Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Found. . .

Found.
Discoveries and adventures have been a huge part of my life for the past year. One of which has been road side furniture. It always amazes me what I can find if I keep my eyes open. People abandon some of the coolest things on the side of the road, it is so amazing to find a treasure that was originally abandoned. I have a lady about 10 minutes from my house that has "given" me quite a bit. She had thrown out the shelf and table pictured in this blog post. She also put out a chair that is now newly painted and reupholstered in my bedroom! I mean, how cool is that. It is so fun to transform furniture. Here are a couple of my findings and some stories from this past year. 
Today, I actually came across this SUPER amazing shelf on the side of the road. It hasn't been painted yet, and I feel like it is a brand new canvas for me to work on. I need to run to Lowes to see what color might work best. I'm thinking something happy, like a mustard yellow or red might be sweet. I can't wait to work on it! The only flaw is a tiny crack in one of the shelves. But hey, since when can't wood glue fix that?! Such a find. It is perfect for hanging up headbands that need to be cut and sewn! Psst- those headbands are hitting the Etsy shop on March 1! I am just way too excited. So are Shelby and Cinnamon, can't you tell?!
This chair was actually something I picked up at Miracle Hill for $10. I fell in love with the detailing on the chair back. It used to be just a solid wood color, but I wanted to make it fun for my studio. So! I went to Lowes and got some teal paint (it is a super happy bright color!!!!). I think it turned out lovely. It is one of my most favorite pieces!
This was the table I found on the side of the road outside of a lady's house. She is constantly putting out amazing stuff, I couldn't believe I found this! I had to wait until I was off of school, but I finally went and got it with my grandpa's truck! It was such an adventure trying to get it home, I was so thankful I had the truck. It really was a mess when I first got it. The paint was awful. Like, really bad. So I used paint stripper to get all of the old paint off! 7 hours later, I was sanding it and pulling off the old wood on the top. It had several layers and was so difficult to peel off! My brother ended up helping me pry it all off since I wasn't as strong. The next day, I took wood glue and glued down this pretty rose plywood on top. Then, I got to sit down and repaint the legs and base of the table. It was most definitely a weekend project. It took a LOT of sanding, patience, and painting. Once it was finally done, I realized that it was so worth the wait. I finally had somewhere to work on and paint on in my little craft studio! It was beyond perfect. Plus, are you not obsessed with that metal siding?! It's my favorite part about the table, it is so unique!
This guy was found at a garage sale I passed on a backroad one afternoon. I was almost didn't get out and look, but then I spotted this. It looked almost brand new. So, I couldn't resist! The lady wanted $10 for it. It was in amazing condition, and I couldn't pass it up because I needed storage for all of my fabrics and supplies. I still am not sure as to how I got this home, but somehow I stuffed it into my truck. My little Honda Accord can do anything! It turned out to be a life saver for me. Organization is MUCH needed in my life, so, this helps me on a daily basis. And get this, I never had to paint this guy. He was already perfect. The only thing I did was completely washed, wiped, and cleaned it all off, put in paper and modge podged it to the bottom to create cute drawer liners, and got some eclectic knobs at Hobby Lobby. 
Hope this has inspired you to go make something found into something beautiful. Keep your eyes open, always be ready to find amazing treasures. Happy Wednesday!