Thrifty decorating Archives - The Weekend Country Girl

Coldspring, DIY Projects, JJ Lane, recycled furniture, Thrifty decorating

Recycled Materials Coffee Table

May 24, 2023May 24, 2023 Karen

Years ago at our deer camp we found three short hairpin legs in a burn pile. We searched but it seemed there were only three there. Of course I brought them home. I kept thinking I would think of something to do with them. Last year my husband was grading the area that had been the burn pile and found the fourth leg! I will always wonder what the original table looked like but it is clear they came from something mid century.

Recently we cleaned the shop and I ran across them along with some other items and this time I knew what to do with them. I have wanted a coffee table for our front porch.

We have such a nice porch and having a place to put my coffee on and probably my feet too if I’m being honest.

The challenge I set for myself was to use as many items as possible out of my shop to make the table and buy as little as possible.

Ten years ago we made an extra countertop and cabinet for a home my son and his wife were living in. We had planned to make a tile top but at the last minute friend gave me some leftover butcher block that we used instead. We had already made the top out of cement board and plywood with wood trim. Of course I saved that too. I have a problem with saving stuff it seems.

I saw that the cement board piece would make a perfect coffee table top.

I also had leftover white subway tile from our guest house bathroom and another project along with tile adhesive and grout. Some are matte finish and some glossy. We used both randomly.

We were home for a day so my husband and I got everything out, spray painted the legs with rust restorer and spray paint.

I started laying out the tile and could tell it wouldn’t be easy to make the tile look symmetrical. I brought out the big guy (I don’t call him Mr. Math for no reason) to figure it out and even he said it would look funny with the tile I had but he also had a solution.

I had another bowl full of small thin marble tile in the shop that was leftover from our kitchen backsplash. When we laid it all out together it fit perfectly. The marble is slightly thicker than the subway tile but because it is all around the outside edges it works fine.

I thought I was being so smart numbering all the tile with a sharpie after I cut them and laid them out but I learned an important lesson. The Sharpie stained the marble and nothing would get it clean. Even straight acetone so I had to pop all of them up and reapply each tile around the outer edge. The sharpie trick works great on glazed tile, just not natural stone. Lesson learned.

Mr. Math cut a base to go under the tile top to attach the legs to with screws then ground off he part of the screw that came ther the plywood.

He used construction adhesive and screws to connect the two parts. I have no idea why I only took a picture of the legs on top of the tile!

It turned out so cute. I added a plant, an atomic ashtray we found under our rental property when we were working on it, and faux lemons that can’t stay because all my dog sees when she looks that direction is something to chew up. I do have a candle I light when I’m out there without dogs though.

I am crazy about how it turned out and am outside now enjoying the hummingbird war at the feeder with my feet up right now.

While the view is so pretty from our front porch this is closer to reality for me any time I try to sneak out alone.

This was a two afternoon project that cleared out some of my junk and cost close to nothing. Woo hoo!

Happy junking friends,

Karen

Country Style, Painted Furniture, Repurposed Furniture, resale finds, Style, The Garagemahal, the suburban home, Thrifty decorating, vintage style

The Finished Funky Dresser

December 14, 2014February 12, 2015 Karen

Painting furniture in the Garagemahal during a southeast Texas winter is tough. It is either too cold or too humid to dream of painting. I usually take on smallish projects that I can finis in the house during winter. This fall I found a dresser that I wanted to turn into an unusual entertainment center. It was $20.00 at Huntsville Goodwill. It is a 1950’s wooden dresser that probably went in a boy’s room.

I had been looking for something to turn into a funky dresser after finding this dresser a year ago at the Mainstreet America Christmas home tour. It was over a thousand dollars but it was so cool.

The dresser was originally destined for my brother in law and sister in law’s new house near us. It took me so long to surprise them with the piece done that they already bought a beautiful entertainment center out of whiskey barrel oak.

I wasn’t sure what I would do with it at this point, until I sanded the top corner. There it was: “I love e b”. My hubby’s first and middle name begins with e and b. ( In his family he goes by Eddie Ben.) I knew it would have to be something that would end up with us.

I struggled with what to do with each drawer and redid three of the drawers at least twice, one of them three times.

I determined that I did not want to spend much on this project. I have a large collection of hardware, a pile of paint and everything needed to give the wood a weathered finish like the inspiration piece. A bonus is that the colors on the piece will be colors I already like and have in my home.

What you see above is just a small sample of the hardware I have. Notice how many of the pieces I photographed I actually used in the final shot.

Saturday afternoon the skies cleared, the humidity dropped and I had about two hours to work.

The dresser went from looking like this Saturday …

To this by mid-day, Sunday.

I glazed the turquoise because it was a little too bright for the rest of the piece after this photo and I added a license plate and some letters. I am not sure it is finished but it is coming along.

Soon, I will tell you where I hope it gets to go.

Here are a few close up shots I took after adding the license plate from 1969 that we found in the dirt at my husband’s family farm. The numbers are the year of his birth and the S is our last name initial.

Did you notice I used a different license plate than what I pulled originally? I decided that I wanted to use the one with browns and yellows. It is great that I have options. I collected quite a few plates from my husband’s farm.

I love it. I am proud that I did this almost all by myself. I cut trim, drilled holes, selected colors, and rethought it when I wasn’t happy. I did have a meltdown on the white bottom corner “drawer” (it is actually one long drawer made to look like two) and had to get help on that one. I could not get the trim to line up. Thanks, Hubby.

All in all I have less than $10.00 in supplies in the dresser along with the $20.00 investment for the dresser I think it turned out well.

I have a random bunch of french provincial hardware that I would love to do a little girl’s dresser with one day. The possibilities are exciting.

Thanks for reading my blog.

I would love to hear what you think about my funky dresser.

Blessings,

Karen

Apartment living, DIY Projects, Thrifty decorating

Industrial Pendant Parts for under $20.00

September 22, 2014September 30, 2014 Karen

I am always in the lookout for parts that when added together make something awesome. It takes me a while to walk the isle of Home Depot. I love looking at new stuff.

I love this look.

I like the industrial look, I like the vintage bulb, and I think I like the copper. I think I would even like it if it was black.

I do not love $138.00 for the light.

In HD I spotted this for just under $5.00.

Immediately I could see how easy this could become a pendant light.

In the real world I would buy an ugly lamp for less than $5.00 to take apart for my own lamp kit, but for those of you who want to buy a lamp kit they have them at Home Depot.

The $138.00 lamp does not come with a bulb but in case you are wondering, they carry them for about $10.00 each.

Krylon has a copper spray paint that I like.

This would be a super simple project to do.

See the cool things you find when you take your time at Home Depot?

I hope you have a wonderful day.

Blessings,

Karen

Behr Paint with Primer, Chair, family, glazing, master bedroom, new home, Painted Furniture, recycled furniture, rescuing damaged furniture, Rubbish Rescue, Thrifty decorating, vintage style

A Chair With History

September 30, 2013September 30, 2013 Karen

I for sure, one hundred percent get my junking tendencies from them. Both my parents are the use it up, make it last, only throw it away as a last resort type. They were green before it was trendy. My mom reuses her zip lock bags because using them only once would be wasteful. My dad also tends to be a junk collector like me. Recently I have been able to use a few of his finds. I now have this awesome work table under the porch at the Garagemahal because he found the resturant table legs. I have this amazing buffet table because he picked this wood up out of the trash, and now I have a reading chair in my bedroom.

Of course she has a story. It involves a scary old house, a copperhead snake, and a cane.

My dad purchased some property a while back with a house on it that is literally falling down. I have been the recipient of this amazing window from there.

The house has not been lived in for 50 years. While looking around the house from the outside dad saw a chair that had been abandoned. He asked me if I wanted it. Heck yeah. I didn’t even have to ask any more. A chair that was junk 50 years ago and still is around today was at least worth looking at. My mom and dad climbed up in the old house to get the chair. Quite a feat since my dad had recently had back surgery and was on a cane. As they walked across the room of the house toward the chair a copperhead stuck its head up between the boards, according to my dad, my mom took off and left my dad to fend it off with his cane. We have a history with copperheads at our house

. My Hubby almost died from a bite at Star Hill a few years ago so we have great respect… and a score to settle.

: English: Copperhead Agkistrodon contortrix mokasen at Louisville Zoo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Dad made short order of the snake and managed to bring home the chair. The chair wasn’t much to look at. Okay, she was a total wreck. But I liked her low slung style. She is definitely from the 1940’s. The total opposite of the sleek modern style of the 50’s. Thick and chunky and close to the ground. She was broken on the back but nothing a little Gorilla glue and screws and Hubby couldn’t correct. This piece has really for real worm holes. You know how they try to replicate the tiny pin holes in furniture? This old lady got hers the hard way. My brother brought the chair to us and she looked even worse than I remembered. You could literally take pieces of it off with your hands because the pegs holding the chair together had shrunk to the point they weren’t holding. Hubby had to put it back together like a Tinker Toy set.

See the dots on the arm below? Those are the for real wood worm holes that people try to replicate.

I found a cushion that fit perfectly in Target’s patio clearance section. $7.00 for this all in. It was originally much more expensive. I have no idea why it was marked down so much. I love that. Perfect color for the room with the updated lamps, and my newly built bench. The cushion fit the chair upside down. The part that should be the back is the seat.

I am just going to stick in some pictures of the process here, but I am sure it would put you to sleep to see how many weeks this old girl was in the process of gluing, clamping drilling etc.

I stained the arms dark walnut and I painted the body of the chair Behr Powdered Snow with a brown glaze.

Didn’t she turn out pretty? I am going to love sitting in the chair by the window reading. It is a real curl up in chair.

Curbside rescue, home decorating, master bedroom, new home, Painted Furniture, Repurposed Furniture, rescuing damaged furniture, Roadside Finds, The bedroom, Thrifty decorating, upholstery

A Bench for the Foot of the Bed

September 19, 2013September 21, 2013 Karen

This project has been a long time in the works. A year ago, before I even considered moving to the burbs, I literally picked up these legs out of the trash at a garage sale. (I did ask first.) They once were legs for a side table and were solid wood.

I did not have a plan for them but they were too nice to be trashed.

When we moved into our new house I knew I would want a bench at the end of our bed. The room is big and I love having a place to sit and put on shoes in the bedroom. I stalled on completing this project because I am trying to keep the cost down in decorating our room. I am way over budget in the den and guest room. (Like double my $100.00 per room budget in both rooms.) Before starting the bench I had spent about $80.00 on the master bedroom and I still have a few things to do. The holdup was upholstery foam. It is expensive. Crazy expensive. The foam for the mudroom bench tufted cushion was $32.00. A friend of my daughter told me she bought foam on Amazon, but it was still going to be $20.00 with shipping.

A trip to Ikea solved the problem. Have you ever been in the “As is” section of an Ikea? It is a great place to find what you didn’t even know you were looking for. Table legs, cabinet doors, scratch and dent furnishings, hardware…the place is fun to look around in for the unexpected. I found a huge cushion for a couch or chair marked $5.00. Plenty big enough for my bench.

I sliced the thickness of the foam in half using an electric knife then used spray adhesive to attach it to a scrap of plywood pulled from the hoard and cut to fit, added a layer of batting then wrapped an old sheet around the foam and attached it to the plywood with my staple gun. This step keeps the foam in place and smooth while the upholstery is being attached. It has been so long on this project that I could not find a photo of the cushion or the big slice job. I will keep looking.

In order above: sheet on bottom, then a layer of batting, then foam, then plywood

Hubby built a frame for the bench base and attached the legs with thumb screws. The frame and legs got painted a couple coats of Behr Revival Mahogany.

This is a cool tool. It holds the wood at a 90 degree angle so you can attach the parts.

Here it was while we were fitting the bench top on the base. It looks like we did not have it on evenly.

The upholstery brings a little color into the room. it was $15.00 for two yards. Well it looks like I am going to go over on this room also, but not by much. The bench ended up costing $22.00. Not bad.

I love how this looks.

I really want to paint the wall behind our bed a darker color. I believe it is going to be Garden Wall by Behr.

Here she is in all her beauty. Hubby wanted some color in the room. I think this fills the bill.

Blogging, collecting, Decorating, DIY, home decorating, mid-life, moving, new home, Photography, Repurposed Furniture, shopping, Thrifty decorating, vintage style

Milestones

August 28, 2013August 28, 2013 Karen

Well this week will be a week of milestones for us here in the burbs.

It is my first “Back to School Week” in the new school district we have moved to.

I love it here. I am over the moon about my staff. They are awesome. But there are times I feel a little lost.

My textbooks and technology arrived! Yay! I was beginning to think we were going to start school with a stick of chalk and slab of wood!

My husband started his first week in his new job too. He is going to have a great year. He is an amazing teacher. I think he is feeling the same as I do.

There are also a few milestones in the blogging world too.

I started blogging two years ago. I blog because I enjoy sharing what I was already doing with others. I would never in a million years try to sell my work. it is my hobby, not my job. I never have gone outside of my friends on Facebook to tell people I was blogging because frankly I didn’t know what I was doing (I still don’t most of the time.) I switched my blog from Blogger to WordPress, and survived…barely.

I didn’t know how to “link up” or even what that meant six months ago. (I still mess this up from time to time.)

I didn’t know that I could create a Facebook page or even why I would want to create one.

Heck. I was a blogging train wreck!

Roadkill Rescue featured my mudroom bench this past spring. Wow! I had 1042 views on one day. My highest view day before that event. Did any of you find me there?

About a month ago I was contacted by Remodelaholic and asked to do a feature. A blog that gets 100,000,000 (yes, 1 million) views a month found my little, itty, bitty blog and liked my husband and my work. This past Saturday the feature was published. Thank you to the folks at Remodelaholic.

Did you find me there?

The feature leads me to the blogging milestones:

This week I have had almost 100 new folks like my Facebook page. Wow. Before this week, I had 37 whole people who liked my page. I have found that I enjoy the page because I can post sneak peeks of projects I am working on, Craig’s List finds, and quick updates.
Welcome to this little glimpse of my world.

It looks like I will hit 30,000 page views on my blog today. It took 18 months to hit the 20,000 mark. Thank you all for taking the time to read my rambling thoughts and for looking at our work.

We have a lot planned as we continue to work on our homes. We have a few gifts to get done before Thanksgiving that I hope the recipients, and you, enjoy.

I discovered Pinterest…it changed my life:)

and… I have sort of learned to tweet.

We are also setting personal goals for ourselves.

We are also going to work on finding balance. Hubby has taken up golf again. I’m feeling the itch to paint…I mean really paint, again. I plan to take more photography classes.

Life is good. Thank you for stopping by!

crafting, Decorating, DIY Art, the guest room, Thrifty Art, Thrifty decorating

Herringbone Pattern Art

August 26, 2013 Karen

Herringbone patterned art is showing up all over Pinterest. Of course I had to try my hand at it for the new house. The results were pretty good for a first try.

Here is the tutorial for what is really a simple, but time consuming, art project.

I bought this frame with a covered bridge print in it from my favorite thrift store for $2.00. The print was on super heavy cardboard that was in good shape. It became the base for the art project. The frame just needed to be painted when the art project was done. It was a nice size for a first attempt. The cardboard print was 18″X24″ with the frame adding four inches to each side.

I purchased three bottles of Plaid brand paints in the colors that coordinate with the room. I literally poured the paint in strips on the cardboard print then got a big brush and started mixing the edges together.

Here are the results:

While the paint was drying I rolled out two long sections of Frog painter’s tape. I cut one of them into 5 inch sections and the other into 3 inch sections because I wanted there to be a little more interest in the pattern. I modified the pattern you see below by making the alternating diagonal two inches shorter.

Once it was totally dry I started taping down wide green tape. I may or may not have gotten the blow dryer out to speed the process because I am impatient 🙂 The picture of this part did not come out at all. GRRR. Because I was impatient to get started painting over the tape, I did not check the picture before moving on to the next step. It was way too dark to show. I frustrate myself when I mess up like this. Here is my inspiration:

I put down a section of 5″ tape at an angle on the cardboard canvas then put a 3″ section at the end of the 5″ piece to match the width, leaving a sort of grout line sized space between each piece. I went to Pinterest for Herringbone examples at this point to make sure that I was at least on track. Once I got a whole row done across the cardboard canvas, completing the taping went quickly because I just had to keep the spacing the same and follow the pattern.

Once the whole painting was covered, I painted white plaid paint over the grout-ish lines that I created by leaving space between the tape. As soon as the paint covered everything, I gently started peeling tape up.

I painted the white paint on fairly light so that it would minimize the drippy edges.

A coat of white spray paint on the frame and I was done. Easy. Ta Dah!

I love it above the bed. It really helps to tie the room together.

Here are some of the blogs that I visited for inspiration:

http://whiletheysnooze.blogspot.de/2013/01/diy-herringbone-metallic-artwork-easy.html

http://www.craftaspell.com/2013/06/diy-herringbone-canvas-art.html

crafting, Decorating, DIY Art, moving, Style, The bedroom, the guest room, Thrifty Art, Thrifty decorating, using bright colors, Valspar Spray paint

The Guest Room Part 1

August 22, 2013August 25, 2013 Karen

When we moved into our burb house, I did not plan on painting the walls right away, except the front guest room. Here is how the room looked when we purchased the house.

I am not going to talk about the paint job in the front bedroom except to say it was not my style and the color scheme wouldn’t work. I know that the former owner worked really hard on the faux painting.

As soon as we settled in I started looking for inspiration. Here are some of the inspiration pictures I found. I hope that clicking on them allows you to go site I found it at.

http://cultureofstyle.com/tag/white-bedroom-furniture/

http://www.houzz.com/photos/171192/Turquoise-and-Green-Bedroom-eclectic-bedroom-san-Francisco

http://serbagunamarine.com/bedroom-color-schemes-blue-girls-ideas.html

http://www.bhg.com/decorating/color/colors/decorating-with-color-expert-tips/#page=28

http://www.bhg.com/decorating/decorating-photos/bedroom/blue/

I wanted the bedroom to be cheery but restful.
Here is what we have finished to date:
Walls painted. I love the light blue walls. They almost feel like a spa.
Empty frames painted. I found the frames at a resale shop. I spent $4.00 total on all the frames you see on this wall. The paint on the frames is all left overs from other projects. The white plates were 10 cents each at the resale shop. I glued metal soda can tabs to the back of the plates with E6000. I love that stuff.

My bedding arrived. I am crazy about this yellowish paisley print. Target. Over budget. $90.00.

The throw pillows on the bed are all outdoor pillows that were on clearance at Home Depot, Lowes, and Marshall’s.
Curtains hung. Hubby and I went shopping at Ikea recently. I was thrilled to find off the shelf curtains that were 110 inches long for $34.00 a pair.

The herringbone art project done.

I will be writing a DIY on this project. It was a fun evening project that cost less than $10.00 even factoring in the cost of the green tape. ( I have plenty of tape to do several more projects.)$2.00 for the frame and the print that I painted over, Frog tape was $6.00 and I had to get one can of flat white spray paint for the frame. (I need to spray the frame again.) I had the other paint on hand.

The green lamp is in place. I think it is the best $2.00 I have spent in this room.

New art work. Target. Over budget. $20.00

New lamp from Target. $23.00. I know, I know but the colors in the shade go perfectly with the color scheme. Over budget.

I am not a huge fan of the bed frame as is and it will get painted and the posts are going to get trimmed down. I found this funky curio cabinet at a garage sale for a dollar. Here is the before.

Dirt Dobber nests and spiders were included for free. A quick wash down, spray painted the frame and painted the back that amazing Laguna color I love. I am not sure how long it will stay but I think it is a fun piece for now. For a buck investment, It will not kill me to let it go down the road.

I was able to incorporate the old dresser that once belonged to my grandparents, saved by my husband and completely restored.

We have ceiling fans in our bedrooms thanks to a friend of Baby Boy and Sweet Amanda. Don’t judge us for the fans. I think they look ok, It is going to be over a 100 again today here in the burbs. In South East Texas it is miserable without air moving.

What do you think of the sort of finished room?

Coldspring, crafting, Decorating, DIY Projects, home decorating, new home, Ornate mirror, resale finds, Reused frame, silver, Style, the guest room, Thrifting, Thrifty Art, Thrifty decorating, using bright colors

Ornate Frame Makeover

August 17, 2013August 18, 2013 Karen

I went resale shopping Friday. Hubby and some buddies were golfing so I was on my own. I made quite a haul.

The projects will be showing up soon. The first repurpose from my weekend is a quick and CHEAP project. On my adventure I spotted an ornate frame with a broken mirror in it buried in a pile of paintings and frames. I dug it out of a pile of other frames. The pastor who runs the thrift shop told me he had dropped the mirror. He just doesn’t know what to do about me, he doesn’t get that I love the broken, chipped, old stuff more than the newer treasures. I asked for the price, he said fifty cents. SOLD!

Here she is with the mirror removed. The back of the mirror was marked May 5- 67. She is younger than me and considered vintage…sad.

I explained to the pastor when he asked that I would be painting the frame and putting a bright print where the mirror was…he said he would pray for my husband. Three times. ( He upped it to four times later in my shopping.)

I purchased a roll of coral wrapping paper at Marshall’s that I will be using to line the back of my milk glass display. It is perfect for the “mirror hole”.

I had left over paint from the giant ornate mirror and could not resist the bright shiny look on this silly frame.

An old S from a wreath I took apart finishes the beauty off. Fun, huh?

Not bad for a total investment of about $1.50 in supplies. It will add a little silliness to the green bedroom. No seven years of bad luck here.

I like it.

Decorating, Dresser, home decorating, master bedroom, moving, resale finds, The bedroom, Thrifty decorating

Updating a Lamp- DIY

August 12, 2013August 12, 2013 Karen

Remember the crystal lamps I purchased, with lamp shades for $10.00 each? They part of my Goodwill purchase last week. These lamps were at one time very expensive formal living room lamps. The glass is super heavy and thick. Think old lady, formal curtains, couches you could not sit on, and trinkets galore.

I love finding something like this because I plan on reusing them in a new setting, our master bedroom. I need to add some color and fun to the bedroom, but I love the romance and sparkle of the lamps too.

I thought about spray painting the cut glass, but decided to work on the brass and lamp shades instead. My plan was to spray paint the shades a dark blue to match the darkest color in our bedding.

A trip to Target changed my mind about the shade. I found two perfect shades for $16.00 each. Great size, shape and they have a dark blueish ribbon at the top and bottom. It seems a little crazy to pay so much more for shades than I paid for the lamps, but I love them how the shape will update the lamps in the bedroom. It is going to be tough to stay in the budget on this room with the burlap curtains and the lamp shades but I guess it just means I have to be very creative with decorating the rest.

This is not the first, second or third lamps we have built, redone, repurposed,and even recovered a lampshade.

We have repurposed a chandelier
Redone a milk glass lamp
Made old Coke bottles into lamps
Painted several lamps

I thought I would actually let you in on a secret…redoing lamps are relatively easy! Here is one of the lamps up close.

Tarnished brass and all.

The black plastic thing keeps the wire from getting cut, then there is a nut below that to tighten the lamp.

First- flip the lamp over and look at the bottom. I had to remove a felt circle in order to get to the bolt and nut that holds the lamp together. Most lamps are put together this way. They have a tube that runs through the body of the lamp. The tube has threads at either end. Take the whole thing apart. Take pictures as you go along if it is the first time you have taken a lamp apart. You will probably need to refer to the photos when putting it back together,

The socket part has a cover that will slide back on at the end of reassembly. The inside of the socket connects the two sides of the wire with screws. The bolt on the bottom was tough so Hubby had to use several tools to loosen it.

I laid it all out and photographed just the metal part so that we could remember the order.

A quick sand on the tarnished parts then spray paint. I love the oil rubbed bronze.

This is after one coat.

After a second coat reassembly. The wires go in the hole at the base of this one first- not all lamps do this. then into the metal rod, then the rod into the body of this lamp. The base was actually three separate pieces of glass stacked. It was tricky to keep lined up so no photos. It took both of us.

The metal parts went back on, then the socket, then the socket cover. I removed the lampshade bale, because the shade I bought sits directly on the socket. No big loop over the bulb.

Ta- dah.

Here they are… now to dress the top of my dresser.

This whole process was done in under an hour.