Repurposed furniture 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

Blogging, Repurposed Furniture, resale finds, Thrifting, using bright colors, vintage style

My Most Popular Posts

January 26, 2015 Karen

Well hello there. If you are new to the blog, welcome.

In the last week I have a lot of new friends who have chosen to follow my little bitty minnow of a blog Thank you for choosing to follow along.

It is winter here in southeast Texas. That means high humidity, rain, and lots of days I am not able to do any furniture work. Add to that my full time job is at its busiest an that adds up to not much getting accomplished. The garagemahal is loaded with projects just waiting for a warm sunny day to come along.

I thought you might enjoy some of the most popular posts that you might have missed in the past. If you are one of my long-time followers, indulge me as I take a walk down memory lane. 🙂 If you click on the underlined writing by each number it will take you directly to the post about the piece.

1. Mudroom Bench ( You probably found me through this piece but I am including it just in case you found me some other way.)

2. Beverage Station ( Old sewing cabinet and stainless sink make parties more fun.)

3. Green End Table Makeover (Yes, Virginia, there is a Junk Fairy. From time to time she drops things off at our house.)

4. Buffet Table (My son’s favorite piece.)

I hope that each and every one of you is inspired to look at furnishings differently and see the potential in even junk pieces.

(There may be a treasure hiding in there.)

Have a wonderful day. I love hearing from you.

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.

Chalkboard DIY, chalkboard paint on furniture, Painted Furniture, Repurposed Furniture

Project Progress

May 10, 2013May 10, 2013 Karen

In spite of the storm tonight I did make progress on a project that Hubby thought up! When all is said and done this project will cost 25 cents!

DIY Furniture, Repurposed Furniture, resale finds, Star Hill, Thrifting

Treasure Hunting in Bryan-College Station

February 8, 2013February 8, 2013 Karen

On our way to visit Facelift Furniture we spotted a Goodwill. You know that we couldn’t pass that up after our visit. They had great furniture. I found two pieces that had to come home with me, a drop leaf coffee table that will be going into the main room at Star Hill and a small dresser that is going into the bunk room to hold guest supplies. I paid $14.00 for each solid wood piece of furniture. They look a little rough right now, but I am chomping at the bit to get started on them. The maple drop leaf table is going to be Behr sailboat blue. I got so excited when I got home that I did not photograph the drop leafed table before I started sanding.

It will be a bright spot in the center of the room and my red accents and milk glass will look great on it. It is my plan to give it a worn look, so that when the feet get put on it they will only make it look more loved. I love that the table is small when we need it to be and then can grow when we are playing board games or putting puzzles together. I plan on being creative with the dresser. I think it is going to have a fun pattern to go with the western country feel of the room. I am itching to get started painting… soon.
My social planner and her hubby only had one request on the trip. A stop a Weinerschnitzel. We don’t have one of those near us and it has a huge meaning to them. They met at the Tucson, Arizona Weinerschnitzel, when they were 15 and 17. The weather was perfect and an outside picnic was perfect. I really can’t believe I ate a whole chili cheese dog and order of fries, but I did.

After our trip to Goodwill, we ate chocolate at The Chocolate Gallery in downtown Bryan. What a great place. You can watch the chocolate being made then order from old fashioned glass counters filled with goodies.

We strolled around the downtown area and made a few purchases. We loved looking around, just ran out of time. Our last stop at Bryan Market was where I picked up the “Cupid”. Oh, and I did get it hung, finally.

I enjoyed our day trip. It may be hot in Texas summers, but I sure love Texas winter.

Chalkboard DIY, chalkboard paint on furniture, Decorating, DIY Painting and Glazing Furniture, Dresser, glazing, ornate chalkboard frames, Painted Furniture, Repurposed Furniture, resale finds

Visiting Facelift Furniture

February 7, 2013March 8, 2013 Karen

This past weekend we visited Facelift Furniture in College Station, Texas. I am so proud because I planned a trip for the social planner, Tanis and our husbands. Planning a trip is not what I am known for. Facelift Furniture is a business opened in 2011. I discovered them when searching the Internet for repurposed furniture near us. I am so glad I ran across his web page, and then his Facebook page

I recently purchased his ebook too… I sound a little like a creeper here, but I promise, I am just a fan of his work!

Facelift Furniture is located in the back row of a group of industrial buildings, so don’t let the GPS fool you like ours did.

2151 Harvey Mitchell Pkwy S #329, College Station, TX 77840
Open 8-5 MWF, 8-4:30 TTh

I lifted this information straight from Jeff’s web page because I could not say it any better:

Facelift Furniture specializes in furniture restoration. We love getting creative with dated, worn down and ugly pieces of furniture, transforming them into valued pieces for any size or type of room. These transformations are made using latex enamel paint, glaze, and distressing techniques. We sell finished pieces, and furniture you can select to be painted. We can also upstyle your furniture!

My goal in going was just to get ideas, see the quality of work he did and hopefully get to see the great colors he uses. I love his turquoise pieces and the green he uses. Jeff was so gracious. He gave us the grand tour and answered a million questions for me.

The photos above are from the show room.

Now on the way to College Station Tanis mentioned that she was looking for a large buffet type piece for the Rocking F Ranchito. In the spirit of full disclosure, I advised my buddy to wait until she moved in to make sure that once she saw the space she could get what she wanted. My social planner is one stubborn chick! Within ten minutes of arriving I could tell that Jeff had a new fan. Within 15 minutes he was clearing out a path in his work area so that we could see a long unpainted dresser that he thought would work for the space.

I knew as soon as I saw it we would be returning to pick up the painted piece in a few weeks. After much deliberation, the deep red that Jeff calls chili red was selected. It really will be perfect in the Ranchito and add that “pop” of color the house needs.

I would like to thank Jeff for allowing us to see the projects under way right now, answering my questions, and best of all, giving me a reason to go back in the end of February to shop. I love the way he repurposes old cabinet doors and into hat racks and chalkboards, but I especially liked ethe way that he repurposes old chair backs and headboards into hat racks. I did not photograph any of the furniture he has in his shop or projects under way because I know that he will be posting them himself. Please take a look at his amazing work. I hope one day that what I do looks as good as his. Oh… buy his ebook. It is really easy to read and he provides a great material list and even shares the colors he uses.

Update: Here is the finished piece via cell phone camera.