Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Architectural Salvage Lamps

*knocks on window....peers in*

"Is anyone still there???" she asks.

I am SO sorry y'all!  It's hard to believe that I've left you hanging since August of last year!!  I miss blogging, I really really do, and I hope to be able to carve out a little more time for it this year.  

So much has happened around here since August!  Our beloved Jack Russell passed away in November (she was 13),  Baby Girl celebrated her 1st birthday in January, in February our neighbor found a stray puppy and gave him to us and I talked Hubby into letting us keep him, we got 10 baby chicks in March (only 8 are left now and they're getting close to laying age), we've been getting fresh veggies from our garden, and of course I've still been selling shower curtains and homeschooling the kiddos.  I'll try to share some pictures of some of these things soon.

Let's get on to today's post.
 (Disclaimer - These are cell phone pictures because our computer still won't upload any pictures from my good camera, so I just had to do the best I could.)

These big ol' ugly chunky lamps came from a local thrift store.  The first time I saw them I thought, "Wow, those are ugly!" and I kept on walking.  But then I stopped and backed up and looked at them again and it hit me, I think I could give those a makeover and make them look really neat.  But...I felt like I didn't need another project staring me in the face and making me feel guilty for not completing it, so I left them there.


They stayed there for MONTHS!  Every time I went to that store I looked at them and thought about re-doing them.  Finally I decided if they were still there by the time the next 50% off day rolled around I would get them.  But then I forgot about the 50% off day and had to wait a whole month more.  

They were still there and I got them both for $3.



They weren't very pretty, and they are BIG and heavy. 


They were chipped and cracked and dirty..... I'm not too surprised no one else wanted them.


I had in mind to give them a finish that would make them look like a worn old architectural salvage piece that had been turned into a lamp.  I had in mind something like these pieces.


It was an experimental process and I really wasn't quite sure how to achieve the look I was going for, but in the end I think I ended up with something pretty cool.  


The one lamp already had two big chips knocked out of it, so I purposely chipped up the other one a bit to help it along in the "aging" process.  I gave them a base coat of a dark gray paint, then added a crackle medium in random spots all over them, then I sponged on a layer of white paint.  The areas that had the crackle medium cracked nicely and the darker undercoat showed through.  Then I added a layer of antiquing glaze and then another layer of white sponged on here and there.  I finished them off with a few coats of clear sealer in a matte finish.


I looked online and at a couple of stores at lamp shades to go with them and nothing seemed right.  Then I found these cute burlap ones at Walmart of all places and I knew they would pair perfectly because they pick up the color of the antiquing glaze really nicely.


They're not 100% the way I had hoped they would turn out, but I got tired of messing with them and made an executive decision that they were done.  It had already taken me a month and a half to get them finished and I wasn't spending any more time on them.


The display on these crates needs to be changed to fit the scale of the lamp better, but I was anxious to take pictures and be done.  : ) 


When I started this project I wasn't even sure if I would be keeping them or not, but once I found the shades and put them in place I really like them and decided to keep them.  They go nicely with the  new-to-us matching leather recliners I just bought for the living room.  


I already had all of the paints and mediums for this project, so the only cost involved with these was the initial purchase price of $3 and then the shades which were $15 each.  



There's just something so satisfying about taking one man's trash that no one else wants or sees the beauty in and turning it into a treasure.  

Thursday, August 11, 2016

Barn Pickin' Adventure

This past weekend I had more fun than I've had in a very long time!  I ended up sweaty and filthy, covered in cobwebs, and happier than a pig in muck!  I went barn pickin!'

Let me share a little back story.  Some of you may remember my antique theater seats and the humorous story of the skimpy bathrobed old guy who sold them to me.  Well, of course my ears perked up when I saw an ad in the paper that had the phrases "estate sale" and "2 barns to pick through" in the same ad!!  When I looked up the address I was fairly certain it was the same place where I had bought the theater seats.  And if it was indeed the same place, I remember he had a lot of really unique stuff and his barns must be heaven to pick through.

Hubs said he'd like to go too, so we made plans to have everyone up and fed and ready to be there right at 8am when they opened.  We got there at 8:10 and the local dealers were already making their purchases, so I figure they must have shown up early.  Oh well, I wasn't too worried about it.  I just wanted the fun of digging and rummaging, lol!


We took turns holding the baby while we both dug through boxes and poked around under work benches.  It was such fun!  You just never know what treasure might be hidden away.


We spent a half an hour or so looking around and I managed to come up with a pile of stuff.  I bartered a deal and we loaded up and left in search of a couple of other sales.  If I had an actual brick and mortar shop to keep stocked I would have come home with a van full!  There were old pulleys, and plow pieces, an old wooden dolly furniture cart, neat old antique military pictures, and more.  But as it was, I had to limit myself to only the "essentials." :)


By then it was time for the baby's nap and it was drizzling rain so we headed back home and I dropped them off, then I headed for another estate sale that I'd heard about.  Once I was done there I realized I was still itching to dig some more through those barns, and now I had no kiddos along to keep track of.  Hmmmm......should I?


I called up Hubby and asked if he minded if I went back and picked some more all by myself and he didn't, so off I went.  I had so much fun!  And by the time I got back most of what I had spotted the first time around was gone, but that didn't stop me from uncovering a few more treasures that no one else had found.  :D

I think I did the owner's a favor while I was digging.  I kept finding neat things that were buried and I'd set them out so people could see them better.  I noticed they didn't last long once they were in eye sight.  I also found a whole set of vintage Fisher Price toys in garbage bags scattered all around, still in great shape.  How I wished I had the room to store them!  I would have snapped them up for resale.  As it was, I put them all out on display on a shelf so some other lucky person could discover them.


There were 3 different safes tucked in those barns.  One didn't have a door, one the door was open, and the third was locked up tight.  Oh thy mystery of what could be in that safe!!  So enticing!!  I don't know why, but I just love those old heavy duty safes.


So after tons of fun digging and fighting dead bugs and cobwebs, and coming away filthy, here's what I came home with.  I spent a grand total of $55.


A street sign and some license plates for my son's automotive themed room.


A divided wooden crate/shelf thing-a-ma-jig, and an antique wooden mop bucket with wringer.  I'm not sure yet what I'll do with it, but I couldn't pass it up.  I also found 2 really nice old wooden tool boxes with dividers, but since I'm not currently selling vintage in my Etsy shop I let them go.  I'm pretty sure they would have sold in a heartbeat.


One of my most exciting finds was this huge galvanized wash tub.  I have galvanized buckets, and even a smaller version of this wash tub, but I've been wanting one of these huge ones (I bet it's every bit of 2 feet across) ever since my almost 9 year old daughter was a baby and I wanted to do some baby pictures in it.  But every time I've ever come across one of this size it's either priced way too high, or if it's in my price range the bottom was completely rusted out.  I also found a large enamelware wash basin, it's about 14" across, one of the bigger ones I've seen.  I plan to put the little enamelware coffee cup on display in the laundry room once Hubby gets my shelf built.


Another exciting find for me was the hammock pictured there on the left.  We have the perfect spot in our yard for a hammock and I've been wanting one ever since we moved in 2.5 years ago.  The ones I've been pining after are called Nicaraguan hammocks.  They're beautiful and cozy looking, and all the reviews say they're incredibly comfy, but....they're expensive, somewhere around $150. Which is why I had yet to buy one.  So when I found this identical looking one I was mentally jumping up and down!  When I asked about it the lady said she wanted $50 because it was all handmade and they had paid $75 for it in Brazil.  I told her I was thinking more like $10 and we settled on $15.  :D  I cannot wait until the weather cools down and we can get this baby up and put to use!!

Also pictured above is a little Christmas Advent box for my kiddos, and a vintage gas/oil can.  I used to buy a lot of these old cans to resell, but I've stopped buying since I've only been selling shower curtains in the shop.  But what caught my eye about this can was the color, very unusual for this type of can.


And last but not least, I got this sweet and shabby vintage quilt.  The fabric used on it looks like old feedsack material and I just love it.  I brought it home and washed it on a delicate cycle and folded it so the worst parts are hidden and now it's on display in an old Hungarian laundry basket in our front entry way.  When I was putting it into the washer I found this little metal tag on one of the corners.  I don't consider myself an expert on vintage quilts, but I have come across many of them in my day and have bought several and I've never seen one have a tag like this.  Anybody have any info on what it would have been for?


So that was my barn pickin' adventure.  I would much rather dig through a dusty old barn full of bugs and cobwebs than go on a shopping spree to the mall any day.
How about you?  

Sharing over at:
Funky Junk Interiors - DIY Salvaged Junk Projects #341

Sunday, July 31, 2016

Boy's Bedroom Makeover - All Things Automotive

Hi Y'all!!  Can you even believe it's been 3 months since I've posted anything?!?  *sweeps cobwebs away* When I looked at the date of my last post my jaw dropped.  I could not believe so much time had passed.  It certainly didn't seem that long.  But life has been speeding along and our summer has been filled with a growing baby (she's 6 months old now!), swimming lessons, trips to the springs, family visits, shower curtain making, attending Hubby's softball games, church get-togethers, etc.

But....onto today's post.

Let me preface this post about my son's room makeover by saying that this room has actually been done for well over a year and I've never shared it. *hangs head in shame*  I won't bore you with the details of why it never got shared, so let's just go with...I'm sharing it now.  : )

This is what his room looked like for the first year that we lived here.
Poor kid.

 

As you might recall from some of the other room makeovers I've done so far, most of the walls in this house were a weird peachy orange color done with flat paint that had absorbed years of dirt and stains.  This room was no exception.  He had a hodge podge of furniture and not enough toy storage.  His bed was handed down from my daughter when she got a double bed.  The headboard was too girly so we sold it and he was left with just the basic frame. The quilt was too big, just an extra one I had picked up at Goodwill for $5 that we were using for the time being.

 

 The blinds on his window were dirty and broken and the right one wouldn't extend all the way down.  We had to keep an oscillating fan on the dresser to keep things cool in the summer.  (though why the fan is still there when there's a Christmas tree in the corner baffles me.  Or maybe the Christmas tree was still there come summer time.  I really can't be sure).

This room, like all the others, also had the dark wood trim.  I had already started priming the ceiling trim when I took this picture.
 

In the picture below you can see a set of brown metal shelves.  I got these at a yard sale for $5 knowing I wanted to do an automotive theme for his room.  They were a catchall for awhile there until his room got its makeover.


Once or twice a year the kids spend a week or so down south with their grandparents and last year during one of the times they were gone I decided to get his room done and surprise him when he got home.  He knew I was going to be working on it, he just didn't know what all I had planned. 

The boy has been obsessed with anything and everything automotive since he was 9 months old and started making car noises while pushing a car along the floor.  So I knew he would love a room with that theme and I had been collecting things for quite awhile.  So after a whirlwind week of hardwork he walked into his room looking like this instead.

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To say he was excited would be severely understated. His jaw dropped, he raised his hands in the air and yelled YES!, and immediately began jumping around on the bed, lol!

His favorite color is orange so I had promised him I would include it somehow in his room.  He LOVED the stripes on the wall.  Blue is his second favorite color.  : )  The rest of the walls were painted a khaki color.  I don't remember the specific name of the color, but it was some sort of khaki/tan.


When you first walk up to his room you actually see the side of his closet first.  I found the sign at a flea market for a few dollars and had bought the numbered hooks years before at Hobby Lobby knowing I would use them someday in his room.  They hold his cowboy dress-up clothes, his hats, and on Sundays he hangs his church clothes on them in between services.


I took down the broken blinds and replaced them with roller shades.  I found the curtain rod at a thrift store for $3 I think, and the curtains actually came from a single curtain panel.  A local thrift store has a 50% off day once a month and I found a single, navy blue, panel with tabs on it at the top.  With the discount I only paid $2.50 for it.  I brought it home and cut the tabs off since they didn't line up with what I planned to do.  Then I cut the panel in half, sewed new rod pockets on them, and then sewed on stripes of green ribbon that I already had.  So for only a little over $2 I had a cute set of curtains to match.


I spray painted the brown metal shelves gray and bought canvas bins for his toys.  
You can see that he keeps them stuffed full, lol!

 

On the top of his shelf is a little wooden train that spells his name.  I bought the magnetic train letters at a craft fair.  He has his great grandpa's name and it's very unique, so we never find it in stores on key chains and cups, so its fun for him to have something like this instead.

At a recent yard sale he found a whole collection of vehicle emblems for 50¢ each.  He had brought a dollar along so he got to pick out two of them.  We added them to the front of the shelves.  The old gas can was a $1 yard sale find that was originally supposed to be for my Etsy shop, but I decided to keep it for his room instead.  He's kind of over it now, but there for awhile he loved the movie Cars so we added this Route 66 sign.  He says he's over Lightning McQueen now, but he still likes the road sign.  : )


Above his bed is a set of reproduction gas station signs I had bought the year before this makeover and had tucked away.  I had actually forgotten all about them and when I opened the box of stuff I had collected for his room it felt like Christmas morning!  : )

 

My husband built the headboard for me and I beat it up and stained it. It turned out just how I wanted, I love it!  The bedding was the big splurge for this room, it's from Pottery Barn.  My son actually picked it out.  I showed him several options that I thought would go well with his room and this is the one he picked.  He liked all the different colors in it and the fact that it had orange on it.  We got automotive themed sheets to go with it.  He found the little car pillow at a thrift store for $2.

 

He still takes a nap most days and he hated having to remake his bed twice a day so we started keeping a blanket on the end of his bed.  I found this red and white afghan for $5 at a thrift store and it has become his favorite.  You can't really see it, but I also found a navy blue bed skirt at the same thrift store for $2.


Beside his bed I put this little red table that I made over a couple of years ago.  The gas pump is from Hobby Lobby and is a little bank.  He loves Legos and always has some sort of creation of his on display.  And one of my absolute favorite things in his room is his night light.

 

It was a turn signal from a school bus that I got for $1.  We added a light to the back and made it into a night light for him.  It has a nice warm glow at night.  I just love how unique it is!


And the knob on the drawer of the little table looks like a shifter knob.  He found it at Hobby Lobby and was so proud of it!  : )

 

This plastic bucket keeps his Hot Wheels collection contained.  Well....mostly contained....some of the time.  You can see I decided to leave the trim in his room the dark wood.  I painted only the ceiling trim so that it would blend in with the ceiling and make the room look and feel bigger.  The rest of the trim I left alone for 2 reasons.  1) it has a more masculine feel to it being wood, and 2) he's a 5 year old boy who loves cars....I knew it was bound to get crashed into and banged up so I didn't see the point in painting it and then getting upset when he chipped it.

 

On the other side of the curtains he has a shelf and a big bucket for his stuffed animals.  He always loves to sleep with 2 or 3 of them.  : )

 

This shelf was actually made for me by my grandpa when I was in high school. It's been painted a couple of different colors through the years depending on what room it's being used in.  For now it holds his little T-ball trophies and soccer medals, his baby handprint, and a jar of shells collected on beach trips with the grandparents.

 

Next to his closet is this little bookcase that we've had since my daughter was a baby.  She got a desk with built-in bookshelves so we passed this on for him to use.  Above that is a speed limit sign that I got at a flea market, I think I paid $15 for it.

 

On top of it he has his tractor bank.  He loves anything with wheels, but especially anything John Deere since his daddy is a John Deere diesel mechanic.  I found the little gas station sign at Hobby Lobby.  I'm old enough that I can remember my dad buying gas at Standard stations.  Besides his love of all things with tires and engines, the boy also loves art.  He's constantly drawing and creating.  I found that metal thingy-ma-bob at a yard sale for $1.  It's something or other automotive related and it makes a perfect pen/marker/scissor holder.

A couple of other fun little touches in his room are this diamond plate light switch cover I found at Walmart....

 

and this motorcycle ceiling fan light pull (we were able to get rid of the ugly oscillating fan when we put a ceiling fan up). 


So let's do a quick look back at the before and afters.



 

I don't know if you noticed that I never showed the 4th wall in his room.  The wall opposite the bed.  That wall has his dresser and that project isn't complete yet.  I'm very very close and SO excited to finally show you that project reveal as well.  Hopefully very soon!

In the meantime, I hope you've enjoyed this automotive themed boy's room makeover.  
I know we've sure enjoyed the change! 


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Saturday, April 23, 2016

Dreaming of a Screened in Porch

Ok, so most of you probably already know that we live in Florida, and in Florida that means rain....and bugs.  We have a really nice back deck, but it tends to not get used as much as it could because it's not covered.  I dream of the day we can put a roof over it and screen it in to keep out those pesky mosquitoes.  I dream of a cozy but practical space where we could eat dinner on nice evenings without the added insect guests, where I could sip my morning coffee without sitting on a dew covered chair, and where we could sit on a porch swing and enjoy a good Florida thunderstorm.

So, I said all of that to lead up to this.  I was contacted about participating in a Florida Room style board challenge and I agreed.  The challenge was to create my dream room, but still keep some of the beachy feel of a typical Florida room.  I get a couple of these types of request every month and I usually turn them down, but this one sounded like fun.  Partly because A) again, I live in Florida, and B) as I stated, I would LOVE to have a Florida room (a.k.a. the screened in porch), and C) it seemed like a fun challenge to take what is typically a coastal/beach themed room and put my own rustic farmhouse spin on it but without completely doing away with the Florida room style.

I didn't want to create an outdoor living room like you see a lot of times because, honestly, that's just not practical in Florida.  I guess if you had an actual room that was temperature controlled it could work, but with a screened in porch type of a room the furniture would get mildewed faster than chocolate melting in the hot Florida sun.  So I chose to keep it outdoor friendly and practical, yet cozy and comfy. 

Here's what I came up with.



Florida Room - Farmhouse Style




Every great porch has to have a porch swing, am I right?!?  And this basic white one is a great crossover piece for the two styles.  Plants are a great way to add a beachy casual feel to a room, but why not tuck them down into a galvanized wash bin stand to make them more rustic styled?  The chippy aqua table with white lanterns add a great coastal touch, but the red plaid rug underneath lends the cozy farmhouse feel.  Nothing says "beach" like wicker and chairs like this would be the perfect cozy addition to a casual porch made for relaxing.  A cute little grain sack striped pillow keeps it from feeling TOO beachy.  A chippy antique door leaned up in the corner is a great farmhouse style piece, and the soft green sign hanging on it is a great coastal color.  The rustic wooden crates make a great little storage area for books, games, shoes when you come in from the yard, and are also a great place to set down your Mason jar drink or morning cup of coffee.  (And by the way, those red Chucks?  Chucks are my very favorite type of shoe!  I have at least 6 pairs in various colors, lol!)  Another little plant tucked inside brings a touch of the outdoor beach feel to it.  And of course, last but not least, lighting.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE string lights and I would SO hang them all around the room for the perfect evening mood lighting.

So there's my take on how to combine a coastal/beach style with rustic farmhouse style and turn it into a cozy place where your family and friends would love to relax.


If you would like the link to any of these items I've included in my style board you can find them {here}, or here are some great Flordia properties for continued inspiration if this sparked your interest.

                                                                      
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