New uses for old things!

I have a profound and undying love of old things. Windows, door knobs, shutters, molding, crates, pallets, etc. The age and patina of old...and especially reclaimed items can NOT be duplicated.

Want to see some of my favorite old things? Well here ya go...

 Master bedroom pallet bed and antique ammunition box that I JUST refinished a few days ago. A LOT of people probably thought I was a freak of nature when I wanted to sell my traditional 4 posted bed and make a bed of pallets instead...but you know what? I couldn't love it more! It was free...unique...functional...and looks super chic with the light colors in my room and that dark sassy rustic-ness! The ammunition box was a 5 dolla find at a garage sale...i am in LOVE with how it turned out. Adore. Swoon. I will keep it forever! Had to do a LOT of reinforcing and A LOT of bleaching and vinegar-ing to get the smell out. It was NASTY...but I couldn't be more excited about it now!

Old wood and metal ladder with paint splattered all over it in my entry way. I adore this ladder! It is actually really sturdy thanks to some majorly large bolts and metal rungs...and it works great to drape scarfs over and hang coats on too! Plus I like to pretend that you can't see our non-functioning alarm system box that came with our house! ;)

Shoe baskets. The one on the left is from Target and isn't old...but i love it. The one on the right is an old veggie crate that I got outside of a Hispanic grocery store by their dumpsters! I actually grabbed 4 of these on the same day and I use them EVERY.WHERE! They aren't particularly sturdy but they are filled to the brim with character and so useful! Toys, kid shoes (see above), files and such in the office, they work great for so many things!

 Old Naval trunk. This thing is probably one of my fave Craigslist finds EVER. Oh and did I mention it was 10 bucks?! It has brass corners, silver hinges, is HEAVY and sturdy. Fits everything you could imagine! Right now its storing our DVD's and my cookbooks and they are all hidden away! Love it! The bottom picture is the name of the Navy dude that owned it (really hard to make out what it says) and the Port that he was going to. Portland! Which just so happens to be my home town! :) Love a piece with character AND style!

Old shutter as picture display! This is actually not a shutter...but a bi-fold closet door that I heavily distressed and hung on the wall. I adore the way it looks! I also stuck the kick stand of a few of my fave pictures down inside the slats and they make a really pretty picture wall! Oh and it was free!

 Old window as mirror! I scored a couple old chippy windows at a garage sale for 2 dollars a piece....AND...was able to bring them from Portland to Southern CA in a moving truck without cracking the single pane 100 year old glass! AMAZING accomplishment! I mounted this guy on the wall after using looking glass spray paint on the back side to turn it into a mirror of sorts. The glass is very warped and marbled so it looks crazy awesome and antiqued and old! I achieved a very spotty mirror finish by lightly misting the bare glass with half white vinegar/half water first...and then immediately spraying my first coat of looking glass spray paint over that. Then another layer of vinegar/water...then another of paint. Over and over again until I achieved the darkest finish I could. I left the chippy paint intact and even left the latch on it. Love all those details!

Ok so that covers a few of my favorite old things. I hope you guys are inspired to bring home all that nasty old "trash" and make your home more beautiful for cheap!

Have a blessed week!!!

Linking up to the following parties...

Yummy sign....No really!

I've had a long skinny and totally unfinished cabinet door in my possession for a LONG time and I haven't been able to figure out what to use it for. It dawned on me today that what it was meant to be was a sign. I've been wanting to make a sign that says "Yummy" for my kitchen wall FOR-EVAH and I hadn't gotten around to it. Well this was the day! I started with a blank canvas...since the door was totally nekid...and applied a light coat of dark walnut stain. After about 20 mins I wiped it down and let it dry. After about an hour I took two cans of spray paint...one in Rustoleum Dark Gray and one in Semi Gloss White. I sprayed them both at the same time swirly it around so that the colors mingled together to evenly cover over the stain that I had applied. Once the door was totally covered I let it dry. Once it was totally dry I used a BRIGHT NEON yellow oops paint and dry brushed that speratically over the top of the gray/white color. I let that dry. I then found some letter stencils online and printed out the letters to my word "Yummy". I love the font! I cut those suckers out with an exacto knife and taped them securely to my door with a bajillion layers of paint. I lightly sprayed 3 coats of the white paint over the stencils and then quickly removed them. After they were dry I gave the whole thing a thorough sanding by hand to distress and age the finish. Done and Done! It was JUST what I had envisioned!!! I am in LOVE with this sign!!! It hangs right above my daughter's highchair and looks so stinkin cute. I smile whenever I look at it. If anyone out there wants to tackle this project there are a huge amount of unfinished wood cabinet doors to be had in the As-Is section at Ikea. This sign would also be cute with the word "Eat" on it or maybe "Nosh"...lol jk. I hope you guys try this... if you do please let me know. I'd love to see!!!

Free is a very good price!

Hey there! Don't you all love getting amazing, wonderful, slightly beaten up furniture for free? Ya me too!!! I recently did an estate liquidation job and scored some really amazing free furniture! It was all in need of some serious TLC but that's right up my alley...actually I PREFER it like that! Its no fun when the furniture is perfect! ;) Well I almost passed on this little nightstand. It was missing a drawer and although it was sturdy I just couldn't see myself being able to do much with it minus the drawer. But when it was still around on the last day of the liquidation and it was about to be hauled to the dump I thought HEY NOW...its definitely worth a shot! Well I am SO glad I took her home because she's super purty now and I don't even mind that she's missing a drawer! She started out looking like this....

Please forgive the grainy cell phone picture. My camera was missing and I was desperate to get a "before" pic quickly so I could get started on it. This pic was taken after I removed the hardwear and lightly sanded it all over. You can see that the corners are super beat up, veneer was peeling, etc. She needed a major over haul! Luckly some primer and several light coats of Rustoleum's semi gloss white later and she was looking MUCH better...

Better huh? I plan to either sell her or get a basket that better fills that space...but that'll wait until later.
Linking to Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest  
Linking to Catch as Catch Can at My Repurposed Life
Linking to Power of Paint party at Domestically Speaking
Linking to Flaunt it Friday at Chic on a Shoestring
Linking to Furniture Feature Friday at Miss Mustard Seed
Linking to Twice Owned Tuesday at House of Grace

I love trash...anything dirty or dingy or dusty!

Do you Mom's know what that's from? That would be an Oscar the grouch reference! Ok so I'm not here to talk about cartoons but to talk about trash...specifically a beat up and abandoned leuvered (spelling?) door that I happened upon.
Now I am never shy about taking things home...but this door left me stumped. Its not a super cool door that you could just hang on the wall (like Nester) but it definitely deserved to have a purpose and I knew I could do something with it.
Ok...brainstorm with me for a minute if you will...picture a funky, beat up, HEAVILY distressed magazine rack. Yup that's what I wanted to transform this thing in to! I considered removing every other slat...um....nope! Too much work. So instead of doing that I just started sanding away and beating it up and then finished it by spraying LIBERALLY with anti bacterial cleaning spray and wiping it down THOROUGHLY...cuz you just never know where its been! I then hung it on the wall in my bedroom and whatdoyouknow the magazine's fit!!! After it was hanging up there I decided that it needed some extra cuteness. I had an antique keyhole/door knob thingymabob (technical term) and I screwed that to the top. I love how this came out! It gives me functional and funky wall art and it was totally free!!!! You just can't beat that!!
Linking up to Transformation Thursday @ The shabby chic cottage