Ottoman from the bottom, man!

 We found this propped by the dumpster... pitiful huh?

It has a nice size hole gouged out in the center so we had to fix that.   Nothing a little cotton wadding can't fill.  The legs were loose so we put toothpicks in the screw holes and tightened down the screws again.  The toothpicks give the screws something to grab if the hole is wallowed out.  

GOOD  OLD DUCT TAPE!

I used the cotton batting left over from the "Bangin' Bumper Blouse" (previous post) to cover this multitude of sins.

 And then a thrift store curtain to cover it all.  I just sewed a box basically and stapled it to the wood underneath.

 And there it is in its new home....

I'd never justify buying this in the store, but the fact that I was able to make for almost nothing is what makes it so fun for me.

Entryway and Stairwell

This shirt will be in a future post as a costume and then a pair of lounge pants, I do still sew when I can.  But what I am really showing here is the before of the entry way area that leads into the living room.  That's the bathroom door in the back (previous post) and the sewing/laundry room to his left (you'll see it soon enough).  And yes, that is a project pile in the foreground.  The area is often a holding pattern for stuff from the sewing room.  And yes again, that is blah beige on the walls.  

LOOK, finally you see something I bought from the store!  But alas, it was Ollie's so I still got an awesome deal!  I am always needing storage.  I love this red against the blue.  You can see this is one of my favorite colors to use in decor....it is all over my house.  You'll notice it now that I pointed it out.

There's also a peek at that darn carpet remnant I had to put on the bathroom floor.  I said I wasn't going to show you that!

The area didn't really change except for the paint.  A nice dusty blue, really contrasts nicely with the living room tan, which extends up the stairwell since it shares a wall with the living room.  All the art is still the same, just various things I've found that I matted up my self with the remnant matte holes that Michaels used to sell at a discount.  I  haven't seen them lately but then again I haven't needed them so haven't looked.

What you do see new is no more junk piles in the entryway, now a nice ottoman.  The transformation of this piece from a dumpster find to this will be a future post...tease, tease.

The stairwell art was changed out for these plates.  They are thrift store pieces, from Target I believe.  They are actually plastic plates so very light weight.  I just hot-glued a bent paper-clip to the back for hanging instead of spending money on plate hangers.  I might not have done that if they were porcelain.

And at the top of the stairs, overlooking the living room.....a dumpster find!  Yes this was sitting by the garbage cans where we found the flowerpots (mentioned in a previous post).    It even had the glass stones in it with a whole grocery bag full of extras beside it.

All I did was clean it up and add the candles.  Lucky find!  We'll talk about that new black railing in another post.

Bathroom freshen - up

Nothing too miraculous to show on this room but it is amazing how a little paint and a bold print can freshen up a room.  Besides moving these two pictures in from another room, and hubby finally installing the new light fixture, that's all we did.

Isn't that shower curtain awesome?  It is a thriftstore piece I bought to use the fabric on something else.  Then I decided that this was one room where you could put a crazy print because there is nothing else for it to clash with.

The paint color is a mix of two colors from my Oops paints to get a purplish blue.  I am not a real pastel-ly person so the deep eggplant (from the previously posted side table project)  added just enough depth to the light blue to make me happy.

Besides the new light fixture, the paintings got a new life in this room.  They are actually pieces of wallpaper that I pulled from a wallpaper sample book.  I bought a few sample books on ebay years ago and use them for art like this and small craft projects. The mirror is unchanged and is a very heavy (maybe antique) piece from the thriftstore.   I thought hanging it on it's side made it more interesting.  Yes, that is a pocket door leading into the laundry room that you see in the second mirror picture.




This picture shows how the color matches nicely with the little tiles in the shower.  This was a during shot when we were painting.  Yes, I know that you are supposed to cut in first but I got up one morning and my mom said, "I painted the bathroom, you just have to go back and cut it in since you do that better than I can".  Enough said.  I'm snoozing, she's up painting with the roosters.

I am not showing the floor because it is badly damaged laminate flooring.  NEVER let anyone tell you it is okay to but laminate in a bathroom.  It is buckling up like crazy.  I actually have a piece of carpet remnant on the floor now to cover the mess.  Next big house project in replacing that floor - most likely with tile.

It is funny though about the carpet, which I also hate in bathrooms.  I mentioned that I needed a piece of carpet remnant, I found several rolled up beside the garbage cans where someone had just had carpet installed.  New pieces, not used.

I mentioned that I would like some throw pillows for the kids to hang out on the floor when they watch TV, I find those red couch cushions (in a previous post) stacked nicely beside a neighbor's garbage cans.  They were clean and unstained (I cleaned them anyway) and required no repair.

We were trying to figure out more seating and storage for my scrapbooking area in the living room, and that's when I found the buffet/bench by the dumpster. (previous post)

I mentioned that I'd like to put a few houseplants around the house, and we see a stack of flowerpots stacked by the garbage cans where someone cleaned off their back deck (future post).

I am on the look out for a kingsize bed frame and headboard for our new mattress set, which sat on the floor for months.   A co-worker bought a new bed, gave me her bedframe and I found a NICE kingsize headboard propped against the dumpster.  Most likely a mover couldn't fit it in the truck and just left it behind (future post).

It's uncanny what you find when you're not really even looking.

I'll be waiting...I'll be waiting

 I just realized that besides my profile picture, which is years old, some of my readers have probably never seen me.  That's me below (with a little red eye - hey, I am a busy woman).  Yes, I've started to realize that outside of work, I've let my friendships lag, and that I can't wait until retirement to do the things I want to do.  That is part of the reason I started this blog, to pursue some passions while I'm still young but also to network and make some friendships that aren't work related.  Hoping that birds of a feather flock together.

So I joined the American Sewing Guild a while back and immediately started scoping out the neighborhood groups.  I don't want to offend anyone on this blog but I have to say.....I feel like I must be an old soul sometimes.  I see blogs out there where the sewers are young but I swear every sewing class I take, and every time I go to my local sewing store, or the sewing area of Joanne's, I seem to be the youngest person there.  Doesn't bother me a bit in the world but I really want a sewing buddy.  And it's not that I couldn't get to be great friends with one of these older women....but honestly, they are usually already retired, kids have moved out so they have all the time in the world, and are more interested in quilting than anything else.  It just seems that they are in a different life phase than me...maybe I've got it all wrong.

I don't feel like an old soul in this top - sassy!  

I went to one local neighborhood meeting, and the ladies were so nice and it really is going to be great!  But I still was the youngest in the room and I could tell that that half of them hang out and work on projects all day while I am at work......grumble, grumble, yes I am jealous.

I've posted on Craigslist personals, I get folks that want me to help them learn to sew (maybe but I really want a fellow sewer).  Or folks that want me to sew something for them.  I have joined some social sites and a few folks have responded (and may turn out to be great friends) but no contacts with someone who has sewing (and up-cycling) on the brain like I do.

I've commented on some of the blogs I follow (that is where all the younger folks are hiding apparently) and I just know that we'd be the best of friends.... if we lived in the same area.

Then I went to the American Sewing Guild Annual meeting for the Maryland Chapter a while back.  It was great too and I finally was not the youngest in the room, although we made up a small minority.  It was so inspirational to see all the projects that people displayed in the fashion show.  These folks are real professionals!  I am so glad I went and I hope that I'll use these contacts to keep inspired and on task.

I don't even really think the age thing is an issue.....heck I am middle age, I just have young kids because I started later.  I just need someone who is understanding of a full time job, young kids, disorganized mind, poor time management, and more ideas than time.  Who cares about age anyway?

See that mind so disorganized that I forgot to wear leggings and forgot to smile.  No really, these are all photos from where I posted an ad selling clothing lots on ebay.

I just wish I had a buddy to work on projects with....a sewing sister.  A person that would hang out at my place to sew on a Saturday night, or would call to say, "get over here and help me get this darn zipper in straight".  So if you are out there, in the Baltimore area, I'm here.....I'll be waiting.....I'll be waiting....

That was a "Raising Arizona" reference, in case you're wondering.  If you got it right off AND you're local, we most definitely need to meet.

This post was focused on sewing but as you can see from my previous posts, I am into home decor, upcycling, thriftstores and refashioning too.

Perfect Example of Eww to Ahh

This buffet/bench is a perfect example of Eww to Ahh! 

This was sitting by the dumpster in the apartment complex the next block over.  I drive through there once in while, especially at the end of the month, when people are moving out and putting furniture pieces by the dumpsters.  I saw this one in the middle of the night  and could only see it by the lights of my van.  I looked at it, got out and walked around it, tried to determine exactly what it was and  if all that white stuff was paint or dust or what.  Opened the drawers and saw that they still had some garbage shoved in them....not garbage garbage, just the kind of stuff you leave in a dresser when you don't want to move it.  One of the drawers didn't appear to work properly.  The doors had no handles so had to be opened using the tips of your nails.  It looked absolutely filthy with that white hazy stuff all over it.  It was so heavy I could barely lift one end.  I decided it wasn't worth my time.

Look how tired she looks, I was working her hard!  She'd like you think that, but she was actually cracking the whip on me after I worked all day and came home to do projects with her.

I told my mom about it and she wanted to check it out.  So we went back, we pulled the broken drawer out to discover it just had more garbage shoved behind it so it wouldn't close, not broken.  We took a wet napkin and the haze wiped right off.....probably painters dust.  By wiping it, you could see the wood grain color and the basket weave on the doors.  Yes, it was very heavy but that usually means it is a quality piece of furniture.  Okay, she sold me on it!  We had one heck of a time loading it into the van but we got it home and down the stairs.

This thing was a hot mess!  Filthy!

I'd love to say that we did a total workover on the thing, but all we really did was clean it out, clean it like crazy, Pledge it like crazy to get in all the little cracks, put handles on the two doors and touch up the two dings in the veneer with some stain.  It was missing its original legs but I already have a buffet in the room so decided to let it stay low as bench.  I can always add some legs later.

This bad boy looks awesome!  It had a furniture stamp on one of the drawers that shows it to be a Caldwell Furniture piece.  I did some research  and the stuff on their site seems to be some nice furniture.  This one is likely from the 70s or 80s.    This had the dovetail joints, nice smooth movement on the drawers, only a couple of small dings in the venner and absolutely no price tag......what else could you want?  I'll just have to keep dusting it because now that I see the photos, I still see some dust in the cracks.

Plum perfect! Obergine'ly wonderful!

Check out that detailing!  I love ornate details in furniture and decor....not sure if that is in style but it is what I love.  You can tell if from the picture frames that I buy.  This was Craigslist buy, $10 I think.  I caught my mom mid painting and grabbed a quick before shot.

We decided to paint it inside and out.

Notice that peek of orange table, the peeling paint, the ornate detailing that I love?  I mentioned this before as a future project.  I also mentioned trying paper mosaic on a previous project.  My plan is to cover that pitiful edge with a paper mosaic effect.  Just a little tease.  Anyway, off topic....back to this lovely little piece.

It wasn't until after she had completely primed it out that I mentioned that I wanted to try out DIY chalk painting it.....and it doesn't require priming.  Oops!  

This was Oops paint, isn't that an awesome color?  I always check the Oops paint when I hit the hardware store.  $5 for a gallon, $2.50 for a quart, how can you lose?  For the DIY chalk paint, we just added non-sanded grout and a little water.  The table came with those little glass panes to protect the ornate detailing and give a flat surface.  We put a couple coats of poly on it to protect it from the munchkins.

 I'm very happy with it!

Nailhead Trim

This is a nice heavy old buffet that I bought years ago at the thrift store.  I just changed out the handles.  At one point I painted the top flat black and paper mosaic tiled it.  I plan to do that same effect on another project later.  The method has the look and feel of real tile.  Anyway, pulling off the tile basically ruined the top of the buffet.  Oh I'm sure I could strip all the glue and gunk off to try to salvage it but it is easier to just recover it with some faux leather.  I was going to let it overlap the edges and staple it under the lip, but thinking about all that bulk of leather, I decided to go with nailhead trim.  You only tack it down every few inches, so it's not as bad as it might seem.  It also helps to give nice straight lines on nails.  I think it turned out nicely. 

This buffet has had a lot of uses in my house, first in the dining room storing dishes, then storing CDs in the living room, then back in the dining room as a secretary, then back downstairs storing office supplies and exercise gear.  Now it stores scrapbooking supplies.  The thing is SO heavy, I know because it has gone up and down the stairs multiple times.  I had started this project and while back but hadn't finished putting on all the nail head trim.  My mom finished it up for me while I was at work :).  Ain't she great?

It could stand a closer trim on the leather, but I am afraid to mess with it too much.  Sometimes good enough is good enough.  This faux leather was bought from the remnant bin years ago.  I also actually like the way the black paint has rubbed away some and decided to leave that effect.  It is just black craft paint from before that served as the "grout" in the paper mosaic project, so I could likely scrub it right off if I decided to later.