Sunday, June 30, 2013

A Repurposed TV Armoire

What to do with a no longer needed TV armoire/cabinet?
We had a very nice Henredon TV armoire 
that was part of our wall unit so I didn't
want to get rid of it.
We said goodbye to our last tube TV. 
That now left a big empty space.
 Empty spaces don't stay empty very long in 
my house.  I managed to fill it with 
a collection of stuff in no time.
Not a very good use of space.
 I thought adding shelves would make this a 
 great storage cabinet for some of my 
seasonal glasses and mugs. I also found the 
back panel for the TV cut-out in the garage 
when we were searching
 for wood for the side and shelves. 
 We used 3/4" MDF for the project, 
because that's what we had in the garage.
Nothing is nailed into the cabinet. The shelves
just rest on slats that hold the sides in place. 
We can remove it anytime. We used the
 trimmed-off pieces of the MDF shelves for 
the slats. Nothing ever wasted here!
Loaded it up and still have room to spare!
The space is 40"W and 24" D. The four
shelves (counting the bottom) give about
26-2/3 square feet of shelf space or the
equivalent of 26-2/3 feet of regular kitchen 
cabinet shelves. In other words...Lots!
All behind closed doors. 
I love projects like this:
*no cost
*very little time
*very little skill
*use up stuff in the garage
*lots of organization and storage!

Cheers!

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Little Treasures and Identifying Meissen China

My friend Carole said she had a few little 
things she was getting rid of and thought I
  might want them. So after our next
 game of tennis I walked with her to her car.
She pulled these goodies out of her trunk. 
It was a real treasure trunk!
Meissen Porcelain China Plate...1934
Meissen plate markings
Meissen markings chart
Little random plates make great soap dishes,
 coasters, or just displayed on a plate stand.
Aynsley Bone China...England
Staffordshire China...England
Vintage plates make great jewelry catch-alls.
Limoges China...France~cobalt plate...
This one is going on My Great Wall of China.
My favorite way to use them is to 
hang them on the wall.
Limoges marking
cut crystal pitcher
A nice water pitcher on the table.

Vintage etched glasses for: wine, champagne,
 mousse, sherbet, etc.
When I got home that day, I called out to
 Larry to come see what I got!
 He said (a bit confused)
'I thought you went to play tennis.'
Yes! and I didn't even need to leave the 
neighborhood to came home with these
 little treasures. Thanks Carole!
Cheers!


Sunday, June 23, 2013

My $70 Sofa

I patiently waited to find an IKEA Ektorp sofa
on craigslist for a great price. 
It paid off this weekend when I found 
this 1 year old IKEA sofa for $70!
 It was in great condition, but I did remove all
 the slipcovers and wash it anyway.
I love how easy the slipcovers
are to remove and wash. 
It's so clean and fresh smelling now.
Notice the before and after benches.
 The story of the first IKEA sofa 
I wanted to sell my 2 old white sofas on
craigslist because they were not comfortable
for us to sit in. The woman that bought one
of my sofas liked it so much she called
  weeks later and wanted the other one too.
 Realizing we would now be sofa-less 
I went to IKEA to check out their basic 
slipcovered sofas. Then  I thought...why not 
check out craigslist first. Lucky me, there was
 one for sale! When I called the number,
the lady recognized my voice and asked
...Rita?  Yes, who's this? It was the same
woman that wanted to buy my other sofa. 
What are the odds! We laughed and decided 
to just exchange sofas. Her IKEA sofa 
was brand new. She didn't like it as much as 
the first sofa she bought from me and hoped 
I hadn't sold the second one. 
 I arranged the room the same way I had
previously with my older too large sofas.
(see the room HERE.)
 The sofas are parallel with chairs at the end.
 I want to reupholster the two coral chairs. 
I need to find a fabric I like. 
 Toss on pillows...remove...toss on other
pillows. Repeat. 
 Arranged for now.
 Sofa table tweaking.
 Coffee table tweaking.
 More tweaking to come.
 The two benches at the other end will be
 getting slipcovers for the seat cushions
 to match the sofas, For now I'm just
covering them with matelasse pillow shams.
 Craigslist has been very good to me
 this year!
Cheers!

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

DIY Room Freshener

Make your own room freshener for pennies.
 All you need is baking soda and 
your favorite essential oils. 
It's similar to my DIY Carpet Fresh Powder.
 Fill a small container about 1/4 full with
 baking soda. Add about 8 drops of your
 favorite essential oils. Shake around a bit. 
Make sure the lid is vented. You 
can create custom scents for the seasons.
 I had saved this empty jar of Renuzit room 
freshener to fill with my own concoction. 
Make several. Place it in any room.
Put one in your car too.
Give it a shake once in a while.
 I put one on the entry table. 
I used a rose scent for the summer.
 It gives a subtle scent whenever I
enter the house. I Coordinate the scents
with the carpet fresh powder
I didn't have many saved freshener jars so 
I just poked holes in the lids of a few of
my saved jars
DIY Room Freshener
Baking Soda-fill 1/4 full
Essential oil-8 drops
Poke holes in the lid
shake occasionally

Cheers!

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Gone Thrifting!

My favorite Ft. Lauderdale thrift store was
having another sale. Here's my latest haul. 
 I was on a mission to find white mugs for 
a craft project.
 Find I did! I picked up 18...
just to be on the safe side.
All the mugs were 25 cents that day.
I also found a set of 4 red covered bridge
mugs that I thought would be great for Fall.
They are from England and now live in
Florida with me. 25 cents. 
 I also found 4 very cute Valentine's mugs.
I'm planning ahead.
 fun
 more fun
 I found a small covered casserole and an
 ironstone pitcher.
I love the original Corningware. 
 Three vintage boudoir lamps.
I'll use the 25 cent lace valance at Christmas.
...Planning ahead.
 Milk glass lamp was $2
 Crystal boudoir lamp 1 
The silk lampshade was
soaking in a bucket of soapy water.
(it came out perfectly clean)
 Crystal  boudoir lamp 2
It has a class chimney and the rim
has tiny holes for crystal drops
 (that unfortunately were missing).
I'll find something to replace them. 
 A clay wine chiller, a silver Oneida leaf
shape platter, a copper gratin dish with
riveted brass handles that I've seen on the
internet selling for over $200
All look great after a little cleaning.
 I love finding hand crocheted potholders.
These were in perfect condition for 25 cents.
 These were double thickness. I'll put them
 in my 'green' storage container
 for St. Patrick's Day.
And what would a trip to the thrift store be
 without finding crocheted afghans?
There were lots....but I only picked up 3.
for $3-$4 each.
 Spring~Easter
 Pink and burgundy.
 Red~White~Blue for the 4th of July!
 A great vintage buffet that is just asking to
 be chalk painted. The top drawer is divided
and there are shelves behind the side doors.
 It was only $39. 
See what I did with my last buffet HERE.
Wood crib (ends and side rails) was FREE. 
Future project.
All this for around $90 and going to a worthy 
charity too.  It's a win~win!

Cheers!