Talent

I few times I've mentioned my friend Christen who does a lot of sewing for me. Well I have another friend, Shannon who has made a new flyer/poster for me, that I just love.

I can't wait to have it printed, and I really hope it gives me some more work!

Any suggestions as to the best places to distribute them?

 

~Kim

China Cabinet turned Hutch

I bought this 1940's china cabinet last week at a great price, because as you can see there is no glass in the left door and no bottom right door all together.

 

It didn't take me long to come up with a solution to it's problems though.

yes, that's my shadow taking a phone pic, better than nothing, sorry!

 

 

 

 If the only problem was the missing glass, I would have kept the doors and either replaced the glass or put chicken wire or fabric in them.

 But the challenge was the missing bottom door.

 I couldn't make a new one because it is a rounded door (and I have no idea how to do that.)
So I had to remove the existing one and cover it some other way -
fabric seemed to be the only logical option.

I've seen so many "no sew" tutorials before, I figured I could do that.
((I have never tried to learn to use a sewing machine, and still don't really want to))

Then I came up with something even better than "no sew" - my friend Christen from "struttin your buttons"! For a steal, she made the skirt for me :)
By adding the fabric, it really lost the china cabinet feel, which is why I went with the open shelves on top.


Here is the Result:

AFTER
 

 Now it is perfect for a Kitchen, or an informal Dining Room.

 

 

It's headed to the Flea tomorrow (Saturday)

 

 

 

 

 

Hope everyone has a good weekend

(and spend your Christmas money on some new furniture from a small business, ok? thanks.)

~Kim

 

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 mysimplehomelife

Favorite 5 Furniture Makeovers of 2012

I LOVE Christmas, but I must say, I am ready to clean up the decorations, toss the tree and get back to "normal."

With the New Year coming next week, I took a look back at the work I've done in 2012 and compiled a list of my Favorite Five Furniture Makeovers:

(in no particular order and most of these are before the company name change)

 

1.) Grey Bench

 

 

2.) Owl TV Tray

 

 

 

3.) Contact Paper Hutch

 

 

 

 

4.) RePurposed HiFi Stereo

 

 

 

 

5.) Distressed Chest of Drawers

 

 

I have at least one more re-do left this year (hopefully I can get two done though)

So check back soon for the before and afters :)

 

~Kim

RePurposed Globe

What do you get when you take one vintage globe plus one ugly pendant light?

 

A cute one of a kind, globe light!

 

 

 

 

 

And by the way.. this took less than 30 minutes to make

 

 

 

 

This light would be great for a boys room, office or playroom.

I would even put one in my Living Room if I had the perfect spot.

 

 

 

and now back to painting.. it's 65 degrees out 6 days before Christmas.. If I can't have a white Christmas I'll take a warm one. I like your style mother nature.

 

~Kim

Shelf Before and After

 

I got a great deal on this metal shelf the other day, and immediately knew how I wanted it to look.



BEFORE


I wanted it to have an old, worn, industrial feel to it
(instead of the old, worn outdated feel ha!)

 

All it took was some grey paint

BEFORE

I just don't understand trying to make metal look like wood.

AFTER
 

AFTER
 available now at the flea



And in Dog News.. 

I got my Christmas gift early.. my foster boxer has found his "forever home"... with me.

 

~Kim

 

RePurposed Wood Crate

 

There are so many uses for wooden crates, and they are pretty easy to come by (you can even buy them new at crafts stores)

This one I picked up at a Yard Sale in the Fall, and since I have all the crates I need right now, I gave it a little make over for someone else to use.

 

 

 

 

I started by painting the crate "whitecap grey" by pantone. I like how thick this paint is, making for less coats and a less messy application

obviously I have no endorsement to be saying that, since my blog currently has 4 followers ;)

 

 

 

I then distressed it by sanding the edges with a low grit sand paper. It was tempting to just take the power sander to it, but the sides didn't seem strong enough for that.

 

I then decided to add a large chalkboard label to the end. For a project like this, I like to use a peel and stick chalkboard (purchased from Michael's) though chalkboard paint would have worked too.

 

Next I added 4 casters to the bottom. I had these on hand (I can't remember why though) but they can be purchased at any hardware or home improvement store.

 

 And that's it. This crate can be used for blankets, fire wood, books, towels, dog toys ect

My intital thought was for toys though

 

 

 That's the beauty of adding the chalkboard label, you can use it for different things as often as you like

 

 

 

 

 

 

*This post was written yesterday, but the events of the day made it feel way too insignificant to publish. There are no words for the tragic events that took place. All I can do is pray for the victims, their families, friends and our the future of our country.

 

~Kim

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Quick and FREE Fireplace Upgrade

 

I'm always so envious of people who find cool things on the side of the road or by a dumpster, because I never have. My brother's girlfriend on the other hand is one of those people.

Luckily, this time she shared her random free find with me.

 

You guessed it, it was this iron fireplace screen.

 

 

 

 

 It's not just poor lighting, the screen got lost in front of the fireplace because it's all so dark. 
Nothing a little paint can't fix.

I loved the light pink I painted my IKEA tray so much, that I used the same mixture for the screen.
 

 

 

 I mostly dry brushed it on, since it is an iron fireplace screen, I thought it shouldn't look too perfectly and newly painted.

 

BEFORE

                                                              

 

AFTER

Both the fireplace and the screen look so much better.. and all for FREE!
I'm still determined to find my own cool free thing..furniture, home decor, something vintage.. anything really!

~Kim

An IKEA Tray Updated

I've been frugal with my home decor for so long that I forget that having cute things inexpensively isn't obvious to everyone.

 By the way, I don't think it's about just having "things" but it's about your home representing YOU and it giving you a happy feeling whenever you're in it.

I've been getting so many compliments from my bias friends about some of my home decor that I thought it was time to start sharing them with the world! (ha like the world reads my blog)

  There have to be other people out there who can relate to having good taste and for what ever reason (student, self employed, divorced, laid off, underpaid, single parent) practically no budget for proving it, right?  

 if you're nosey and wondering where I fall into that list, I'm a self employed, newly divorced, single parent.

 

Now for the Project:

 

UPDATING a $7.99 IKEA KLACK tray

 

 

Here is the tray in all it's boring-ness

Now let's re-visit a hutch re-do I did last Summer. I told you how I used contact paper to cover the back. (to date this is still one of my favorite furniture re-do's)



 

Well that's exactly what I'm using for the tray too!

 

Supplies:

Pink craft Paint (or any other color of choice)
Medium Paint Brush
Contact Paper (I used grey and white chevron patterned purchased from Marshall's for $3.99)
Xxacto knife or Scissors
Tape measure or Ruler

 

The pink I had on hand was brighter than I wanted so I mixed it with a white-ish silver I also had on hand (only because I had no plain white paint) frugal remember? I didn't want to buy anything ;)

 

I started by painting the wood boarder. I wasn't too worried about getting paint in the white section because it is getting covered anyway.

 

Next, I measured the white area and cut the contact paper to size.

I pealed the contact paper as I was laying it down to help avoid bubbles.

(if you do get bubbles, just smooth it out with whatever plastic card you have in your wallet)

 

That's all there is to it!

Here is my new, super cute tray..

 

 

 

Side by Side..

 

This little afternoon project cost me $0 because I had it all on hand. But I used about $1 worth of contact paper and .50 worth of paint, can't beat that!

 

 

TRAY BEFORE

(in the Fall)

 

TRAY AFTER

(in the winter)

 

 

 

I LOVE it :)

 

I have another contact paper project I'll share soon too!

 

~Kim

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