From Dull to 70's Dreamy

BEFORE

AFTER

I got a little bored with the plain green lamp in our lounge. Then I remembered I had bought this vintage fabric in a charity shop a month or so back, with the intention of re-covering the dining chairs (more on that soon), but the fabric didn't really look right for that project, so I used a little bit here, and at some point I might make a dress with the rest. Easy enough to do -I just cut it to size, then stuck it to the edges of the existing shade using my hot glue gun. Quirky enough to sit beside our second-hand (what else?) sofa which is looking very groovy with its crochet throw-picked up for around a fiver from a charity shop in town.

Folk Art Box

How beautiful is this???!! No, I didn't paint it, but it'll certailnly be providing me with lots of inspiration for other upcycling projects. I picked this up for £6 in Oxfam, Huddersfield. It has some age. I just love the fact that someone once spent ages painting this. It feels like it has stories to tell.
Oh, incidentally, the little sunburst frame in some of these photos was £1.45 from Age Concern. I'm thinking of removing the back and hanging it as an empty frame, or possibly trying to find a mirror to fit it. 

A Tale Of Four Fireplaces

The original fireplace

Exposing the brickwork

Old fire surround with opened up fire

New fire surround

Constructing the Box

The Final Fireplace, with repainted surround.

We've made a few changes with the fireplace this year. Back in Feb we decided to open it up, and expose the brickwork. It wasn't long though before I had found a really nice fire surround in the charity furniture place for only £10. This was slightly bigger than the original, so we had to expose a little more brickwork. But I wasn't happy with the colour of the new surround,  so having lived with it for a bit, I decided to repaint it. We also didn't like the open fireplace as we were getting a lot of dust etc down the chimney. So we made a box to slide in the hole, from materials we had in the shed, and filled it with logs from a tree that we had pruned back in the garden. Next we added a frame around the front of the box and slotted it into the space. Now we love it!

DVD Cabinet Makeover

I had been looking for a way to keep DVDs out of sight in the living room, when I happened upon this unit in my favourite charity furniture warehouse for £12. It was a very plain dark brown colour, so I used some previously acquired skills (from my days living on a narrowboat) to liven it up a bit. I used acrylic paints and a coat or two of satin finish varnish. This now as the Gypsy Caravan from my earlier post sitting on top, which goes really well.

Little Boxes

This was a little dark wood box that I have painted with test pots and covered the drawers with wallpaper samples. A quick sand, and a coat of varnish and ta-da!

It's A Dog's Life

We happened to be in a charity shop in another town (I was buying a board game), and while we were in there, a lady brought in this gorgeous wicker dog bed. After the donor had left, I asked the lady behind the counter how much she might be selling it for. It was a snip at £4, and it saved her having to find a place to display it. One happy dog.

Showing Off My Drawers (A Before and After)

I got these drawers is my favourite Charity Furniture Warehouse last year. In August I picked up an assortment of quirky knobs, and in September I decided to cover the drawers with wallpaper samples, stuck on with strong PVA glue. The top had already had to be trimmed a little as the dog had had a bit of a chew on it, so I covered that in an amazing leatherette wallpaper, which I have now topped with a piece of glass re-purposed from an old picture frame (it happened to be a pretty perfect fit). The sofa in the top photo also came from the same store a year or two ago.

Gypsy Caravan

I spotted this little gem on the way out of a local house clearance shop (having bought a wardrobe - more on that later). Initially I gave it a passing glance, but the further from the shop I got, the more I heard it calling me back....so I gave my husband the money and sent him back in for it! It was priced at £5, but the shop owner reduced it to £3. It stands in our living room on the DVD cabinet (again more on that later, and you will see how well it works there). Incidentally - the sofa in the background there came from a charity furniture warehouse (£30) and the crochet throw was from a charity shop also.