Living my simple life

This was sitting on my front porch one morning last week, courtesy of a late-night dog walk by John.

I think it will make a really fun beer cooler for our family holiday party. I can also picture it as a neat addition to the back yard this summer. I could plant lettuce in it that no rabbit could reach!

Look what John brought home.

This was on the curb in a box of of yard sale leftovers awaiting trash pickup. Isn’t it cool? The original price tag was still in place. Any guesses how much it cost? $1.69. Awesome. Perfect timing, too, since Oli just started taking hot lunches in a thermos last week. His thermos does not fit in his regular lunch box but it fits in this one. I had to customize this so it suits my boy. Since today is Talk Like A Pirate Day, I knew just what to do.

I’d say it’s perfect for “me little scurvy lad.”

I see lots of mattresses on the curb when driving around. Thrown away mattresses have no appeal to me unless, like this one I saw last week, they are NEW.

Yes, it is brand new and still sealed in plastic and had a free sign on it. We popped it in the van immediately. I’ve been dreaming about a daybed for my screened porch for a while. Perhaps it’s time for my daybed. I’ll let you know when I find the rest of it out there.

This table was found a few months back.

It’s from Bombay Company.  There were many scratches on the surface and the top was extremely wobbly.  Since the weather has been too cold here to paint (I paint outdoors or in the garage), it sat in the garage for a while.  I finally got around to finishing it.  Now look at it!

It’s the perfect companion for my Trash-picked Rocking Chair.

For details on how this table was refinished, click HERE.

I love it when I find the perfect piece of furniture at just the moment I need it. Like this piece.

Perfect? Yes, perfect. Here’s why — John recently ordered a new TV and we needed a stand for it. Days before the TV was set to be delivered, I stumbled upon this piece. The style? I know, what style? The brown color, all the brass handles and those decorative doors all scream “ugly furniture” to me. The size, however, was perfect. After getting it home, I discovered that it is from an expensive local furniture store. I was certain I could turn it into our new TV stand in just a few day.

And I did.

For details on how this piece was transformed, visit my new blog devoted to transforming found objects into treasures for your home.

John found this chair earlier this week.

I wondered why he brought it home. It’s pink and not my style. He claimed it was cozy and made me sit in it. It was firm and comfy with a rocker and swivel base (so retro!). Still, not my style. But, like every thing else that gets brought into this home, I started to think about how to redo it so it would fit. It just so happened that I had 10 yards of butter-yellow cotton duck in my sewing room waiting for a project.

First, I padded the chair to add some extra shaping. Also, it adds another layer between me and that hideous pink upholstery.

Next, out came the fabric. And out came my little “helper” who likes to be right in the middle of my projects.

Scissors, chalk and pins were all it took to get the fit. I sewed it in spurts over a few days. The result:

We seem to be finding lots of furniture lately. Is this the redecorating time of year? It certainly is in our home.

This chair was part of last-weeks bonanza.

It doesn’t look like much but has the added feature of being a rocking chair. There are springs beneath the chair seat and they are firm and in good shape. Honestly, I wasn’t planning to keep this piece since it was not my style. But Mojo saw something in it and begged to keep it. It became our joint project. The first step was attacking the old upholstery. I stripped it off and re-stretched the seat webbing. You can see how saggy it is in this photo:

Then, I cracked out the black paint. After a few coats and few days, I took Mojo fabric shopping. She pounced on some blue ball fringe and then found fabric to match. I did the sewing and Mojo helped with the stapling. In the end we have this:

A chair that is way nicer than I would have imagined. When it was all done, my daughter and I just looked at each other and nodded. What a team we make.

Last week was a trash-picking bonanza! There are several houses in our neighborhood that recently turned over. Much useful furniture was sitting at the curb along with two wool rugs (separate houses)! The house across the street from us had boxes and boxes of glassware and china collectables set out. My husband, who hates to see useful items tossed into a landfill, dutifully filled the van and drove the items to Goodwill. The first piece of furniture I tackled was this simple bench.

A piece like this is about the easiest to re-do. The fabric top is attached with screws from underneath. The old fabric (and cushion) were ripped off leaving a plywood base. I recovered the base with foam (I keep a big roll of bonded dacron on hand for my projects — a few layers of it did the trick) and stapled some cranberry linen on top. The legs were lightly sanded and received two coats of black oil paint. I didn’t bother to prime them. After a total time investment of maybe 30 minutes over 3 days, I now have a very useful little seat for the kids.

As an aside, this vintage telephone table was one of our finds.

It’s kitschy-ness called out to me. Alas, it really doesn’t go with my decor. I’ve tried to sell it on craigslist but no takers. I’m giving it a few more days on my porch — either for inspiration to strike or a buyer to emerge. Then, it’s loaded in the van, and joining all its former kitchenware at Goodwill.