Lockers..another great find!

LOVE MY LOCKERS!

On the same trip we found our Cotton Mill Cart  we found 2 sets of lockers. They wanted $10 each! I gladly paid that and couldn't wait to get them home and put them to use. When we got them home one of the lockers had a lock on it and we broke the lock...felt like we were treasure hunters..we couldn't wait to see what was inside. We opened it up and found..........RIVETS, a coffee can, a mug and some old packs of crackers..oh well. It was more like Geraldo Rivera opening Al Capone's vault than a treasure hunt..:)

Anyway after cleaning one set I painted them Satin Nickle to match the fixtures in the house. It turned out GREAT! It took several months and into the summer to finally tackle the second set, but I finally did! I did the same thing, cleaned and spray painted. 

We then attached them to some extra slats of hardwood (we didn't want to scratch the new floors) and then put some felt on the bottom. We attched them to each other and adjusted the doors. Some are one door tall and others are two doors tall for larger items. 

We use these for so many things!! Our boy's book bags, Scout supplies, Dog/Cat supplies, blankets, pillows, coolers and homework supplies. This weekend I hope to get my cutter out and make some numbers for them so we can make a list of what is in each one...right now we open 3-5 lockers to find what we are looking for and the noise is getting a bit aggravating. ;)

So for a total of less than $50 we have a really neat set of lockers form the historic cotton mill down the street.

BEFORE

After..Blu wanted in the picture too. ;)

Mother's Day Vanity

Beautiful detail!

I hinted and hinted and even sent a link to my husband. I saw this on Craig's List and wanted it so bad! I don't know why! Well on Mother's day 2012 he brought it home to me! I was so excited! But what should I do with it? I debated just cleaning it and leaving it as is since it was so beautiful, but something kept telling me to PAINT IT! What? Paint over stain? My mom would have a cow! But I went against my upbringing and dove in once school was out. My friend and I had a painting week in my garage-my husband said we only had a week before he wanted it back (BTW--he really never got it back, other projects took over.) So off to Sherwin Williams I went and pick out a light white...I just buy the samples because it works great and I don't have TONS of paint left over.. After cleaning it I started painting!

 

After painting it I knew I had to distress it! I had to find a way to make the details POP! :)

So using light sandpaper I started sanding away...Then I added a little glaze on the drawers only.

Here is the final project and I just love it!! You can see all the detail that you couldn't see when it was just stained.

 I did put the mirror back on..not sure why I don't have a picture of it with the mirror. :)

I have it in my bedroom now..I'm thinking one day I MIGHT sell it, but for now I want to enjoy it! :)

I Can't Get NO....Satisfaction!!!

I love the hunt for new treasures. Going to Antique stores, Goodwill, Thrift stores and then taking those treasures and using them in my home in expected and unexpected ways is so much fun. I have even found many treasures in my own home that I already had, but have refinished, painted, or repurposed them. I even enjoy the satisfaction of refurbishing an item myself. As I was working on some projects this past weekend I realized that I could pay someone to do this part for me (sanding, painting, cleaning), but why would I want to away the satisfaction to someone else?  "I can't get no satisfaction"....from that can I? I would not have as much pride in my treasures if someone else did all the work. They wouldn't be as much fun to show off if I just had someone else do all the work. So here I go again showing off some of my treasures I've utilized in my new home.   Thanks to the world of Pinterest, which is where I've gotten many of the ideas.

The old spool and cheese molds were found at local antique stores, the sign was a gift from my sister and her husband. He made if for us and I just love it!



I love colored glass. I love the blue and the orange and greens all together. The black one will probably move to a new home. I found the blue ones and orange ones at antique malls for under $15 ea. I found the green one at Goodwill for $2. :)



This wasn't a find I made. My sister gave it to me as a gift.
A local artist outside of Mempis made this and again I LOVE IT!

This is our famous headboard. We haven't completed it yet. We are adding a couple of boards and built in lanterns for night reading. Hopefully this will be done in the next few weeks. This door was from an old house next to my parent's property in TN. We took it down this fall and I cleaned it up, fumigated it and oiled it. Once we complete it and my bedding comes in I'll post more pictures and my process of using old barn/house wood.

These pictures are from my boys' room. We inherited my husbnd's old bedroom set from the 70's. It looked like it was from the 70s too. But I couldn't afford to go and buy a whole new set and couldn't see why I should. So my mom and I painted the set a medium gray using techniques I found on Pinterest. I then spray painted the knobs RED. (Both boys' favorite color is red).  Just this weekend I bout them new bed covers and curtains. I will post pictures of the completed room later tool

This is one of my favorite repurposing idea I found on Pinterest. We use them as towel holders in the boys' bathroom. I have 2 more that I can't find in the moving boxes, but as soon as I do it will make a neat usable display. :)

The FORK and SPOON!!! My grandmother had a set in her kitchen when I was growing up. My sister inherited that set, so I just had to go out and get my own set! Found at an antique store for under $15...a gift from my mom! LOVE IT~

UNFINISHED PROJECTS



These are my sewing machine drawers I found for $15 each at an antique store. I plan on painting them, changing the knobs and using them in my craft room. :)



This past weekend I found myself working on 3 projects at once! Cleaning and sanding the old lockers we found at Lincoln Mills Warehouse sale, painting frames to use on my refrigerator (to frame kids work in-another Pinterest idea), and painting frames and matts for pictures in the boys' room. Luckily the weather was beautiful and I really had a lot of fun!

These are future projects hiding in the corner of the garage. I have 4 shutters I can't wait to do something with and an old wooden window frame that I will probably turn into a picture frame, but I'm not sure yet. :)

Here is the famous CART! I'm turning this into a coffee table for our living room. Using old wood from the house near my parents house we are going to make a top for it. This is an original cart used in Lincoln Mill in Huntsville.

The LOCKERS!! I can't wait to finish these! we have 2 of them. Using them for storing supplies and bookbags. I worked on this this weekend and it wasn't too bad. Hopefully I will finish sanding and start priming them this weekend. So more pictures to come!

Well, that's all that I'm working on right now. :) I love sharing, so hopefully you will get some ideas and start your own treasure hunting and take pride and satisfaction in  knowing how hard you worked to make your home as unique as you are!

Happy Treasure Hunting!
Trish