Back Yard Upgrade: New Chairs

Have I said how much I LOVE THRIFTING!?!  I do.  There is nothing better than the surprises that comes when you enter a thrift store.  Last week I shared the amazing catering cart we found at the local salvage shop.  Well, a few days later I totally scored at Goodwill.

After taking the kids to the library we ran in to Goodwill which shares the parking lot! {heart} This particular day I was greeted by a variety of amazing outdoor furniture.  In the mix were 6 matching large metal chairs.  They needed pads and a little love but the price was right and they were totally meant for our pool area.

With our hot sun and dry air, well-made metal outdoor furniture is a must.  Wood dries out and plastic becomes brittle.  These metal chairs were perfect so I immediately scooped them up and brought them home.

If you follow me on Facebook you may have seen this sneak peek photo.  Hubby and I decided that freshening them up with a coat of oil rubbed bronze would give them the like-new look.  The finish was just a little weathered and faded but not bad at all.

Next step was finding the right cushions for the chairs.  I will admit, this part sort of broke the budget, coming in at twice as much as the cost of the chairs themselves.  We chose a great, super plush cushion-back combo from Home Depot.  They fit perfectly and look amazing.

 I took this photo after sitting there this afternoon watching the kids swim.  So comfortable.

 

They work well with the little side tables we picked up last year on clearance at Target.

 

I love that we were able to add 6 new, comfortable chairs to our backyard pool area.

The thrift store has totally brought new life to our back yard!  The additional storage is amazing and the new seating is so inviting.  Come back next week for a full tour of the back yard upgrade 2013!

 

Back Yard Upgrade: Catering Cart Makeover

This weekend here in Arizona we are under an Extreme Heat Advisory.  That means 110 degrees and higher for several days.  Having a swimming pool is critical in our attempt to stay cool.  Going in to this summer, we knew we wanted to make a few additions to our back yard to make it more usable for our family and for parties.

Our objectives for the back yard are as follows:

1. Storage/Bar Area
2. Comfortable and more seating
3. More table space
4. Create a purpose for west side of yard (currently a dirt patch, this will be next summer's project - need to save $$$)

Today I am very excited to share the results of our first objective - creating a storage/bar area.

For the past 6 months, we have been on the hunt for a piece of furniture to make over.  The piece needed to provide storage for towels, sunscreen, pool toys/goggles, etc.  It also needed to have a surface to be used like a buffet for drinks and snacks when we are out back.  We really thought we were looking for a dresser or buffet similar to the buffet we found for our living room.

Then one day, we were at one of our favorite salvage shops and came across this beauty...

Yep, an old beat up catering cart that reminded us of those that are used by the airlines.  It was sitting just outside the dumpster.  Had we not rescued this gem, it was going to the junk yard!  Nooooo!  We knew it was just what we were looking for - a conversation piece, a piece we could bring back to life and make our own.

This dirty, faded, sun worn, dried out, rusty cart with missing doors was a bit of a challenge.  It took a few attempts to take it all apart.  We broke a few bolts in the process but got it apart with the help of a blow torch to loosen a few rusty pieces.  After a lengthy pressure washing we were ready to go.

Since we immediately thought airline beverage cart when we saw it, we decided to go that route with an aviation color scheme.  We chose a dark blue for the shell - painting both inside and out.  We kept the metal pieces as is for an industrial feel.  We gave them a good clean and buff and reattached them with new hardware. 

We removed the broken door hardware.  With no doors on the piece we decided to create a simple roll-up dust cover for the front of the unit.  I went to my fabric stash and found the perfect orange and white awning striped outdoor fabric.  I love how the orange played off the blue. I sewed a simple curtain with pockets at the top and bottom.  Through the top pocket we placed a metal strip.  We bolted the curtain to the top of the piece.  The bottom pocket has a piece of dowel to add some weight and structure for when we roll up the cover.

 I added a couple of ribbons to hold the cover up when we were using the cart.  I plan to add a couple of pieces of Velcro along the sides of the cart to help hold the cover in place when not in use as the wind catches it and blows it around.

We created a few adjustable shelves for the unit.  I then hit the dollar store and found the perfect baskets and tubs to store items on the cart.  I was so excited to find our colors. 

 The best part about this piece is that we rescued this forlorn cart and turned it in to an amazing gem.

I'll be back next week with part 2 of our back yard update.

The Perfect Little Desk

Dilema #1: 
There is this awkward space to the left of our fireplace that most likely was designed to house a bookshelf to hold the components to your home theater system.  We have neither currently so it is just an odd looking space.

Dilema #2: 
Our kids are forever wanting to play on the computer.  However our desktop computer sits in the office at the front of the house.  We don't want the kids in there playing without being able to keep an eye on them.  So I have been contemplating how and where we could move the computer into the main room without it becoming a focal point (read: messy catchall area).  I love that we have the office space that can house my craft supplies and our home office "stuff".  Reality right now - the office is a storage room where boxes, papers and "stuff" goes to hide because the room has doors!

YIKES!!!

Solution:
The other day I stopped in to my favorite Goodwill store and found the PERFECT FIT!  There amongst the small furniture and other oversized items was a small, Mission style desk that I was convinced would fit into that awkward alcove to the left of our fireplace.  It Did!!!!  I also found a great, simple white chair to go witht he desk. And the the perfect spot to tuck away the computer for the kids was found.

Of course, a birch wood desk and a white chair do not quite go with the warm wood and earth tones in our home.  So I headed to the store, picked up a few cans of satin finish dark brown spray paint and got to work.  I originally thought I would put a glaze over the paint to give it some character but we actually love how it came out so no glaze was necessary.  I did, however finish the top with 3 layers of polyeurothane to further help protect the surface from the inevitable wear and tear it will receive from 2 young kids.

I want to wait a few more days for the finish to fully cure before we put the computer on the desk but I couldn't wait to share this with you.  The kids are so excited to have the computer out here in the main room and to be able to play their games.  This project has gotten me revved up to finish the two student desks I picked up last fall at this awesome flea market that one of the local churches holds.  These desks need a bit more "love" before they are ready for paint but I hope to finish them up this month.  They will love having their very own work spaces in their rooms.

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Paint Chip Wall Art

The walls are slowly becoming "accessorized" to coin a phrase from my daughter's favorite book Fancy Nancy.  I have been working on our guest room as my Mom is coming to visit in a couple of weeks and I want her room to feel welcoming.  As I mentioned yesterday, the repurposed headboard wall art I told you about yesterday was planned to put in the guest room but may just find its home in another room.  So I still needed a plan for this room.

I loved this idea over at Creative Passage for a paint chip mosaic and I new I needed to use this idea somewhere in my house.  Yesterday I was delivering a few boxes of girl scout cookies to a friend so I ran in to a thrift store that was in the same shopping center and found these awesome custom frames - I swear there were like 15 or 20 of them.  I grabbed 3, then stopped at Lowes to load up on some paint chips from their Seaside Retreat collection.

I kept the blues together, the browns together and the greens together and I love the look.  I simply layed them out, taped them with some scotch tape so they made a sheet.  I had to trim them slightly around the edge since this was a somewhat unusual frame size.  My chips had rounded corners which left a small opening at the corners so I simply taped a piece of copy paper to the back so that the openings were white.  I may go back and embelish each of those corners with something but I haven't decided.

I love how they turned out and can't wait to share the entire room but I have a couple of more projects before I will do the big reveal.  I did run back to the thrift store and pick up 6 more of the frames as I have an idea for our office with these frames and some gift wrap I picked up on clearance at Christmas.  At $2.00 each I couldn't resist.  These are really nice, custom frames with real glass.  I may even pull a couple of them apart and make a square fram with the long sides from 2 frames (and of course a smaller square using the remaining sides).

Repurposed Headboard

I love hitting yard sales and thrift stores.  You just never know what kind of treasures you may find.  Last week I headed across town to the new, expanded Habitat For Humanity Store and saw this circa 1960s headboard.  Not really my taste and while it looks like wood, it is formed plastic over a piece of particle board, attached to a frame with just a couple of screws.  I wasn't in the market for a heaboard and it really wouldn't go with the more modern feeling of our home.

BUT, all week long this silly $10 headboard kept popping in to my crafty brain.  It kept saying, "I am not a headboard, I am a beautiful architectual wall hanging, buy me, bring me home, let me be beautiful."  (I know, it can't talk but that is what I was hearing.) 

I have seen many beautiful pieces of furniture out there in blogland that started out gaudy and dated given a new lease on life with a coate of paint.  So, when I was back on the west side of town over the weekend I swung through the Habistore and it was still there (elation)...I picked it up and carried it up to the check out.  When I got it home I loved it even more.  I immediately got out the drill and pulled it apart.  I grabbed the can of creamy white spray paint I had bought for a different project and went to work. 

Here she is...isn't she amazing.  They need another coat of paint but I am in love.  My plan was to put these in our new guest room, but while sitting on the couch last night and looking at our beautiful new Behr Pure Earth paint on the walls, I had an idea...what would they look like in that great big opening above our fireplace.  So I grabbed a couple of them and propped them up.  Even my husband loves the look.

 Only problem is, it would be awesome if we had 4 of these beauties - sadly there are only 3.  One idea is to hang them vertical one on top of each other, 2 verticle with one horizontal and then add a wrought iron piece, or ....????  So until we come up with a plan, I guess we will just lean two in the giant opening.  We both love, love, love the contrast of the creamy white against the earthy beige.

This love story is to be continued...