re-new: cottage style

I feel very fortunate to be spending my days lakeside with my family at our little piece of paradise we call home for the summer.  Modest yet cozy, this is a special place that holds years of summertime memories for me as a young girl, and memories that are in the making for my daughters.   Here are a few pictures of the "humble abode".  It is full of eclectic treasures collected over the years and given a second chance at life in our little cottage.

vintage life vest and antique checker board for wall art

little man drink stand dated back to the 50's from when the cabin was built
red oars from hometown garage sale last summer

cow hide sectional.  rescued from neighboring cabin before being torn down.
a local favorite and well known couch around these parts.

my great-uncles life preserver complete with vintage fish hooks  

                                                                                 ~A~

And then there were 7 ...

A little fact about me: I have a weakness for old dressers. Beat up, broken, old little dressers that I can spruce up or repurpose into a side table, entertainment stand, desk, storage, hutch ... you name it. If I am out on a thrifting trip, the odds are pretty good, I am dragging an old dresser home with me at the end of the day ... and my husband is catching on. It feels like I am rescuing little pieces of history, and giving them a second chance at life. Its a sickness. Really.

Meet this little dresser. We will call her Number 7 ... because that's how many dressers I have rescued dragged home in the last year. With the purchase of her, came a pledge to my husband that I would not rescue any more dressers for a while ... but who's counting?

The previous owner, had started the daunting task of stripping the MANY coats of paint off of this one, and this is how it was left. When I purchase a piece of furniture, I have a pretty good calculation in my head of how many man hours I am going to have to put into fixing it up, and I tend to take on the shorter ones. Instant gratification is what keeps me interested. It wasn't really sturdy, and the back needed a bit of repair. Initially, I thought I would have to strip it back down to the bare wood. The top needed some TLC and this would take a LONG time. That's when Anna piped in, that she loved it just the way it was ... and I was inspired. Sometimes we spend hours trying to get the perfect "faux" shabby chic, when we can just work with the original. So that was my plan.

I sanded that top, for what seemed like hours. There was a beautiful maple top hidden under all of that paint and stain. This would give it a bit of a clean line, and also make for a more durable, usable top.

I gave it two coats of stain, and then covered the entire dresser top to bottom with a clear coat to protect it from wear and tear.

Now, I was so close ... for the finishing touches ... I added the pulls ... and Voila! 

Puke! 

I was so disappointed! 

I wasn't going to include this picture, but for the sake of showing you, 

that it doesn't just all "come together", I did. 

These handles did more harm than good to the appearance of this piece, and I was less than impressed. I sent a pic to Jade and Anna ... and they were in agreement ... 

whatever I did, I had to get rid of those pulls!

Look at what a difference 8 pulls can make on a piece. I love this dresser! I think I am going to use it as a mismatch side table set when I put this new bedroom together. 

I think it's one of my favourite dressers yet ;)

~T~

Don't miss out!

Wow, we're so flattered by those of you who have been reading our blog. It comes as a total surprise to us that so many of you care about the junk that we love, and we can't thank you enough for indulging us!

We've been sharing links to our new posts on our personal Facebook pages, but our friends are sure to grow tired of that eventually. If you want to be notified when we publish a new post, check out the Subscribe options in the top right hand corner of this page - you can subscribe using a feed reader (e.g., Google Reader), or via e-mail. 

We have some great projects in the works right now, so bear with us while we slave away in our garages and we promise we'll be posting again soon!

Welcome.

Like any working mom, my time to myself is limited. That means my DIY projects are usually done over the course of several naptimes, or I am staying up until the wee hours.

So quick and easy projects are always high on my wish list.

I love the look of a wreath on the front door at Christmastime, and wanted to find something that would look just as good, all year round. I remembered seeing some moss-covered letters somewhere in the blogosphere and thought that would be the perfect idea to adapt for my front door.

I wanted to find the letter G (first initial of my last name), so kept an eye out when I was out and about. Finally, I found one when Terra and I stopped in at the Hobby Lobby in Minot, North Dakota a few months ago. It was ugly, but the perfect size, and I was planning to cover it anyway. And because it was ugly, it was on clearance - 50% off, a total of $4.98. Of course, I didn't take a picture of the original G because blogging about it was not on my mind at that point, but here's a picture Of a similar one I found on the Hobby Lobby web site:

 

Oh yes, sure, it was lovely as it was. I'm sure you are wondering how I brought myself to cover up that gold glory. But it just wasn't what I had in mind for my front door. So on the same trip to Hobby Lobby, I picked up a bag of this stuff: 

preserved sheet moss

During naptime a few weeks ago, I pulled out the G, the moss and my hot glue gun and set to work. I just sort of ripped up the sheet moss and glued it on randomly, just making sure all that lovely gold was covered, and then cutting the excess off the back so it would lay flat on the door. 10 minutes later, I had the perfect accessory for my front door.

 

 And the best part of this whole project . . .  was that I still had an hour's worth of naptime to enjoy. 

 ~J~

Outdoor Tables Re-newed

When we were first married, and moved into our first home, we had a set of coffee table frames welded for us. This was the time when "tile top" coffee tables were the cool thing to have, and we thought we were pretty good by saving a few bucks and placing the slate tops ourselves. They were well used, and well loved, and eventually we moved them outside to use as side tables with our patio furniture. After weather and wear, and many years outside, they were ready to be re-newed! 

   

Due to the natural slate, and the metal frames, they were destined to rust.

We knocked the tops out, and were left with the original black metal frames. 

I gave them a quick coat with Tremclad outdoor rust-resistant flat black paint.

This project took so little time, once they were dismantled, that I don't have any progress photos ... I used 5/4" treated fence boards and cut into planks that could stand the test of time outside. They nested right inside the black frame. They looked good, but were still a little blah ... so I got out the stencils ... heck ... I still had a half of can of black spray paint, I may as well use it!

   

 ... and they will only get better with time ...  the more they weather and fade!

Laundry Room

My tiny laundry room was desperate for some reorganization and a little life.

On our last 'hunting' trip, Jade spotted this washboard, which I was able to steal for $10 at Rose's Auction in Saskatoon, I knew it would be a great finishing touch!

(those Royal Canadian Mint money bags, were my other find at Rose's Auction for $0.50/ea!

My plan is to wash them and upcycle them as gift bags.)

Anna had an old antique ironing board in her garage that she sent my way.

It wasn't functional so I placed it up above the cabinets along with

 my grandmas old iron and a wash basin.

\

I found a nifty little shelf at HomeSense to house some of my odds'n'ends, as an added bonus it looked really cute! It is also deep enough to house my laundry soap, some clothes pins, and a jar to collect the spare change from the dryer ;)

No big changes here, just a bit of reorganization and a few great finds,

spiffed this room up a bit!

Trash or Treasure

Someone's trash is another's treasure. Words to live by if you asked me.  Here a few of my personal faves....

                          

70's  avocado mixmaster

retro filing cabinets that should never be separated because of their beautiful color scheme

vintage ceramic owl 

my personal favorite, beautifully worn old windows

                                   

HUNT and FIND

Yesterday, Anna mentioned all the great finds we piled up at the best. small. town. thrift. store. EVER. No exaggeration.

When Terra suggested it, I had my doubts. I’d never been wowed by a thrift store before. And after 5 minutes in this store, I still wasn’t sure it was worth the hour-and-a-half drive. True, they had STACKS of stuff. But what I first saw was mostly housewares – lots of coffee pots, melamine serving trays, tchotchkes and knick-knacks and doohickeys. Nothing that was jumping out at me.

I turned down the second aisle past the door and found two adorable milk glass dishes staring me in the face. {I’m putting you all on notice right now: I am obsessed with milk glass. However, I am not obsessed with the fortune that most places ask for milk glass. So I don’t have a large collection. And I didn’t get my hopes up about these dishes because I was sure they would be pricey.} I picked up one and snuck a look at the price tag. One dollar and twenty-five cents. Seriously?! The two of them were in my shopping basket quicker than you could say “steal of a deal.”

Check out the milk glass dishes with the berries in them, 

above, at K’s 4th birthday party

I could see there was still a lot left to explore in the store but I stayed on my path, moving slowly to make sure I didn’t miss anything. Terra and Anna toured on to quickly scope out the whole place before settling into the hunt. I had only made it another 5 feet down the second aisle of housewares when Terra came up beside me, grabbed my arm and said, “You have to come see this. Now.” I could tell there was no arguing with her, and I quickly left the salt & pepper shaker section behind to follow her. She pulled me through a couple of rooms and up a rickety set of stairs that was lined with framed pictures and other wall décor. I was pretty sure we were headed into “Employees Only” territory.

She opened a door at the top of the stairs, and a wave of cold air hit me. Were we going outside? I walked through the door and stopped in my tracks. Anna said it: “Jackpot”

At the end of the day, I walked out of that shop with a life jacket in near perfect condition ($5), a glass cloche to replace one that I had broken a few weeks earlier* ($3 – unfortunately this one has also since met its demise), my two milk glass dishes ($2.50), some vintage Tupperware toys ($2?) and . . . the PERFECT headboard for my little girl’s room. Curvy and tailored in all the right ways, all it needed was a quick wipe-down (easy, because it’s covered in textured vinyl) and a new home at the head of K’s bed. I owe that find to Terra because she found it first and would have quickly snatched it up but fortunately for me, it was the wrong size for her daughter’s bed. 

Oh – did I mention how much that headboard cost me? SIX DOLLARS.

And I think it was meant to be in K’s room, don’t you agree?

*the cloche can be seen in the first picture in this post, on the cake plate with the princess crown inside.

He played Knick Knack on my Door

There is nothing better than a good find ... nothing! 

Especially, when you are least expecting it ...

I present to you these 3 old doors. 
Now, I have been hunting for an old, solid core door that had some good character and symmetry for some time now. The ones I could find were listed for sale at various sites and places for $50 each and upwards. Until I came across these ... all 3 ... for free! 
Jackpot!!

 They sat in the garage for a couple of months until I knew exactly what I wanted to do with them. I wanted to make a headboard from one of them, and the process began ...

 I chose the door that had the best shape and fewest dings to it. I planned on painting it, so it didn't matter what the colour was. I removed all the old hardware--which I have stashed away for another project--and began stripping. I prefer a heat gun and some elbow grease to strip paint myself. It is time consuming, but you have a good control over the finished project. It took me 3 hours to strip and sand the majority of the paint off of this beauty, and beauty she was ... I was so impressed by her raw look, I messaged a pic to my cohorts for their approval in aborting the paint mission. After a bit of pondering, I decided to give it a go, to clean her up to the best of my ability to look like a worn, weathered door.

 This is what the door looked like when I was finished the stripping process. I was satisfied with the colour, but it was still missing something, that finishing touch ...

 So, to this point in the project, my investment to the project has been nothing. The door was free. The elbow grease was free. So I went down to Home Depot to grab some mouldings to attach as a crown to finish off the top of the headboard. The two pieces combined came to a total of $20. The problem now: how to make these new casings look like they have stood the test of time on this rustic old door. Matching 'antique' can be a total stroke of luck, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose ...

First, I found a can of stain from my stash and put a light coat on. It needed a warmer deeper colour to the base. Then I had a can of antique white spray paint. I gave it a good coat and let it dry overnight. When I came back the next morning, I did some rough sanding to create a weathered look, and I was less than impressed. The colour wasn't right, and I was unsure if I would be able to achieve a match. I decided to throw caution to the wind and wing it. I grabbed a can of dark espresso spray paint from my stash and coated over top. I let it dry briefly--partly because I wanted it to mix with the white, and partly because I am very impatient, -- and then gave it another light coat of white and started rubbing. I roughed it up with a rough cloth, and a light sandpaper and kept spot shooting antique white and espresso brown paint until I got a "match" that I was happy with. This was a case of lots of coats and lots of luck, and the finish product looked great! I won!

 I laid the casings in place to see if the "match" would work, and I was convinced it would.

 Now the cutting. I will admit, most all of my projects are self done, but when it comes to woodworking with saws, I like to bring my husband in. Partly because he's much better at it than I (although I will never admit that to him), and partly because if something goes wrong ... I have someone to blame. So we mitred the corners at 45 degrees and used a bonding adhesive to set in place, one casing right above the other. We clamped in place and crossed our fingers. I prefer adhesive for this because you don't run the risk of cracking the casing, and you have no nail holes to finish. The downside to adhesive: it's permanent! If it's not clamped exactly where you want it, you can't move it later on. I gave it a quick coat of clear sealant to protect the door and give it a smooth but satin finish.

 ... and this is how it turned out ... I apologize for the crummy background, but I haven't set it in place yet.

 I am super impressed!

  ... now I can't just create this headboard and put it in place, one project leads to another, until it has become a complete bedroom redo ... with more projects! I won't place this headboard until the rest of the room is done. 
Stay tuned  ...

Jackpot

It was our first hunt together.  Our destination was a small town thrift store said to have many treasures. We hit the highway with coffee and anticipation, and what was found couldn't have pleased us more.   We scoured the store and started piling up our "finds".  Our first hunt was turning out to be a success, this place was definitely worth the drive.  But there was more,  rumor had it that there was an attic, that's right, an attic!  We found our way to the back of the store, climbed creaking wooden stairs up to a musty room so cold we could see our breath.  The three of us stood in awe of what we saw.  Right there in front of us was a room packed full of undiscovered beauty.  In unison we agreed..."jackpot"!  

Aww, that was a good day.  

Things we have in common:

#1 

We're all female. Hopefully our pics prove that(check us out in the sidebar on the right.)

#2

We're all mamas. To some serrrrrriously gorgeous kiddos. Trust me. I'm not biased at all. I (Jade) have a 12-year-old stepdaughter, 4-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son. Terra has a 4-year-old daughter and 18-month-old son. Anna has two daughters, aged 8 and 5. Did I mention how cute they all are?

#3 

We all love THE HUNT. There are many places that THE HUNT can take place: online, in thrift shops, in friends' basements, in back alleys (I've never experienced this myself but perhaps Terra and Anna will enlighten us in a future post about the potential of dumpster diving) . . . and not all hunts end well. But it's the thrill of the chase that keeps us coming back for more. 

#4

We all live in Warman. Saskatchewan. Canada. Read: a few thousand people (6000? 7000? I'm too lazy to Google it right now), 5 minutes away from a mid-sized city and a mediocre selection of thrift stores. Good thing we are all resourceful. (maybe that's #5?)

#5  
(or #6?)

None of us have ever blogged before. Well, that's partially true. I have a blog but have only written a handful of posts over the past couple of years and I'm pretty sure fewer than a handful of people have read them. Suffice it to say, this is a huge experiment for us. And to be honest, I'm not even sure why we're blogging. Seems like it's what all the cool kids do nowadays. So why not? If we don't like it, we'll stop. No harm done, right? And if you don't like it, feel free to surf along to a blog that you actually do like, and we won't hold it against you. Really, no hard feelings. But if you do choose to tag along, we might pass along some secret hunting grounds that we've uncovered, and throw a few Before & Afters at you too. We've got a few tucked away in our pockets. 

So, for those of you who know all three of us . . . what else do we have in common?