Coffee Table Found!

I have been on the hunt for a coffee table with cleaner lines than the round table that was currently in my living room. The round table was actually my first wedding present, a gift from my grandmother, and so it has a lot of sentimental value. I am definitely saving it because one day I may find a new spot for it in our house.

Last week, I ventured over to Class and Trash and found this great table for $18. It was buried under another table and quite a bit more classy trash. I immediately noticed it seemed to be in fairly good condition, sturdy and the size was right. I also was attracted to the bronze detailing on the legs. And how could I resist an $18 price tag. 

When I got the table home, I wiped it off with a dish liquid solution. I normally like to use white vinegar and water but was out of vinegar. Then I took an old toothbrush and some Brasso and scrubbed the brass detailing on the legs. The toothbrush helped make this process quicker but it was still not the most fun task on the planet. I then took a wood filler pen and filled in some of the chipped areas. After that, I wiped on a coat of dark stain that I had on hand. I let that dry overnight. Then the next morning I used Old English on the entire piece.

Here is my after...tilt your head a little and the picture will appear straight.

Sun was really coming in here...sorry about the picture quality.

I really like it as a new addition to the living room. I found these decorating books for $1 a piece at For the Love of Jesus thrift shop. And I just noticed I left the price tags on that actually say $2 a piece so there must have been a sale on books that day because I only paid a buck!

Bathroom Artwork Switchout

I have had these frames for years and decided I wasn't in love with the look anymore. We have plans to renovate and probably gut this bathroom so I haven't wanted to spend any money on updating. Here is a quick before....



And after....


I had these bird feather prints and they were previously in Clyde's nursery. I bought the flower painting at a thrift store for $3 a few months back. The artwork is by Camille and I used a frame and mat I already owned. (I cut the mat myself and it is far from perfect...hindsight being 20/20...I should have just laid the picture over the yellow mat instead of trying to cut.)







I have been working on this great coffee table I found at Class and Trash. Stay tuned as I get pictures posted hopefully in the next few days.

Beds Bunked!

Last summer, we moved Clyde to a twin bed and swapped Camille and Clyde's room. Read more about that switch here.  Around Christmas time, a family friend generously offered their train table to Clyde and with that addition his room was getting cramped.  We had been considering bunking his beds for a while and over the weekend we made the move. Here is a quick before shot...the train table isn't shown here but imagine a much larger table where the white table is in this picture.


And after.....


It is so much better! There is actually space to play. Now there is still some concern that someone may fall off the top bunk but so far so good.







I found these adorable school chairs at Diversity Thrift today for $3 each!

Mini Bench Complete!

Camille and I found this cute little bench at an estate sale for $18 back in October. It is the perfect size to sit next to our back door and put on shoes or set my purse. It needed some work. Here is the before.

I first pulled off the cushions and all previous batting etc.

I washed the chair with white vinegar and water then lightly sanded.  

We decided to add a piece of wood on the bottom for better support. Michael helped me with this part. Here he is measuring and cutting to fit. 

I spray painted with Rust-Oleum Ultra Coverage. It worked well.

 Here is the bench with the board screwed down. Michael helped with that part as well.

We had foam left over from our headboard project so I used that to make the bottom extra cushy!

I then covered the foam with batting.

Then I stapled the batting to the chair and cut off the excess.

I then draped the fabric over the batting and started stapling.

The corners were a challenge and I am going to have to go back and repair one of them.

After I finished stapling, I cut the excess fabric.

Here it is complete without the pillow. I forgot to take pictures of that process but I decided to go with a 14" x 28" pillow on the back instead of a cushion tied to the back. I got the pillow form for 50% off a Joanns and it was easy to make.  

Voila!

Not to bad for my first try at reupholstering! It came along way from this.....

I forgot to mention there was some gold detailing around some of the spindles that I really liked but got covered up with the spray paint. So I used some of my favorite Martha Stewart Gold Satin Metallic Paint and carefully painted the spindles. I have definitely gotten my $6 out of that bottle.

New Mantle Decor!???????

Here is a picture of my living room mantle before. I found the old vases at Stein Mart at least 5 years ago and my sister, Anne Hunter, helped me arrange the peacock feathers.  I have been tired of the look for a while.

I found the vases in the below picture at Marshalls on clearance for $10 a piece. I really like them better and then just added a few of the peacock feathers. My mom says she is not in love with the look. So now I am doubting myself. 

Any opinions out there? Should I go back to the old and return the new? I thought of removing the peacock feathers in the new but it seemed so bare. Maybe I could put something else in the vase? It is basically the same idea as before but with different style vases so does it even look that different???

Bead Board Transformation

My friend, Lindsey, emailed me last week asking for tips on painting and updating furniture. She shared with me some before and after pictures of her kitchen. I just love what she has done. Her husband, Chris installed the bead board under the bar and add crown molding both of which are great updates that will certainly help their re-sale value when the time comes. She is lucky to have such a handy husband!
Here are Lindsey's before pictures.....

And now the afters....

Doesn't it look great!? Thanks to Lindsey for sharing her pictures. Great updating!

If you have some before/after pictures of projects that you worked on in your home and would like to share. Send them to me at astoakley@gmail.com.

More Master Bedroom Updates

I have made a couple updates to our master bedroom.

I received the dressing table stool in this post for free from a  family friend but I just couldn't figure out how to make it work. I wonder if I could do something with it now that I have my sewing machine but regardless I found the below stool at Diversity Thrift and snatched it up for $15.

I used the same yellow Garden Ridge fabric  from my bedroom pillow to cover the top.

For the paint, I sanded the entire stool, then painted one thin coat of Martha Stewart Living Metallic Paint in Vintage Gold. (I also used this on Camille's Tutu table). After drying, I took sandpaper and gently went over the painted stool.

I also found some great fabric on clearance at Garden Ridge...2 yards for $3! I really liked it better than the other two I put on the bench at the end of our bed. Read about those two here and here. It is sorta comical but the fabric from Garden Ridge is so cheap...I can change it out every month or two. ;) I used some of the extra fabric to make a pillow using the previous pillow form.

And my Love of Jesus Thrift find, made its way to the top of my dresser.

So we have come along way from this before picture when we moved in.....

Well I guess some things don't change, Cougar still loves sleeping on our bed and  I didn't bother moving her when I took this new picture. I had forgotten she was in my before shot from 2+ years ago as well!