Laundry Room Redo

OK, I totally thought I had already taken a BEFORE photo to show you the differences, but for the life of me I can't find it anywhere! It was taken prior to my new computer so maybe it got lost in the shuffle. :(

Oh well, what can I do.

Well here it is. I freshened up my laundry room after I got a couple new additions. A new front loader washer & dryer (well new to me! I can actually Thank my step brother Josh for hooking me up with this find.)

And since I had a front loader now, I needed a pedestal to put them on & I am sorry but I wasn't paying $200 smackers a piece for the store bought kind. So I built me a beautiful,

handcrafted one out of solid wood for around $50.

Let's start this post with the pedestal building:

Some of the lumber.

The top of the frame.

OK, the GRAND REVEAL:

Here's the finished pedestal! I LOVE how it turned out! I will actually ENJOY doing laundry!!! If only I had someone to fold & put it all away! (I hate that part!) :)

The other half of the laundry room. See that laundry sink...the top is just the portion that you cut out of the counter top installation when you install a new sink. (*It was left here at our house when we bought it...it was the lovely color of are old counter tops in my kitchen...one day I will get around to showing you are HUGE house remodel) It gives me some extra countertop space when needed.

View from the door.

Those shelves house my canned goods & canning supplies.

Along with some other misc. stuff.

Accessories!

See the Burgundy Red Laundry print...(Ballard House inspired). I got it here for FREE!

You can get it in 8 different colors too! And they even have some for your Bathroom. I just popped it in a previous frame I had & I had more Laundry Room ART!

You can thank Aimee over @ Sprik Space for those awesome prints! THANKS Aimee!

Here is the inspiration for building those pedestals:

Kristie & Kevin (AKA Romeo) over at Stories of a House had this post.

 &

Sausha over at Show and Tell had this post & awesome Tutorial which my husband used for most of the build. He tweaked it a bit to fit our needs.

So that is our laundry room in a nutshell. (there is a back half of this room...it is just WAAAAAY TOO cluttered & disorganized to show the world quite yet...oh the shame!)

Enjoy!

I am linking up to:

   

Family Heirloom Table Makeover

This is a table that has been handed down for 3 generations in my family. It was my Great Grandma Edna's, then my Grandma Sally's & now mine. It was in pretty tough shape, the finish was wearing, and it was quite wobbly. But even with all her flaws, she is still a beauty! And very sentimental to me.

Here she is before:

BEFORE

BEFORE (close up)

I started with a little wood glue to make the legs more

stable & not wobbly anymore.

Then I gave her a good ole sanding.

Next I then gave her a good coat of

Rustoleum's Ultra Cover Primer.

 The color I choose to go was AQUA!

I used Krylon Blue Ocean Breeze as my color.

Lastly I applied a Glaze to really accentuate all her beautiful details. I mixed some glaze with some black paint. I followed the directions from All Things Thrifty GLAZING 101 tutorial.

Go here for full instructions!

Here's my heirloom beauty now!

AFTER

AFTER (up close)

Now....where to put it??? :)

Enjoy!!!

I am linking up to:

http://primitiveandproper.blogspot.com/2010/09/piece-of-work-wednesday-link-party_28.html

Thrift Store Bookshelf Redo

I found this bookshelf at my local Salvation Army for $3.00 a few months back. I didn't really have a specific spot for it when I bought it, but for $3 bucks I couldn't pass. Besides the fact it was really sturdy...I just loved the decorative cutouts on each side.

So I started by sanding it down, I primed it, and then spray painted it a glossy black. A fairly simple overhaul. This was the beauty in the end. And it found a good home in my son's room for all his books, bugs & stuffed animals!

Enjoy!!!

2nd "FREE" Chair Makeover

OK, Granny S. came through again! She found me 2 more chairs! She is my lookout in her area. She lives about a 1/2 hour away in the next state so she keeps an eye out for me on budget furniture and other cool finds! Here is Ugly Duckling #2.

BEFORE
This one will be a bit harder, as it came with no fabric on it. So I needed to figure out my own pattern, and how much fabric I would need to get the job done.
I first started out by sanding down the legs/arms & spray painting the over all frame with Krylon Indoor/Outdoor Ivory spray paint in Gloss finish. I LOVE Krylon due to the fact it dries in 10 minutes in less. I am very impatient, and when I start a project, I like to tackle as much as I can in one sitting. This helps me achieve that! :)

After the spray paint dries (10 mins or less), Then I start piecing the fabric back on. I finish it off with a couple packages of decorative tacks and my "Ugly Duckling" has indeed became a Swan!!!

P.S. The fabric came from Hancock Fabrics in their outdoor fabric collection! I got it 55% off! Gotta love a deal like that!

AFTER

I am linking up to: Tatortots & Jello Weekend Wrap Up Party
 Enjoy!

My VERY FIRST Knock Off Wood Project!!!!

I have been following the blog 

www.knock-offwood.com for months!!!

I just LOVE the fact that at my own leisure, I can build FAB furniture from high end brands such as Pottery Barn, Land of Nod, Ballard Designs, etc. She empowers women everywhere to "build it without their husbands"! I have been drooling over her plans and FINALLY got around to building something. I started very simple, as I have literally no experience building anything. Not even a birdhouse folks! I choose the Simple, Cheap, & Easy Console Table as seen here:   

http://www.knock-offwood.com/2009/11/plan-simple-cheap-and-easy-console.html

I have to say, I surprise myself once again! (I seem to do that often! :) ) It literally took me about 3 hours to complete the table. I followed her plans almost to a T. I had a little problem with my wood not being very straight. I did the best I could. Menard's doesn't carry a very good selection for the cheap pine boards they sell. I literally spent an hour looking over boards and following her advice on how to select good boards, as talked about here:  http://www.knock-offwood.com/2009/11/how-to-select-good-boards.html

Needless to say, I did walk out of Menard's with the best that they had to sell that day, but still not every board was straight.  Here is my end result:

Enjoy!

DRESSER MAKEOVER

OK, I have to admit, I have a soft spot for anything retro! And I got the inspiration to makeover a new dresser for my son when I saw what Sherry & John did over at http://www.younghouselove.com/


Here is the FAB redo I am referring too. 

Courtesy of www.younghouselove.com

Go check it out here:  http://www.younghouselove.com/2010/03/nursery-progress-refinishing-a-veneer-dresser/

So when I came across this dresser at my local Salvation Army, I fell in love. But at the price of $40 dollars, I sadly walked away. But since I am a frequent shopper there, I checked back with my dresser several times over the next month. And within 4 weeks, I have to say it was marked down several times. (I don't think they like large furniture pieces taking up their showroom floor). But this last time I checked, it had been marked down to $15. SCORE!!! It was finally in my price range (I know, I am CHEAP!). But this proves that if you have some patience, you can get a unbelievable deal! So here is my little beauty, she needs a lot of TLC but I was up to the challenge:

BEFORE

BEFORE-MORE DETAIL

As you can see, she was beat up pretty badly. Hence why no one else grabbed her for over a month but me! But I saw the hidden potential and I couldn't wait to see her glow!
I started off by cleaning her thoroughly. I use baby wipes for this, my kids are way past the baby wipes stage, but I still keep them around for messy situations & furniture clean up.
My next step was to sand her down, which I used my handy dandy craftsman hand sander which I got for my birthday this past year from my Dad & Step mom. This step took the longest. Once I got her all sanded down, I used some of those tacky rags to remove all the sawdust and make sure my surface was clean. Then I started staining. I used the same stain as Sherry & John....Minwax Wood Finish in Red Mahogany.  This step took no time at all. I let it sit overnight in my garage and the next day finished her off with Minwax Water-based Polycrylic clear satin. I applied 2 coats over the entire dresser, and 4 coats on the top of the dresser for extra durability. And here she is:

AFTER

 Not bad for $15, huh??

"FREE" Chair Makeover

BEFORE

Hello All! Today I am going to show you my fabulous FREE Chair Makeover. This is one of the three chairs I am currently working on. I have to say, it turned out way better than I expected. It is the first chair I have made over. I have done lots of dining room chairs, benches, etc.

She sure is Ugly, but ya gotta love FREE.

I started out by taking all the fabric off piece by piece. I tried to keep it all in tact as much as possible (sometimes hard with old fabric). I will use the pieces I remove as my pattern for the new fabric. It is also how I will decide how much fabric I need. Once I got all the old fabric off I take this time to sand down the legs and arms and paint or re stain in this case.

While I am waiting for the stain to dry, my next step is to take my new fabric and cut each piece out until I have all the pieces I need to reassemble my chair and WHALA! A beautiful, NEW chair! Only about $30 in fabric, staples, and decorative tacks. (I always watch for fabric sales at Hancock Fabrics. They have their 40-55% off sales frequently. I never pay full price for fabric!

BEFORE

AFTER