School Desk and Chair Makeover

It's back to school time!

Are you sending your kids off to school or homeschooling? Either way, its just a crazy time of year, isn't it?!

I WILL be starting home school preschool with the older two kids next week (I'm so excited and scared all at the same time!) and in the spirit of the season (and so we would have somewhere to do school work) I decide to makeover a couple desks that have been sitting in the garage all summer.

These types of desks are pretty easy to come by at thrift stores and yard sales and usually are fairly cheap, they are also fairly ugly...unless you like beige and brown...

Personally, its a little too blah for me, so I decided to paint it. I taped off the wood parts of the chair since they really can't come apart and I also removed the tabletop from the desk.

I gave everything one light coat (you really just need one, even tho it can be really tempting to do multiple coats, it will make any distressing you want to do lots harder!) of aqua spray paint - my favorite is Rust-o-leum - and then let it dry for a couple hours. After it was dry I took some rough sandpaper (80 grit) and went over all the metal parts of the desk to rough it up and expose the metal underneath. I love the distressed look and its a great finish for kids, since I know they would  just beat up the finish anyways. 

To revive the wood on the chair, I wiped it down with a mixture of olive oil and vinegar. It helps clean and hydrate the wood all at the same time. For the desk top I went back and forth on what I should do with it. It is a laminate material, and even though it isn't real wood it IS super durable for a work surface. I may hit it with some chalkboard paint in the future, but for now I am enjoying the light wood tones and the aqua colors together.

I styled the desk in front of a giant school chalkboard that I had leaning against a wall - I have plans to hang it, but it hasn't happened yet. The globe was my husbands when he was a kid and we picked up the rodeo pennant & school box at a local auction.

I plan to keep the school area clean and simple and clutter free and I still can't decide if it should go in the office upstairs or in the living room....I might be in denial about how much it can take over. Any suggestions? There are some great homeschooling room designs out there that I have been using for ideas, but real life advise is always welcome! So, obviously, this won't be how we set up for homeschooling, but I couldn't resist a little styling session for the blog!

 I have another bigger double desk that I've decided will work better so I'll blog about it once I get the home school area set up! In the meantime,....this little desk and chair set is up for grabs. If you are in the Boise / Nampa / Caldwell area, feel free to email about making it yours!

One Chair 3 Ways

I first shared this post at The Turquoise Home!

Sharing it again here in case you missed it!

Sisters Share it All {Pinterest Challenge}

So I follow three super cute blogs done by three sisters...Everyday Reading, Merricks Art and The Cloakroom at Victoria Station ...I'm sorta partial to them since I happen to be the middle sister of three sisters too. Kindred spirits, maybe? Any, who... they, like the rest of us, love to Pinterest, but as we all know, sometimes we pin pin pin, but never actually do anything. They are challenging all of us to pick 6 pins and do them in the next 6 weeks!



I have to say this sounds like fun. I am pretty good at making recipes off my Ymminess Board, but others have been neglected...like my Sewing, Too Cute Crafts and Baby Boys Room Boards. Well thats going to change!

Yard Sale Tales {week 8}

My oh, my! This post is over a week past due...I don't think I got the car totally unloaded until Friday! Hows that for being worn out by two long drives to Western Washington in two weeks! Add in the heat and pregnancy fatigue..and you guessed it, I was one worn out mama! But no worries! I you will be caught up by the end of the week, BEFORE our next yard sale outing! Promise!

We got a good amount of stuff...and its not all of it! I think we still have a couple chairs at my moms house that didn't fit! Oops...for the future only buy what fits in the car!!

As you can see we got a varied mix of stuff. We were yard-saling in Kalama and Longview, Wa...I love when we can hit up a new area. Seems that the pickings are always more fun.

 I love the old chair...it was one of three that I got for $1 EACH!  The piano bench I got for $2- its going to be Ellery's desk in the new office. It needs a new top and a paint job, but is the perfect size!

I'm starting to collect things for the babies room...these frames will fit nicely...I love the finish on them, but don't know if it will work with the color scheme I'm considering, but for a couple dollars I can afford to paint them if I choose. We also found these cute suede riding boots for Miss Elle! Can't wait for fall weather for her to wear them!! Eek! Adorable!!

This little grouping is mostly my husbands fault! He found all these turquoise items for a $1 each! We actually don't really own anything in this color, we mostly have yellow and green kitchen tools..even so, these are a nice bright addition to the kitchen. Plus since he loves the color, we'll make it work! He also found the beer mugs..FOR FREE! He really wanted some frosty mugs for beer. I have been saying no ( because the idea gives me goose bumps!), but you can't argue free...shoot!

I also found this belt buckle for a couple bucks...now I just need a belt and a waistline!

We picked up several fun hardback books and a vintage copy of Better Homes New Cook Book- this one happens to be just like my moms! The Little Fellow is super cute and super horrible all at the same time...one of the characters is a black stable boy named Whitey...yea... he doesn't exactly use 'proper' English if you know what I mean? Definitely a little piece of history from the 40's. The Elsie Dinsmore was a pretty popular book series in the early 1900's. This one was given to the recipient on Christmas day 1914...how neat is that!

Lastly I picked up this sign...you might guess my plan for it by now? Yup, planning on sanding it down and painting it to match my house!

Not pictured are several dining chairs, some brackets for closet shelves and a super nice REI Child Carrier Back Pack that we scored for $35! It is brand new! Probably will test it out this week when the hubby takes us up to scout for elk!

Thats it for today!

Yellow Chair {before & after}

{before}

You may remember this chair from my post Yard Sale Tales{week 2}.

 It was in pretty sad shape..rusty, bent and very unloved.

 {after}

It didn't take much to spiff this little chair up. I scraped off the loose paint and took some sandpaper to it to even out any rough spots. Then it was simply a matter of picking a color. I decided this sunny yellow would be perfect! This chair will be able to move in or out of the house as needed. It took one can of semi-gloss spray paint...although it really needed two if I were concerned with painting the underside of the seat...which I might...someday. I am pretty sure this chair had a cushion at some point, I might attempt to recreate one eventually, but haven't been inspired yet.

I love how this chair looks against the house and flowers...and wait till you see it next to the new porch swing! So fun!

As you can see it might come in handy as a photo prop too!

Total project cost:

$1 chair

$4 for spray paint

I had sanpaper so no cost to me there!

Yard Sale Tales {week 2}

I only hit up ONE yard sale this weekend! I know...I'm a little shocked too! Guess its cause I was just having too much fun seeing my sisters and mom! I scored a couple unique items and decided to combine them with a couple things from a yard sale a couple weeks prior. I think it made a nice little grouping!

I love all the mustard yellow that I have gotten lately! The Coca-Cola box is way cool and matches my kitchen...plus its a box <3 LOVE!

The metal chair is a little sad...the seats paint is flaking off and the metal has rusted, but I just love the filigree cut outs on the back. With a price of $1 I couldn't believe someone else hadn't snagged it already! I haven't decided where  it will go yet...maybe repainted for somewhere in the house OR I might hit it with some sealant to prevent further rusting and use it in my garden somehow. I ended up getting the chair and this kitchen organizer together for just $10!!

Isn't it cool!! I had never seen one before...each section holds, aluminum foil, waxed paper and paper towels! It can be hung on the wall too! ( after picking this up, the very next yard sale had another one...lol)

One find not pictured ( because I was using it ) is a tripod for my camera!! It was a total bargain at just $10!

Yard Sale Tales {week 1}

So excited for what I hope becomes a weekly installment! I thought I would do a weekly wrap up of our yard sale adventures and finds. Now that the summer weather is here, I will be be venturing out to see what treasures I can find. I do have a list {in my head} of things I'm looking for, but in general I try to go out with an open mind!

This weekends haul was unusually large, but with so many adorable things at pretty amazing prices it was hard to pass up!

Do you love as much as I do!!! The two arm chairs are my favorite find! I know, I know...they are pretty rough right now, but they have a strong frame and classic lines! I haven't decided what I'm going to do to them yet, but I'll be sure to keep you posted!

The black wood box is so cool! It will be perfect in my office to organize things!

The little brown shelf will get a coat of paint to match a white one I found last week...both will be cute book ledges in Ellery's room!

These two wall sconces will get a makeover, but should find a home in Miss Ellery's room- if I can get them rewired! I will probably loose the white milk glass globes and update the feeling a bit, but tons of potential!

The little bottle will be a perfect addition to my milk glass collection! {I have never paid more than a couple bucks for any of it!}

This quirky mail organizer is prime make over material too- I'm thinking painted white and distressed a bit? Hopefully the eagle comes off so I can preserve its vintage patina.

This beautiful vintage bunt pan is going to be fun to use! Its nice and heavy and has a cool design!

Now here was something I couldn't resist for my Ohio born hubby! The leather bankers envelope is from The Ohio State Life Insurance Company for only $1!

The little box is hand made- inside is the original gift givers note! I don't know how to judge age on this one, but I am a box addict so it will easily find a place somewhere and will eventually store SOMETHING!

I think this weekend was a huge GINORMOUS success!