a good thing. Cure time is seriously important....and I normally respect that. (which explains why I rarely have those pretty "stage" pictures with all the froo-froo stuff!) But when something isn't right, I get in a big hurry to fix it...thus the nasty mess I made on this dresser I spent days refinishing!

This is one of those maple pieces you can find major cheap at any garage sale or thrift store. Cheap, because they are a bit unattractive.

But the upside is they are solid wood and usually very sturdy.

Just remember to be PATIENT and give it the time it needs to cure...and remember, not everything has to be PERFECT!

If you take your time and put a little effort into these pieces, they really can be beautiful again!

After a day of peeling and sanding and fretting, all's well that ends well.

I used the gel stain on the top...again, it allows the grain to show through on woods that otherwise will not take a stain. Maple is one that does not take darker stains well. So gel stain is usually the only way to go. You can paint the tops of these pieces, but I have to have my stained wood fix!

I used plaster paint on the cabinet and gave it a little "distressed" sanding. After filling the old hardware holes, I kilzed, sanded and painted the drawer fronts. New crystal knobs...my favorite!

And all of it got 2-3 coats of poly! Applied in the evening when it was a little cooler...while the mosquitos made a meal of my legs....grrrrr!

Beautiful. A piece that was destined for the dumpster is restored!

Worth a few skitter bites....

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Finding cheap supplies....

Repurposing furniture can get expensive when you start running to Lowe's every day for supplies.

So when I go to garage sales and auctions I am always on the lookout for anything and everything I can use in my "shop" (okay, it's really my garage but whatever)....

It doesn't necessarily have to be intended for "projecting." Old hand towels and wash cloths, and even old t-shirts, are always great for staining or just cleaning up messes. And when you are stripping or refinishing furniture it is nice to be able to throw these things away rather than worry about whether they will destroy your washing machine (and they will if they have gunk on them!) I picked up athletic socks for 10 cents a pair Friday....perfect for applying gel stain and finishes! And I have a tenant who works at a commercial laundry business and she gives me old stained wash cloths and hand towels!! You can always find really cheap towels...just cut them up and use them for "shop" rags!

Glass measuring cups or bowls and old spatulas are great for mixing paint. I have an old set of measuring spoons with my supplies specifically for measuring plaster of Paris for my plaster paint!

I always check the "oops" paint at Lowe's. They usually mark quarts and even gallons of "mismatch" paint for around $5....I got a little sample pot of teal paint for 50 cents this week!

I picked up two quarts of paint and some caulk guns for $1 at an auction Saturday. Not necessarily the colors I want, but I can always mix paints to get a color I like...a "dark blue" can be lightened with inexpensive white paint! And TRY to remember your primary colors...blue and yellow make green (and so on and so on...if you can't remember ask your grandkids or your 8 year old neighbor...lol!)

I have bought several boxes of "supplies" at garage sales and auctions...rollers, pans, brushes, sandpaper...all for cheap and all stuff I can use!

Any kind of container works great for paint brushes or small tools! Tin cans, pencil holders, storage containers....all great for keeping supplies organized!

And rubber gloves are a must when staining or even painting! I picked up three boxes of "medical" gloves at an auction for around $5!!! MUCH cheaper than the rubber gloves you get at Lowe's specifically for that purpose. Now keep in mind, if you are using lacquer thinner or heavy strippers, you MUST use heavier gloves designed specifically for those types of chemicals. But I always need disposable rubber gloves for staining and painting!

And as I have mentioned before, any smart DIYer always recycles coffee cans and plastic butter or whip cream tubs.

Just remember...just because it is MEANT to be used in the kitchen or bathroom, doesn't mean it HAS to be used there...if it is cheap, grab it and put it to work in your garage or shop!

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Repairing and repurposing Duncan Phyfe chairs!

No one likes stained and natural wood as much as I...and painting some pieces just goes against every grain in my body (get it..."grain"...like wood grain...lol!) But sometimes, as I have said before, it is the only way to fix or enhance a piece.

A few years ago someone in my family, who shall remain nameless (MOM!), broke the back on one of my Duncan Phyfe dining room chairs!!! I stuck it in my bedroom along with another chair and a little table. I only brought it in for big dinners and I made sure I was the only one who sat in it because I knew I couldn't lean back!

Mahogany....beautiful wood and beautiful set! Busted....literally in half....sniff.

I have seen many of these Duncan Phyfe chairs painted, but as much as I have tired of this dining set, I knew I could never bring myself to paint it.

But because of the repairs I had to do on this chair, I knew I didn't have a choice. And I couldn't paint just ONE...I had to have a matching pair.

First I had to glue and clamp the busted pieces. After that dried, I had to get REAL artistic with the wood filler. There were several chunks missing so I had to fill and shape...and then do some "sculpting" with sand paper!

Then it was time for a little kilz, a lot of sanding, tack cloth, paint and a clear coat. Maaaaan, that is a tough thing to do with such a pretty set!

But honestly, I kind of like the way it turned out! Not perfect but A LOT better than it was and now it is actually a functional chair!

I recovered the seats a year or so ago and I really like this fabric and have no desire to change it. So I debated whether to go with a "mocha brownish" kinda paint color or this soft off white. I went with the off white. I just decided if I was going to make a change, it was go bold baby! White is bold in my world!

I put both chairs in my room next to the Duncan Phyfe drum table. This is my little "computer and coffee" table.

Little story about this table...I actually have two....the other is in my living room (notice the glass...best way in the world to save the tops of your furniture!). Twenty plus years ago, when I was a real estate agent, we were touring a new listing and the owner was selling all the furniture. I asked how much she wanted for the two drum tables....TWENTY FIVE DOLLARS EACH. Are you kidding me...I couldn't whip out my wallet fast enough!!

Even thought I refinished this table a few years ago, it looks a tad "grungy" next to the freshly painted chairs. Again, I know paint is all the rage, but I just can't bring myself to paint this table.

But I am thinking seriously about painting the other 4 chairs that match theses. I have two more like this and two caption chairs...hmmmm. And of course the matching Duncan Phyfe dining table.

As I mentioned, my taste has changed over the years....from "traditional" to more "mid century." So I hope someday to have a more "mid century" style dining table. Who knows...some day when I have nothing to do I might just drag them all into the yard and give them a makeover....someday....when I have nothing to do....hahahahahaha!

Because honestly, I'm kind of loving this set again.....see what a little paint can do!

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Chair before and after....

I found 3 little chairs and a table at my apartments last week (and a few other goodies I will share eventually)....all perfect for a little "makeover." All three were pretty nasty so I took dish detergent and the hose and gave them a good scrubbing and then let them dry well!

This little guy had seen his better days...

This is one of those times when a little paint will indeed "enhance" a piece!

The table was evidently a little side-step table at one time...but the top was missing so I filled the holes with a little wood filler....

...a little sanding, a little paint, a little more sanding, a little clear coat! And magic happens....

Okay, so it's not really magic...it takes a little elbow grease and imagination.

But any piece of furniture with strong bones can become a useful little treasure again if you can just see past years of neglect and abuse.

I am working on the other two chairs, as well as a few other pieces I have picked up along the way...another busy weekend, but lots to share in the coming weeks!

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Side table before and after....

I bought this little side table several years ago at Habitat for Humanity. I don't think I paid a lot for it...brought it home, removed the old finish, evened it out with a little stain and coated it with tung oil....

It has been sitting in my den since....kind of nondescript...ho-hum...not terribly interesting.

So I decided to give it a little "makeover." I'm not real fond of the table other than it serves a purpose (the drawer comfortably held THIRTEEN remotes) and has simple "bones." That I like....

So I did a little gel stain number on the top and painted the bottom....I even spritzed the knob with black paint!

I like the darker stain on the top...but I'm not really sure I am all fired up about the off-white. Seems a tad stark in this room filled with "warm" colors. I'm thinking I should have painted it a khaki or rust or something along those lines. I would do black, but I have a black chair and ottoman, black marble surround on the fireplace and of course the tv is black...and last year I painted the interior doors black...just too much.

But in my opinion, it is better than it was....and if I decided to change it sometime (maybe in another 13 years) it will be easy since I have already done the top and prepped and primed the bottom....just another spritz of spray paint!

Remember, before you haul it to the curb or sell it in a garage sale, hit it with a coat of paint...what's the worse thing that can happen. So you still don't like it...you're still only going to get a few pennies for it at the garage sale!

And while I was reupholstering the ottoman this week I made a few decorative pillows for the couch. The ones I had came with the couch 13 years ago and were pretty rough! I used the same fabric I have on my dining chairs because I couldn't find anything I like better that would look good in here....

I absolutely love this fabric. It has every color I have in my decor, and more....blues, taupe, greens, rust, pink, teal, and a touch of purple...so it goes with anything in any room! And the base color looks almost black, but it is really a deep chocolate brown color...totally awesome!

A freshly painted table and a few decorative pillows...nice little facelift for my den!

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Drop Cloth Ottoman...before and after!

Sometimes you really do have to be able to look past the grunge and smell to see the potential!! This is one of those little "gems" I picked up at the apartments and as usual....NAAAASTY!

I will admit, I am probably the last DIYer on earth to use drop cloths as upholstery material. It's honestly not something that ever crossed my mind. You would think with all the painting I do at some point I would have looked at the paint covered drop cloth beneath my feet and thought "WOW...that would look super cool on an ottoman." Nope...never crossed my mind!

But I thought this was the perfect piece to give it a shot....

After all, it really couldn't get much worse....

Drop cloths really do make nice upholstery....very sturdy. I washed this one 3 times with bleach and dried it each time...just to soften it up a bit. It does have a tiny bit of a "wrinkle" look to it, but that kind of adds to the character.

For the piping I used a bias tape close to the color of the cloth....but it would look great with any color if you wanted to add a little pop!

If you have followed me, you know I am not big on skirts...but this little guy had "cheap" wheels and if I removed them it would have been too short. So I had to get a tad creative in order to compensate for the skirt. So I added grommets and a little burlap ribbon bow to each corner just to give the skirt a little "flare."

Too stinking cute!

You could really do a lot of super neat things with this...add a nifty transfer to the top, or paint the fabric...maybe some red or denim piping and bows to match. The drop cloths are literally a blank slate! But they are cotton and very sturdy and very easy to work with! And compared to the cost of upholstery fabric they are relatively inexpensive!

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Barstool before and after....

I finally got this neat metal bar stool done....and I actually have a before AND after picture!!!

This was one I picked up at the apartments. Metal with a black vinyl seat. My first thought was to reupholster the seat. But it sat outside for months and after a good scrubbing and a little Armor All, it looked good as new...so I left it!

I scrubbed up the metal frame, primed it with auto primer and sprayed it with an "outdoor" spray paint. Since it is sturdy metal, I thought someone might want to use it outdoors so I wanted the paint to stand up to the elements! But the color would look just as beautiful indoors. And if someone wants to recover the seat in a colorful fabric, it would be easy to do!

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Rain, rain...stay awhile

Wow...I don't remember a July and August with this much rain. Usually I am running my sprinkler 7 days a week by this time of the year! Awesome!

In "good ole' boy" terms, that means a second cutting of hay this fall! For the rest of us, it means more mowing, less watering and HOPEFULLY really awesome fall colors!

Saturday Kaitlyn and I went to an auction...when we left the house around 9 it was pouring and I wondered if they would even have the sale. Fortunately it was a relatively small sale and they had everything under cover, but by the time we got there it had stopped raining. Within an hour the rain jacket came off and by the time the sale ended it felt like a sauna. By the time I finished loading the stuff I had bought, I was soaked...from sweat!

There is a downside to all this rain...humidity and mosquitos!!!

Upside, I don't feel guilty about not washing my outside windows...afterall, they are just going to get all spotty with all this rain!

Anywho, I bought some nifty stuff at the auction this past week. Some awesome crocks, wood sewing nic-nacs, washboards, old leather baseball gloves and some neat iron hooks to use on something!

I only bought one piece of furniture...this little side table. I decided not to paint it since it has the leather top! I immediately cleaned it up and put it in a booth!

As you can probably tell, this is in one of my flea market booths...in Tontitown Flea Market.

I went out there this morning to take this picture and the owner (Kathy) had rearranged everything and "staged" my stuff...TOTALLY AWESOME!!! It looks soooo much better than anything I could do!

I feel like I have "staged" my house pretty well...but flea booths have lots of "stuff" so it is hard for me to arrange it! And this is a small space so she did a super job at maximizing the usable space!

Also, I noticed the little blue oak chair had NOT sold (the blue wicker chair sold)...so I managed to get an "after" picture!

Not a lot of "auction action" advertised for this weekend. But I am sure I will find something on my garage sale trek today. I have worked hard all week at the apartments so I will have some free time tomorrow to work on a few little projects I have in mind!

Maybe I will remember to take "before" pictures!!!

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MORE pillows....from "uh-oh" to "way cool"!

Last week I went to an "estate sale." It wasn't a garage sale and it wasn't an auction...so honestly the prices were a bit much for my purposes. But I did find a few things for myself. I don't mind paying a tad more for something I am going to keep.

One thing I found was a beautiful cotton shower curtain...absolutely gorgeous and really heavy and luxurious. Perfect for my "spa" master bathroom (here).

The only problem was when I got it up it just looked too "heavy" for my small bathroom!!!

What to do...it's not like I could take it back....uh-oh!!!!

I loved the look and the texture! It obviously would take some wear and wash since it is a shower curtain. So I knew I wanted to do SOMETHING with it!

I have SIX feather pillows on my bed. Not decorative pillows, but actual sleep pillows. I use 4 of them (seriously, I sleep with 4 pillows) but 2 of them are just too puffy and firm to sleep with so I just use them to prop up when I read!

But I don't like all the froo-froo of shames and the fact that most have to be dry cleaned, so I have just plain ole' pillow cases on them! I keep my bed pretty simple (for very rational reasons I explained here)

So I got to thinking....what a PERFECT and sensible way to dress things up a bit. So I did what I hate to do...drug out the ole' sewing machine and went to work.

I love the look of the grommets.

I made two pillow cases for the big fat feather pillows and two little decorative pillows...all with the grommets showing. I thought about making "shams" but I like the more informal look of cases. I also made 5 little decorative pillows that went in my flea booth! All out of ONE shower curtain!!!!

They really dress up my bed without the froo-froo of shams and the worry of having something on the bed that I can't toss in the washing machine when I spill my coffee on it (yeah, it happens!) My other four still have the ratty but VERY comfy plain cotton cases, but I can hide them behind these two nice ones!

Way cool.....

And when I dug out the sewing machine I found all this scrap material....and a ton more in another closet....