Thrift Store Finds » 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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Thrift Store Finds: The Tarnished Bowl

DIY Projects, Project Gallery, Thrift Store Finds 1 Response »

May 162012

I managed to squeeze in two simple projects this past weekend in between sewing and more sewing. Number one was spray painting this little pony for my daughter’s room and the second project was cleaning up this very tarnished stainless steel bowl. Both were inexpensive finds from the local GW.

Exhibit A:

Not too pretty, huh? When I spotted it in the store I just really liked the shape and figured there had to be some way to clean it up, plus the 1/2 off price tag made it worth a shot. Then after I got it home, it sat in my little pile of thrift store finds that “need work” in some form or another for a few weeks. Maybe a month, but who’s counting right? My first attempt at cleaning involved vinegar, baking soda & water, which did clean of some of the dirt & grime, but was useless against the long standing tarnish. So after a quick trip to the local HD, I had some Brasso in my hands.

This particular brand of Brasso is a metal cleaner that works great on stainless steel, but not so much for silver and a few other metals. If you ever find yourself tackling a similar project, be sure to pick up a cleaner made specifically for whatever metal your cleaning. I found this in the cleaning products area of the store.

To scrub down my bowl I found a soft cloth, applied a good amount of the cleaner to the cloth and then started rubbing. I worked my way from the inside of the bowl out. Important tip: Be sure to work in a well ventilated area. This stuff stinks to high heaven. One of the main ingredients is ammonia, so be prepared. After a lot of scrubbing, then some polishing after all the tarnish was removed and finally a soap and water bath, I had this…

It now sits happily on the dining room table in all it’s shining glory. With ~~just a little~~ a lot of elbow grease you can hardly tell it’s the same bowl. And, most importantly, I have one more project ticked off the list.

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Thrift Store Finds: Pretty in Pink

Project Gallery, Thrift Store Finds 2 Responses »

May 122012

I love easy projects and they don’t get a whole lot easier than this one. My daughter found this unicorn at the local GW during one of our shopping trips. It was during a half off sale day, so it was really a steal.

Miss Unicorn was definitely in need of some TLC. but nothing a little cleaning and spray paint couldn’t fix. I like projects like this because my daughter can easily get involved. She was able to help scrub Miss Unicorn down and then pick out the paint color. Of course, with her, the paint color options are usually pink or purple. This time she went with the pink.

A few light coats of paint and we had a shiny new unicorn pony. Too cute, right?

Cost Breakdown:

Purple Unicorn: $1.50

Spray Paint: $0 (already had)

One simple project down. How many can I tackle in one weekend??

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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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Photo of the Day: Thrift Store Finds

Photo of the Day, Thrift Store Finds No Responses »

Apr 302012

My “projects’ pile. Well, part of it anyway. The lamp base needs to be painted to match the one in the master bedroom, so I can steal the other one for the living room. The purple unicorn needs to be cleaned up and spray painted…can you guess the color?… gloss pink. Yeah, it’s for my daughter’s room. The land of everything pink. The tarnished bowl needs a good scrubbing before I can display it on the dining room table…maybe use it to hold some fruit?? The cast iron pot in the back needs de-rusting (probably only a word in my own little dictionary) & paint removal just to see if it can be salvaged.

Is it me or does it seem easier to create a goodies pile then it does to repurpose those goodies??

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