Furniture Makeover

DIY is hosting a furniture makeover celebration and I thought this would be the perfect time to share my craft table makeover! First off, a little history lesson on this table...it has been in my family forever! It was one of my PARENT'S wedding gifts and it was my family's dinner table for as long as I can remember. My parents generously passed it along to my care when I graduated college and moved to Atlanta. Below is the picture of the table taken in my very first apartment of my own!
Now, I must admit, in looking at this picture, I crack up to myself how 3 things in that picture are still around in my house, but have a TOTALLY different look than shown in that picture! Ha ha! The stools seen in that picture now look like this. The picture collage seen in that picture now looks like this. The cat sitting on the table (OK, I didn't change, paint or redesign her, but I wanted to share!) now looks like this. And finally, the table looks like the below. At least I know I get good use out of my furniture! Just because it may not be my style initially, that is what paint, fabric and a creative mind can do for you!
Now, not much was done for this transformation, but it is amazing how a little bit of paint can really make a difference. As you will see, my before table picture makes the style of the table seem a bit country, and after sanding, painting and adding seat cushions the style has been updated/modernized a bit. I just didn't have the heart to throw this beautiful piece of furniture out. It is hard to find solid wood pieces these daysd, and this table has a lot of childhood memories woven into the wood grain, so I had to keep it! Even though it isn't our current dining table, it still gets plenty of use...actually MORE use than our dining table because it is my craft table!

Bored with your headboard?

OK...so I guess I wasn't bored with my headboard because my guest room doesn't actually have a headboard...but I was bored with staring at a blank wall behind the bed where the headboard should be. The guest room needed something more, but I wasn't about to go and buy a bed frame and headboard--and I also didn't have the funds for some huge inspiring art piece. Instead, I scavenged around the house looking for anything I could reuse to fill that blank space.

While digging through boxes of things and pondering what to do, I came across the small 6" x 6" mirrors used as center pieces for my wedding. I had a ton of these and they were begging to be reused! Taking a handful of these mirrors, I walked in the guest room and stared at the blank wall for what seemed like hours...we were definitely having a stare down and the blank wall was winning...

Finally, it came to me! I was going to create a contemporary geometric pattern above the bed, where normally a headboard would go. I had decided to create 8" x 8" black squares and place the mirror circles in the middle, and hang on the wall. This could act as a piece of artwork and fill the space temporarily until I had an actual headboard.

I really should have waited for small 8" x 8" wood pieces to be cut, but I had an idea and like normal, I wanted it done right then and there...so I made do with what I had. Grabbing extra cardboard boxes, I started vigorously cutting the 12 8" x 8" squares. I then grabbed my paintbrushes and black paint and got to work. JD, of course walked in the living room to see this huge mess I had created and could only laugh and let me continue my crazy work.

Once the paint dried, I attached the mirrors in the center and hung (as straight as possible) each of these pieces. Finally, the room was coming together and life was being brought into the room! The best thing about this project is it cost absolutely nothing but my time. Surprisingly, I do get a lot of complements on the pieces and my guests never realize it is cardboard until I point it out! Amazing what the eyes see...but even more amazing what you items you can reuse in your house!

Upholster Your Furniture

I have a big project in the FROG I want to eventually undertake. Basically, it requires me to convert our old TV stand into a sitting bench with cushion. Now, since I have never upholstered anything before, I needed a test dummy...bar stools it is!

I have had these bar stools in my life since as long as I can remember. They have followed me from childhood, to college, to present--so it was time for an updated look anyway! Since most of the furniture in our house is espresso or contemporary black, I decided it'd be easiest to paint black and upholster the top. After purchasing some clearance fabric and foam at JoAnns, and grabbing my husband's staple gun--I got to work (and had WAY too much fun with the staple gun I might add!) All in all, I'm actually quite pleased with the result and once I get started on the bench I'll be sure to share that as well! Enjoy!