Wooden Boxes Before and After

You know how you go into an antique shop and spot something and think, "I want that but I have no idea why." Then you go home without it and it haunts you. So weeks later you go back and hope it's still there. Well, it was my lucky day because this set of three wooden boxes that I just had to have was still there. Here's my set of wooden boxes -- okay, truth be told, they are an old canister set. But they are solid wood and have such potential!

 

I brought them home and sanded them down. Mixed up a batch of chalk paint and gave them a few coats. Distressed them and applied a coat of wax that I then buffed out. I topped them with beach glass for knobs, and wow, what a transformation! When I get out to Seattle later this spring I'm going to search for the perfect sea glass chunks to become the official toppers for these fun boxes.

Fabric Changes Everything!

Here's just an example of how you can change the décor of a room inexpensively. I tend to use my room for photo shoots a lot because of the neutral bedding, but if you start with a neutral quilt and drapery panels, you can change your décor as the seasons, or, as your mood changes. The possibilities are endless!

Driftwood Valance

This post is compliments of my friend Ruth who created this unique valance out of driftwood pieces and I wanted to share it with all of you!

 

"Here are the pictures you wanted of my driftwood valance.  After several beach walks I had enough pieces to span the window.  I laid them all out on the basement floor until I was satisfied with the arrangement.  I was able to purchase a metal rod in the correct length from my favorite local hardware store but if you couldn't get the correct length a longer one could be cut down.  I chose metal over a wooden dowel for overall sturdiness.

Then I got busy with the drill and a bit a little bigger than the metal rod and made a hole in each piece of driftwood.  I have to admit to splitting a couple pieces and having to replace them.  I threaded them on the rod until I had almost the width of the window casing.

I purchased wooden balls with one flat side at the hobby store and drilled a hole in two of them with a bit exactly the same size as my metal rod, then inserted pencils into the holes and stuck them in a block of styrofoam so that I could easily paint them.  When they were dry I put them on the ends of the rod using a little dab of good glue.

The brackets are simple cup hooks screwed into the window casing.  All I had to do was lay the rod into the hooks and voila!  Beachy, unusual and fun."

Online Searching and Patience

How to furnish your living room at a fraction of the price -- or, how Craigslist, Ebay and patience paid off!

My husband and I don't have the same taste in furniture. I like overstuffed and comfy, he likes modern and sleek. When we built our cottage style home we did find something in common in that we both loved the warmth of wood. Okay, I can build on this. After years of false starts, I spotted a mission style sofa on the web one day and asked him what he thought of that style. Eurica! He liked it. So, now I was on a...you got it....mission!

 It didn't take long for me to discover that this style furniture was unfortunately way out of our price range. I was seeing sofas for $3000-$5000+. Drat, now what? That's where Craigslist came in. I began a weekly search for mission style furniture in the greater West Michigan area. After several weeks and no luck, I decided to look on Ebay mostly so I could price items. I spotted a listing for a mission sofa, chair and end table for a grand total of $399. And better yet, it was listed for local pick up only in Grand Rapids! What were the chances of that? I couldn't believe it. So I contacted the seller, we jumped in the truck and drove to GR. The pieces were just what we wanted. The upholstery was awful, but the structure was beautiful. I had planned on getting everything reupholstered anyway. So we loaded it up and brought it home.

A friend who we've had upholster several items for us over the years came over and estimated the yardage and I started searching for fabric. I ended up finding fabric at fabric.com which was not a good experience, but that's another story. About a month later, knowing we were going to Chicago, I broadened my Craigslist search to include Chicago-land. I found a glider and ottoman in Oak Park for $100. We stopped to see it on our way in to the city, loved it, and loaded it into the truck. When we got home, all the pieces were picked up for upholstering.

Now we needed a coffee table. Believe it or not, this took the longest to find, but eventually we did see one listed in Muskegon, contacted the seller, swung by one day, liked it, bought it, and brought it home.

On the same day all of the newly upholstered furniture made its way back into our living room, I set out into the country to see a lamp I found on Craigslist. And that completed our living room -- at least for now.

It took 7 months to find all the pieces. We didn't care that our living room was haphazard for several months. We don't care that some of the wood is red oak and some is honey oak. We like the mix. But best of all, we have new living room furniture that we both like -- and all for well under $2,000!

What does this all have to do with a sewing blog you might ask? Well, I had to make the matching pillows, ofcourse. Now on to the dining room....:-)