Showing posts with label furniture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label furniture. Show all posts

Monday, March 25, 2013

Decorating in the kitchen


Like many of my readers I love to trawl the seconhand shops and garage sales in search of little things that make my heart sing.
The problem with that is that you end up with a lot of things that you really have no room for.
I know because I have three boxes still in the shed which hold all my pretties, most of which fortunately have had homes in my previous rentals.
This time however there really is nowhere to display anything and the owners or agents seem rather tough on the adding anything ideas.
It's taken me quit a while to finally work out how to store things up and over the kitchen sink.
And I think it works.
Only problem is that those three boxes are still unopened in the shed because I have continued my habit of finding little bits. 
What you see has all been collected in the last  seven or eight months.
Eeek. 
I might have to make another shelf.
The shelf is made by hanging a found piece of skirting board using $9 worth of chain from Bunnings and two key rings from the Plaza onto strong nails hammered in right above the picture rail. The nails are firmly anchored so the strength of this relies more on the chain than anything.

Saturday, May 26, 2012

For the chair

It seems that I have passed on some of my love for old things to at least one child.
Kara, my eldest, keeps appropriating my precious finds. This chair cost me a mere two dollars at a garage sale years ago. 
It was quickly recovered and then served as a dog chair downstairs at our last house. It's been sprayed for fleas many times and lately washed with a gentle bleach solution. The rain hit it often and possibly even the rottweiler and some native birds have sat in it. 
But now it serves as a cushion holder in Kara's bedroom. She claims she is taking it when she moves out shortly along with some of my other vintage bits and bobs. 
OK. I've agreed but only because I have too many. 

The latest batch of cushions were made from recycled skirts - one from a swap and the other bought at the thrift store - and filled with brand new inserts gifted by a friend who bought the covers cushions but didn't like the fact that they were so plump. 
The map at the rear is a piece of printed fabric found on the net and turned into a throw with a backing of fabric from Ikea.

Monday, February 6, 2012

The latest


 I saw this at the oppy the other day but took a night to realise that I really wanted it.
A day of work and rain, another day for the memorial service, the weekend and now finally it is home.
It will probably take me a while to get the enrgy up to recover it and I am at a total loss about where I want to go with my base colour for decorating.
White would be nice.
Kids - even young adults.
Dogs.
Well maybe not white.
Looks like I'll just have to keep searching.



I'm totally in love with those arms!

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Corners of my home

Today Kate spoke about her home being a Copper Art home. Now I don't for a moment believe that to be really true but I guess many of us can identify with starting our homes with stock, standard decorating ideas.
There is no real reason though why we should continue to be crowd followers if we don't want to. 
I've used my very dodgy camera to point and shoot a few corners of my home to prove that it doen't need to take a lot of money to make a home feel individual.

 
Shoe cupboard $5  garage sale 
Picture $1 op shop 
Small table free curbside 
Basket from my childhood 
Table free curbside find
Doily $1 op shop
Jug $3 op shop
Table from ebay $200 including 6 chairs some of which are no longer with us
Various chairs from op shop or garage sale - most expensive $15

China cabinet free from friend
Pretties from ebay, op shops or garage sales.
Only the cats were bought new.
One jug bought new.
The other one thrifted.
Lavender left over from days gone by when I had more money than sense.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Re-using a cot

Now that I have moved to a new house my sewing space is in the lounge room. Fortunately the kitchen/dining/family room is open plan and perfect for our normal family life . This means that having the sewing in the lounge room is no big deal. 

Still, my old cutting table, which was a six seater dining table that had been raised several inches using all manner of goodies from Bunnings, was too large for this new area so it went to the tip with all the rest of the clutter that got thrown out on moving day. I am glad it went because in the end it had to be held together with string and the height adjusters would fall off every time I re-arranged the room.

So... I needed a new cutting table.

Even though I am only short I like my table to be high enough that I don't need to bend over when using the rotary cutter.
What could I get that would fill not only the height requirements but also allow me to hide all the goodies I used to store on and over my old table?

Why, a cot of course!

Found at the op-shop for a mere $15 and in a lovely aged cream colour this folding wooden cot is perfect.

At the moment I am just using a piece of 9mm MDF from the shed on the top but I think in time I will get a piece that fits correctly so their are no gaps for goodies to drop through. The best part is that I can store things in the cot (hidden by vintage tableclothes when I get that far) and also underneath.

PS In the interest of sanity I have not vacuumed the floor or tidied anything up.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Befores and Afters

A ten dollar dressing table from the tip shop.


Sanded and coat with two oats of paint.


A toy basket from the side of the road.


Painted in cheap white paint from Bunnings ($16).


Oops!
I think I need to go back and paint the base.

The rest of the mess is courtesy of moving time.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

O! So that's how you do it!

When I asked my son (20 year old) to get rid of the wrecked wood on this roadside find I meant with a hammer and possibly a screwdriver. 
Well what would I know about these things?


Apparently this is the way to go about it. 


Did you know that you can take the boy out of the fire but you can't take the fire out of the boy?

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Curbside boutique shopping list

OK So this what I threw out.
Loads of worn out stuff from the dog motel under my house, and miles of rust. I graciously offered my friends any amount of rust they wanted, but only for this week, but they all refused.
Funny that.

Anyway I thought it was time to clear out as much as I could, especially in view of the fact that my kids want me to move again in a couple of months if we can find a landlord kind enough to take our three little dogs as well as us and the rent. 


I was intending to be a good girl and not bring anything home and I believe I showed remarkable restraint.
I left behind a vintage bassinette complete with stand and tray underneath, loads of carved table legs that could always be used for something, two painted lattices with frames and even a huge peg board.
How good is that?!
Then there were the other two white cane chairs with suss bottoms and some possible vintage suitcases, white concrete planters and I dread to think what else.
O yes. There was that gorgeous stripped old dresser minus it's mirror and some picture frames I managed to ignore.
I think I had better not dwell too long on all those lost goodies or I might have to have a little cry because I know their fate is the crusher truck.
 *******

For my memory - the list of goodies found:

*2 humungous, perfect clay pots with saucers for an eighty year old friends garden
*1 perfect wave board to be shared by everyone
*2 large baskets for me
*1 big pink cane toy box with attached lid - not sure who for yet
*1 cane picnic basket in perfect condition sans the dishes
*1 white cane decorative planter basket for me
*4 different leather or leather type bags including a Gladstone style one - probably to be sold, possibly on ebay

*2 heavy metal dining style chairs in wrought iron for me - must keep them out of the rain so they don't rust
*1 perfect, virtually new, white cane chair to add to my collection but being minded by a special friend who doesn't want the big dog downstairs to wreck it (!)
*1 vintage treadle base (the rest is going to be removed as it is already falling to pieces), slightly rusty - but who cares - it's a Singer


 *1 already stripped vintage small table to  be used as a gardening table for now - seen here with items from past shopping sprees


*1 el-cheapo style milk tin with lid - I just love milk pails so this one will have to do
and

TaDaa!:
I've left the best for last.
I surreptiously stripped these covers from a ruined parker chair on the outskirts of town.  only to see newer style fabric underneath. 
Somebody went to great lengths to cover these with gorgeous fabric then threw them out before there were any major signs of wear. Lucky me!


Tuesday, May 3, 2011

New computer chairs - almost

I had to do something about those horrid computer chairs before important guests arrived on Friday.
Unfortunately my $100 stapler decided to kick the bucket, or in other words,  find all the rust in the world and had to be thrown out.
Boohoo. What was I to do?
Then the bright idea entered my head that I could use a hammer and nails in much the same way.
Knock the nails half way in and the sideways to hold the fabric.
The material is from my stash, works in very well with existing furnishings (couch in the background) and was given by a dearly departed friend (gone to Melbourne no less).


Just thought I would add in the dining room picture because there is nothing on the table today and I thought it looked pretty with it's mismatched chairs.
My youngest daughter works at a florist one day a week and proudly brought home a little flower arrangement for me on Friday.
Isn't she wonderful?


Tuesday, December 14, 2010

The $19 makeover and reveal

I so wish I had remembered to take some before photos for you but all I have is a quick shot of the original curtains. I made these for my friends spare room about three years ago. The match the bedcover really well even though they are just scraps of curtain fabric sewn together.
Anyway this was the sort of colours that were in this room before I arrived today for a quick makeover.

This incredible bunk bed was made by the grandfather for the arrival of his two grand-daughters who are to spend 6 weeks here before and during school holidays. 
The man is a wizz with any power tools and has a mind that doesn't accept defeat.

He is intending to make his resident grandson a similar contraption but with desk, etc under it.
Great ideas for tiny spaces.


So the bed was painted in light blue for grand-daughter 1 and trimmed in strong purple for grand-daughter 2.
But I came along and thought the bedding colours were all wrong.
A blue dolphin doona cover that had originally belonged to my oldest for the purple lover and that adult grey-brown colour for the pale blue lover.
The chest of drawers had slips that matched the grey-brown look to cover them.

What is a girl to do if she thinks it's not quite right but offer to do a quick makeover.
The offer was accepted so last night I madly washed the new-from-the-oppie blue vintage sheets and then proceeded to rip and sew until all the really weak areas were gone. It took two single sheets to make the top of this cover. The bottom is left overs from something that belonged to the grandma I think.
We tend to share stuff around here and I don't always remember where things came from.


Today I had to do a mad dash down to the shops for milk for breakfast so I took the opportunity to pop into the oppie to get extra props for the room.
$13 later I had 4 soft toys, enough blue fabric to work two pillow cases from and a new doona cover in lilac and pinks for the younger one.
Everything got washed and dried while I struggled with my machine to finish the blue bedding.

Then it was over to the house to set up the beds and work out what else needed doing.
After another trip to the oppie and then parting with $6 more. I had enough to complete the makeover just in time before the family came back from picking the girls up from the airport.


I added a white cane chair from my bedroom topped with a thrifted blue sheet ($1) which is there to protect the new cushions (50 cents each!).
A pretty lace runner from my house and a $4 cream doona cover thrown over the curtain rail and tied back with scraps of blue from the pillow cases.
I would have liked to cut the doona in half so that the frills were in the middle and each panel could be tied back but I know the grandma well enough to know that she would prefer to have the complete cover for another day.
She is a very grateful and resourcefully frugal woman and I know that it will not go to waste.


I am really happy about this super fast makeover and got lots of kisses which I think means everyoine else is too!

Monday, April 19, 2010

Re-cyclable pinboard

The smaller frame here belongs to the little notice board that hides in a corner of my sewing room.

Originally there were two seperate items, a frame from ebay and a grey noticeboard, with a skinny black plastic frame, picked up from the side of the road (where else?!). At the time I first put this together I was aiming for a blue and white room so I simply picked my favourite blue fabric sample, stapled it on to the board and sat in within the frame.

Nice idea but it would have been more useful as a picture than a background because the colour and pattern were too dominant.

Then came the great idea of painting all the wood in my room (and possibly house too) white.
Which meant that the two frames in the first picture came in for a lick of it as well.

I pulled the old fabric off, threw the staples in the bin, folded up it back up and put it in the blue basket. In the photo above you can see the type of pin board I have used. Probably originally from K Mart or Big W.

The new fabric is much softer with a hint of pink, still a curtain fabric sample though. It was attached with some thumb tacks and pushed back into the frame, using the original nails to hold it in place.

Much more restful and it also is so much easier to see what is being displayed.

And to top it all off if I suddenly decide I want a new colour scheme I just need to repeat the process and I get a new board and because no glue is involved I simply recycle the fabric again.