From Trash to Treasure Tutorial: Mid-Century Modern End Table

Here's a mid-century end table I picked up at a thrift store. I don't know why, but I really like these old retro tables. They're all over the place at thrift stores, too. Since this was my first one, I got a cheap, laminate model for practice.

The shiny laminate was THICK, so I had to really get in there with the sander. 

Since the wood wasn't that high of a quality, I decided to paint rather than stain it; 

so out came the primer!

It took more coats than a normal piece because of the laminate, 

but I went with some retro-green tones that would restore it's retro design.

If you're in the Pittsburgh area & interested in purchasing this end table, please contact me at this blog or email TheVintageMagi@gmail.com. 

"It was more than discovering something that I loved to do - 

It was discovering someone I had always been." 

 ~ Natalie ;-*

From Trash to Treasure Tutorial: Solid Wood Shelves

Here are some free shelves I picked up, after a quick rough sanding.

More sanding & primed:

Finally, a few coats of paint, decorated, & put in my dining room!

UPDATE!!!!!!!

So I think that the color was too dark & made the room look cluttered. 

Instead, I've decided to get away from the mix-matchy look I thought 

I liked for awhile & change to a more fresh & clean white look for my downstairs. 

Downstairs they went for priming...

I picked out some wall paper for the back of the inside that would go with my 

main level color scheme & decided to paint them with 

Rust-Oleum Heirloom White spray paint.

Even though the wall paper had that postage stamp self-stick adhesive on the back, 

I used Mod Podge to make sure it was extra secure. 

Then, I adhered the wall paper to the back of the shelves. 

    

I coated the outside with Mod-Podge as well to protect the wall paper 

& give a uniform finish. 

After everything was dry, I used 

Rust-Oleum semi-gloss polyurethane spray 

to seal everything.

Then they went upstairs & were reassembled.

I've started putting them back together & will post those pictures soon!

"It was more than discovering something that I loved to do - 

It was discovering someone I had always been." 

 ~ Natalie ;-*

From Trash to Treasure Tutorial: Desk Chair, Entryway Stool, and Plant Stand

1) Desk Chair

This chair was free find.

Originally, it was a lighter natural wood that I didn't like. 

I forgot to take pictures before I started this chair, 

but here it is after it's first coat of paint. 

That is the original seat, which was a beat-up fake leather. 

I took the seat off the chair, left the fake leather on, 

& simply covered it using the leg of a pair of stretchy khaki pants

 that I had ripped in the knee (I'm sort of clumsy, haha). 

I stretched the khaki over the seat & secured it underneath with a staple gun. 

Then, I finished the coats of paint & reattached the seat. 

I want to sew a pillow out of the other piece of khaki & will post pictures when I do.

UPDATE: I sewed the pillow in an envelope style using the other piece of the khaki pant legs for the front & two pieces of floral fabric that is the same tone as the red in the room. 

There was also a homemade afghan that on of my husband's 

Great Aunts made that went along with the look of the chair.

A large view of the corner of the living room. I love the vintage telephone, 

& you may recognize the line painting on the wall from an earlier post, 

Painting Tutorial: Quick & Easy Paint Projects for Busy Moms.

2) Entryway Stool 

While I had the burgundy paint out, I decided to refinish a stool that I found while digging for buried treasure! It was used outside & left by the previous owners of our house behind a shed under our deck.

After a lot of scrubbing, a few coats of paint, & a cushion I had 

(because it's ties fell off), it's now a nice seat where guests 

can remove their shoes in our entryway 

(for the time-being because I have a new piece 

I'm working on now to put in this space). 

3) Plant Stand 

Again, silly me, I forgot to take a before picture of this one. 

It had been another free find, once an old plain wood finish with lots of holes. 

I think it used to be a high-chair because of where the holes were 

& it's also very narrow & tall. I used wood filler & white paint 

to turn it into a plant stand. 

I am planning on decoupaging this chair with some leaves or floral art or fabric. I'll be sure to post pictures after I do.

"It was more than discovering something that I loved to do - 

It was discovering someone I had always been." 

 ~ Natalie ;-*

From Trash to Treasure Tutorial: Handmade Ski Decor

These are some skis I refinished for my brother-in-law for Christmas. 

My sister & he built their dream home in a popular ski destination 

in the Laurel Mountains of Pennsylvania.

Here they are in my workshop after sanding. 

After some stuff was removed from them & they were sanded, I used wood filler 

to fill in the holes & scratches, then stained them & painted 

"Stone Family Lodge Est. 2009' 

on them (2009 was the year they built their home) using black acrylic paint. 

On each mitten, I used a metallic silver paint pen 

to paint the names of each family member. 

Finally, I coated them with polyurethane to seal it all.

Here they are all finished for the gift exchange on Christmas Eve.

"It was more than discovering something that I loved to do - 

It was discovering someone I had always been." 

 ~ Natalie ;-*