Trash to Treasures

Chairs that didn't sell

noreply@blogger.com (Anneli Martin) — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:19:00 +0000

Got these dining room chairs from the thrift store. I liked the frame and even the cushions weren't so bad. But we never had a place for them and after keeping them in the basement for 2 years I decided to sell them on craigslist. Might as well get our money back. No interest. So one day I said, let's see what lies under these cushions, perhaps we can reupholster them and keep for ourselves until we have a bigger dining room. The metal base was actually perfect for building a wooden frame so now we can use them outside!

The backs were tough, given only two notches to hook up. So we put two pieces of 1x3-s and I sewed cushions for making the back more comfortable. My husband constructed all the wooden parts I think he is becoming a really skilled craftsman :)

before

after

Three Lamp Makeovers

noreply@blogger.com (Anneli Martin) — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 17:40:00 +0000

Here's another "before" and "after". We haven't been lucky finding good lamps lately from the thrift store. This was the latest lamp makeover I did in spring. I m still not crazy about it but it definitely looks better than before. This is also sold.

Unfortunately I don't have a "before" picture of this lamp. I painted the foot white and removed the outer layer of the lamp shade. Underneath I found this ribbon which I reused to go around the frame. Sold to a friend.

Too bad "after" picture doesn't do justice for this lamp but here it is. Sold at the garage sale

Felt Fun

noreply@blogger.com (Anneli Martin) — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 15:18:00 +0000

I bought a roll of natural felt from Estonia last time I went. So I made these rustic looking candle cozy's and some felt bags for gifts

Anneli in Design Sponge

noreply@blogger.com (Anneli Martin) — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 15:03:00 +0000

My knitted pillows were finally featured in the Design Sponge (my bible!) in March. Check it out here !

Little Garden Project

noreply@blogger.com (Anneli Martin) — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 15:09:00 +0000

This chair came with the house, we found it in the basement. I gave it a new coat of paint to prevent rusting and, removed the bottom and planted the ever happy Purple Heart.

Got Fork?

noreply@blogger.com (Anneli Martin) — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 15:29:00 +0000

Yesterday I decided to paint a giant fork on my kitchen wall. Our cat freaked out when she saw it for the first time. I should've filmed that encounter :)

Scrap Wood/Coffee Sack Bench

noreply@blogger.com (Anneli Martin) — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:52:00 +0000

Construction on the second floor is on hold for now. It's literally like a sauna up there now in the summer. But we can salvage a lot of scrap wood from that room and make new cool things out of it. Like that chest. I think that came out so awesome.
I posted on FB that I started collecting vintage grain sacks. Some friends brought me the Basmati bags, the other friend got me this large coffee bag from Netherlands. She does a lot of traveling there buying old furniture for her store (www.mooblisahver.com). Thanks Piret!
So first we made a box using 2x4-s and 1x2-s from the construction room.

The coffee sack material is sturdy but very sheer and wimpy, I sewed a different fabric under it to make it sturdier by sewing a grid all across the material.
I get foam from work, we pack heavy stuff there so foam is free. It was a pain to make the trim. It sheared like crazy. But in the end it looks pretty neat I think. If the cats start scratching that I will be very very mad.

Chicken Chair - not ready yet

noreply@blogger.com (Anneli Martin) — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 16:32:00 +0000

I finally started reupholstering this giant chair I got for free. No this is not leather, if you are wondering.
So we totally stripped it and cleaned it from millions of staples. Took the legs off

Then I was on a mission of finding a cool fabric for it. I found this natural, black printed chickens on it. It's closest what I had originally planned.

Brian stripped the legs but surprise surprise, part of the leg structure is plastic! I wanted to have a natural unpainted look. Now we are a bit stuck. But will see. To be continued...

IKEA/Scrap Wood Serving Table

noreply@blogger.com (Anneli Martin) — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 16:17:00 +0000

We recently bought cabinets from IKEA and as usual, checked out the "As is" area for some "garbage treasures". We found this storage drawer frame for $2.50.

I came home from work one day and Brian had made a top on it and it looks just so cool. We have a lot of free 2x1-s from the ceiling that we are currently tearing down and he salvaged that scrap wood for this awesome table top.

I think it looks so amazing, I can't wait to get the grill going!

Apple Tree or Just a Tree?

noreply@blogger.com (Anneli Martin) — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 19:53:00 +0000

Every year we spend two weeks of the summer in Estonia. It's such a sweet treat to see my family and enjoy all the happy hugs, late nights, food, drinks, laughs.. But then again comes a time to leave and sadness breaks even the mountain of happiness in the beginning.
I promised my dearest friend to paint an apple tree on her wall. It could be any tree really but it's an apple tree if you know it. I think it came out pretty cute. She liked it.

Backyard - progress and reflections

noreply@blogger.com (Anneli Martin) — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 19:44:00 +0000

Is this yard ever going to be finished? Here is where we started.

1st day, 2007

Kitchen cabinets piled up, 2007, temporary tent

Awning not built yet

Tree removal and wall building

Using old pavers to build walls

2010 April started with a great makeover. Removed old brick wall and bought pavers to build a new larger half circle for plants.

Both half circles built, half way done with pavers. Gravel will go in between.

Almost ready, now we are just waiting for the plants to grow lush and green.

Wooden Tile Wall

noreply@blogger.com (Anneli Martin) — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:04:00 +0000

We used to have a mirror on that wall but decided to move it to a better location. I have heard that it's not recommended to have a mirror facing the door. Maybe it's just in my head but it really seemed like it reflected the energy back outside.

So we painted and framed the wall and decided to make wooden tiles. I have always been mesmerized by the rings of a cut wood.
We bought two 4x4 pine posts from the Home Depot and started chopping them into 7-8 mm tiles.

Using a chop saw, Brian made about 500 of them the house smelled so good! Then we sanded the edges. Any thinner tiles started to warp.

I used a hot glue gun to put the tiles in place. they didn't always match up but somehow the patterns always stayed straight. It was a miracle .

The wooden tile gives the room such warmth now. I's been up for three days but I don't know how the raw wood will behave in the long run (expanding etc.) So it will be our little experiment.
UPDATE 3/3/10! Some tiles fell off, Elmers Glue is better. Thin ones warp a bit but nothing major.

Some Older Makeovers

noreply@blogger.com (Anneli Martin) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:10:00 +0000

We used to have a tiny apt in Fort Lee (love that town!) We needed a tiny couch and we found this yellow one and turned it into a cow. I know I know, cow print is long overdue,.. still :)

Before

After

This was a fun little side cabinet.

Before

After

This long ottoman we made by using plumbing pipe parts for legs

Scrap Wood Chest

noreply@blogger.com (Anneli Martin) — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 18:23:00 +0000

My work room upstairs is finally done. I needed a place to put all my millions of fabrics and swatches. We figured this weird corner could hold a giant chest and all my materials would be in one place. From demolition in the room next to it, we had piles of beat-up 1x3's. So we decided to build a chest, using only scrap materials from the ceiling.

It looked like a pig crate at first :)

After we managed to make it durable enough, stained it ebony and added a lion head knocker for easy pulling. Looks pretty nice ay? Cost $0.00 plus the wheels and hinges of course.

Our baby Cash likes it too

Tray Table Makeover

noreply@blogger.com (Anneli Martin) — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 18:39:00 +0000

This table had such a great potential to be an ottoman instead. I re-stained the legs, cut a cushion out of foam and covered with heavy plaid upholstery fabric. Sold to a friend.

Before

After

Tiny Cork Table

noreply@blogger.com (Anneli Martin) — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 15:11:00 +0000

This was another Thrift Store "beauty" $1.00. I didn't even have a good idea for it at first but after giving it a light sanding and painting it white, I discovered that I have some cork paper I bought from Europe last time we went. I used Mod Podge to glue it on top and it turned out pretty cute.

Before

After

Bathroom Makeover

noreply@blogger.com (Anneli Martin) — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 14:12:00 +0000

This is was our bathroom before

Gotta make a plan first! Objective -Get rid of the bathtub, install glass mosaic tiles in the shower area and glass block to separate the shower area.

We found all kinds of weird stuff inside the walls, like hidden mirrors

Bathroom - totally gutted. Brian removed the tub alone! The floor was rotted, wood needed to be replaced in some spots.

We made two little ledges into the wall for the shampoos and stuff. I did the tile again but realized that this time it was much more difficult to get it straight. Got the tile again from www.cooltiles.com. I looked at everything on clearance and found a nice yellowish color for $5.00 per sheet.

Thanks to our friends who helped at the end to get it done. Mirror - Thrift Store $2.00, Vanity cabinet - Thrift Store $5.00 Brian refinished it, sanded, stained, clear coated and waxed.

Storage was an issue, so in between two beams we left this opening for the rolled up towels.

And where that hidden mirror was, we also left a tiled hole for a candle? Or a perfume..

It was hard to find a fexible shower head that mounts on the wall.

Just the Frame

noreply@blogger.com (Anneli Martin) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 21:26:00 +0000

$10.00 at the Thrift Store! It actually had padded covers on it so I spotted it on the second time when I saw the back of the chair. I removed the heavy padding at the store and "Hello awsome frame!" I left the padding at the store and took just the frame. I don't think anyone noticed.

The bottom was very rusted. I used wire brush but it still remained quite coarse when closely examined. Then some spray paint and I used this cool printed fabric for padding. I wanted to make it narrow so the frame could be visible all over. I figured, when somebody wants to sit on it, they can just put a pillow under?

Before

After

Hexagon Beaded Table

noreply@blogger.com (Anneli Martin) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 21:09:00 +0000

Too bad I don't have a "before" picture of this little table. Brian spotted it and I tried to talk him out of buying it. It was dark brown and not even made of solid wood. Just a nasty looking thing.

I got the idea of gluing some glass half-beads on the sides. We painted it white first, then I scratched the surfaces to make it look more interesting for clear beads. I used Elmers Glue to hold the beads in place. The next day it was ready for a grout. I love the way it came out. Simply stunning. Love the original hardware. Eventually a friend bought it.

Two Dressers,One Black, One White

noreply@blogger.com (Anneli Martin) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 20:59:00 +0000

This is probably the most amount I have ever paid at the thrift store. $70.00 for a beat up dresser seemed like a good idea at the time. I actually thought it was antique until some guy told me that this was 1930's dresser and has potentially no value whatsoever. It was really in a very poor shape and I kept it in a basement for a year before finally taking the challenge. .

My friend helped me to sand it down. We repaired the holes with a wood putty and stained it with ebony stain. I also kept the original hardware, cleaned and reattached. I love it and it's a keeper.

Before

After

My brother was working on this one, I think he did a great job. It was also a Salvation Army, solid wood find but we made it strictly for selling.

Before

After

China Cabinet Makeover

noreply@blogger.com (Anneli Martin) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 20:20:00 +0000

I was fascinated when I saw this china cabinet at the Thrift Store.

Before

After

Mellow Yellow

noreply@blogger.com (Anneli Martin) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 20:15:00 +0000

Surely not everyone agrees with this makeover.

A friend liked it and bought it.

Before

After

Sad Little Ottoman

noreply@blogger.com (Anneli Martin) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 20:03:00 +0000

This ottoman looked sick at the Thrift Store. Actually my friend bought it but I ended up working on it. I didn't even want to touch it at first. The fabric came off immediately. Looked like someone had done a makeover on this already. The next layer wasn't prettier than the first. It was also a spring cushion.

I sanded the legs, renewed the padding and covered it with a cool printed fabric. At Home Depot I bought some fancy wall trim and used that for the edges. Pained white.

Sold to a friend.

Before

After

Aging The Ancient

noreply@blogger.com (Anneli Martin) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 19:54:00 +0000

I was gonna try something different with this one. I gave it just a light sanding first. Then I used plain white wall paint to and wiped it off when it got almost dry. That made the table look very charming. The original water stain was still shining through so I painted a leaf motif on the right side with a very light olive color. Clear coat on top.

Sold to a friend.

Before

After

Some Older Benches and Chairs

noreply@blogger.com (Anneli Martin) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 19:48:00 +0000

These came out so cute. Those 50-s little side tables are sold at every thrift shop. I think $1.00 a piece. I glued a little cushion on it and covered with natural felt which I sewed with red thread to make it sturdier.

Before

After

This was our first project together. Too bad we didn't take any "before" pictures