Pssst....Guess who's back in business...????

Last year, one of my first posts was about a catalogue company (except for a handful of stores) that  went out of business suddenly. Apparently customers still had orders to be filled and the stores just put signs up and locked the doors one day.  I was so disappointed.  They had such great coastal-y furniture and the prettiest colours to choose from.  They were an inspiration on how to decorate my home as we slowly pull it together.  That store was Maine Cottage.

Nellie End Table

Well.... they are back!!  They were aquired by the company, Russell and Mackenna, and have been able to reopen and keep their same style and quality as before!  As most of you homeowners know, your home is a never ending project of 'I'd like to do this' or 'this room needs to be refreshened', type of thing...so I'm happy to report that I have a renewed inspiration for decorating!!

Nina Swivel Chair

As the weather is warming up, there is that urge to purge the items we have been hanging onto 'just in case'....which makes more room for the items that we really want to make our house a 'home'.  

Looks inviting to me!

As the warm weather is approaching, we may get the 'purging' part done in our house, mostly because the baby will be arriving. We have that 'nesting' syndrome going on here...so the redecorating part will be put on hold for a while!!  But at least I have a new website to look at in the wee hours of the night when I am up feeding her!!  :D

As always, while everyone else is 'purging', you can grab their stuff at a fraction of the cost if you like to garage sale!!  There are many treasures out there waiting for your DIY ideas to transform them!!

Remember my chair from last year???  Opps...I just realized I never showed you the desk I transformed!!  I will work on that to show you soon! Promise!

Happy Treasure Hunting!

Spray painting!

Yesterday, Hubby and I got some things around the house done...the weather was beautiful to be outside and we didn't have any commitments. Our neighbour actually had a garage sale and I picked up a cute little metal shelf for our 'cabana'.  

What 'magic' a little spray paint can do!!  I am usually the one who plays it safe and sprays/paints it white, but I changed my mind this day!

  This little plant stand had some pretty good rust spots on it, so I used a wire brush and brushed away at it!  It actually use to be my Grandma's...what a great retro piece!!

This black shelf is the one I got from my neighbour's garage sale...it had quite a few rusty spots and bubbles that I also took the wire brush too...it didn't really even out the bumps, but it did get rid of most of the flakes that would show rust spots if it came off after I sprayed it.

And now here are the finished results!!!

This time I thought a 'pop' of colour would be nice for my soon-to-be painted white cabana...I found an aqua spray paint good for metal and thought it would be fun since I am planning on a   'beachy' feel in there.

I really like how this one turned out... all the bumps are not got from the top as I couldn't get it scraped completely flat, but I figure that something will likely be on top of it anyway.

I really don't have an exact place in mind for these yet...I am just believing that all my treasures will fall into their perfect place as I put the room together (Hubby keeps wondering 'why do I need another piece??') He will understand when it all falls together....

Hope you enjoyed your weekend!

P.S. I know my fonts are all different this post..but I did some copying and pasting and can't get them all the same...so they are just going to stay the way they are!!  ;)

Garage Sale Transformation!

A few years ago my Father in law offered me this old desk that he had gotten from the College he works at, because he knows I like to paint furniture white!  Now, he is a carpenter (an awesome one too) and I'm sure he cringes each time I light up when I talk about 'painting' something. Anyway,  last fall when he came for a visit, he brought up the old desk for me!!!

So...now I had this desk, but no chair to sit on! One Saturday last fall while garage sailing, I came across this chair for 50cents!! It was pretty plain looking, simple lines and tatty old material on it. For 50cents, it was perfect!!

I found some pretty material in the colours that I wanted my 'office' to look like (the pretty pinks and greens that Lilly Pulitzer are famous for) and got busy sanding! Taking the old material off the seat was easy, some of those staples were really in there, bought a new piece of foam at Walmart for under $10 and used some primer and white paint that was left over from the bedrooms.

I used the old foam to trace around on the new foam and then some sharp scissors to cut it out...I also used the old material to trace onto the new material and left some extra room, as my new foam was thicker than the old one.

After the chair sanded, primed and painted, I worked on cutting out the foam and material...I quickly searched the web for recovering a seat ( I think I might have looked at a Martha Stewart one) and then got out the trusty staple gun!

I will not lie, it did not happen perfectly the first time! I had to pull numerous staples out to make sure the material wasn't puckering in places or stretching more on one side than the other...I even enlisted Hubby to help me a few times to staple while I held the material in place. I am new to the whole reupholstering thing, but I guess you learn as you go!  It was actually fun working with him....he was a very good listener!  Ha, ha

I was so excited to put the seat on the painted chair and add it to the desk...but my Mom reminded me, if Little Miss was going to be 'crafting' there at all, I would be wise to Scotchgard the seat first!!  Mother's are always right. ;D

So I sprayed the seat and left it to dry in my laundry room over night. The next morning I screwed the seat back on and ..... VOILA!!  My 50cent chair had been transformed!!

I will show you the desk soon!

I found this little saying on another blog that I follow and I thought it was so...awesome, that I had to share it too!!