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

more "finally!" furniture transformations!

11.04.2013

It's been way too long since I started with these furniture pieces to practice my upholstery and diy skills on. Like a year and a half too long...

Anyway, they are done and they are sold!! I snapped a few pictures before they went away to make another house pretty.

The makeovers aren't perfect. There are some wrinkles in the upholstery and uneven spots in the paint, but I prevailed. I probably will never tackle a project like this again, but it was a good chance to learn. And practice. And decide that if I have to strip the chairs and purchase new foam it would be better to just. walk. away. 









I'll post the photos of my other identical chair that is gray this week. That one more chair to sell and they're outta my life! I am in love with all of this space I am accumulating. It's addicting.

projects update: entry table makeover

9.23.2013

After being quite unhappy with a recent priming then painting job, I asked around for make-your-own chalk paint recipe and (after sanding) tried it out on this table! I got a free 7.5oz Valspar sample from Lowe's in Mountain Smoke (or a beige gray ..."greige" to be exact) and knew it was for this thrifted table.


It needed some love. So I sanded the heck out of it (probably 5-6 hours worth with all those little details!) and then painted it with THIS chalk paint recipe. And here it is!






I love the details! The weird spiral spot on top (see original pic) actually needs a little more work (a.k.a more sanding) but I'm hoping to sand and repaint that small spot and then clear wax the whole thing.

What do you think??

junk score: Cart Makeover! (and a milk paint review)

6.25.2013

While driving to a friend's house one day, we found a large old window and this cart. Any guesses as to what this may have been? Maybe some kind of speaker or stereo? Updated: Or probably like THIS?


Luckily, the weird cut out was easily removable, and my sweet little Vanna White helped me remove all of the screws.

Once it was out, I decided to grab some of Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint in French Enamel to try out the milk paint craze. 

Here she is:



I painted on two coats of blue milk paint in the kitchen and decided that downstairs or outside is best when using any kind of paint (especially drippy milk paint). The next day I distressed it and used my Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White (because I had it) to paint in the details. Then I distressed a little more, sanded down the whole thing with a fine sandpaper (240 grit), and waxed with dark and clear wax to antique and protect it.

While I loved the casters, one was missing and there were no easy replacements to be found online. Forty bucks on 4 vintage casters was more than I wanted to put into this baby. She has pretty legs, so I pulled the caster pins off with my trusty vice-grips and decided to leave 'er at that.



Loving the details!!

~~~~~

As for the milk paint, I had watched tutorials and read online about mixing the paint (you purchase it in powdered form because it is perishable), its consistency, coverage, etc. I still wasn't exactly prepared to have little clumps all over my piece. The color wasn't uniform, especially as I brushed through the clumps, which I didn't mind for this piece, but is good to know if I would want a completely smooth, uniform color on another piece. (In that case, I would use an immersion blender.) However, the clumps and colors worked because I wanted to distress it. I also left out the bonding agent (1) because it was $12 more to spend and (2) because I wanted to see how this piece would distress/chip. The photo above is the chippiest she got - as every piece is unpredictable - and I chipped off all of the little clumps too. I'm not sure I like milk paint as well as chalk paint (which I loved from the start!), but I'll give it a go on a few other pieces and let you know.
**And do I really need to add that I wasn't compensated for this post? I just wanted to try milk paint out. On my own dolla'.

new legs! {hairpin table legs, that is}

4.24.2013


A little project last weekend made me VERY happy. I'll admit up front that it's not earth-shattering or extremely shocking and beautiful. But for me, it's amazing.

Backstory: I've tried to be content with my kitchen table for the last 5 years and for the most part I have been. Jeremy got it for free before we got married and we've used it ever since. I've been thankful to have a table. Really.

But honestly, I've hated how it looks. Even with paint and recovering, the chairs and table legs would just be ugly. I have worked hard to see any redeeming decorative qualities, and/or ways to make it prettier, but I just can't.


So maybe a year ago I realized that I liked the top just fine (it was easy to clean!!), so maybe I could change out the legs. Then, I saw these legs sticking out of the dumpster and got excited.

It ended up that those legs weren't easily removable, so I traded that whole table in for my other craft table. But, we were back to square one with our kitchen table.

Then I recently ran into leg inspiration found here, here and here. And after letting hairpin legs grow on me, I was sold. Those I could do this!

So this weekend, I did.

Before:

After! 


It looks cleaner, simpler, more modern with a little bit of industrial. Love! 
(Hairpin legs found here.)


With a few #10 screws and a few drill recharges, it was Lisa's oh happy day! I am working to replace all of the chairs with mismatched, thrifted chairs and will update when that is finished, but for now, REJOICE!

:-)

Before and After: Garage sale chair

4.15.2013

I've been collecting items for this year's Market - but before I really dig into those projects, I have a few items sitting around from last year that really need attention. I also need the space in our basement.

Remember the post about this lovely garage sale find last February? Incredibly enough, it is finished!! Finally.

Here is the BEFORE:



And the AFTER!! can you tell I'm excited?


After I stripped 'er down, I painted it with Annie Sloan chalk paint in Old White. My paint was a little bit thick, so I'm happy it distresses and sands so well. 


I put a coat of clear wax on top and it is super smooth to touch. 


Then, with the help of my amazing dad and his air compressor stapler, we upholstered this baby with hardware store drop cloth. I love the nuances and imperfections in the fabric. Plus, it's really sturdy fabric and easy to use in upholstering.

After a couple of hours, a few wrong cuts and learn-as-you-go mistakes from amateur (first time!) upholsterers, we were satisfied with the result.

Then this weekend I finished up with natural colored gimp trim and my trusty mini hot glue gun (and yes! it's totally legal in upholstery). 



I am slightly enamored to have finished this project. And I kind of love the result. {Ahem.}

a record player update (finally!)

11.15.2012

(Breaking out some (new) old posts here.)

Sorry for the wait on the record player! I know you've been sitting at the edge of your seat for months now. Haha. Actually, I'm sure you've forgotten but I haven't! The record player, unfortunately, does not have a home upstairs in the natural light because 1) we don't have a good space for it yet and 2) Ladybug has pulled the glass tubes out and we don't want them breaking! That has made it difficult to photograph - it's pretty dark in the basement!

Here is my last post about it. (Really? Over a year ago?)

Anyway. I had to pull off and sand a bunch of glued on veneer. The point has never been to refurbish the wood (as this would be too pricey and over my head) but rather, because of the water damage and 25 cent price tag) to paint it whatever color I wanted.


I sanded the whole thing down and then glued my own veneer pieces to the sides. This brought the sides flush with the corner pieces (unlike the original) but I was okay with that.

Make sure you have enough clamps! I'd already glued it and then had to run (literally!) to the store before the glue set to buy more clamps.

Disaster averted.


Here is the BEFORE:


And the AFTER!



We brought it up to enjoy some old music with friends and family on the girl's birthday.

After it was glued and the holes filled with wood filler, I painted it in a flat Clark and Kensington "Yarrow Point" then aged it a bit with Annie Sloan's Dark Wax.  Then we took an old door pull from this project and screwed it in with a new screw.


I kept the inside its beautiful dark wood and the record player mechanism looks like it did 60 years ago!



It's far from perfect - I would love to replace the speaker fabric under the face (but that would require disassembly, perhaps with a crowbar!) and the floor of the cupboard is damaged beyond sanding and painting - but it's ours and it's lovely.


Now if there was only a perfect home for it upstairs. Maybe someday!

Here's a little taste of its sound.


record player from Lisa Shunk on Vimeo.

Cheers!

(Can you believe Thanksgiving is in a week!? November has flown by...)

Trash or Treasure? My newest project on the list.

5.17.2012

So, we headed out the door to make a fun little roadtrip to Target to get us out before the girl's bedtime and got about two blocks down the road when I spotted these beauties on the side of the road (excuse the harsh sunlight).

"Jeremy, turn around! I have to have those!"

It wasn't, "Oh, go back so I can look again." It was love at first sight. I knew I needed this furniture.


Granted, when we got up close, we could see why they were sitting by the side of the road. It was actually pretty disgustingly covered with dirt and animal hair. And I'm not talking a few, I'm talking clumps of animal hair.

Jeremy was grossed out and proceeded to try to talk me out of these. "Really? Are you trying to discourage me from doing what I love? I know ladies on blogs that would DIE to have these things to re-do! Come on, just help me!!!"

I wasn't havin' any arguments. No way.

Look at those lines! Lovely. No missing legs (only 2 missing finials - easy enough fix!), no wobbly arms. Just really dirty and stinky.

Miss Mustard Seed would've been proud. And, my husband showed his love and helped me load these up in the car and drive the 2 blocks (or 5) back home.


We didn't make it to Target, but my heart was fuller with these beauties in my possession. Annie Sloan Chalk paint and new upholstery, here we come!!!

So many projects, so little time! :-)