Sewing desk #2 - Ladder style

 

     So, are you tired of seeing desk/shelving projects around here yet? My work shop room is just about situated the way I want it, so this should be the last one for a little bit.

     I decided to move my little industrial style desk to a different spot in the room and put my serger on it instead of the sewing machine. Therefore, a new solution was needed for the sewing machine. Enter two old wooden ladders. One I found in a closet in this house when we moved in, the other I found at a junk store a while back. Happily, they were the same height and perfect for this project.

      I laid a board across the top and screwed it on from the bottom side.

     I dry brushed it with white, mint green, a bit of orange, and brown.

     I painted a few scrap boards to add some more storage options.

      I already had the chair on hand, which was the perfect height as well.

      Oh, and check it out! I finally got around to painting that cinder block wall to match the other one! While this desk may not be everyone's style, it fits the ticket perfectly for me... sturdy, simple, non-generic, and quite functional. I adore it. (Plus it was free to make, so that's always a major plus!)

       Of course, the reason I needed to do this project, was that I had two little Easter dresses that needed sewing...which may have not been finished until five minutes before walking out the door Easter morning...

      ...and my little girl's were just as pretty at two little robin's eggs...but, maybe I should consider not procrastinating next year...but, that's a different tale for a different time.

   
   Psalms 37:39   But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: he is their strength in the time of trouble. 

Linking to:
Lolly Jane
Home stories A to Z
Chef in Training
Sugar Bee Crafts
Not Just a Housewife
Kammy's Korner
Stardust - Decor and Style
My Girlish Whims
Someday Crafts
Miss Mustard Seed

Industrial Style Desk Makeover

       We've been having some really lovely sunny days lately. Definitely not the sort of days I want to spend holed up inside slaving over some boring wall that needs painting. On a nice warm sunny day, the thing to do is dress your kids in grungy clothes and let them go stomp in the mud puddles to their little heart's content, while you pull out some random piece of junky furniture to fix up.

      I found this beauty at a thrift store and immediately liked the sort of old school industrial vibe it had. The top was particle board and the seat was some ratty vinyl stuff, so that all needed to come off. I freshened up all the metal with some spray paint.

      I needed a new seat for the chair, and decided to make my own with some scrap wood.

       Only one problem, I had no foam for the seat. Well, good thing I'm not picky about these sorts of things! An unused throw pillow did the trick for me just nicely.

      Using some fabric I found in my stash, I stapled it all directly to the back of the wood.

       It made just the nicest little seat you ever saw!

     There was one other problem with this little arrangement that I needed to do something about. The desk was just a smidgen too short for my rather tall self. I scrounged around amongst my treasures and found some wheels I had saved off of some discarded piece of something who knows how long ago. It really does pay off to save things you might be able to reuse! The wheels added just the needed amount of height. Wheels make anything niftier anyway.

       Luckily, I had some wood left over from making our counter tops (Which I am dying to show you, because I looooooooove them!) that was just the perfect size for the desk top.

      A coat of stain and two of poly later...one super cute desk!

       Totally more fun than painting walls, wouldn't you agree?

         This little desk is currently operating as my sewing table, and is pushed up against my horrifically ugly unpainted cinder block wall. Which pretty much is a daily reminder that I need to paint the thing, and fix the floor, and....ok, anyway, back to my cute desk...

      In other news, I'm in the midst of painting my kitchen...and if the tedious time consuming-ness of it doesn't kill me first, I'll be giving you the grand tour soon! I love what paint can do for a room! It sorta shocks my eyeballs when I walk in there, and I'm still at the priming stage! Love it!
P.S. I'm having a Spring sale in my shop, all bags 50% off!

Luke 6:35   But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.

Linking to:
Tatertots and Jello
Miss Mustard Seed

Home Stories A to Z
Suger Bee Crafts
Kammy's Korner
Not Just a Housewife

Simple DIY Pendant Light

    There are certain things in life that I find truly annoying. Parking lots that don't connect. Finding out I'm out of ketchup. Coffee spilling all over my purse in the car. Paint drips. Contacts that won't stick to my eyeballs. Little girls playing in toilet water. And bad lighting. Especially bad lighting. This house could win awards for bad lighting. I don't get it either, the light bulb is not a new invention. They had light bulbs in the 50's didn't they??!! Maybe shadowy, dark, dingy houses were fashionable back then. I don't know, but I've declared war on the shadows. This house will light up brighter than the Christmas tree in Times Square when I'm done with it. (Do they have a Christmas tree in Times Square? I don't actually know, but if they did I'm sure it would be bright.)
   Unfortunately, there is an extreme limit to where new lights can be hard wired into the ceilings. This house is mostly wood, and you can't just go hacking holes in wood to run wire through like you can drywall...unless of course you plan to replace the whole wall...which would require some pretty substantial funding. So, what is a light loving gal to do, but create her own light?

     As you might have already read, we have begun work in the kitchen, and it has major lack of light issues. I'm hoping that when we replace the ceiling light, that will take care of most of the problem. But the sink needed some extra light, I don't want to be chopping of my digits because I can't see what I am doing. (I'm dangerous enough when I CAN see what I'm doing!)

     (Oh, I see you peaking at my new faucet! Can't wait to show you more on that later!) I made this simple pendent light in about 15 minutes and it cost me $15. All you need is a portable pendent light, like this one. I got mine from Lowes. It is basically a super long cord that plugs into the wall with a light socket on the end, and an on and off switch attached.

      Next, you'll need the shade of your choice. You can use a regular lamp shade, or just about anything else you can dream up to make work with it. (Bonus points if it's got rust on it!) My shade of choice was this metal pitcher I got at the thrift store for, oh, maybe 25 cents or so.  If your object doesn't have holes in it, you'll also need tools to make some holes.

     I punched a small hole in the center of the bottom, and a larger one off to the side of that. The larger one needs to be able to fit the plug through it. It doesn't have to be pretty, no one will see this part.

    Pull the plug through from the inside.

     Position the socket securely in the holes.

     Now hunt down a light bulb and bask in the warm glow of your new light!

     It makes my heart pitter patter. Truly. And, since I have three other rooms that most unfortunately cannot be hardwired with new lights, I expect you will be seeing several more posts on this same subject. Who knows, I may end up loving my "junk" lights better than my new store bought ones!

Psalms 119:130   The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple. 


Linking to:
Kammy's Korner
HomeStories A to Z
Chef in Training
Sugar Bee Crafts
Someday Crafts
Homemaker on a dime
Boogieboard cottage
Under the Table and Dreaming

Behind the Front Door - The Before and the After

     There's a funny thing about this house, it makes people give "the look". When we told our realtor we wanted to go see this house, she gave us "the look". She was very opposed to wasting our time (or hers!) with it. 

       I got "the look" from the nice fellow who came to change my locks the day we bought it.

      I have to admit, I even gave "the look" to my mister the first time he showed me the pictures of the house online...but then we went to see it...and I just knew it could be something beautiful.

      A scrub brush...

      ...and a bit of paint, can go a long way...

     ...to helping "the look" disappear for good. There needs to be a few trips the thrift store and to the flee market, to help round things out, of course.

    The goal? Make it tidy and functional...

     ...keep it personal, tell a story...

     ...make it feel like a home.

      Goal accomplished.

      The nitty gritty details are below, if you are into that sort of stuff! If not, enjoy your weekend!

Silver plates - thrift store
Iron hooks - Hobby Lobby
Shoe picture - My picture of my family's shoes I modpodged to a board
Picture hooks - Plant hooks turned upside down from Walmart
Bench - roadside junk store
Crate - Flea Market
Rug - Walmart, I painted, Tutorial Here
Table - actually a sewing table that was given to me and I painted
Mirror - thrift store, painted and glazed with black
Lamp - salvage shop, painted and glazed with black
Lamp shade - I made, Tutorial Here
Scrolly dodad - Thrift store, painted and dry brushed with silver
Birdcage - Thrift store, painted
Welcome sign - Made from a thrifted cabinet door and letters from Hobby Lobby, painted
Home Sign - Hobby Lobby
Chandelier - Lowes
Walls - Sanded with liquid sander, primed with Zinsser Bulls Eye and painted with semi gloss Behr Antique White from Home Depot (tutorial to come)

Deuteronomy 33:25   ...and as thy days, so shall thy strength be. 

Linking to:
Simple Home Life
Between Naps on the Porch
Funky Junk Interiors
Six Sisters Stuff
Show and Tell Saturday
Someday Crafts
Kammy's Korner
HomeStories A to Z
Chef in Training
Sugar Bee Crafts
My Girlish Whims

A Very Improper Bathroom Redo

      Did you do a gift registry when you got married? I did one. I clearly remember carefully selecting perfectly matching towel bars, hand towel rings, and toilet paper holders.

    I picked soap holders, and very proper little trashcans.

      The thought that one is not required to dress a house in perfectly matching items from an acceptable house wears store never even occurred to me!!

     I remember a great many silly opinions I had a new house keeper.

       I distinctly remember throwing a fit about all the white walls in my first house.

      I bet you can't guess what color every single blessed wall in this house is going to get painted?!

       I would have turned up my nose at much of the thrift store "this and that" that now I love to scatter about the house.

      To put a kitchen run in the bathroom would have been totally unacceptable.

        One must do what what is acceptable to do!

       The problem with acceptable ... it's just so bland.

     I would hate to know what I would have thought of this house, if I had seen it back then.

       It's funny time can change you isn't it?

      The lesson I'm learning in this house? Look at what it can be, not at what it is! That is how God looks at me, and I am ever so grateful.
   
Philippians 1:6   Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: 

Linking to:
Someday Crafts
Homemaker on a dime
Boogieboard Cottage
Project Inspire
Under the table and dreaming
Between Naps on the Porch
Tatertots and Jello
Funky Junk Interiors
Six Sisters Stuff
Show and Tell Saturday