Clipboard Wall Art and Framed Thread Rack

I've arranged and rearranged the furniture in my office/studio/sewing room space about 15 times in the last year and a half.  I don't know anything about feng shui, but something just wasn't working for me.  I finally think I have it just the way I want it, so of course I needed to dress up the walls.

My first wall art project is a clipboard art collage.

These 6 inexpensive clipboards are from Amazon. I designed some printables with my favorite quotes and subway signs from my favorite cities to display on the clipboards.  I love the way they look, and what's best is that I can update it is often as I want with new printables, photos, etc.

My next wall art project was super simple. I framed my thread rack!

My mother-in-law was giving away an old framed print of a bouquet of flowers.  The glass had broken ages ago, and the print was warped and scratched, but the frame still looked great!

I snatched it up right away, ditched the old print and painted it Annie Sloan Provence. It now hangs around my bare thread rack.

Here's a peek into my sewing corner. The folding table on the left will be replaced at some point, and the wooden chair will be painted...eventually. But for now, this space suits me!

DIY Decor Week

Things started to settle down a tiny bit last week, so I had a little time to tackle my long DIY to do list!  Some were half-finished projects, others were ideas on my DIY wish list and a couple were inspired by necessity or a really good sale.  Here's a peak at what I will be sharing with you this week!

Easy {DIY} Vintage Sewing Cabinet Makeover

The months of August and September have been crazy busy for me!  I thought for sure that when the kids were back to school that I would have SO MUCH TIME to get all of my housework, work-work, volunteer-work, and DIY fun-work done that I would be literally searching for something to do...WRONG!

Housework has been on hold, work-work has picked up, and volunteer-work comes in almost daily. This means that DIY fun-work gets squeezed in at all hours of the night while everyone is in bed and I am desperately trying to catch up with my "Mom-only" guilty pleasure shows (Mistresses, Devious Maids, Real Housewives of Miami...)

Here's my latest midnight project:

My Easy DIY Vintage Sewing Cabinet Makeover

My daughter has been asking for her own desk since school started, but she doesn't have a lot of space in her bedroom. As I was searching for a small table I could transform into a desk, I came across this vintage sewing cabinet at my local thrift.

These are a fairly common item at garage sales and thrift shops.  In fact, there were two different ones for sale on the day I found her.  Yep, it's a her....

She was marked at $35 because she came with a working sewing machine installed, still a pretty good deal, but I really just wanted the cabinet.  The tag showed that it was the 7th day since she had been put out for sale, so I asked the manager and he brought the price down to $20, machine and all.

This girl weighed a good 40 lbs, so even if I wanted to just tuck away the machine, I knew it would just be way too cumbersome to keep installed. I unscrewed the bolts and set the massively heavy machine aside for my upcoming charity yard sale.

As part of my search for a desk, I had come across a new (to me, at least) line of chalk paints at a local home goods consignment shop and I decided to try some out.

I fell in LOVE with this coral color called Gypsy by Vintage Market & Design Furniture Paint.  I coordinated it with some Annie Sloan Provence, used the Annie Sloan clear wax and left the hardware with its existing patina.  Not much work, but boy, what an update!

My daughter LOVES it, and it fits right into the little corner of her bedroom.  I'm still debating whether to hang a basket in the hole where the sewing machine was or to cover the hole completely with a thin piece of board, but for now she can do her homework in the comfort of her own room.

Adorable, right??  Now on to search for the perfect chair!




Click here to see the amazing sites where this and my other projects are linked!

 Other\ fun parties:
Saavy Southern Style

Featured: 5 of our Projects on 3 Great Sites!

It's always a good week when our projects are featured! This week, not one, but THREE of our projects were featured on  One Pretty Thing's Before and After Round-up!

Autumn's Aubusson Desk & Duck Egg/Old White Buffet and Yvette's Skirt from a Man's Dress Shirt

Creative Itch featured Yvette's DIY Placemat Clutch on Sew Cute Tuesday

And, last but not least, our blog was given some love and Autumn's Thrifted Chair Revamp popped up on On A Whim!

Take a moment to visit these super sweet sites today!

Thrifted Chair Revamp

Yesterday I showed you what my $5 Goodwill find looked like when I brought her home. Oh, you don't read the blog everyday?! Well then, I will show you once more.



Truth be told, I bought 2 of these chairs ($5 each) with the intention of doing a "His and Hers" set for my husband and I. But after the ups and downs of revamping this little lady I think I am going to need a break to recover from the hot glue burns and the back pain (from leaning over for hours).

All painful creative injuries aside, I think the end result was worth the rocky ride.



I have been pining for this fabric for months now. But I promised myself I would not buy any until
1. I had a project to use it for.
2. It was on sale.

Well the stars aligned and 1 + 2 = my new chair.



After taking the chair apart and removing the pleather (for the record there were about 6,325 staples holding that junk on) I started to wrap the metal frame in macrame cording. Seventy-five yards of macrame cording to be exact.


Then I covered the cushions in my rockin' birdie fabric and used only 2,476 staples. Yay me!
The chair is the finishing touch to my little corner of the family room. I think it is the perfect compliment to my lamp and desk!



And I found the perfect use for another one of my vintage windows -
sassy little wipe off board!

Proof of Before

Disclaimer: Please do not judge the state of this garage. 
We are moving in 5 days and things are a little crazy up in there!


Here is the BEFORE to the desk I so enthusiastically posted the AFTER to last week.



The desk was a nice, solid wood piece with unique hardware. I paid more than I normally would ($70) but it is going to be in the main room of my new home so I think I can justify spending the extra cash!

After I took the desk apart, I layered on 2 coats of my Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Aubbuson Blue. You heard that right - straight to paint. No sanding, no priming! That is the beauty of the chalk paint. It dries so quickly that I went between the desk frame and the drawers without any wait time.



Once it was dry I did some distressing. Perk #203 of chalk paint: distressing is SUPER EASY!

REVAMPER'S TIP:

I used a medium sanding block and let the piece do the talking. Seriously, just start sanding and you will begin to see where the paint is easily coming off. Go with those spots instead of trying to force where you think the distressing will look best.

After the distressing was done, I wiped off the paint dust and any other residue and spread on my clear wax. That stuff is like buttah. Once if was dry I buffed it with a rag (thanks for the tip, Yvette!) to make the finish smooth to the groove.



My kids were so impressed they asked to have their picture taken with the desk.



Now they like to climb on top of it and drive their Matchbox cars around.

Linking to:

    

Revamped Desk in Aubusson

I realize it is not cool to just post the "after" pictures without the "before," BUT...

I left the thingy that takes the pictures from my camera and puts them on my computer in Florida! So until my dad mails it back to me, my project documentation is stuck on my camera. I guess that's why they make camera phones. :)

I was too excited with the outcome - I had to share! This is my first Annie Sloan Chalk Paint experience and I have to tell you to believe every single word of the hype! This stuff is a miracle potion for impatient/non-perfectionist types like me. 

I used Aubusson Blue and the clear wax. I pinky promise I will share the before pictures as well as the process when I have my camera thingy back.

For a beat-up desk I picked up at thrift, I think she turned out to be quite a beaute!