Make Me Over Monday pt 2

Posted on September 30, 2013 by Vintage4YourHome

I’m taking you on a series of Make Me Over Mondays. I’d like to share more of the “I can’t believe it” moments with items I’ve done. Ok.. It started with getting a phone call from someone stating, “Hey – I’ve got a few things for you to sell so if you’re interested, come over so I can show them to you. The appointment was set and now it’s time to pay a visit. Well entering the basement, there were some desks which is what she thought I’d be interested in getting. Also, there were some lamps, jewelry and a few other bric-a-bracs. But tucked in the back corner of the dingy basement were two chairs.. they had mold stains and were completely destroyed. Those are what caught my eye.. so here comes the question.. “How much for the chairs”.. she looked at them and then looked at me.. and said – “Those aren’t for sell – they’re going in the trash”.. I said to her “Well those are what I want. She said “take them.. it’ll save me the trouble of moving them”.

🙂 Music to my ears…

Now I know you’re thinking the same thing, too – here she goes again.. “Remember it’s the thrill of the hunt – with the element of surprise. Now the main focus is the white chair.. notice the shape of the chair, the rolled arms and the curved back. Nice.. right?? Ok, ok, ok, don’t pay attention to the nasty, crutty fabric or the mold because it’s all going to be changed. The main focus is the shape of the chair… repairing it is all cosmetic.. As long as it has a good bone structure and it’s still sturdy, it can be repaired and brought back to life. I’m really digging how the arms are rolled and tufted. You know this was once a really beautiful chair.

Uugggghhhh…. so now that you see it up close – you can imagine the musty damp smell of the basement. This is another job for “Underdog” – our super hero Upholsterer. Delivering the chair was not a fun task because I had to keep the windows down.. and it was cold outside…chuckles… Well the drop was made and he shook his head… “Oh brother – here we go again” Lol… I know he cringed, but hey – what could he say…. I was one of his favorite customers..and as I told him, “He should thank me… I’m perfecting his skills by giving him challenges”.. smiles.. Well the fabric of choice was a dashing red velvet.. Ooolala….

The fabric was delivered and he smiled and said OK.. that’ll work… so after 3 weeks of anticipation.. rrrring! “You’re chair is ready” …. smile…

Now this chair has a home…. and a chair is still a chair.. even when there’s no one sitting there.. A chair is not a house but add this along with other wonderful finds and it becomes a home… at least I think so.. I hope you do too.

Another chairstory to share is this one:

Now this chair was found in a garage belonging to the man who owned a local thrift store I use to visit often.. I hardly ever walked out empty handed. He had a storage garage out back of the building and I happened to ask if he had any chairs for sale. So I found this one in his building. He only wanted $10.00 dollars for it. Can you say “yippeeee”!

I know.. .. “why do I keep putting myself to this challenge.. – of course you know why.., I can’t help it.. This one wasn’t as bad as the other. The cane was in tack so it basically needed to have the wood polished and of course new fabric. When I delivered it, the upholsterer didn’t have that “Oh no -here she comes again” look when he saw me coming with it.. chuckles…I’m so glad we always had a cheerful personality dealing with each other.. makes doing business so much better. With much ado…here is the finished product of the chair..

The story of two wonderful chairs that were saved from the landfills.. and that helped to make a house a home…

As always – It’s VivaLa Vintage – Gorry to Glam..

And I’m still in love with them!

If you’d like to share your Make Me Over with me, please feel free to.. I would love to see it.

Make Me Over

Posted on September 23, 2013 by Vintage4YourHome

I’ve had a love of make-overs for quite some time. For the next few weeks I’ll be featuring “make me over” Mondays, which is paying tribute to the lovingly restored items found along the way. It’s an intriguing feeling when you see a once lovely piece of furniture thrown away without regard or care and thinking can it be revived. I remember how we use to get anxious about bulk trash night wondering what will be the next trash to treasure we’ll find. There have been many long nights spent cruising neighborhoods looking for things thrown away because they no longer want it, or it’s broken down or things that they believe are hopeless. Such is the story of this antique slipper chair. It’s apparent this chair has been stuck in someone’s attic for so many years and the family finally decided to let it go and decided to trash it. Well as fate would have it.. it was destined to be mine. I looked at it and tried figure out what happened to it… why would someone mistreat it, or to even say why would it be so black and blue. I know people thought I was crazy out my mind for thinking about putting this in the backseat of the car. But I couldn’t resist. It was love at first sight. I could clearly see the beauty this chair once had. So, it was scooped up by me.. and when I brought it home.. All my husband and sons could think was…”She’s really crazy”.. but.. I shrugged them off and said, now just wait and see..”

I know you’re probably saying the same thing ….chuckles…. but look closely at the chair.. .. do you see – what I see??? notice the wire springs, the detail of the shape.. and look at the back.. it was stuffed with horse hair and cotton fiber.. which means this chair has quite some age on it.. probably turn of the century. It’s clearly this darling little chair has suffered quite a bit of abuse over the years and is screaming “HELP!” for some loving soul to save it.

I figured this was going to be a tough job it restore it back to its original beauty. I had to recruit the best upholsterer in town and had to find the best fabric to really enhance it’s beauty. Since I wasn’t in a big rush I took my time. After months of searching, I found the right fabric that would enhance the beauty of the chair. Now comes the feeling of excitement .. knowing she’s getting ready for her new look. When I got the ” your chair is ready” call.. my heart became overjoyed and asked “how did it turn out? He replied.. wait till you see it.. with a smile.. I rushed over to pick her up and needless to say he got a big hug! What a wonderful transformation. I brought her home and here she is: Isn’t she lovely… made from love.. This was her place in my bedroom to complete the vintage look.

Since this picture we’ve moved and she still looks just as wonderful in my vintage bedroom we now have

I am truly happy with my little slipper chair.. It’s a great feeling knowing she didn’t wind up in the dumpster waiting to be destroyed.

It was well worth it..

Cute Little Cabby

Posted on June 25, 2013 by Vintage4YourHome

Saturday was such a beautiful day. The weather was absolutely wonderful and I decided to finally work on this little cabinet I got for free back in November. My sister was doing a house sale and it was an item that no one wanted..so she decided to bring it home, well she had no place for it and was going to dump it. Luckily I saved it just in time..I brought the cabinet home with me and kept it in the garage to air out.. It had the dreaded “OLD” smell… chuckles.. Let’s see.. of course I have to have music for my listening pleasure, so I popped in my Joe Simon and Lou Rawls cds along with a few other classics and began my project. The cabinet was still sturdy but the scraping and sanding was harder than I thought. I managed to get the surface somewhat smooth. This is the cabinet before:

I’m done sanding and scraping, so next comes the primer

Ooops,,, Almost forgot to tape the glass.. so I had to take care of that before I continue.. ..

Next comes the spray paint. I used the metallic silver as my selection.

Next – its LUNCH TIME,.. gotta take a break and lunch was ” Salmon burger w/monterey jack cheese and chips.. Yuuummmy 🙂

Back to work and I sprayed another coat of metallic paint …. this cabinet is turning out pretty good – I think

It’s dry and time to put it to use…I figure in the bathroom for towels and toiletries would be perfect for now

The crystal candy dish makes a good powder puff dish – don’t cha think so too?

All done!! Another job done and all for less that $15.00… I just love great finds…

Off my Rocker

Posted on May 30, 2013 by Vintage4YourHome

Now that the garden beds have tamed and things are mellowing down, now its time to sit back on the porch and sip my lemonade. I didn’t have rockers for the porch and decided to go hunting for some. Here is one I found at Lowe’s for $99.00 and needless to say.. nope..

http://www.lowes.com/Patio-Furniture/Patio-Seating/Outdoor-Rocking-Chairs

So, next stop, Home Depot and I found one quite similar which was this one for $119.00:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/t/203816488?

Neither of these fit my budget. Remember, I’m the frugal shopper. I came across some rockers that were in need of repair. They had no seats and the wood was drab, but for $5.00 each I figure I can work with them. The structure was sturdy, which was the main reason I decided to bring them home. I painted them white and scraped some of the paint to “shabby” them up a bit

Then I bought some burlap strap and this mesh strap( wasn’t sure which one would hold up the longest so I figure I’d try them both).. I did a basket weave on each seat and stapled them to the wood. The key to this is to pull them tight for a firm seating.

I found a pair of colorful seat cushions from my favorite store Marshalls for $14.99 each that really made the rockers look cheerful.

These babies are finished and I’m a happy rocker.. 🙂 total cost of this was $40.00 – I saved $160.00 from buying new ones.

Closet turned Office

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Vintage4YourHome

The pile up

It’s been a long time coming and finally I’ve decided to tackle this project. When we moved into the house, the closet’s were the least of my worries to work on. I knew eventually I would have to deal with it. Since I said this year would be my “Clear the Clutter – and Get Organized” year, I felt this is perfect. I needed a space to call my office and since it would be a million times cheaper than adding a room so the clutter closet became my spot. Now it’s embarassing to show the before, but I’m sure many of us have an eye sore. So here it goes..”gulp”.. 🙂 because I’m so pleased with the end.