Repurposing

Many years back I was an HGTV hound!  I couldn't get enough of it, but didn't have enough time to put anything to use that I had seen there.  Anybody out there remember Design on a Dime and the Trash to Treasure segment at the end?  Yah, I remember it!  Living in New Hampshire has somehow opened up a love in me of all things old.  Or maybe I've watched too many Tinkerbell movies with my girls and ended up being a little tinker-er myself.  I don't know.

Pinterest has been a great source of inspiration too!  I don't know what it was about old shutters that made me like them so much, but I came across a pair long ago and hinged them together, kind of making a corner stand of some sort.  Not a very beautiful thing, but I used it as a backdrop, if you will, of another self made little table made from an old wooden milk crate and a square cast iron grate.  I'll have to dig up a picture of it.   

But for now, here's another little creation:

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I went to this great place near downtown Exeter (NH) on Mill Street called Architectural Salvage and they had tons of shutters.  I had this idea in mind, so I also got the brackets there.  They are cast aluminum - gorgeous! 

 

 

 

With the help of my husband, we put this together and although the color isn't my favorite - I'm still trying to decide if I want to paint it and keep it or what - it was a handy item to have.  A great place for the kids to drop hang their backpacks during school (two more days!) or just their coats.  Whatever.  OH!  And lest I forget the hooks:

 

 

 

Some may say "boring" or "eww", but I say "MORE!"   Love love love the old stuff. 

 

So there you have it.  A fun project for your mudroom.  On a smaller scale, this kind of a unit would be great in any room!  Taking orders!

 

Thanks for coming to visit my blog.  Please leave a comment below, I'd love to hear from you!



 

 

 



A total room redo

I'm constantly trying new things in my home.  We had four kids living at home and every year seems to bring so much change with their wants, styles, personalities.  It's never boring!  So, my two little ones are sharing a room, and the two big kids have their own rooms, leaving one room empty.  Why not make a guest room/office?    Here's a look at the "before." 

Can you tell it had previously been my girls' room?  Ya, bye-bye Disney Princess, we're getting bigger now.  *sniff*

 

My mother's old bedroom set from the 60's was ready for a redo.  Before:

 The purple walls changed to a nice subtle shade of green which I actually mixed myself from some paint remnants I had in the garage.  (Word to the wise, do not mix paints unless you mix enough to make two coats, at least!)    I used Annie Sloan chalk paint on the dressers in Old White and got some new handles for them.  The old holes were filled and new ones drilled to accommodate the new handles.  I distressed them to complete the "old" look, and did the nightstand in an alternate color to give it some interest.  I used another Annie Sloan chalk paint color, Provence.  The finishing touches were some great finds online; the chandelier painted with the same paint I used for the dressers, some fabulous accents from Arts An Tiques in downtown Exeter, and a new chenille bedspread on sale at Bed, Bath and Beyond, and burlap from Joanne's Fabrics.  The whole room cost me no more than $250.  Not too SHABBY!  CHIC.   ;)

The moral of the story:  You don't have to spend a fortune to transform a room in your house.  Be creative!  Use things you already have and give them new life.  It can be done.  There is "A Place for Everything!"

A Work in Progress

Well, I think it's time to get myself better at this blog thing.  Now that my youngest is going to be in school full time (YAY!!)  I should have more time to make updates.  Let's hope I can organize my time as well as I organize physical things! Something for me to work on, for sure!

As many people know, I have a little booth at a wonderful shop called Olde Towne Hall Antiques, in Stratham, NH.  There I get to display some of the things I "remake." I love to find things and give them new life.  Like furniture.  The French Provincial style dresser below was nice, but had yellowed with time.  A customer loved the style of the dresser but it wasn't quite what she wanted.

 

Look at the transformation once it got a nice new coat of paint....

 



 

Another customer had a fancy for a dresser done in white and gold.  This was a piece I had on hand.

 

It was a nice style, but definitely a bit beaten.  

It too was yellowed with time.   Now it's a beautiful crisp white with a gold trim. 

The handles were painted over in white also and given a gold gilding.   Mmmm, so pretty!

 

I hope this has given you some great ideas for your home.  Those old pieces of furniture don't need to be scrapped, they just need some new life!