Yardsale Rejects

About a month ago, I had a yard sale. Two of my bureaus did not sell. Not one bite. One was missing the bottom drawer, but I had been using it, right up to the day of the sale, in my own bedroom. I had long since removed the broken drawer and replaced it with a shelf that held 2 lined baskets for items. I thought it looked fine and it was certainly still functional. Well, it turns out, not only did no one want to buy it for a meager $25 in my yard sale, but it was also rejected by all the local non-profits that take in used furniture! The other bureau was in good shape, but since it that was so rejected at the yard sale, I decided I would keep it and do a little makeover with both this bureau and the Missing Drawer Bureau. I needed some furniture for my dining room makeover, and I was determined to make these two pieces work!

I painted The Missing Drawer Bureau with black chalkboard paint. I only polyurethaned the top, since I will use this as a server in my dining room. The shelf that replaces the drawer was painted with the same orange that I used on the border of the floor in this room. I will lay wine bottles on this shelf and hope I find a wine rack at some point that fits in this space. I do already have a chalkboard in my dining room, but I just can’t seem to get enough of this chalkboard paint! I did see this idea somewhere, in some magazine, I believe… Oh, I am in search of some fun drawer pulls. I want something bright with lime green and/or orange…the 2 colors that I’ve used in the dining room. Please send me any leads! I think I will write on the front of the drawers, with white chalk, what I end up putting inside the drawers. The sides are also chalkboard paint, so I can draw some seasonal pics! If you look closely, you will see I added a small, horizontal stripe to each front leg, to tie in with the green stripe on the the wall, the lamp and the floor. Oh, and that lamp, which I love!, was dirt cheap at IKEA. Looks cool at night, for ambiance! What is that flower???? I bought it 2 weeks ago and it is still going strong! It seems to be in the cactus family. It came w/no identification.

Here’s another view. Remember, this room is still a work in progress… need to hang artwork, etc.!

This turned out to be my most favorite piece of furniture, to date! I simply gave it all a coat of Ben Moore’s Linen White and then did this All Over Stencil Design in the same green that I have as an accent color in the dining room. The stencils is Scrollallover by Royal Design Studios. I love this look. This will now be the bar area in my dining room. With the 2 bureaus, one as a bar and one as a server, I have a ton of storage inside both. Very handy since my small apartment has little storage!

Here’s a closer look. And to think, I almost let this go for $25, in its unfinished state. Now I totally love it and it fills a need in my dining room! Who knew???

Yesterday I went fabric shopping, because this room also will need some window treatments. I’m thinking of making some drapes in this black and white fabric, but I will still need to find another fabric with some color in it to bring some interest to this side of the room. I want to bring in the orange and green too. I don’t have time right now to run around trying to find more fabric, so this project will have to be on hold for a bit.

Here’s the double window that needs some help. These windows are very old and drafty, and since I can’t afford to replace them until next year, I want a nice, heavy fabric to keep some of my heat in! I may add some color to those Roman shades or else replace w/a black bamboo shade. The view out these windows is my driveway and neighbors house…not pretty. That is my other chalkboard on the wall in the background. These Phillip Starck chairs I bought a while ago on eBay! They will be extra seating, eventually, and live in my office/guest bedroom. I want green leather chairs, I think, at the table. I need to hit the Lottery first! I was all set to buy my chairs, until my hot water heater broke a few weeks ago, and my electric baseboard heat in my kitchen came on and would not shut off. Both of those repairs wiped out my "dining room chair fund". 🙁

A little Fall flower arrangement!

Last, but not least…here’s my Happy Pumpkin I made to bring out to my Mom when I visit her next weekend. This idea is in the current issue of Better Homes & Gardens magazine. My Mom is an avid quilter and sewer, so I thought this would be fun for her. It’s hard to see in this pic, but the noise is a silver thimble. I love Fall!!!