Multi-Purpose Room is Done!

A few posts ago, I told that I was re-doing my multi-purpose room and that I would share pictures once it was done...well, it's done.  Before I share my pictures, I want to remind you that I was only using what I had on hand, therefore, I didn't buy new furniture, I didn't buy paint, I didn't buy fabric, I didn't buy new flooring, I didn't buy curtains, and I didn't buy accessories.  I could ONLY use the items I had around the house, stuff that I already had kicking around.   Again, I want to remind you it is not beautifully decorated like many of your homes and craft rooms, but it will be functional for my needs.   So, here are a few before pictures...as you can see, it is not a very large room and I have to store my exercise equipment in this room.

My husband built this cabinet back in 1992 and over the years I have painted it at least 6 times.

The dark brown shelf sitting on the table was built by me.  The leaning door belongs to the cabinet.

Here are the after pics...

Another coat of paint...seven layers now!

A ladder I made using scrap wood and my coffee filter wreath.  (had to use what I had on hand...just a reminder!)

The stars were green, so I gave them a coat of white paint finished with dark walnut stain to give them an antiqued look.

Now, here are some pictures with the exercise equipment back in the room.

Well, there you have it...my room on a zero dollar budget.  Thank you for stopping by...your visit was welcomed!  Hope you all have a good day and great weekend!
Lesa

Wood Tray and Decorative Flower Ball

Thought I'd share my two latest projects with you...

First of all, I needed some type of container to hold the remote controls and junk that collects on the coffee table, so I decided to build a wood tray.  It's nothing new design-wise, but it has functionality and I'm happy with the way it turned out. 

I simply used some scrap pine for the four sides and 1/4" plywood for the bottom.  I glued and nailed it together.  After a good sanding, I stained the tray with a dark walnut stain by Minwax.  I then basecoated the box with a paint color called Cinnamon Sizzle (this was leftover from the color on my entrance walls).  After it dried, I watered down Red Iron Oxide paint by Decoart and applied the paint as a topcoat to deepen the color.  Again, I let it dry, lightly sanded the surface and then applied a black stain by Saman to give it a more aged look.  I then used a water-based satin varnish to the tray. 

I drilled two holes in each end and made handles out of a product I found called "Wreath & Stem Cord".

 I liked the color and texture and thought it would make great handles.  That was it!

My next project, again, nothing new, is the decorative flower ball.  I needed an accent piece so I thought I'd see what I could come up with with what I had on hand. 

I used a 5" styrofoam ball as the base.  I then found some leftover fabric from my kitchen curtains and cut it into strips approximately 1 1/2" wide by 10" long.  Then I started making fabric roses.  I made 24 roses to cover the ball.  Using hot glue, I attached the roses to the styrofoam leaving gaps in between each rose.  I then hot glued spanish moss between the roses to cover the exposed styrofoam.  I trimmed the moss to remove the long ends.   Because it needed some color, I decided to hot glue some faux leaves to the ball.  It turned out just "okay" and I'll use it, but I know I can improve on it!

Thank you for stopping by...I love visitors and I love your comments too!

Lesa

Kitchen Table Centerpiece

I'm always looking for new ideas for a centerpiece for my kitchen table and since I just finished staining my table in a dark walnut, I needed something new for the center. 

I had this...

I bought this for $20.00...

and this came with the cage...

So...I drew the number 4.  Why 4?  Because that is my favorite number. 

Then I made a stencil.

Using a piece of sponge (I didn't have any sponge so I ripped the tip of a sponge brush off!) and "Bleached Sand" by Decoart, I applied the 4 to the black tin - on two sides. 

And, this is what I came up with for my kitchen table...

Here is a complete picture of my newly stained kitchen table, embellished table runner and my centerpiece. 

Thank you for taking the time to stop by.   I just want to thank all of you that have left such kind comments on the past posts.  Your comments are very welcomed!  Have a great day.

Lesa

Table Runner Embellished

I bought this table runner several months ago for $5.00 from Walmart. 

It's been sitting in a closet ever since and now I've decided to use it on my kitchen table.   However, it's a little boring so I thought I'd "jazz" it up by adding a fringe.  Of course, I didn't feel like driving downtown to look for fringe so I decided to use my trusty burlap.  Here's what I did:

First, I cut four pieces of burlap 13 3/4" wide (this was the width of my table runner) by 5 1/2".  I took two pieces and stitched them on my sewing machine approximately 1 3/4" from the top edge. 

I then simply started removing the burlap strands from the longest side to create a fringe. 

Once that was done I attached the burlap fringe to the bottom of the table runner matching the finished edge to the stitching line on the burlap, only to explose the fringed edge.  It was very simple and I think it adds a bit of interest to once boring table runner.

Thank you for dropping by...have a great day!

Lesa

Canvas Slipcovered Stool

I've finished another project for my multi-purpose room.  I bought this stool from a second-hand store for 12.00 a couple of years ago and decided to finally give it a new, fresh look and I think it will work well in my room.  (It's been living in my crawl space... hence the white fluff on the front.)

I had enough canvas on hand to sew a slipcover for the stool, but I needed some cording.  Remember what I said...I can only use what I have available in the house.  Therefore, I had to make my own cording out of this satiny rope cording.  (I don't know the actual name of this stuff.) 

Anyway, I just ripped strips of canvas and sewed the strips together to make enough for the length of the cording that would outline the top of the stool.

I won't try to explain how to make the slipcover because most of you are much better at sewing than I am...and there are many great tutorials out there if you are unsure.  I usually just "wing it" when it comes to sewing.  I think it turned out not-to-bad and it looks much better than the chocolate brown velour, but I'll let you be the judge!

Here's someone who likes it.

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look...have a great day!

Lesa

Burlap Bulletin Board

I've been working on my "multi-purpose" room, which is a small room that houses my exercise equipment which consists of an eliptical machine and a gazelle, as well, my sewing machine.  I decided to fix this room up to make it somewhat presentable, however, I decided that I was not going to purchase anything new for this room and only use what I had around my house, that is, "leftovers" that I had stored in my crawl space.  You know, that "unwanted stuff" that you just haven't thrown out yet!  Its not going to be a room that will make the front cover of any decorating magazine, but it will be functional for my needs.  Once I'm done, I will share pictures of the completed room with you. 
Anyway, I have been working on different projects for this room (one of them was my Old Crate) and my newest project is my bulletin board. 

I already had an existing frame which I painted in a buttermilk color.  I had a piece of foam core which I cut to fit inside the frame.  I then covered it with a piece of batting and then a piece of burlap.  Again, all items I had on hand. 

I made three pockets using burlap and trimmed the edges with muslin.  I attached the burlap and batting to the back of the foam core using a staple gun.  I then inserted the board into the frame and secured it.  Now, to dress it up a bit, I decided to make numbers for each of the pockets. 

I had blocks that were modge podged from a project I never did complete, so I traced numbers onto each of the blocks and cut them out using my scroll saw.  Drilled a 1/8" hole at the top of each number and used natural linen to tie to the front of the burlap pockets.  That's it! 

Another simple project using ONLY what I had available in the house.  Hope you like it.
Thanks for stopping by...have a great day!
Lesa