Monday, June 29, 2009

Anthropologie Taste with a Thrift Store Budget.


Recently found a metal chair on the side of the road. Wasn't sure what do to with the piece until I found this chair on Anthropologie's website. I like so many other artists can't help but to be inspired by their beautiful furniture and clothing. I will post b/a pics soon.

Friday, June 19, 2009

Before and After Bedside Table



So- found this beauty at Decatur's Last Chance. The glass top was tinted... ?  I was able to refinish this piece without buying any materials! For the wood frame I used left over paint from a project where I painted the upstairs bathroom. The glass I wrapped in leftover textured wallpaper from a project in the downstairs powder room. Total cost: $9.00. The wallpaper comes from Graham & Brown. Sometimes I use left over pieces from the roll as a table runner. 





Inspiration to post from Designspongonline....



My husband and I have recently purchased our first home. We love to travel and hate to spend money on furniture. Our house is furnished with a lot of hand-me downs and thrift store pieces. Our only splurges  were an Ikea couch and a bed.  I have a lot of fun refurbishing old pieces. Especially over the summer when I have time to work on projects. DesignSpongeonline's before and after photos have really inspired me to post photos of work as well as take on the challenge of revitalizing not so expecting pieces. Below is a chair I recently acquired at Decatur's Last Chance Thrift Store.  This place is dear to my heart. 
So the chair costs about $10.00.  
To restore the chair I  made a few purchases at the local fabric store- scored some great fabric 3 bucks for 2/3 a yard. Then I traveled to Home Depot to pick up a coral paint and some upholstery tacks as well as some screws and had a piece of 1/2 inch plywood cut to fit the bottom of the seat.  Initially my plan was to create a seat cushion to fasten to the top of the chair- but soon found out that Home Depot doesn't cut angels - just straight lines , so I had the challenge of redesigning the seat. After I removed the straw I found this beautiful dotted pattern around the edge. I decided that upholstery tacks would fit in these and give a fun texture. I glued these in with elmer's.  The plywood was painted with some sea blue left over from a bathroom project and then screwed into the bottom of the chair. 
I took the fabric and created a pillow for the seat for padding. Total cost including the chair: just under $30.00