Road Side Rescue

Wow! I hit the lottery tonight.  Solid wood, super-long and it is going to be this color blue.  It will happily live in my den in the near future.  Even Hubby thought this one was worth saving.

The blue in this leaf will be the color of the dresser.

It will go on this long, lonely wall.

 

 Here she is!

 

 It even has hardware!

 

The only piece we broke getting it into the truck was the center leg.  It looks like an easy fix.

 

I have been super busy and haven't finished the three projects I have started. Here is a glimpse of what I am working on. I left the camera at The Lovebirds' house so the pictures are from the ipad.

I have a week off with time on my hands. I promise to get busy.

This weekend I will be working on a habitat home. I have a few things lined up there too.

Painting an Armoire for the Yellow and Gray Bedroom

We have an armoire that has been around for 28 of our 30 married years. It started life as unassembled, unfinished pine furniture we bought when our sweet daughter joined the family. It then moved into the boy's room when he decided to join us four years later. It has had some rough treatment over those years. A few years ago the social planner and her husband needed a place for their tv at their lake house so it moved in with them for a while. I really had no plans to ever get it back but the social planner sold their lake house in preparation for the permanent move they will be making to Coldspring. They brought the armoire back to us about a month ago. I immediately thought it needed to be part of the yellow and gray bedroom. It was small, solid wood, and most importantly, FREE. It came back painted red over blue with fish knobs.
I decided it needed to be painted black and I wanted it to have a little moulding added.
I found some 70's hardware at a resale shop for $4.00 but it needed to be jazzed up. I painted it silver but that was a bit bright for the room so it got a glaze to tone it down.
I read in Mandy's (Altard) e book that her favorite black is chalkboard paint. That was a great suggestion because I already had some to use at no cost. Yeah!

I think it turned out great and it is going to become a craft cabinet as soon as I can work on the guts. I have a rescued bulletin board and dry erase that will be going into the inside panels of the doors. I just need to finish the room and get the rest of the house cleaned up for the holidays.
By the end of next weekend I should have the room finished except the curtain on the window. Thanks to Pinterest, I know what I want but it looks like I have to make it because I can't find it. I did get a lot done this weekend

The Southern Girl's Style

I wanted you all to see what great decorating style the Southern Belle has. I am not allowed to show everything because some rooms are still under decorative construction.

Here is the outside of her home:

This great tree grows in her front yard.  No idea what type conifer it is. 

 

The Living Room

Simple Elegance.

 

Her amazing table.  A friend built this table.  It is so pretty.  The chairs are from Craig's List.  They are mid century modern and came already upholstered.  The white cabinet holds her grandmother's china and crystal.

 

 Her bedroom furniture is recently painted.  It really adds light to the room.

 

 West Elm headboard.  I wish I had taken a better picture.  She is still thinking about how to dress the wall.

This is her first curbside rescue.  She drug this home when she was in junior high.  I am glad it still has a home with her.

 

My art made the cut in the bedroom.  I am proud that she would display it.

 

This really is how clean her counters are all the time.  She could teach me a thing or two.

 

A recently rescued curbside find.  She did good here.

 

Her whole home has a navy similar theme.  Her guest bath is pretty.

 

 

Fall.

Making a Work Table

Right now most of my big projects are done on a glass topped patio table. You can see the glass in the picture above from the wood I just varnished. It is a minor miracle that I haven't shattered the glass on this table top with my projects. Recently my dad gave me the base to an old restaurant table. The base will be perfect because it will move out of the way easily and will be tough enough to stand up to the abuse it is going to take. A tablecloth will cover it when we use it for eating at the garagemahal.  It looked really rusted but it turned out to be surface rust that did not damage the integrity of the metal. I scrubbed everything with a steel brush to get any loose rust and paint off.  My dad thought I needed to get it powder coated.  Sorry Dad but powder coating is EXPENSIVE.  I knew there had to be a better solution.

 . I found some great Rustoleum paint to cover the rust.

This stuff is  magical.  Seriously. It turns the rust places into metal instantly.  The rust spots even feel different after you spray the paint on. Not bad for less than $5.00.

 This is where the rusty spot was before.

 Cast iron base adds weight to the table.

It has a cast iron top plate on top that the wood will be screwed through.

Hubby assembled the top for the table from plywood scraps in the Garagemahal.  The first piece is smaller than the actual top.  After everything was painted on both sides he screwed the two pieces together and attached the table top to the smaller piece of wood.

 I painted everything the same gray color as the cabinets of the Garagemahal.

Now I have a table that can be used inside the garage and out.  It will stand up to the weather and hopefully to my mistreatment.  My dad is getting a matching top for his table base too.

My Cheapo Ways

Eight years ago I was starting my second year as science specialist for our district.  I had spent my first year in the job convincing teachers that they could teach hands-on science, providing lessons, creating worksheets and handouts, making PowerPoints for the teachers to use.  It was the back to school staff development day for our district.  There were over 100 teachers in the cafeteria of one of our elementary schools. I asked the audience "What do you know about me?" I expected answers like you will help us... silly me.  From the back someone yelled out "You are cheap!" I laughed so hard I almost fell of the stage.  During the past year I had also looked for inexpensive ways to teach the science concepts.  I was that teacher that took in baby food jars, left over yarn, shoe boxes, coffee cans, etc.  My cabinets were jammed with things that could be used to teach the concepts but not cost money.  Let me be clear, I am NOT cheap!  I am frugal.  I have no problem spending money as long as it is something I REALLY want and it is on sale.

I hate to spend more money than necessary on things. My mom taught me well.  She is the ultimate reduce, reuse, recycle queen.  She washes out zip lock bags and reuses them.  I drive a fully paid for 6 1/2 year old car.  You have seen how I decorate my home.  I have several great suits from Goodwill and other resale shops.  I never pay full price unless that is the only option.

Last week I posted that I wanted to redecorate a bedroom in our home and my friends have already started helping me out.  One of my buddies called to let me know that there was yellow paint at Home Depot in the OOPS bin. ( the good Behr paint with primer- in a soft yellow color.)

 My social planner, Tanis, has gone to a garage sale with me, and one of my teachers brought me a Hancock's fabric coupon.

So far I have collected

•  two side tables- one free, one fifteen dollars

My fifteen dollar find.  Solid wood with lots of detail.

 

 My Free Find



• a bookcase- free (legs for the bookcase from the Habitat sale 2.50)
• A mirror- 2.00
• Yellow Behr Paint with prime- 15.00
• A huge valance that will be part of the headboard- free
• A milk glass lamp- 5.00 ( I am already redoing this.  You will see it soon.)
• A comforter and shams- 17.00

41.50 spent so far

I am on the lookout for gray or yellow and gray curtains, fabric for the headboard, throw pillows, and some white bedding.  I am not afraid to think outside the box.  Ideas are welcome.

If you have a lead on this stuff- I am all ears.