Junk in the Trunk

That's what was in my trunk last night after a thrift shop run. Junk.

I found some more junk, but I had to practice self restraint. Really, what was I going to do with a landscape painting of trees for $3? Granted, it was an original canvas painting with no frame for CHEAP.... but come on... trees? My inner conscience keep screaming at me "that doesn't fit the decor in your house, Gaby!!" Alas, I surrendered and put it down.

This is all the crap that I found and did bring home.

1. Wine Chiller from Sharper Image.... this thing retails for $100, I got it for $5!!
2. Lamp Base ... $5 and totally perfect for the guest bedroom.
3. Bronze candelabra... $1 but needs a good cleaning.
4. Christmas tree cloche... $1.50
5. Roll of textured wallpaper... $3 ... omg omg omg omg, SCORE!

For the GRAND TOTAL of $16.53!

Dining Room Server Redo

After a long and rather un-fulfilling search for a reasonably priced server/buffet/credenza/sideboard/whatever, I finally found one that fit the bill at the Salvation Army. She wasn't in bad shape, but she wasn't necessarily going to win any beauty pageants like this --- especially with those grimy hinges and hardware.

Given that this was my first ever paint job, I clearly had no clue what I was doing. Please disregard all streak marks :)

Now we have a place to store all our fine china!

Cost Breakdown:

Server = $60

Hardware = $23

2 cans of primer = $10

3 cans of spray paint = $9

Total Cost = $102

If I may say so, I think it's much better than the $250 particleboard hot-mess sideboard I was eyeballing at Ikea. :)

Chair Redo

I bought this chair last Thursday, took it out of my trunk on Sunday, bought the foam cushion for the seat Monday morning, upholstered the seat cushion Monday evening, and spent a big part of Tuesday spray painting it. Here she is from start to finish:

I forgot to take a before pic before I ripped off that horrid floral fabric, so I just draped it over the cushion to take this pic.

I ripped off layer after layer of fabric for a whopping total of four different fabrics! The turquoise colored vinyl-y fabric below was so GROSS!

The cushion consisted of poly fill and some sort of hair-like fill pictured below. It was gross interesting! All those layers of dirty fabric and gro... I mean "interesting" fill left my hands filthy and the floor in need of some serious vacuuming!

And finally here she is after two cans of paint, a new foam cushion, and some red fabric!

Cost Breakdown:

Chair = $6

Foam cushion = $8

1 can of primer = $5

2 cans of spray paint = $6

1 yard of fabric = $1

Total Cost = $26

It didn't turn out that bad for my first time upholstering! Although, in hindsight I probably should have put more thought into cutting and assembling that foam cushion. Maybe next time!