Typesetter’s Drawer Upcycle – Essential Oils Decorative Rack

We found this typesetter’s drawer for just a few dollars about 6 years ago and just never did anything with it…until last week. I have a challenge in my Blueprint member’s group that consists of 3 things: Clean up/organize your workshop. Make your workshop pretty. Do something special for yourself. I’m joining my members in the challenge and I’m: Cleaning up my office (workshop already done) Making my office pretty Cleaned up the typesetter’s drawer, stained and mounted it on the wall  of my master bedroom hallway.   Here is the “BEFORE” of the typesetter drawer: We decided to take it to the car wash and spray it down – normally you have to be very careful when getting water on old wood because it could warp. But I decided it was worth the risk since it looked like the back had already been exposed to moisture (rippled). Besides, I … Read more

Antique Side Table Updated with OFMP – An Empire Case Goods Co. Antique

Pepper – An Empire Case Goods Co. Antique This is a Sponsored Post I found a sweet little antique bedroom side table from the Empire Case Goods Company at an estate auction. It was in bad shape and everyone was passing it by like it had no more life to it. I knew better. I immediately knew it was a great find and fought till I won it. It was a bit pricey, but totally worth it. Pricey for me might not mean the same thing to others…  Upon a bit of research, I found the manufacturer of this side table, the Empire Case Goods Co., listed in a 620 page library book of Jamestown, New York 1915-1916 Town Directory. From what I’ve read elsewhere, the company was formed in 1912.  This side table was sold by the Donath Furniture Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Their tag was stapled to the … Read more

Upcycled Antique Window Wall Decor

NOTE: All red hyperlinks are affiliate links for your convenience.*   UPCYCLING AN OLD WINDOW I found an old window (click site for window repalcements) at a salvage warehouse and thought it would make a good addition to my living room walls. The only problem was it was old, dirty and falling apart. But I had a plan which is solar tinting as suggested by the professionals. I could see it all spiffed up and shiny new even though it looked like this: I paid $12 for it and asked DH to load it up. He shook his head and took it home for me. See, DH can’t envision like I can, so he often wonders how I can make something like this look good enough to use for decor. Fortunately he’s willing to help and has knowledge from past experience that helps me transform a piece. Reglazing The old … Read more

A Lego Table Upcycle

#sponsored I’ve seen many upcycles, but this type takes the cake. It’s just amazing to me to see what paint and a little ingenuity will do. So many pieces are tossed in the dump because they are outdated and/or in bad shape. But…I had a vision for this one. Here is the before. We got it at a ReStore in Michigan for $5. It was obviously very old. The casters were caked with years of crud & were very tarnished. The leather on top was in decent shape, as was the rest of the body. It just needed sprucing up. I decided to make it into a Lego table for my grandkids for Christmas. I didn’t want to go with the traditional primary colors, so I chose period appropriate colors with a few extras to make it special. Using (afflinks) vinyl spackling in a cake decorating mold, I make “stone” … Read more

Should We Paint Antiques?

It’s time to address the issue. It’s 2017 and there is this common thread running through social media: “NO! Don’t paint that! It’s an antique. You will ruin it!” OR, “Nobody wants antiques any more. Paint it, make it beautiful again.” Who is right? Let’s look for a minute at a little bit of history, specifically, Colonial America… At 6:30 this morning, I woke up and said, “Hey, Siri. What time is it?” The lovely British accent came back at me and said, “It’s 6:31, way too early.” As per usual I grabbed my phone to check my messages on the Forum to see if there were any fires to put out and saw a screenshot from my DH about another debate going on regarding antiques. Oh, boy. Here we go again. One day I’ll tell you about a convo I had to deal with when my DH and I … Read more

Antique Door Upcycle {Love My DIY Home}

How to Upcycle an Antique Door – Part 1

This is my favorite DIY thus far, an upcycled antique door turned into a trendy piece of home decor for just pennies. My DH and I found some old doors at an auction – about two years ago. They’ve been sitting out under our lean-to since, just calling to me, “Paint me, Paint me…” Here are the before pictures – side one. Here are the before pictures – side two. They’re pretty cool in the raw, but I had other plans. This will turn into a series because there were many steps to the project. Step One: Clean and sand both sides, but not so much that you lose the textured layers of old paint. I used a Sanding Sponge, Fine/Medium. These sanding sponges are easy to use and if you don’t use too much pressure, you can preserve the alligator chippy look of the many layers of paint, yet … Read more

Re-purpose Old Chairs

  Re-purposing Old Chairs More on my Porch Decor series… Often when you buy things at auctions they offer a smattering of this and that hoping to snag you on one item just to get rid of a dozen others. Some days my husband announces he won an auction and lists the different things in the grouping. It’s not uncommon for him to submit a low ball bid just to see if he can win. (I think it’s a sickness we’ve both contracted!) There is usually only one thing he wants in the group. If he wins, he brings the whole lot home and asks me if I want any of the extra stuff. Recently he won an auction that had 3 old chairs – dusty grimy old chairs that would only be valuable to someone wanting to have a bon fire… or a DH DIYer (die hard do it … Read more

Love My DIY Home