I can't wait for spring and summer to come so I can tackle these projects I've been collecting this winter.
PROJECT #1 - FINISHED!
The first item to tackle is this iron and wood garden bench. It's been living in our garage for who-knows-how-long. I asked our landlord if we could use it and he told me that his wife has forgotten about it and he didn't want her to remember so we could do whatever we wanted with it. Hooray for us!
The whole thing is pretty loose but the screws are all in place and just need to be tightened. My plan is to take it apart, clean up the iron bits with a wire brush and sand the boards a bit to smooth them out again. I'm thinking I'll paint the wood light blue and the spray paint the iron grey or white. However, given my desire for color I might change my mind and paint it white and yellow, all red, or all white. I probably wont know until I've got it taken apart and ready to paint.
PROJECT #2A friend of mine is moving houses and didn't have room to take this so she was giving it away, for FREE. Obviously, I had to take it. I like the mid-century look and the mirror shape. The wood or veneer looks a little rough and all of the drawer pulls are missing, but I'm excited to see what I can do to restore some of it's natural character. I don't want to paint this whole piece but I might paint the grooves on the right of it and use knobs in the same color on the other drawers. It could be a pretty fun result.
PROJECT #3Living in England means closets are a luxury. Our house has ONE closet, basically it's the utility room with two poles across it. We hang our winter coats, formal gowns (yes, there is a prom dress or two in there), and off-season stuff in there along with our suitcases and the vacuum. It's a pretty exciting little room.
Given our need for clothing storage I purchased a tall dresser from someone in town for $25. It's a pretty cheap piece so I want to go crazy with it and paint it something bright and cheery. I'm thinking a flame orange or canary yellow and then I may try my hand at some metal spray paint and change the pulls to some complimentary color. Of course, they might look good enough to leave alone when cleaned up with some Brasso, I'll just have to wait and see.
PROJECT #4 - FINSIHED!This is my giant flat file cabinet that I scored off eBay UK for £12. It's quite massive and (it may not fit up the stairs at our current house) is going to be the perfect home for my prints, paper, and art supplies.
It's natural wood with a thin varnish. I'll be sanding the surfaces and staining the whole piece a warm dark brown, lining the drawers with something fun and replacing the knobs. I'm also planning on adding some label plates to the center of each drawer for that apothecary/library look.
I'm so excited to start, bring on the sunshine and warm, dry weather!
PROJECT #1 - FINISHED!
The first item to tackle is this iron and wood garden bench. It's been living in our garage for who-knows-how-long. I asked our landlord if we could use it and he told me that his wife has forgotten about it and he didn't want her to remember so we could do whatever we wanted with it. Hooray for us!
The whole thing is pretty loose but the screws are all in place and just need to be tightened. My plan is to take it apart, clean up the iron bits with a wire brush and sand the boards a bit to smooth them out again. I'm thinking I'll paint the wood light blue and the spray paint the iron grey or white. However, given my desire for color I might change my mind and paint it white and yellow, all red, or all white. I probably wont know until I've got it taken apart and ready to paint.
PROJECT #2A friend of mine is moving houses and didn't have room to take this so she was giving it away, for FREE. Obviously, I had to take it. I like the mid-century look and the mirror shape. The wood or veneer looks a little rough and all of the drawer pulls are missing, but I'm excited to see what I can do to restore some of it's natural character. I don't want to paint this whole piece but I might paint the grooves on the right of it and use knobs in the same color on the other drawers. It could be a pretty fun result.
PROJECT #3Living in England means closets are a luxury. Our house has ONE closet, basically it's the utility room with two poles across it. We hang our winter coats, formal gowns (yes, there is a prom dress or two in there), and off-season stuff in there along with our suitcases and the vacuum. It's a pretty exciting little room.
Given our need for clothing storage I purchased a tall dresser from someone in town for $25. It's a pretty cheap piece so I want to go crazy with it and paint it something bright and cheery. I'm thinking a flame orange or canary yellow and then I may try my hand at some metal spray paint and change the pulls to some complimentary color. Of course, they might look good enough to leave alone when cleaned up with some Brasso, I'll just have to wait and see.
PROJECT #4 - FINSIHED!This is my giant flat file cabinet that I scored off eBay UK for £12. It's quite massive and (it may not fit up the stairs at our current house) is going to be the perfect home for my prints, paper, and art supplies.
It's natural wood with a thin varnish. I'll be sanding the surfaces and staining the whole piece a warm dark brown, lining the drawers with something fun and replacing the knobs. I'm also planning on adding some label plates to the center of each drawer for that apothecary/library look.
I'm so excited to start, bring on the sunshine and warm, dry weather!