Repurposing Renovations

Ok, so as previously stated I am....thrifty. Why pay for something that you could do yourself? Or you could re-use, re-purpose or recycle?

This page is dedicated to my "re-purposing" projects. ENJOY!!

 

Project #1

Finding New Life in Clint's Yucky End Tables from College

 

 

I was thinking of low-budget ways to redo my master bedroom when I was snooping out in Clint's garage and found these yucky end tables sitting outside. After a moment of deliberation I decided to turn them into matching night stands. I couldn't beat the price...FREE!!! Suddenly an idea struck....Now I started working before I realized I didn't take a before photo, so this is an almost before pic. 

I LOVE the distressed wood, shabby chic look!! So I knew I wanted  to try to achieve that, in the past I have painted furniture and then sanded the edges to create the distressed look. This time however I tried a new approach and I think it turned out quite well. 

 

Here is what I did:

STEP 1- I cleaned off the end tables so I had a clean slate to paint.

STEP 2- Since the end tables were already pretty raw I didn't need to do any stripping or sanding.

STEP 3: Here is where it gets interesting, instead of taking my white paint and applying it evenly all over I dipped my brush into the paint and then wiped away almost all of the paint back into the can so that I had very little paint actually on my brush. I am going to name this the "dry brushing" technique. By doing this it allowed the wood to show through my night stands. 

STEP 4- Now this step I didn't actually do but looking back I think if I had taken a dry  rag and lightly rubbed the paint I could have eliminated the lines from the brush, giving it more of a clean look.

STEP 5- If you did not achieve enough of the distressed look, once your paint dries you may want to take some sand paper and rub down the edges of the piece until you reach your desired look. 

Here is the final result- What do you think? 

 

 

 If you would like to see the rest of my bedroom reno projects click here to check out my OLD DOOR HEADBOARD!!!

 

 

 

Project #2

Transforming My Garage Sale Closet Doors Into A Shabby Chic Screen 

Now you may have seen on my FABULOUS FINDS Page the Lovely Pair of Closet Doors at a garage sale for A $1 A PIECE!!

STEP 1- I cleaned off the doors so I had a clean slate to paint.

STEP 2- Since the doors were already pretty raw I didn't need to do any stripping or sanding.

STEP 3: Here is where it gets interesting, instead of taking my white paint and applying it evenly all over I dipped my brush into the paint and then wiped away almost all of the paint back into the can so that I had very little paint actually on my brush. I am going to name this the "dry brushing" technique. By doing this it allowed the wood to show through my doors. I like this because it is always easier to add more paint, than it is to try to get rid of too much paint. 

STEP 4- I used some leftover Interior White Paint that I had in the garage so my paint expense was VERY minimal, not to mention I really didn't use very much paint.  

STEP 5- So after I got the right amount of white paint on my doors, I decided I wanted to age them a little by adding some Black Paint VERY lightly over the doors. Now of course I can't find any acrylic black paint when I need it from my stash, so I had to settle for black spray paint. 

 

STEP 6- I  sprayed a scrap piece of wood that Cooper had been painting on with my white paint. I mixed some of the white with the black and VERY LIGHTLY brushed it over my doors.

That's it!! 

Here is the Final Result for a total cost of $2!!! 

 

 Not sure if they are going to stay there, but I think they will look good anywhere!!

Thanks for stopping by!!