A funny thing happened on the way to the antique store this week.
The Social Planner, her sweet husband, Mr. Math, and I took a quick trip to a town I am falling in love with, Crockett, Texas. The town has some of the most beautiful old homes, a walkable downtown, and great food. It also has some really nice shops, resale, and antique stores.
The Social Planner hanging out with me in Crockett.
This was The Social Planner and my second visit in less than a week. I found something that I just had to go back for on our first trip and luckily it was still there when we wrangled the guys into going back and they were troopers. We found several more shops on Goliad Street that we hadn’t visited before and met the nicest people.
The unexpected visit on the trip started when we, four grandparents who looked like exactly what we are, walked out of an antique store to the roar of a chopper pulling out of the garage next door. It was beautiful. It looked like something off television and the rider could have been an actor from easy rider. As we stared at the chopper pulling away a sweet young lady walked out of the garage to tell us hello. She was so welcoming and pleasant we stayed to visit.
Robin and Ronnie own Filthy Gringos. They make custom parts, build custom bikes, laser cut designs in metal, and ship a lot of it to other places. They moved from Houston to this small town because they wanted a simpler life and lower cost of doing business and it didn’t really matter where they are located. I learned they bought the building two years ago that was literally falling down, rebuilt it, and got permission from the city to convert part of the building into living space. We visited long enough that we got to meet their son Oden and see the awesome home they are in the process of creating/finishing. As soon as I saw the space I knew they were my people. Reuse, redesign, reimagine. The building was originally a cotton gin and has 16 inch thick walls, at one time had a huge skylight, and still has the vault for keeping records and money when cotton was bought and sold. They retained as much of the original items as they could.
Welcome to their space: I am so sad I didn’t take more pictures. The entrance to the home is a wide barn door that was original to the building but I was so shocked she invited us in I didn’t get a picture. It takes a lot of courage to let a stranger come into your home with no warning and allow them to take pictures of the home.
The main living space.There is so much cool and unique stuff there,The kitchen area. That vintage sink is cool.You can see some of the reused materials here.There are no walls in the interior space. Rooms are divided with these repurposed bookcases from the high school which was torn down.
The bathroom was my very favorite. They literally turned the vault into the bathroom.
The safe door. The yellow cabinet is so cool. Ronnie did come back on the chopper while we were inside the home part of the shop and had a good visit with the guys.
Never pass up the opportunity to meet new folks. We got to see a super cool space and learn new things. if you get the chance, visit Crockett, Texas.
I bought this piece of Ethan Allen cabinetry at a resale shop years ago. It would have been part of an entertainment center. It hung out in storage then had legs added and moved into my principal office as a printer cabinet after it was painted a vivid turquoise. It served me well until I moved to another position where I couldn’t bring my furniture.
It was moved with us and ironically ended up stored in almost the same spot where it now is in the guest house for years.
When we got all the furniture out I thought it would work with the color scheme but the two 1950’s chair cushions were too much for the space.
Of course the solution was to change the color. The only color I could see it as was red. I also wanted some of the turquoise to come through because even though it is bright, I like it. Believe it or not there is a bit of a paint shortage in our area. Apparently it is the time of the year that students paint their parking space and red was hard to find. It took three stores. I would have loved that… back in the day’
I brushed a few areas with paint thinner, painted the cabinet classic red, then sanded over places to let it look a little distressed.
It is amazing how it changed the look. Of the piece.
Not sure the folks at Ethan Allen would approve but we like it. We have installed a television so the cabinet is going to hold dvds etc.
The paint thinner made the wrinkles you see in the corner.
Still plugging along on the exterior but soon there will be paint.
Have you ever held onto something for a long time time just waiting for the right time to use it? I do, probably too often, but this time I am so glad that I waited.
One of the last large slab sections I had I knew would make a nice coffee table or desk. I even found hairpin coffee table length legs at a garage sale back in 2017. I shared a whole post about the slab of wood, the short legs and my plans, but my heart wasn’t in it. I knew if I finished it then I wouldn’t have a place for it and would have to sell it. So, it all hung out unassembled in the shop. For.Three.Years.
I had three table height legs that I pulled out of a burn pile at our deer camp and really wished there had been four. I even showed you pictures of the three in that old post. This past spring Mr. Math was using his tractor to level the ground around the burn pile when he unearthed the missing fourth leg. I knew the slab of cedar would get to be a desk but I still didn’t have a home for it. I also had this photo saved and have an orange chair like the black in the photo. The site where I found it is no longer active.
In February a relative asked me to start looking for furniture for him. I knew immediately that the desk and chair would have a home.
Mr. Math added plates to a crack in the wood to make sure it would be sturdy and hold up and attached the legs.
I love how it turned out.
I also made a great find on the 90% off shelves at Hobby Lobby. These two shelf brackets for $4.99. They were missing the bolts and boards but a couple more pieces of cedar will go well with the desk.
All together I have a little over $10.00 in everything that is in this post.
It is going to look great in an upcoming apartment bedroom for a young man.
Hello friends from Providence Acres where I always seem to have a project going and my sweet husband does the heavy lifting. We are in the process of building a deck on the back of our house. We are adding a total of 240 square feet of semi shaded outdoor space that will connect our carport to our back porch and I cannot wait to get it finished. It has been slow going for us, but we are making steady progress in spite of lots rain, humidity, keeping up with the garden, mowing, and heat. Lots and lots of heat. We set a budget of $2000 to get the porch built and we are going to be close, but a little over. I can’t wait to show it to you but we aren’t quite ready yet. As we worked on the deck I kept thinking about a patio dining table and chairs we had out in our barn. The set was given to us by our buddies across the road. It was rough when we were given it two years ago and storing it in a barn didn’t help it get any better. When we pulled them out of the barn I had my doubts. Serious doubts.
Mr. Math had to rebuild a lot of the table underside. It is a butterfly leaf table which we had never messed with before.Every chair needed work, some more than others.
The set was probably pretty expensive when purchased and was well used. It had been refinished at least once but probably twice. Anything wooden left exposed to sun, rain and humidity is going to deteriorate without lots of maintenance and this set was no exception. There was rotted wood, loose screws, broken boards, and general wear and tear.
After Mr. Math got it all repaired, and I learned how to use wood Bondo, I used some Behr Low Luster Porch paint the I found on the oops shelf at Home Depot for $9.00. I find the best stuff there and hang on to it until I find the right project for it. I am not sure what the problem was with the paint but it is definitely a Behr porch paint called Sea Cave.
I hand painted the chairs. Every stinking chair. It took me three days. All because I was afraid to use the airless sprayer I bought two months ago. When I came time to paint the table I knew I was never going to get the finish I wanted without using the sprayer. 2 hours of reading and two YouTube videos later, I asked Mr. Math to help me. The sprayer turned this:
Rough
Wet Paint
Smooth Finish
All that work, both underside and top side just over an hour including wait time to turn it over. Why was I a scaredy-cat?
Just thought you might like to see some of the repairs. This set will never be mistaken for brand new, but with the paint job it doesn’t look half bad.
The set turned out better than I expected.
Those butterfly leaves are so cool. The fold in half then go under the table.
I found the cushions at Family Dollar for $5.00 each. They make the chairs more comfortable and add a bit of color.
All together, including the cushions, paint, screws, plates and Bondo this project cost about $40.00. Not bad for adding seating and a table. We are looking forward to having family and friends over to enjoy them.
In order to get our flooring done in our house, I need to clear the shop so that we have a place to move our furniture. Clearing the shop means all of those ” I’ll get to it one day” projects have to either get sold as is, or finally get done. I just couldn’t let this one go as is.
It is an Ethan Allen end table probably from the 80’s. A friend called to let me know she had a bunch of small tables that a renter left behind.
This beauty was just waiting to find her way back. She was just waiting for a facelift. I found the perfect gray color in the oops bin at Home Depot for $8.00. You may see this particular color again. I have two more end tables needing love.
First I scraped and sanded the roughest spots and spray painted with metal paint the hardware a soft gold. The first coat of paint was was rough.
I was worried but she turned out beautiful. She sold on marketplace in 12 minutes. I am so happy to see her go to someone who is excited to have her in her home.
Okay, here is a quiz. What is Carl Douglas famous for?
How about The Knack?
Do you know what Rednex is famous for?
I will bet you know their work.
Do you remember “Everybody was Kung Foo Fighting. It was fast as lightning”?Kung Foo Fighting was Sung by Mr. Carl Douglas
How about My Sharona? The Knack knocked that one out.
Rednex is famous for a song that is played at least once a night at almost every Texas bar… Cotton Eyed Joe.
After that these bands/singers either broke up, stopped singing, or just never produced another hit. I guess it really ages me that I do remember all of them, and they were pre-music video era.
I jokingly say I am a one hit wonder, too. You see, my mudroom bench is without a doubt the single most viewed and pinned post I have ever done. All the rest of my posts combined would be about half what the other posts have been viewed. I think of the mudroom bench as my one hit wonder. Don’t get me wrong, I love that bench. It is the first thing I use when I walk into the house every day and my last stop on the way out the door. But, I like other pieces I have done just as much. They just didn’t get noticed like that one did.
I think it was the lighting in the photo I took. We are after all visual folk.
I wonder if it would have been as popular if this was what I put out for the world to see?
Here are a few of my other projects that I think get looked over. It may have been when they were posted, how they were photographed, or maybe I really am a one hit wonder who just got lucky the one time.
My Western Dresser for the lake house Bunk room. It makes me smile when I walk in the room, still.
The yellow and gray bedroom. It all started with a table I picked up on the side of the road and a son moving out. In case you are wondering, yes I stenciled the wall. I still love the look. I miss that room the most of all the rooms at the city house.
The green buffet table. This was a thrift store dining table turned into a more narrow buffet with a reclaimed wood top. I love this table. Baby boy says it is his favorite piece in our house. It is about to get an addition. I am adding a hutch to the top for my milkglass that is about 80% complete.
Our farmhouse table. It has at least ten, 1-0 coats of poly on top and I am crazy about this table. It started out life as a white tile and golden oak table and cedar siding from our lake house. I am about to change the color of the legs so that it plays nice with the buffet and hutch.
Finally, the second most popular post is the beverage station. I have now made three of these with numbers four, five and six in the Garagemahal waiting for their turn. I have made a green, bright blue and navy blue. Soon a burnt orange, a green and a cream colored one will be done.
I love showing you all what I do and I really do value your input. Thanks for taking time out of your busy days to see what we are up to in the country. I hope your day is wonderful.
33 page views. That was a watershed moment for me. I blogged about my family pictures (you can go to the post here) from the beach Christmas before last. In 24 hours I had 33 people look at the pictures. Wow. I was really proud of that number. Up to that point I was averaging about 18-20 page views per day.
This week I crossed the 75,000 page-view mark. Thanks for sticking with me or for finding my blog and joining in. I know in blog land 75K is nothing, and I mean hardly a blip on the great blogosphere radar. It is just an ordinary week for Remodleaholic, Shanty 2 Chic, or Roadkill Rescue, but it is a big deal to me.
Because I am an educator, I thought that you might like to know this about blogging:
In 1999, there were just 23 blogs. Today, there are over 1.5 billion blogs on the internet. ( Now you see why I am so impressed you even found my little bitty blog?)
WordPress.com alone has over 60 million of them. Every half a second, a new blog is created. There are about 31 million bloggers in the US. ( I personally read about 10 blog posts a day so I am not even keeping up with one minute of the blog world per day.)
1 in every 5 bloggers updates his/her blog daily. (Man, I stink in this area!)
If you have read my blog for any time at all you already know this, and I would like to apologize in advance for retracing this well beaten path, but here goes…
I do not get paid to blog. I do not have advertisements on my blog. I do not get free stuff to try out and talk about on the site. I am not opposed to getting paid, and any company that wants me to try out their stuff if free to send it my way, but blogging is not my job. I blog, and repurpose furniture because it brings me joy. I especially like trying new things out to see if it works. I started blogging so that I could show you guys what we were up to at our weekend home, Star Hill. We were setting up a home on a shoestring budget and I got hooked looking for things to fill the home with up there that were functional, creative, and fun to have around. Along the way I have met new friends. I love hearing from you in Canada, and Spain, and other parts of the U.S. I am thrilled when I can show off a project I have done to my friends who do not live near me. I have a full time job that I love and I get paid well to do but I am thrilled to have a hobby that fills my need to be creative.
A year ago I got a Facebook page for the blog. It is a fun place to talk about what I am doing in small snippets. I do try to check in there daily. If you are one of the 381 folks who like my Facebook page, thanks for checking in on me from time to time. I enjoy what you have to say and I value your input. ( Because of Facebook I am now trying to replicate a zinc finish on furniture.) I am also working on posting to Instagram more often as I see things that I think might interest you. It is my goal to continue to improve as I go along. Twitter still vexes me. I seem to have two Twitter accounts set up, but this is the main one, here. It depends which device I use where it goes. Sorry. Still learning.
This year we moved from our city house of 14 years to a suburban home. That is no small feat for two 50 somethings who had lived in the same community for 24 years. We have been super busy changing jobs, setting up a new home, learning the new area and I have taken a big leap. I have actually sold some pieces of furniture. That was scary stuff for me. I am riddled with self-doubt when it comes to the work I do and up until this year I would never have considered doing what I do to furniture for money. It made me feel good to have someone appreciate my work enough to pay for the projects. Here is a sample of what I have sold in the past few months:
I am redoing a whole mid-century bedroom set. This night stand, a headboard and a dresser.
I have a thing for green mixed with stained wood. Others must, too. I have sold more green and red than any other color.
This was my first ever set that someone requested I look for to purchase. Scary!
I sold these two pieces to someone who put them in the same bedroom as night stands. If I had ever thought they would be together, I might have changed the colors. She loved them as they were and they look awesome in her eclectic guest bedroom.
Red Red Wine by Behr. I know you are going to ask the color. Someone asks every time I post these beauties. We have made four headboard/footboard beds this summer. I still have four to go. One will be finished soon. I love that they are being used by some sweet ladies and are going to be around a while.
Because I have stepped up the amount of work we are doing, I have also committed to learn to use all the tools we own. I am learning to use the drill press, the table sander, and the biscuit joiner at the moment. (My first ever all on my own construction project will be coming soon. I want it to be a surprise for the recipient and they are a reader.) When I add the tools I can already use without assistance, I feel pretty accomplished. Two years ago I was terrified of a drill. Silly me. The table saw and grinder still loom large over me. They are two tools that I fear.
Here is a sample of the projects I have completed in the last fewmonths. By far the most popular thing we have done is turn headboards into benches. As I said above, we have been neck deep in benches lately.
I love the look and I learned to use tinted wax on this one.
Sewing cabinet number 4. I stained the top of this one. Numbers 5, 6, and 7 are already spoken for and are hanging out in the Garagemahal.
A gift for a friend who moved away. I miss her.
We built a giant barn door for our Burb Home out of reclaimed barn wood from my husband’s farm. I treasure this and will take it with me wherever we live.
Coming up in the near future we are going to finish our master bath room. It is going from a builder basic to a rustic retreat. I am so very excited that it will be done by the end of August when Hubby returns to work.
This week the electrician came to install the chandelier I made over to look like wood thanks to Life on Virginia Street’s blog.
The sinks for the vanity are purchased, the faucets are waiting and the lights were picked up this week. We are moving along.
During the last few months we have traveled to Costa Rica, been to our family reunion, and while you read this, we are in Durango, Colorado. I am excited to take the train ride and plan to go white water rafting.
Next up on the big project list is finishing the master bedroom at Star Hill. I love the reclaimed wood wall, the sewing machine night stands, and the door headboard. Still to come are curtains, wall paint, staining and painting the dressers, shelving, and décor. It will be done over two weekends, I hope. dream.
It is my wish that if you do not take anything else away from my silly posts, it is that even a mid-life woman with no training and not many skills can stretch beyond her comfort zone and learn new things, attempt new projects, and chart a new direction in life. If I can do it, so can you.
Thank you so very much for taking the time to read about what I do, send me messages, offer advice, and make my day sweeter. I appreciate each of you and feel very fortunate to have this opportunity to share.
If things go as they have been for the last week, by the time I wake up tomorrow I will have had 50,000 page views on my little teeny tiny minnow of a blog. I will also be celebrating two years of blogging. There are blogs out there that get 50,000 page views a day and it has taken me two years. I never said I was fast. first and foremost, I want to say thank you, friends, for reading, thank you for commenting, and thank you for causing me to improve what I produce. I still have no idea what I am doing most of the time. By that I mean my husband and I are making it up as we go on our projects, and sometimes failing miserably. I am about the most technology challenged blogger out there. There have been many times when I did something on the blog but had no idea what I did, how to fix it, or if it was good, how to repeat that good thing. Between the time I started this blog and now both our children have married, my husband and I changed jobs, we sold a home, went a while “between homes”, bought a home and moved to a new city, my son and daughter in law have moved in part-time, I started a new blog called My Burb Home, and I have taken up photography as a hobby. Not bad for two folks in their 50’s.
This next year we plan to travel to two places on our bucket list, work on both our weekend home and our suburban home, build a raised garden, put in a fire pit,and continue to work on found furniture. Life is good for this weekend loving couple.
I wanted to share with you some projects from the last two years. As I looked back, there were others that could have or should have made the cut but I plan on rewriting several of them now that I don’t stink like when I started. Not many of you were around when I first logged in, set up an account and started rambling so some of the projects below may be new to you. Just click on the hyperlink and it will take you to the original blog. I hope you enjoy.
10. French provincial furniture makeover. I love that we were able to take a couple of homely particle board pieces of furniture and make them beautiful. I am seriously considering selling this set because I want to redo the room like now I recently saw on a home tour but I love the color combination and how much I learned on this project.
9. Western Dresser. We found a homely little Goodwill dresser and made it something fun for the lake house guest room we call the bunk room.
8. Table and Banquette seating out of reclaimed wood. Wow! This is one of my oldest posts and my dinky little camera did not do this beauty any justice. I will be re-photographing this set. This was a collaboration between Hubby and me to come up with a solution to a tiny space using reclaimed siding from our house. It is one of the most functional spaces in our home now.
7. Farmhouse Table. I love the look of a rustic table but man, they are expensive. Our $90.00 solution to this problem turned out to be one of my favorite pieces of furniture. It moved with us and was where we gathered for our first Thanksgiving meal in the new home.
6. Wedding Chalkboard. I did tell you my kids got married, right? I was fortunate enough that both my daughter and daughter in law wanted me to make personal items for their wedding. I loved that they wanted things that I worked on as a part of their special day. The link above is one of those items, an ornate frame my daughter in law, Sweet Amanda, found at a resale shop that I redid for the wedding and added a chalkboard. I chose this one because it was the first wedding project. I love all four of my precious kids.
5. Map Chair. Another piece of furniture that needs to be re-photographed. This little chair would be easy to recreate for a friend moving to a new city or a college student who needs to remember where home is. I seem to have a thing for chairs.
4. Painted Suitcases. I have made a total of seven of these painted suitcases now The link is to four of them I did at one time. I love finding cheap old hard sided suitcases, priming, painting, distressing, glazing then adding a chalkboard to one side. It makes a great entry into a home when guests are coming over or to announce an event. If I ever started a business, I would sell these because I enjoy mine so much.
3. Junk Fairy End Table. The last three are easy. They are my favorite, favorite projects. They speak to my love of color, family and friends. The junk fairy ( AKA The Social Planner) dropped off this homely table while we were gone one day. I did not need it, so posted a photo of it on Facebook and offered to redo it for a friend. Robin snagged it. I am happy that she chose green as the color for the table. I really like how the stained top turned out. I enjoyed it so much that I painted a table in my own home close to the same colors.
2. Beverage Station. I am now working on number three of these babies. What a great re-purpose project for an old stainless sink and a sewing machine cabinet. I love the look and they make entertaining in a back yard or porch more inviting. My favorite blue color, Behr sailboat blue, got used here. My long-suffering husband gets major credit for the stainless sink idea here.
1. Mudroom Bench. When we moved this year I literally looked for homes that my mudroom bench would fit in. It is by far my most favorite project to date. I look forward to the day that someone sends me a photo of their version of the project. http://theweekendcountrygirl.com/2013/01/28/toilet-paper-roll-art/; A found dresser, waiting for heavy trash pickup, and a resale shop mirror turned into this beauty.
I hope you enjoyed my little walk down memory lane. Thank you for taking the time to look back on my last two years. Thank you for allowing me to share what we do.
The Southern Belle and Big Cat are getting a few pieces of furniture that I have collected just for them. A sewing cabinet turned into a beverage station for their awesome screened in porch. The next time we venture up to North Carolina I am going to take pictures of their back yard space. It is amazing.
Big Cat is a die hard Georgia Southern fan so navy for the cabinet was an easy decision. Navy blue. Not the bright sailboat blue the original beverage station is. I also decided to make a bar cabinet for them. They have a small dining space but entertain a lot so any space that they could use to hold glasses, bottles and things that don’t fit in their limited cabinet space. The interior of their home is also navy along with creams browns, and tons of natural fibers. Want to see it? I took pictures last fall Click Here. The cabinet is going to be navy too.
Hubby went to Coldspring without me. We went together to pick our paint, so there is no blame here. We are just learning that navy blue is a tricky color. The first color was WAAAAY too vibrant. Hubby sent the picture to me and TSB. I will bet she almost had a stroke.
The cabinet door confirmed my suspicion that we needed a color change.
Hubby went back to town ( 30 minutes one way) to get a darker color.
Here are the results:
Here is the cabinet in a darker shade:
I am not sure I love it, but I am withholding judgement until we go back to the Garagemahal. I am guessing that a coat of black glaze will tone it down. Hope, hope. I love the 1970’s vibe of the cabinet.
I will let you know about the paint. Keep your fingers crossed for me.
The best time to go trolling for curbside finds is Saturday afternoon just before dark. The very best time to go hunting is the weekend of the huge neighborhood garage sale near our current city house. The garage sale occurs every spring and the finds over the year have helped furnish our lake house and have provided materials for projects in our city house. People tend to throw out items that do not sell. I love items that do not sell.
The most recent garage sale weekend we collected a dresser totally junk but the drawer fronts were solid wood and will be reused along with brass hardware, a pink chair- it now has a home with a teenaged young lady who loves thrift shopping, and this wooden twin headboard that wonder of all wonders- Hubby wanted to make into a project! Of course I let him run with it! He decided to make a chalkboard out of it. Wow. I know. I must be rubbing off on him after 32 years.
This was tricky. He cut the spindles so that they followed the curve of the wood, cut out a piece of hard board for the chalkboard and turned it over to me to paint. I painted the chalkboard four times, then painted the frame with a jar of 25 cent green paint from he Lowe’s clearance section.
Hubby connected the chalkboard to the frame with construction adhesive he. Had on hand and clamped it in place.
In our clean out to move I found 6 hooks that were wrapped in a sack. I hold on to hardware when I find it. I never pay more than a few cents for hardware and save it in a cabinet at the lake so I really have no idea where this came from or what project I bought it for. Whatever the circumstance, Hubby put three of the hooks, painted dark brown onto the bottom of the frame. This is going in his garage by the door so he and hang hats and write notes when he is trying to remember measurements.
