Thrifty Thursday

Last week my Husband mentioned that a friend at work had a small desk they didn’t need and would I want it ? WOULD I WANT IT ? UHH…YES! Can’t get thriftier then free! It was actually from an apartment model that was getting make over. So Thursday he brought it home. Here’s the before ……

I love free!

This was such great timing. My 5 year old has grown out her jewelry table & we were on the hunt for something new. Heres her little table.......

(But I have to say, that table was a great deal too! I only paid $10 at a thrift store 5 yrs ago & its been used by both girls.)     On to the redo of the new set....

With left over paint in the garage and a quick trip to Hobby Lobby for some cute fabric to match her room I gave this desk a new look.

After 3 coats of paint it was finally white. Then it was time to recover the seat. First I unscrewed the seat & laid it on top of the fabric.

I then cut the fabric leaving enough to fold over the old cushion. Folding & holding fabric tight, I secured it with a staple gun. Its kind of like wrapping half of a present. Then I just screwed it back on to the base.

Done!

The old “kid friendly” mirror that came with her little jewelry desk fit perfectly on top. But since I couldn’t actually attach it to the desk top, I just used some 3M COMMAND strips (the ones from those removable hooks) on the back of the mirror stand to secure it to the wall. Now it looks like it was meant to be, but if I ever need to remove it, it should come off no problem.

This is the cleanest this table will ever be! When she got home from school that day she spent the afternoon organizing her jewelry etc. As well as putting all her little important things on top for display. Its such a great size & will last her through all her growth spurts!

 

Easy Beadboard

This weeks been so crazy! My etsy shop is going full speed for holiday shoppers & has kept me working every moment of the day! (I'll blog more about that later). But I wanted to squeeze in a moment to post about a simple way to create a beadboard look for your home. Now that the holidays are here & everyones hosting parties, this would be a great project that can be done in a day & you'll be back to hosting in no time!
                                            

When we move here the walls were all builders white & had no character. I can not stand that. I’ve always love houses that have lived , aged, and love that make them in to a “home” . You just can’t get that with a new home. So I had a lot of work ahead of me!!!
The first thing was to add bead board & molding. I knew it was going to be something I had to do myself since my husband works long hours & I have no patients to wait for help. I like things done yesterday! So I decided to paint faux bead board.
This is not hard to do at all. Its time consuming but well worth the work when your finished.

1.Start with ANTIQUE WHITE walls in a FLAT FINISH. You’ll need a gallon, (or less depending on the size of the room)of WHITE -SATIN FINISH paint to paint your stripes or “boards“. You can also use a gloss for a stronger effect. If you just painted your walls wait at least 24 hours before starting the “board’ stripes. Otherwise you might pull off your paint.
2. Figure out the width you’d like your “boards” to be as well as the height you’d like it to be. I decided mine was going to be about 4 inches wide.
Then starting from the end of the wall measure that amount out & mark your first board with painters tape. I used the 2 inch wide tape. If you’d like a smaller width use a smaller tape. Place tape vertical along the wall starting at your highest point your board will be, down to the base board. Use a level to help keep the lines straight. This will mark the first board.



3. Now measure your next board from the edge of the tape. Continue this measure and tape process along the wall until you complete the room.
4. Now your ready to paint with the WHITE SATIN FINISH paint. Roll paint over each marked out board space. This is the fast part. But be sure to cover the entire space completely . I suggest doing at least 2 coats.
5. Let dry and remove tape.
Now you can add your chair rail molding to the top of your painted bead board! Eventually I painted a warm color above the molding to give this look even more “pop”. It feels much more homey & its done in an afternoon!

I linked this to