Turning Ugly into a Swan

     Here's an example of something "ugly" made new and pretty.  This solid wood magazine rack was painted in "strange" colors: olive green with touches of magenta.  While I like the two tone aspect, I thought I could do better.  To freshen it up, I painted it with aqua colored duo paint, but it was a little bright so to soften the color, I added a few sprays of cream spray paint.  I'm not sure it's finished yet.  We'll see.

    

Fabric Inspiration and Good Bones

     This is an example of letting a print be your inspiration.  While out on one of my treasure hunting expeditions (which I'm no longer supposed to do since I no longer have a booth to sell my treasures after March 1 and my house is almost full to the ceiling), I found a "good bones" wood arm chair at a local charity thrift shop.  It had a nasty seat which was not screwed in and covered in a nasty vinyl.  I'm thinking it was the original covering because it was attached with about 500 nails instead of staples.  The "cushion" seat was also hard as the Rock of Gibraltar.  But...it was $4!  I just can't pass up deals like that.  Off to the fabric store to see whats new in cotton duck prints and I found the most amazing print with off black, pink and green elephants and florals.  

     The vinyl was so stuck on that seat and hard that I didn't feel like wasting my time trying to get it off.  Instead I just added padding right over the vinyl and then added the fabric and stapled underneath.  My next decision was to decide what would be centered on the seat.  There was a large flower in the pattern that would have worked but instead I chose to center a smaller flower and feature the elephants.  Next, what color to paint the chair.  It needed paint because the original finish wasn't special at all.  I had a Pantone color sample of Jet Black satin from Lowes (my favorite: 8 oz. of paint for $2.99).  It was the perfect compliment to the fabric.  

Before and After Retro Redoux

     Even as I get ready to close my booth at Clayton House Marketplace in Covington, I find it hard to quell my passion for finding a new life for furniture.  It's my type of recycling.  I found this little retro  '60s end table at the Habitat Restore for $10.  I really liked the line of it but it was a) dirty, b) ugly color, c) very lightweight in insubstantial.

    

     As I was looking around my garage for any last minute pieces I could bring to the store to try and liquidate before my last day, I stumbled across this little piece.  How to remedy its problems? First I sanded.  Yes, sanded with an electric sander.  No chalk paint for this piece.  Next, two coats of duo paint with primer.  I don't remember the name of the color, but it's aqua.  I bought it a long time ago to paint a bedroom but hubby didn't like it.  The next step was to sand some edges to "bling" out the shabby chic-ness.  Next was a little dark wax.  Not too much because I think the bright fresh color is what it needed to wake up.  I love the results.  Now it's not a) dirty, b) ugly, but c) the weight of it works!