French Country Dresser

Here is  a piece that I got from an antique sale last summer.  It was missing a drawer so I found some wood and built a shelf on the bottom for storage.  I painted it white and also painted some designs on the front of the dresser and the top.  Sometimes people will throw a perfectly good dresser out because a drawer is missing or broken.  You can store just as much on the shelf as you would in one of the drawers.  I displayed it with a basket on the shelf when it was in my booth.  I have another dresser with issues to paint on in my basement. I am trying to decide how I want to fix it up so keep watch when the inspiration hits I will give it a make-over and post some pictures of it.  Thanks for stopping by. This week is Thanksgiving already, I wish you and yours all the best and Happy Thanksgiving!

 

 

The Sign Says Free? Really?

 

One beautiful autumn Saturday I decided to go hunting for treasures.  I ended up I a near by town where there are several re-sale shops.  I pulled up to one of my favorite shops and there on the curb was this desk with a sign.  I love free you know that I established that a long time ago so this day was shaping up very nicely.  I went into the shop and asked really? Free? Yup, it was free alright, it was missing a top drawer and needed to be re-glued in spots and some other minor damage repaired.  Just what I love! Here in this picture I have already repaired the top drawer and patched the holes.

 

I decided to paint the desk grey and white with a Frenchy design on top.  I replaced the wooden knobs with porcelain ones.

I painted a chair grey to go with the desk and also painted a French design on it. I think they make a lovely couple.  And a word to the wise ......keep your eyes open you never know when you will find a diamond in the rough on the side of the road for free.....

Door, drawer, and Table Upcycle

Here are some miscellaneous parts from my stash.  A drawer, a cupboard door. and a small table. Sorry for the poor picture, maybe this year I will finally learn to use my camera! It could happen!

 

 I put them all together and painted the piece white with French Country designs.  I have made several of these chest tables and they sell very well.  They double as a table and a storage piece. 

Patriotic Pride

Flea Market Bench

Bought this bench at a flea market. I painted it white and put some French Theme fabric on the seat.  I sold it almost immediately, but the woman that bought it was going to change the fabric because she thought it wasn't good enough! It made me feel bad for a while but I realize that when someone buys your work they do have the right to do what ever they want with it after they pay for it. Oh well I still have the pictures of it as I originally did it!

 

Shutter Shelf

 

Take one old set of shutters and some corner shelf boards and you can make one really cool corner unit.

 I was sure to paint the one shutter that had a solid panel with chalk paint.  It is the perfect size to set on top of dresser or kitchen counter top.

Child Size French Cupboard

Shabby Kitchen Cupboard Make-over.

 

This piece is a kitchen wall cupboard that I bought. 

 

 

 

 

 

 I added the legs and then painted it old white.  I painted a grey Union Jack design with a crown on the top.  I like the variations of the Union Jack design it really mixes well with the fleur de lis and crown.

Never Judge a Chair by Its Cover

Went to an auction last summer and had a great time. I was bidding on all the good stuff that no one wanted, buying cheap and loving every minute of it.  The auctioneer got to this swivel chair and no one bid.  He said can I get a dollar somebody anybody.  I said sure I will give you a dollar! Praise the Lord he said SOLD! And that's how I got this great old chair. It was covered in fabric and I really didn't know what else but for a dollar it was worth the risk. It had a bazillion nails holding the fabric on and it took two settings to strip it off.  What I found was a cute little wooden chair that I could paint instead of upholster.

 

Here is what it looks like now after a few coats of antique white paint and some hand painted design.

Goes to show you that you never can judge a book or a chair by its cover!

 

 

 

 

Two Tables Are Better Than One!

 

 

 

Some things that I acquire sit in my basement for years.  This is a picture of a table that looks just like the one I had for 7 years and did nothing with.  I forgot to snap a picture of the one I had, it didn't look quite this good but I got it for free.  The people we sold our house to on land contract left it behind when they moved out. They were a rough bunch and had let the kids walk and jump on the table and it needless to say fell all apart.  I always try to make something good to come out of bad circumstances, we got the house back and a broken table. Woo Hoo.

 

Because I had only so much room in my booth at the shop I decided two tables would be better than one.  Since I had to repair and paint it I knew I could

 

 

 

I like half tables they make nice focal points in a hallway or breezeway.

Ladder Mania

I was coming home from town one day and lo and behold in the ditch I saw an old wooden ladder laying all alone and unloved.  I stopped the car (safely) and turned around to check it out. It was an extension ladder that had seen better days and probably fell of the trash truck that goes down my road.  No worries I will save you old unwanted ladder!

 

I just had bought my weekly groceries and had to shuffle them around in my car so I would have room for my find.  I am a treasure hunter so this was no problem-I got this.  I had to hold my head a bit to the left but oh well it was  a free ladder!!!!

The look on my face says it all give a woman a free ladder and she will get it in her car even if the back hatch is open a little and her groceries might fall all over the road....luckily it was only a 1/2 mile from my house.

 

I decided to use the ladder in a project rather than just paint it and hang quilts on it, I already have one of those so this called for some planning.  I really love to paint benches and they are so hard to find in my 2.99 price range so I set out to make one for myself.  I cut the ladder up and used part of it for the top and part for the two sides.  I ran a board down the center of one of the rungs and then mounted an old table top part for the seat of the bench.

This is the first of two projects from project ladder rehab!

The next week because this bench sold right away I decided to get my power tools and thinking cap back out and make another bench from my precious free ladder.  This time I decided to use up three bed parts I have been tripping on for a couple of years now and work some magic.

 

This is how it turned out and looked after I painted it with primer.

 

I really don't know how I did this I just kept adding parts until this wonderful up cycled bench came into being. 

Here is the under side so you can see the ladder hidden underneath all the other pieces parts.

Painting it with a primitive design was next on my agenda so I sat down and thought it out, I knew I wanted to do a simple prim landscape and a flag so I let my bushes fly and here is how it turned out.

 

When she was finished I loaded it up to take to the shop to sell, the last one did so well I was so excited to see how this bench would do.  I got out of the car and went into the store and the

owner of the store told me I had until the end of the month to vacate the premises. He decide that he only wanted to do antique actions in his building and all vendors had to leave immediately not considering the amount of work to move inventory and booths.  I have been in this shop for over six years and the owners are my friends, I was devastated.  I know all things work out for good but it doesn't mean that everyone else will do good towards you. Being that the shop is only open on Friday and Saturday and one of those days is on Mother's Day weekend I have some scrambling to do.  I put the bench on Craigslist because it is so big, it is 62" long and I really don't want to store it! I think it will sell but I am so going to miss the shop I have been a part of for so long.  I know they have to close I just wish they had given me more of a notice in a nicer way and not been so uncaring.  Oh well this is a chance for my faith to kick in and keep me centered.  God has an adventure all lined up for me and after I get over this brief sad spell I am going to sit back and watch the doors that He swings open for me.  So my free ladder has made me realize that nothing ever stays the same.  The ladder was once an old unwanted cast off that got turned into 2 pretty new benches for someone to love.  I feel like a cast off today but just think how God is going to turn my sadness into some pretty amazing experience down the road that I would have missed out on if my life didn't  changed! Ready- set- go- here I come new adventure!