Furniture Revival – DIY + HANDMADE + VINTAGE

Curbside hutch makeover.

Published on December 26, 2019December 26, 2019 by Kelly WhitmanLeave a comment

I am someone who loves a good transformation story, whether it be about someone’s own life or simply the transformation of a forgotten piece of furniture. This curbside hutch is definitely a transformation that makes the DIY’er in me skip for joy.

A few months ago, I transitioned from living in a farmhouse out in the country to a small townhouse in the city. This process wasn’t an easy one, but it forced me to minimize drastically and to step back and look at what really matters in life. In order to make my move easier, I left a lot behind and also donated a lot to our amazing local thrift store, Hope Gospel Mission Bargain Center. Once settled into the new townhouse, I knew that there would be furniture pieces I would need to find in order to make things here work and have some kind of organization. I believe everything should have a place, or it doesn’t belong. Yes, I’m one of those people who thrives off of organization and order in a home.

Feeling a bit disorganized in my kitchen, with minimal storage, I knew I needed something to act as a storage space for my special dishes, as well as a space to act as my ‘office junk drawer’ which would hold loose papers, mail, pens, scissors, etc. I knew I couldn’t spend any extra money on furniture that month, so I was just waiting, hoping something would come along at the right price: free.

Then…shortly after I moved in, I saw an online post for a free hutch. Not just any hutch, but a mid-century modern hutch that was begging for some tender loving care. I, without hesitation, contacted the seller, hopped in my van, and headed over to get it immediately. The hutch was halfway across the leaf filled lawn. I opened the back of the van, walked up the the hutch, went to pick it up… and realized it was heavier than I had anticipated, so I stepped back, looked at it, and had the typical DIY’er thought “Is it worth, hurting my arms, legs and back, to get this home?” The answer, was of course, “Yes!” So, pondering for a minute, I tried to think of how I could get this across the lawn solo. I tilted it on it’s side and pulled it across the lawn, carrying about 50% of the leaves in the lawn with it. If anyone was watching out their windows, I’m certain that they were slightly entertained. A few leg bruises later, I had lifted it up into my van, and got it home safe and sound.

Here it is before I started working on it, once I set it in my kitchen, without the glass and the bottom two doors:

I gave it a good wash, and got to work. Using Beyond Paint’s color ‘Pebble’ I gave it two coats of paint and let it rest. I truly think waiting for paint to dry is one of the hardest thing for a go-getter who just wants to get a project done! (*ahem* me!) After waiting impatiently, the hutch was dry, complete and ready to be staged! The best part!

I gathered items I had in my booth at The Shed, and a few other items I had just moved out of boxes. As I’m writing this, it has already been re-staged and has a few different things inside and on top! I will post an updated photo soon, for anyone who is interested in how I style my hutch, just give me a shout in the comment area below.

Here she is in all of her mid-century modern glory:

Here is a side by side of the before and after so you can really see the transformation:

A few photos of the inside:

Having a small kitchen, a piece like this, although it takes up room, it is an essential piece for staying organized, and can serve as many different things, as I can change out what I store inside, anytime I’d like.

Remember to always try to have eyes that see potential, where others see nothing. There is so much beauty to be found, if we look at what something can be, instead of what it is.

Make sure to follow along over on Facebook and Instagram to see more of my projects, adventures and as always, inspiration.

Railroad crate coffee table.

Published on August 21, 2017October 31, 2020 by Kelly Whitman1 Comment

I love it when something ordinary jumps out at me and I instantly see how it can be extraordinary.

Last month I came across something that stopped me in my tracks, (pun intended)… An old Railway Express Agency shipping crate. It was worn, dried out, beat up, and begging for some true old fashioned TLC.

Without hesitation I hauled it home, where it has been sitting in the corner of my living room, until last week when I finally decided to move it out into my workshop where I have a line up of projects ready to tackle. I figure if I added it into the line up, there would be a better chance that I would be inspired to work on it!

I immediately knew what this old crate needed and I got to work.

I started by scrubbing it down and using tack cloth all over to make sure there wasn’t any loose dust or particles before I went to the next step.

Next, I added two coats of clear Zinsser Shellac.

I was working in my work shop on a mid 80’s day, so the Shellac dried extremely fast. I was impressed at the dry time, and it didn’t leave any sticky feeling behind.

I added Shellac to the entire exterior, interior, and lid. Once the Shellac was dry, it was time to add on the caster wheels. I picked these wheels up a few years ago and have been waiting to find the right project to use them on. This was it!

Adding the shellac pulled out all of the historical characteristics, markings and words. I love the transformation that shellac does to wood! It is a beautiful process!

I remember during my childhood when my dad would ask me to assist him with projects and it would always make me feel so special to help him, even if it was just handing him nails, I felt so important. Now, when I work on projects, I try to find a task somewhere during, that my kids can help me with, hoping that when they grow up, they will not only have memories, but will have useful skills that they can use too!

I asked my son R to help me with the caster wheels. He is usually a little hesitant with projects, but with me showing him an example and putting the first screw in with the hand drill, he jumped right in and took over. He is 13 now, and I feel like time is flying by. I want to be the very best mom possible and teach him all that I know, while he is still here with me!

Adding caster wheels is not a complicated task! Don’t let it scare you! Caster wheels come in many different sizes and you can get ones that swivel 360 degrees, or ones that only roll backward and forward in a straight line. I always get the ones that do a complete swivel, this makes it so much easier when moving things around, especially if it’s something like a coffee table that gets pushed and pulled in all directions by everyone

After he added on the four caster wheels, it was time to add some pulls onto the lid, for easy opening. This is when my son ran way. Hah. I give thanks that he stayed with more for at least a small portion of my project!

The pulls were picked out by my 8 year old daughter. We were looking for something rustic that looked like it had always been a part of this old crate.

Since these pulls had a bit of a bump out on the bottom where it would meet the crate, I had to measure the size of that bump with the drill bit gauge. (Pictured above on the left). I used that size drill bit to go into the wood just as deep as the bottom of the pull needed to go in, then on the underside of the lid, I drilled in a hole that was one size smaller than the screw for a tight fit. I didn’t have any pull screws on hand that were the right size, so I made due by placing two washers in between the lid and each screw so it was nice and snug and secure.

One the pulls were installed, it was time to sit back and smile at another project well done and another piece of forgotten furniture brought back to life and rescued!

Yardstick side table.

Published on November 6, 2016March 30, 2019 by Kelly WhitmanLeave a comment

Have you ever head of the saying, ‘Do what you can, with what you have, where you are?’ That quote applies to many different areas of my life. Particularly to how I decorate my home, and how I create.

I live 15 miles out of the city, on an old hobby farm, so trips to town do not happen every day, and I usually find myself digging around our sheds and my workshop when I am trying to build or create something, and try to make do with whatever I can find. Sometimes I don’t even know what I’m creating until I’m 50% done with a project!

This little table was a thrift store find several months ago, and I finally got around to giving it a bit of a makeover recently.

Table Before

I sanded down the top of the table, and lightly sanded down the legs. Then I gave the legs & table edges a fresh new coat of Rustoleum hammered metallic spray paint in a bronze tone.

I topped off the table and the sides of the table with old yardsticks that I cut down to size using my chop saw. After applying the yardsticks to the table top and sides with small tack nails I rescued from my Grandfathers garage, I finished off the table top with a nice coat of Minwax Polyshades (stain + poly top coat)

Table After:

Another fun project, and another piece of thrift store furniture rescued!

Visit me on Facebook for more DIY projects, ideas and inspiration.

Travel inspired desk.

Published on September 17, 2015March 30, 2019 by Kelly WhitmanLeave a comment

“For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” – Robert Louis Stevenson

If you are a regular follower of Anchored Way Trading Co, you by now know that I am a lover of travel, adventure, wandering back roads and the outdoors. I find myself often day-dreaming of driving the car, down an old back road in the mountains of Montana, windows down, radio on, the wind blowing through my hair… (okay let’s be realistic, … * the wind blowing my hair into my face…) , and nowhere to go, ..but everywhere.

I’m a dreamer. A day dreamer, yes. A night dreamer, of course, but most importantly, I believe in the dreams that God has instilled into this heart of mine. Progress, no matter how slow, is progress. A step forward, is still a step, no matter if it’s a running step or a walking step. Little by little, we get closer to becoming who God created us to be.

With each piece of furniture I create, I feel more like me & I feel my wings opening further. This, an artist, is who I am. I am here, to create and inspire you.

I came across this lonely desk while I was working at Hope Gospel Mission Bargain Center in Eau Claire, Wisconsin and knew it needed to come home with me to my workshop. I knew, it had potential, I could see it.

I was originally planning on giving the desk a new life and selling it at my favorite little local coffee shop, The Living Room Coffee House in Eau Claire, but once finished and placed in a corner of my living room, it was like the desk looked at me and said ‘Let me stay right here,’ and there, it still sits. Now it has a new life, a new home and is once again loved and provides my kids and my family with a little school / home work station and organization for all of the papers they bring home from school every day.

There it is friends! Completely perfect for our family! I used an old Montana map, that shows two of the towns where my kids first saw the mountains a few years ago on a road trip. I was blessed to have been given my late Grandfathers chair that he used in his basement workshop at his desk, every time I look at it, my heart smiles, and every time I sit in it, like I am now, writing this blog post, I know my Grandfather would be proud of the work I do.

If you are interested in a custom furniture piece, like this for your home, or place of business, feel free to contact me with any questions; endlessacres@live.com

You can also follow Anchored Way Trading Co. on Facebook.

Have a blessed day- get out there and unleash your inner artist! Dream, Create, Believe in yourself!

Products used in this transformation;

Arrow Drawer Pulls – Junk Gypsy at Gypsyville.com
Paint – Sherwin Williams- Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Stain- Minwax

Red license plate dresser.

Published on May 27, 2014March 30, 2019 by Kelly Whitman1 Comment

“Go and make interesting mistakes, make amazing mistakes, make glorious and fantastic mistakes. Break rules. Leave the world more interesting for your being here. Make. Good. Art.” ~Neil Gaiman

I love being an artist. It is my passion. I love the feelings that come along with creating and transforming a piece of furniture. It gives me such satisfaction to take something old, worn, and broken and restoring it and giving it a brand new life and a new purpose.

Last week I got an idea for this brown dresser and marched forward with the vision and the details came to me as I went along. Here is the before image of the dresser;

Before. Red license plate dresser by Endless Acres Farmtiques

How I transformed this dresser:

Sanded and painted red.
Applied a thin layer of Minwax stain + poly.
Removed drawer pulls and filled in holes with wood filler.
Attached rusty license plates to each drawer, for character.

Dresser after:

I hope you enjoyed this transformation!

TV Stand dresser.

Published on March 18, 2014March 30, 2019 by Kelly WhitmanLeave a comment

‘ The art of living is always to make a good thing out of a bad thing.’

~ E.F. Schmacher

Art to me is about vision. It is about seeing potential in something that others may not see. It is about taking something and changing it, making it unique , making it your own. It is about expanding your eyes to see beyond the norm and the usual. Today’s project is just that.
It is about how I took a normal little white dresser and made it into something different, and gave it a new life as a TV stand.

Here is the dresser as it was before:

Here is a list of what I did to the dresser to make it into a tv stand;

Sanded, and painted entire piece, including sides and insides of the drawers in Sherwin Williams ‘Light French Grey’ paint.
Removed the top drawer and added in old cedar fence boards using small finishing nails, to make a shelf.
Drilled small hole into back wall of dresser to allow cords to go through if used as a TV stand.
Replaced original hardware with yardsticks for drawer pulls. The yard sticks have been stained lightly.

Here is the dresser after;

Thanks for viewing my latest project! If you like what you see here on the blog, you can follow along with me on Facebook!

~Kelly

9 drawer dresser.

Published on March 11, 2014March 30, 2019 by Kelly Whitman5 Comments

“As soon as I saw you, I knew an adventure was going to happen.“

~ Winnie The Pooh

My son just turned 10 last week. I am trying my hardest to not let his age make me feel sad about the fact that I am losing my ‘baby’ boy. It is a hard transition when they go from sweet little boy who follows mommy everywhere to becoming so independent and not needing their mommy as much any more. I miss those pounding little fists on the bathroom door every time I take a shower, I miss the tugging of the pant legs when I am needed for something, I miss the sweet calls of ‘Mommy come play with me’ from the other room. But I am also thankful to God that my son is a healthy, adventurous boy who has been with me for 10 wonderful years. He has now grown into someone who loves the Lord, enjoys a good conversation about anything that involves facts, loves getting dirty in the mud, and is one of the greatest travel buddies I’ve ever had.

Lately he has been really interested in my projects, and has been asking me what I will be working on next when I am in between projects. He has enjoyed going with me searching for my next project and I can see a huge change in him that has happened recently, where he is really understanding and appreciating the work and love I put into my furniture makeovers. As a mother, it is such a great feeling to have a son that wants to learn from you and also looks up to you. And now I also see, that even though he is getting older, he still does need me, just in different ways. This morning before school, he hugged me and said “Mom, thanks for making my new dresser and my other desk too, I really like them both.” Ahh, talk about melting a mothers heart!

I have slowly been working on getting his room together and out of all of the rooms in the house, his is still my favorite, and the closest to being ‘complete’ . Last year, I worked on making over an old desk from a thrift store for his room, and this year I have been in search of a long dresser with plenty of drawers for his clothes & toys. I was lucky enough to have a friend donate a dresser to me over the weekend and once I saw it, I knew it was exactly what I had been looking for , for my little mans room!

This is what the dresser looked like before;

I let my son pick out the colors and theme for the dresser. Below is a list of the changes that I made;

Stained the top of the dresser & legs with 3 coats of Minwax Polyshades in Classic Black.
Painted dresser & drawers in red satin paint.
Stained over the entire dresser & drawers with Minwax Poly-shades in Classic Black (which is stain + polyurethane) to give it a dirty/aged look as my son requested.
Lined the drawers with ripped out pages from a 1973 issue of Popular Science Magazine.

I decided to use the original copper pulls that were on the dresser, I just love the patina that they have and their simple, straight lines.

I completed this dresser in a day and today I am planning on setting it up in my sons bedroom to surprise him with the complete product when he gets home from school

I hope you have enjoyed my latest furniture makeover, and that you leave feeling inspired to take on a project at your house too!

Thanks for reading,

~Kelly

Pretty in pink vanity.

Published on March 1, 2014March 30, 2019 by Kelly Whitman2 Comments

Let your smile change the world, but don’t let the world change your smile.

My sweet darling 5 year old daughter is one of my greatest joys. For several months she has been asking me for a pink dresser. I’m happy to say that I finally found her a beautiful wood vanity that was in need of a major revival.

Below you will find the steps I took to transform this beat up brown vanity into a beautiful pretty in pink vanity for my daughter.

Sanded down entire piece, including drawers. Wiped off debris and dust with tack clothes.

Applied 3 layers of pink paint to entire piece, including the drawer sides and one top coat of clear Minwax water based polyurethane in Satin finish to add extra protection.

Lined drawers with old story book pages, using Mod Podge .
Taped off sides of drawers to add a 3″ turquoise strip sides of drawers.

Drilled new holes for new hardware. This time, the drawer pulls covered up the old holes, so no wood filler was needed.

I finished this project in 2 days time, and had it all set up in my daughters room for her to see when she got home from school today. She was so excited , she even started jumping up and down. Success! 🙂

Here are the after photos, enjoy!

I am really happy with how this vanity turned out, and even happier that my daughter loves it! Her room is finally starting to look like a bedroom!

Thanks for reading, I hope you all have a wonderful night and weekend!

~Kelly

Rope Dresser.

Published on February 25, 2014March 30, 2019 by Kelly WhitmanLeave a comment

Today I woke up with a huge burst of motivation. So I ran with it. I completed 5 somewhat simple furniture transformations between 8am and 4pm. All of today’s projects were completely spontaneous, I just wandered around the house and basement looking for items to re-do and had them all out at once, jumping from one project to the other as paint dried and continued on like that for the whole day.

This dresser was purchased several years ago, it was originally a light brown, but was in bad condition, I had painted a quick coat of white paint over it last year, and it has been sitting in my daughters room ever since. Today it was begging me to give it a new look, so I did!

I sanded down the entire dresser, drilled new holes in the drawers to fit the rope pulls, and painted in relaxing a grey-blue.

Below are the before & after photos, enjoy!

Dresser Before;

Dresser After;

If you enjoy what you see here on the blog, you can also follow my DIY adventures on Facebook!
Thanks for reading,

~Kelly

Mid-Century Modern Desk.

Published on February 14, 2014March 30, 2019 by Kelly WhitmanLeave a comment

“Laugh at yourself, but don’t ever aim your doubt at yourself. Be bold. When you embark for strange places, don’t leave any of yourself safely on shore. Have the nerve to go into unexplored territory.” -Alan Alda

When I started my DIY business and blog, I said a prayer, mostly giving it all to the Lord, asking for his blessing on it, and to help me to continue to praise him in my projects and to guide my hands as I work. I feel since I ‘gave my business over to God’ that he has blessed it greatly. Just like in my photography business, where I pray before each photo shoot or adventure, before I start a project… I pray. By doing this I feel that it allows me to focus on him and that I am working for him in all things I do in my life, whether at home, or on a project for someone else.

As I transform pieces of furniture and work on projects, I also continue to feel Gods presence and a peaceful feeling in my heart, that this is what I am meant to be doing. I hope a lot of you see the passion , love and labor that goes into my projects and that each piece is a unique piece of heart.

This week on Tuesday, I went searching for a new project, and found a new ‘victim’ within 10 minutes of looking! It was a blond colored straight lined wood desk that was begging for my attention across the thrift room floor, by showing off its retro style legs while the rest of the desk was hidden among some chairs. Here it is once I cleared it out. It needed some work, but I knew I was up for the challenge.

Below is a list of how I revived this regular desk into a beautiful bold desk;

Sanded entire desk
Repaired back of desk with small finishing nails
Spray painted feet of desk with Rust Oleum’s hammered spray paint
Stained the top and the drawers of the desk and the legs of the desk with Minwax Stain + Polyurethane, Satin, in ‘Antique Walnut’ .
Primed & Painted the rest of the desk in ‘Sunstroke’ yellow.
Lightly stained over the yellow with ‘Antique Walnut’ by Minwax.
Cleaned & lined the drawers with Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin maps.
Drilled larger holes for new pulls. & added new pulls.
Personalized the back with an inspiring quote + signature .
Below are after photos of this bold desk makeover, enjoy!

Thanks for reading about my latest furniture revival project, if you enjoy my posts and projects, feel free to follow me on Facebook to see even more projects, ideas, tutorials and lots of inspiration.

~Kelly

Tranquil Dresser.

Published on February 12, 2014March 30, 2019 by Kelly WhitmanLeave a comment

“The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his success, his influence, his power for good. Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom.” ~ James Allen

I love being by the waters edge. If you know me well, you know that I am always going, always working on something, driving the back roads, or getting my hands dirty on some project. There are a few things in life that will slow me down, and bring a sense of peace to my mind, and water is one of them. I could waste an entire day laying by a lake, or walking beside a creek. There is something so serene and calming to my heart when I am around water in nature, in some ways it makes me feel so connected to God , and I love that feeling of contentment and tranquility in my heart.

My love for water, especially Lake Superior, has formed my love for shades of blues and greens, whether its on vintage cars, or in decor in my home, like this tranquil dresser transformation I worked on yesterday.

The color is called ‘Dinner Mint’ but I really think it deserves a better name, like ‘Beach Glass’ or ‘By the Sea’ , but unfortunately I don’t name paints, I just use them. 😉

For this project, I did the following:

Sanded, primed and painted the dresser
Lightly stained the dresser
Added a coat of polyurethane
Spray painted the original dresser pulls in a hammered oil rubbed bronze spray paint from Rust-Oleum.

Dresser before:

Dresser After:

I hope you enjoyed my latest furniture revival project! To see more of my creations and keep up with my latest DIY Adventures, you can also follow me on Facebook!

Thanks for reading,

~Kelly