Before and After » Radcrafter

Side Table Makeover

Mar 202013

This one of those projects when you wonder what took you so long to get around to it when it’s finally finished. I discovered this little side table (makes me think of a cigarette table) at the local habitat for humanity months and months ago. It was in fairly rough shape. The finish was worn and it had plenty of dings and bumps, but I just loved the skinny legs and overall shape of it. So then I purchased it and it sat by our front door in it’s original state as a catch all f.o.r.e.v.e.r. Then I moved things around (as I do frequently) and the little table found it’s way into my bedroom where it sat for awhile longer. Maybe looking at it every morning as I got out of bed finally motivated me to make a decision about what to do with this little sucker.

Pardon the so-so pictures, we have terrible indoor lighting in this house and it was nearly impossible to get a true representation of the new color on the table. In real life it has more green and is a nice rich teal color.

Due to the state of the finish and general condition of the table, it would have been close to impossible to get a “like new” appearance so I decided to go with a slightly distressed look. First, the bottom shelf and legs had to be repaired. The shelf had a split across the middle and a couple of the legs had started to separate as well. A good amount of wood glue and clamps corrected all those problems without too much effort. I let it sit overnight before moving onto the next step.

My plan was to paint it with some DIY chalk paint and I know supposedly no sanding is needed, but I can’t help it. A light sanding with my palm sander made everything all smooth and ready for paint. Next, I made some homemade chalk paint using a recipe I found here. She actually reviewed three different DIY mixtures and her favorite was actually a different mixture then the one I went with. The reason for this? I already had everything on hand and she didn’t hate this recipe, it just wasn’t her favorite. It’s super simple…

3 parts paint
1 part plaster of paris
a little water

I had previously purchased a sample pot at HD in the color of choice and only used about half of it when creating the chalk paint. The paint went on smoothly and dried quickly. The only modification I would make for next time would be to add a bit more water to create a slightly thinner paint. After three thin coats it was completely covered. It was dry to the touch within an hour, but I let it dry a little bit longer before beginning the sanding/distressing process.

The paint sanded off super easy, but due to the thickness of my paint mixture I did put in a little extra elbow grease on the top to get it complete smooth to the touch.

Even in the daylight the paint still looks more bluish than it is real life. Oh well, try to picture a darker more tealy color (I’m all about using technical terms ). With sanding complete I wiped everything down and brought it inside to apply the wax. Before waxing down the table I did a little clean up job on the drawer pulls. They were super dirty, but after some scrubbing with the always stinky Brasso they looked super shiny. As shown in the before and after photo below..

Now that the little table was ready to wax I did a little more research on what would available both locally and within my budget. I’ve read great things about Annie Sloan’s wax, but it’s just a little outside my budget at the moment. So after a some research, I found that several others recommended watching this video tutorial here. She provides details on the different types of wax, availability and how to apply. With all that new knowledge fresh in my brain, I went with an easy to find paste wax. The simple style of table with all of it’s straight lines and flat surfaces wouldn’t require a softer wax.

I applied three really thin coats and let it sit for a couple of days before setting it down in it’s new home next to the bed. It replaced the tiny little table I’ve had been using for so long. Like I said it’s one those “Why didn’t I do this sooner?” projects. Overall, I loved working with both the DIY chalk paint and wax finish. My next project will most likely involve staining another thrift store find and I can’t wait to experiment using wax as the top coat

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Before and After: Chair Makeovers

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Jun 152012

I have chairs on the brain. I recently found this chair at the local Habitat for Humanity and fell in love. Which is odd, cause chairs aren’t usually my thing and I’m not sure why this particular chair caught my eye…it definitely wasn’t the worn, gold seat (which sags when you sit in it) or the seen better days finish, but I liked it from the moment I spotted it out front. They always have a display of chairs out front and I snatched this one before walking into the store. Of course, it was the only one without a price tag, but after a quick price check it was all mine for the bargain price of $16 bucks. Birthday money well spent, I think. See I have this problem of spending birthday money (or any type of cash gifts) on bills or other necessities and the boyfriend informed me that was a big no-no. Cash gifts are to be spent on things you don’t need (duh)…enter my new, well-used, I- need-another-project-like-a-hole-in-the-head, chair.

But, before I can tackle this project it’s time to browse the web in search of some inspiration…

Love this makeover from Two Thirty-Five Designs. Similar style chair and love the bright yellow…

Another great one in bright white from Navy Bean.

The yellow and white fabric is great one this one from Sunset.com. I love a great craigslist find.

I’m loving yellow and grey right now, so this fabric with the crisp white frame is a fave. You can find the before here on Thrift Diving.

Another fabric fave. This transformation is crazy good from Three Boys.

Decisions, decisions. If my recent before and after pics are any indication, I see some yellow and grey in my little chair’s future.

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Before and After Furniture Makeovers

Before and After 4 Responses »

May 282012

I have been itching for a fun furniture makeover. Unfortunately, my work schedule has kept me pinned to the sewing machine for the past several week and I am forced to live vicariously through some of these amazing projects.

I love this idea from Art is Beauty. This is not only a beautiful piece it is completely functional.

And, I love a great coffee table makeover (since I’ve yet to decide on what to do with mine). This one from Fab Rehab Creations is great.

Fun & funky dresser makeover from I’m Not a Trophy Wife. Love the bright colors!

This desk is in one of my favorite shades of turquoise. Just the right mix of green and blue. And, I LOVE the cow print too! You can see both the before and after on Refresh Restyle.

Another great potting bench creation. This one is from Jack of all Trades.

I have a thing for mid-century modern furniture and this dresser makeover from Plumdoodles is awesome. As always I’m amazed at the power of paint.

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Life as a Renter: A Room Divided

Before and After, DIY Projects, Home Decor, Project Gallery, Simple DIY Projects 2 Responses »

May 272012

I’ve never really cared for this open space between the bottom level, which opens to the living room below, and the main level of this house. I understand why it’s there. At least I think I do. My guess would be that it keeps the living room from feeling too much like a closed in basement and creates a more open feeling in the small kitchen too. But what it really does is provide my youngest with a banister to swing on every time I turn my back and perfect drop off for a multitude of items like crayons, trash and even food. My kids would routinely try to eat snacks with their faces practically sticking through the railing, if the TV was on.

Try to ignore the chaos, if you can, and focus on the lovely opening. I have the table pushed further back then it would normally be, because as usual I had already started to tackle this project before remembering to snap a photo.

My original plan was to use one of these…

It’s a universal track kit and has the option for either ceiling or wall mount. Purchased it online and it arrived in about a week. Opened it up and loved it. Installation was easy and I quickly hung the curtains that I also purchased earlier in the week. That’s when the disappointment set in. I didn’t really like the look and I had completely forgotten that there would be a small gap between the hooks and the curtain itself. See part of the purpose of this divider was to keep the light from causing glare on the monster tv and this new divider left a nice, big line all across the top of it. Not cool. Now here’s the part where you get to pretend I have a photo of my disappointing curtain hanging. Oops.

So after realizing the new setup just wasn’t going to work, I went to work on plan B. See being a renter changes how I approach these type of projects. The fix has to be fairly inexpensive and most definitely temporary. I was a little bummed that I had spent the money on the universal track kit and now couldn’t use it, but it didn’t take long to find a new home for it. My new plan involved some lathe strips from the local HD (I had used them previously on the art rail you can see hanging in the photo above). two C channels (photo below) and the original curtain panels.

Having no idea if my new plan would work, I didn’t really take any photos. Basically I created two panels using the lathe strips (they come in 4′ lengths), wood glue & staples. Then I took the curtain panels and stretched them over one side, stapling them to the other side. Once the panels were completed, I took one C channel and screwed it into place along the top of the opening. The panels were then inserted into the top channel and then set into the bottom one at a slight angle, so that the whole thing could be pushed into place. Being a renter, I didn’t want to screw the bottom C channel into the wood base of the bannister. Which still worked in the end, because it’s a nice tight fit.

Here’s what it looks like now…

With screens in place I was able to lower the art rail, so we’ll have more room on the wall for some of the kids art work (which still needs to be hung). You may also notice if you check out the top right of the photo the new home for the universal track rod. I love it over the sliding door. Now if I could just find a rug this little area would be mostly done, except for a few minor details.

The mostly done dining room (I wish I could hide the trash can more, but there just isn’t anywhere else in the kitchen to put one) …

The border along the ceiling actually coordinates more with the table then in does in the photos. For some reason the table always photographs more blue then it is in real-life.

In case you wondering what exactly I did to this little room, here is where I tweaked the ceiling fan, covered the ugly kitchen border with something less ugly, cleaned up my little bowl on the table, made over my kitchen table and chairs.

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Thrift Store Bookshelf Transformation

Before and After, Thrift Store Finds 2 Responses »

May 082012

This is one of those projects that has been bugging me for weeks and I finally tackled it this past weekend. We desperately needed more storage in our kitchen/dining room area for all of the kids art & craft supplies (anything not allowed in their rooms), a charging station (on the kitchen counter next to the sink is not an ideal spot for electronics) for all the phones and other knick knacks. The main challenge to this project was finding something that fit in the one corner available. My hope was to find something already built, but I was open to building something to custom fit the spot if it came down to it. After a few weeks of searching, I finally came across something that I could work with…

I know, I know, it’s no beauty. But it met my two main requirements: size & price. At only $6.99 it was a bargain (it’s all wood/no mdf or pressed wood). The depth & width were perfect, it was just in need of some more height. This was something I could correct with a little bit of building. I purchased a sheet of plywood the same thickness as my little thrift store shelves, a 1/4″ thick 2×4 panel & some 1×2′s. This is what I ended up with….

I gave some thought to creating drawers to hide the phones and other things with cords, but in the end I went the simple route and just added a divider on two of the shelves to create some cubbies. Keeping it simple increases the slim chance of getting other family members to help keep things organized. After the new shelves were completed I glued them to the top of the old shelves. They were clamped and strapped together for a few hours before I moved forward to the next step. The new much taller set of shelves…

The boyfriend described them as a little scruffy at this point and I had to grudgingly agree, but I ~~hoped~~ knew the 1×2′s that I planned to use as both trim & additional support would make a big difference. I used the 1×2′s to add trim to each of shelves and to create some new legs. The original shelf only had two small boards along the bottom and with all the new height & weight they weren’t going to cut it. After I glued and nailed all the trim boards into place, I painted the whole unit a greyish taupe. Here it is in it’s new home. Obviously, I haven’t figured out what exactly is going to happen on the top shelves yet, so it is still some what of a work in progress.

The back of each shelf is painted in a coordinating blue/green that works with dining room table. You can’t tell from the photos, but it actually has cool ombre effect going on. The bottom shelf is the darkest blue/green and the colors lighten as you go up. I purchased 4 sample pots using a color card as a guide & then made a slightly lighter version (using some white paint) of 3 of them to give me a total of 7 different shades. One for each shelf.

My daughter was thrilled with the new shelves and being able to quickly find things without digging through a box on the floor. I’m still debating on what to do to disguise the “charging station” a little better, but truthfully that may be a lost cause. Those cords seem to have a mind of their own.

Now with this last important project finished, I can almost call the dining room done & move onto the living room. Finally. I have been itching to tackle the sofas (fabric has been here for weeks) and refused to move onto a new project until this one was done. And it is…almost. I’d really like to find a rug for under the table and chairs & I do have a universal track rod system on the way to create a sliding panel divide between the dining area and living room. The sliding panels will serve two purposes…one, to help block out light when we are in theater mode & two, they help hide the ~~ugly~~ unattractive railing. The panels won’t be a big project and the rug is just one those “if” I find one things, so I can call it done, right?

Cost Breakdown:

Thrift Store Shelf: $6.99

Lumber to Build New: $54 (used a $10 coupon from Lowes)

Paint: $12 (4 sample pots/already had the grey)

Total: $72.99

Not too bad for a solid wood bookshelf. Finding the little shelf made a big difference in price. To have built it all from scratch would have required purchasing another sheet of plywood or if I’d gone the pre-cut pine board route that would easily have gone over the total budget spent.

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