Roadside Rescue Archives - The Weekend Country Girl

bathroom, Coldspring, guest house, Roadside Rescue, vintage style

A Bathroom Vanity From Scraps

February 12, 2022February 12, 2022 Karen

We are nearing the end of putting together the bathroom in the guest house! Hooray! At this point I think we have spent about $3,500 on everything that went into turning a covered porch area into a functioning bathroom. Concrete, framing, Sheetrock, electrical, plumbing, window, lighting, tile, pocket door, tub, tub refinishing, and toilet all added up. We have done most of the work ourselves, except the terrible Sheetrock job and exterior siding. I am ever so thankful for a hard working husband.

One thing we didn’t spend much money on was our bathroom vanity thanks to recycling things we already had and materials given to or collected by us. We literally only purchased paint, the water connects, and the drain pipe for this project.

In my mind I wanted a black vanity with a white top. On a trip to Hot Springs, Arkansas I saw an antique porcelain legged vanity that I loved in a restaurant bathroom. A quick look online convinced me that the option may be out of reach. I was disappointed but I had so many other things in the bathroom that I loved, an inexpensive vanity would have been fine.

With my heart set on something white and black to go with our floor meant we had to get creative. In our stash of treasures I spotted a white vanity top that my buddy The Social Planner had given me ( I have great friends) and a grooved wood cornice board from the front window of our house that would work for the skirt. I had lots of legs I thought would work, but it sort of felt like Goldie Locks and the Three Bears. They were either too damaged, too short, or the wrong style.

Deep into the stash Mr. Math spotted two newell posts that were perfect. I bought them a while back at a garage sale. I can’t even remember why I thought I needed them but they were inexpensive and oak. We already had a medicine cabinet in the guest house from the previous owner. The mirror is pretty aged and may need to be replaced eventually but I sort of think it is cool.

The posts in this picture I thought would be perfect but they were too thin and too short.

My husband cut the cornice to fit- and did an amazing job, cut the legs t length, attached the legs with giant screws and glue then even spackled the screw heads for me so I could prime then paint the vanity with a semi gloss cabinet and trim black paint. Mr Math attached leveling feet so that we could get the cabinet level.

Just as I was thinking about purchasing a faucet the hubs surprised me with yet another treasure that I honestly have no idea when or where it came from. He found a chrome faucet in the stash with porcelain handles! It was chrome but had was filthy. A good cleaning and tightening all the parts made it exactly what I needed to finish off the sink.

I really like how it is all coming together.

The mirror looks more distressed in photos than it does in person but we may be getting another mirror cut to fit down the road.

Next up we will be installing the faucet, shower ring and drain in the claw foot tub.

I. Can’t. Wait.

Thank you all for following us on our journey.

Blessings,

Karen

glazing, rescuing damaged furniture, Roadside Rescue, vintage style

Using the Restoration Hardware Finish to Fix a Problem

April 11, 2017April 11, 2017 Karen

A pile of tables were given to me. I know. I am so very lucky.

The table I worked on this weekend was the one at the back in this picture. I know I should have taken a better picture of the table, but in true form I just got in the mood to paint and jumped in. It is how I operate when a lot is going on. Paint first, think later.
The tables had been in a vacant house left by previous renters and this one was in pretty rough shape.
I fell in love with particular table because I have an identical one that is in great shape from my mom. My table is a family piece that I would get grounded if I painted. This one I am free to do what I want to.

I spray painted the legs with chalk spray paint I picked up at Walmart. I liked the paint but frankly it wasn’t worth the extra cost for the chalk finish. I should have just purchased flat white paint.

This table at one point sat under a leak and had water stains along with a water ring that just wouldn’t come out, even with sanding the finish off. I tried my darkest stain, Minwax Jacobean, and the stain still showed through. Bummer.

I knew I wanted the top of the table to be stained with the bottom painted, so I knew I needed a solution to my water problem. The solution was my Restoration Hardware Weathered Oak Finish for the top.

I figured out this finish through trial and error and have used it several times like here on the bathroom vanity in our suburban house

and here on the top and sides of the Funky Dresser

It is a finish that covers a lot of flaws and is almost foolproof. This finish is the most popular post on my blog, so I guess I am not alone in using the simple process.

Pickling Stain on top of the stained wood then wipe off in the direction of the wood grain almost immediately.

It always looks a little nasty at this point and every time I second guess my decision.

The next step is to apply a coat of Jacobean stain over the top.

Wipe off the excess stain with the grain and voila- the water rings disappear.

I sanded the paint slightly on the legs and will ne adding a clear protective finish to the top of the table once I am sure the stain has dried completely.

It turned out great and gave me the satisfaction of getting one project done this past weekend.

I don’t know where this table will end up, but I really think it is pretty.

I hope you were productive this last weekend,

Blessings,

Karen

Curbside rescue, Dresser, Repurposed Furniture, Roadside Rescue

Roadside Repurposed Dresser

January 24, 2015January 24, 2015 Karen

We found this beauty sitting on the side of the road outside a rental house. There wasn’t much I loved about the piece except that it had some great French Provincial hardware hiding under layers of paint but I just couldn’t leave it sitting on the curb waiting for heavy trash pick up.

We stopped and got the dresser along with this piece I am still thinking about what to do with it but I am thinking gray and creamy white.

After a month of the ugly lavender dresser sitting in our garage I decided that this was the weekend to get busy and do something with the piece. Because the piece was not real wood and had some areas that the fake wood had gotten wet and was swollen, I knew it would need a lot of sealing. First it all got primed with Zinzer primer then I made my own version of chalk paint for the second coat out of a grayish, greenish OOPS paint sitting in the garage that I thought would work for the piece. Here is a trick if you like the look and feel of latex paint with poly on top for durability but like the way that chalk paint will cover nasty surfaces, use one coat of chalk paint then sand lightly, then paint over it with the latex paint.

After painting the whole piece I could see it still needed additional help.
I decided to take the dresser in a whole different direction.

I took off the French Provincial hardware and added cedar fencing we picked up when our neighbors changed out their fence. One board covered the front of each dresser drawer, one to cover the bottom part and three to cover the top. Only one board needed to be cut down narrower on the table saw. After the boards were nailed on, I gave them a good sanding to bring out the color of the wood.

The hardware I decided to use out of my hoard was some shiny brass hardware that had been given to me by a neighbor. A coat of Rustoelum Flat spray paint designed for metal was just the ticket to getting the look I wanted. My math-minded husband figured out where the pulls needed to go on the dresser and drilled the holes so that they would line up vertically.

Here he is in all his glory. No one would guess that this dresser was a cheap, feminine, not wood dresser headed for a landfill.

It is going to be a gift for a hard-working friend.

What do you think about the finished $2.00 project?

I would love to hear from you.

Blessings,

Karen

cedar lumber, Christmas, Country Style, Decorating, DIY Projects, DIY Tutorial, Roadside Rescue

Rustic Deer Head

November 30, 2014 Karen

I saw this fall mantle at Its Overflowing as a fall mantle. The rustic deer head really spoke to me. Last year when we moved in to the burbs I decided that Christmas needed to remind us of our favorite place, Star Hill not a tract home in a master planned neighborhood. I spent a week creating deer heads and rustic elements. One of them was a giant stained deer silhouette but it sold almost immediately when I wrote the blog so I knew that a new mantle piece was needed. I have a whole Pinterest page dedicated to deer head. Feel free to check out my Pinterest Boards here.

When I saw the fall mantle at Its Overflowing, I knew I had found it!

Mantle at Its Overflowing

The DIY is simple.

I laid out a bunch of cedar fence pickets that we picked up on the side of the road a month ago. I only had to cut one to get the haphazard look I wanted.

There are no pictures at this point. The camera was in the house and I was on a roll so I didn’t stop.

I sketched out a rustic deer head with chalk- using a wet rag to fix my boo boo’s. we decided to leave all the pieces loose while it was being cut out. I planned on cutting it out myself but…

I discovered that at the lake house we dont have our scroll saw right now, but there is a jig saw there. I hate jig saws. Hubby had to man it because it bounces so much.

I ran inside to get the camera but Hubby got impatient and started cutting.

I carefully turned everything over after it was all cut out and attached scrap wood to the back to secure the pieces together using a an air nailer.

All in all we have about fifty cents in materials into the project.

I know that this is not something for everyone, but I love it. It is restful to me and the simplicity makes me think of an old home Christmas.

What do you think about our finished project?

I still need to get some white tapers for the small candle sticks but we are just about done.

I hope you have a wonderful day,

Thank you for taking the time to read my posts. I appreciate your comments.

Blessings,

Karen

Curbside rescue, Dresser, home decorating, Roadside Rescue, Rubbish Rescue, Thrifting

Burn Pile Barn Door

October 26, 2014October 28, 2014 Karen

Today I am going to show you the amazing barn door I made from wood that was destined for the burn pile.

I have an odd obsession with things saved from the trash.

I own (or it owns me depending who you talk to) a rescue dog.

I cheer every year when this rose blooms because Mr. Math mowed over it twice trying to get rid of it before giving up and leaving it alone.

I have saved several pieces of furniture from the trash or the burn pile. They are some of my favorite projects.

Burn Pile Vanity

Roadside Credenza

Mudroom Bench

My dad, the original junker in our family, had some cedar cut on his property on “halves “. Basically that means he got half of the wood and the person who cut it into lumber got half for payment. Some of the cedar had imperfections that went into the cull pile. It was wormy , or bowed or split.

Cedar Windfall

My dad saved that wood for me. He knew I would want it. My dad knows me well, I did. There was a lot more wood than I expected , and it has been consuming almost a third of the Garagemahal for almost a year drying. I wasn’t sure what this wood would become but I knew that one day I would find a home for it.

I found a home for some when The Social Planner’s son bought a FEMA trailer that he and his dad are gutting and turning into a cool home for this single guy who works on yachts in a very expensive bayside community.

You might check out what people are doing with these trailers online. They were filled with formaldehyde when they were built for families after the hurricane decimated New Orleans and were dumped by the government as soon as possible. You can pick one up for a couple of thousand dollars now but they need all the junk on the inside removed.

The look he is going for is rustic industrial. I can’t wait to get some shots of the inside. Right now the kitchen is done but everything else is under construction.

We made the door quickly out of some of the cedar.

First we sorted out the wood and put it out on the floor to look at and move around then cut them all to length.

Next we clamped the wood and added a board at the top, bottom and across diagonally to make a Z.

Here it is finished. The door has five coats of polyurethane on all the door and seven inside the crevices.

It is going to look amazing in the trailer along with this piece that is going to be a counter once it is coated with bar coating.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

Thank you for reading my blog. I appreciate hearing from you.

Blessings,

Karen

Behr Paint with Primer, collecting, Repurposed Furniture, rescuing damaged furniture, Roadside Rescue, The Garagemahal

The Things I Do Not Throw Away

April 2, 2014April 3, 2014 Karen

This weekend we cut up some double bed foot boards and turned them into arms for benches. That meant that parts of the foot boards had to be removed.

Some people would have thrown the cut off parts away.

Let’s face it, some people would have thrown the double beds away. Since I was able to pick up all five of these beds for a total of $77.00, they are not very valuable these days, but I digress.

Back to the stuff I don’t throw away. I keep all the solid wood pieces cut off and try to reuse them. Here is a sample of the things I had laying around the Garagemahal this weekend:

I never, ever, throw away a chair or table leg.

I have even been known to rescue legs out of trash cans. At garage sales.

But look what they become: Building a bench from table legs.

I don’t throw away solid wood boards. I keep it and it always seems to find a purpose. These old fence boards became my reclaimed wood wall. This was cedar wood taken down and headed for the landfill.

It turned into this: Reclaimed wood wall

I don’t throw away drawers or even drawer fronts if the drawer is shot because I have used them for a lot of projects. Here is my sweet daughter in law’s Christmas gift to her buddies last year:

I do not throw away hardware. Hinges, knobs, handles, and even screws get saved. It may not work on the current project, but it has been my experience that I will need something as soon as I get rid of it. I even buy odd hardware at garage sales and thrift stores.

I also don’t throw away cut off sections of anything that was solid wood. This section of a door we cut off to make a headboard became a coat rack in my office.

I am not sure what I will be doing with the sections of headboard I saved… Do you have any suggestions?

I also save wood. Because we save every usable scrap, even scrap from building sites and out at heavy trash pick up, we don’t have to buy as much new wood. I love reclaimed wood and will keep every scrap until it is too small to save.

Paint gets used down to the last drop. I love buying oops paint when I can, but I am pretty picky about my paint (Behr paint with primer), so I do buy a lot full price and it is expensive. It gets treated like it is, too. I make sure the lids are sealed and try not to waste. When I am trying out a color, I always buy the sample first to make sure I love it.

I am not alone in the saving. When I visited Jeff at Facelift Furniture, he had this whole storage unit full of bits and parts. I have a feeling that most furniture repurposes are savers of spare parts.

I guess I am a hoarder. My husband accused me of being one this weekend when I was digging the spindles we removed from the trash can. I prefer to think I am doing my part to save the environment. That is my story and I am sticking to it.

Behr Paint with Primer, Curbside rescue, Painted Furniture, Repurposed Furniture, Roadside Finds, Roadside Rescue

“Franken Furniture” on the Back Porch

August 18, 2013August 21, 2013 Karen

We have started creating an oasis on the back porch. I totally blame Sweet Amanda for the porch color scheme and Baby Boy for the name- the Skittle porch. He says that is what all the colors look like. A bag of skittles.

Here is the inspiration cushion.

The turquoise chairs moved in the first day, along with the beverage station. The plants were brought over a couple of weeks ago. The new owners of our city house babysat them for us until we were able to pick them up. This weekend a project I have been very excited about made the trip from the Garagemahal to the Skittle porch.

Remember this roadside find? It was a tip from a friend that led us out in the rain to collect this table.

This drop leaf beauty was warped and sitting in the rain, but solid wood.

Remember the last roadside find from the City House? I got the coral legged end tables and also the cloven hoof coffee table. The glass was in tact and solid. I have plans for the brass feet too!

Hubby came up with a great plan to marry the two roadside finds for a table on our back porch. I am loving it. He even used left over pickets from the lake house porch makeover to make the crazy spider like legs you see under the glass. I love that the only new purchase we had to make for this entire project was the bolts that connect the top to the base. The paint is red tomato by Behr. We had this left over from the bookcase makeover at Star Hill. Here is the finished project. I love the look. It is bright but the glass makes it seem lighter and more airy.

I love the bright colors and how the pieces fit together. The lantern is a clearance find from Marshalls.

The brightly colored serving dish is one of three I got at Goodwill for $1.99 each. I will be using them a lot on the back porch.

I even found a Skittle rug at Target!

Curbside rescue, DIY, DIY cushion, Dresser, home decorating, mudroom, recycled furniture, resale finds, Roadside Finds, Roadside Rescue, Style, The City House, tufted cushion

Dresser to Mudroom Bench

March 3, 2013March 10, 2014 Karen

My mudroom bench started life as a dresser. I found it on the side of the road waiting for heavy trash pick up. It was a mess! The top was in pieces and two drawers were broken. In spite of the shape that the dresser was in, it was solid wood and had dove tailed drawers. It was late at night and we were headed home from visiting friends. I had to beg Hubby to stop, back up and get out to look at the dresser. He was less than impressed with this one.

Here it is with one of the working drawers out. The top has a split all the way down the length.

After staring at it a few weeks, I decided to turn it into a piece for our entryway that could serve as a sort of mudroom. A place to take off shoes, hang jackets and hats and hide junk…I mean Hubby’s treasures.

First, We removed the top two rows of drawers from the dresser and created a bench by adding a plywood top.

Next, we created a separate top piece from the two remaining solid drawer fronts. Because of the height, we had them open on hinges. We could not have used it if it were drawers. A sheet of beadboard paneling, 2X4’s, and a plywood box.

The mirror was a thrift store find. Hubby chopped the top off the mirror frame and routed the 2X4’s so that they matched the mirror. We reused the top in a later piece.

Then, Hubby created a board and batten over bead board back to connect the piece visually. The bead board and top are connected together, but they float over the bench. Sneaky huh? This allows easy installation and access to electrical without cutting holes in the wood. You never know where it will live next! All the hooks were installed last because I wasn’t sure what I wanted. In the end I went with plain hooks because they worked for the piece.

Finally, we painted, added crystal knobs and made a tufted cushion. I love the soft green color!

This is by far the most unique piece of furniture in our home and is a great conversation piece.

Here it what it looked like the morning that I wrote this blog. I did not do anything so that you can see how we really live.

This is the best shot I have taken of the bench. Now I wish I had removed Hubby’s hat, camera, and jacket!

Decorating, DIY Painting and Glazing Furniture, DIY Projects, home decorating, Painted Furniture, recycled furniture, Repurposed Furniture, resale finds, Roadside Finds, Roadside Rescue, Thrifting, vintage style

The Real Cost of Repurposing Furniture

February 14, 2013January 5, 2014 Karen

I have wanted to write this blog for a while. I go to craft shows, shops and our local trade days where I sometimes hear shoppers commenting on the cost. “I could do that.” is frequently heard as well as comments about prices. Now you know that I am always looking for a deal! And by deal I mean a steal. I love to find furniture, cheap or preferably free, then repurpose the piece into something unique. It is my hobby, and I am not trying to live off selling my goods. We would STARVE! I always try to let you know the cost, which is usually less than a brand new piece would be, but I think that there is a misconception from time to time about the real cost of repurposing the furniture.

Right now I am redoing a piece of furniture I literally picked up on the side of the road. The cost for the furniture – ZERO DOLLARS AND ZERO CENTS.

In order to get the piece repurposed I decided to buy everything new for this project. I needed to replenish supplies anyway and sometimes even I forget that this is a hobby and the supplies are expensive because I only buy things as I run out.

The costs are rounded- because I am lazy!
Purdy paintbrush- the best and worth the cost- 12.00
Behr Revival Mahogany paint with primer- one quart- I could have probably gotten by with two samples @ $3.00 each, but I knew I would need the left over for the faux fireplace I am doing- $16.00
Behr Innocence- one quart- the giant dresser used almost a whole quart- the leftover paint was used to paint Baby Boy’s bookcase. $16.00
Zinzer Primer- one quart- $10.00
Glazing medium- one quart Behr Faux Finish glazing medium. I use this all the time and it lasts forever but it was time for a new container- $15.00
Sandpaper for hand sanding and the palm sander $5.00
Rustoleum Poly- one quart- $15.00

Hours spent on the project- 1 hour checking it out, calling Hubby, getting the beast into the vehicle, out of the vehicle and home. 3 hours sanding. 4 hours priming, re sanding, then priming again. 4 hours painting the creamy white color. 1 hour painting handles. 1 hour painting the top. 1 hour glazing. 3 hours polyurethaning the whole thing. Oh! This does not include dry time, moving time and reassembly.

So all in all we have close to $80.00 in supplies and the equivalent of one hard weekend’s worth of time invested. In a free piece of furniture! The next time you see someone’s work online, in a shop, or at a vendor’s booth and you say to yourself… ” I could do that WAAAY cheaper, the truth is provided you find the right piece, you might could save a little money doing it yourself but it won’t be as cheap or easy as you may initially believe and your time is worth something.

If you are in a shop when you see this piece also figure in overhead costs.

It is a lot of work to re-purpose furniture, but it is ever so worth the effort! I love the satisfaction of doing a good job and bringing something back to life.

DIY Projects, family, painting, rescuing damaged furniture, Roadside Rescue, The City House

Living with a Patient Husband

February 12, 2013February 12, 2013 Karen

It is nasty and rainy here. Too humid to paint in the garage because the paint won’t dry. Sad days. I know my hubby loves our wood floor but tonight he let me bring in the big hunkin’ dresser so that I could paint. I feel like Valentine’s Day came early. I love him so. I promise to keep the paint on the drop cloth and will use lots of painter’s tape. The top and pulls are now painted with one coat of Revival Mahogany. Love it. Thanks sweetheart, I needed to get paint under my nails tonight. Please forgive my terrible iPad photos but today was too rough to break out the Canon.