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!

Links: Organizing Junkie,
Beneath My Heart, The Tablescaper,
Stephanie Lynn, Coastal Charm,
Between Naps On The Porch,
Confessions of A Plate Addict,
A Stroll Thru Life,
  Savvy Southern Style

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!

Links: The Shabby Creek Cottage,
Stone Gable, Savvy Southern Style,
No Minimalist Here, Common Ground,
Between Naps On The Porch,
The Girl Creative, Bloom Designs,
The Charm Of Home, Finding Fabulous,
My Romantic Home

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!

Links: The Tablescaper ,
Between Naps on the Porch,
A Stroll Thru Life, Coastal Charm,
Savvy Southern Style, Oh My Creative

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!

Links: The Shabby Creek Cottage,
Between Naps On The Porch,
Finding Fabulous, Common Ground,
My Romantic Home,
My Repurposed Life