furniture before and after – DIY + HANDMADE + VINTAGE

The little table that could.

Published on October 7, 2017March 31, 2019 by Kelly Whitman2 Comments

There once was a sad little table that no one wanted. It was tossed into a dark corner in a garage, waiting and hoping to be rescued. All it wanted was someone who could see it’s potential and possibility that it had underneath all of the scrapes, scuffs and scars.

Full of spider webs, dust and debris, it waited and waited and waited.

One day, the garage door opened. It saw the sunlight for the first time in what seemed liked forever and it thought, ‘What is this!?’

It felt someone pick it up and suddenly the next thing it knew, it saw the garage door disappearing in the distance. ‘Going to the dump I suppose.” The sad little table thought.

Little did it know, it was on it’s way to be rescued. The table was frightened when it noticed that it was placed in what seemed like another dark corner of a building. ‘Here we go again!’ It thought.

The garage door didn’t shut, and the table was set on top of drop cloth. It heard a loud noise suddenly and it felt all of the years of use, abuse, wear and tear slowly fading. All of it’s scars were sanded away. Deep down it could once again sense a little bit of hope and it knew that this time, something was different.

As a new layer of paint was applied, it felt incredible. If tables could smile, this table would have been wearing the biggest smile you’ve ever seen.

You see, once the tables scars were cleaned out, and sealed off, it was able to live again. It was rescued, redeemed and renewed, much like how God uses hard times in our lives, to cleanse us , wash away our scars and make us new in Him. He never loses His vision for us, we can never be too far gone, that our loving Father loses sight of our potential in all that He created us to be.

This is why I do what I do, this is why I rescue things that have been forgotten. Everything deserves a second chance and a new lease on life.

If you have a piece of furniture that you are thinking of tossing, take a second look. Maybe it just needs someone to care enough to look at it with a new set of eyes.

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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!

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Potato Sack Ottoman

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

“The seeker embarks on a journey to find what he wants, and discovers, along the way, what he needs.”

Two weeks ago I came across a great little ottoman at Hope Gospel Mission Bargain Center in Eau Claire, Wi for $3.00! After my employee discount the total came to around $2.80! What a deal! (p.s. a tip for shopping there, if you are 50+, on Tuesdays you can save 20% off your entire purchase ! )

I just loved the style of this ottoman and knew it was a piece of furniture that I could breathe new life into. Below is what the ottoman looked like as I found it at the Bargain Center, and what was underneath that dirty green fabric!

I let it sit in my living room for a few days, where I could see it, and try to figure out a plan for it. I kept going back and forth between giving it a light beach cottage feel, or a Western rustic style.

As I looked around my home to see what I had for material to cover the top of it, I came across an old potato sack that I found last year at Oronoco Gold Rush Days, where I went on a hunt for anything that had a Western design or feel to it.
The potato sack was dirty and had stains all over it, that discouraged me a bit, but then I discovered that I could simply just wash the stains out!

Below are photos of the potato sack getting a bath. I simply filled the bath tub with warm water and a bit of laundry detergent and gave it a good 10 minute soak, then scrubbed gently with a scrub brush in the areas that it had dirt stains, wrung it out, then hung it out on the clothesline to dry over night!

Once the potato sack was fully dry, I cut it open along the seams on the side and bottom, laid it out on the floor, image side down, set the ottoman upside down on top it it and cut a circle about 4+ inches bigger than the ottoman, so I would have enough material to go over the sides, and underneath the ottoman where I then secured it with staples, using a Staple Gun. After the potato sack was secured, I then painted the legs red and topped them off with Minwax Polyshades stain + poly, and it was finished!

This was a really fun and easy project and the great part is that if I decide I want a different style, it is simple to removed the potato sack and recover the ottoman! But for now, it looks right at home in our old farmhouse.

I hope this blog post has inspired you to see beyond what something IS and to see what it’s potential can be!

Have a beautiful Sunday, get outside and enjoy the sunshine!

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