Crafty Girls Projects: unusual table and chairs

Have you been wondering about our crafty girls projects? Well wonder no further! This installment is my favoriet: our kitchen table and chairs. 

First, we found an old table (I think it must have been used in a school) at the Rebuilding Center for $5. We removed the legs and any staples and pokey bits and sanded the crap out of the laminate. 

Then we painted the legs red and the table top with chalkboard paint.

(Final pictures of the table at the end)

That part of the process too the longest. Because we made a couple of fumbles. 

We were poor planners and did our first coat of paint on a windy day (warning: don't do that!). And little yard bits blew into the paint, which we then had to wipe off, sand down again, and paint over. Our project would have been decidedly cheaper had we planned better and not had to buy more paint. 

Then came the chairs. Fumble number 2 is that I (yet again) forgot to take pictures of the chairs before we painted and reupholstered them. Fail. 

BUT, I can just tell you. 

We wanted 4 differenet chairs. So we drove to many thrift stores and finally found 4 chairs that we liked and would compliment each other. We ended up getting two chairs with metal and two with wood. Then we painted all the chairs a flat black. 

Then we found 3 different discounted fabrics that complimented each other, but had their own distinctive looks. Why only 3? One of the chairs had a black pleather seat that we liked and was in good shape. So we left that as is. Then we stuffed with batting and staple-gunned those babies together. 

To keep some symmetry, we went with two fabrics with bold, graphic prints and one with a darker, more subdued print. Like so:

The black pleather:

The darker print:

Here's a closeup:

Bold print with red: 

Closeup:

Bold print with yellow (my fave chair):

Closeup:

Finished product:

Isn't that yellow chair adorable?

Closeup of the legs:

The chalkboard surface:

Because we are!

And how it looks on a daily basis (ish). We actually now have plants on there (but more on that project later!). 

That's the other roommate's (Todd) birthday cake.

Next time: our insane pantry or maybe how to turn unexpected items into planters!

Crafty Girls Projects: Turn a drawer into a shelf

Here is the first installment of our crafty projects. I'm not going to do one of those "how to" posts and walk you through step by step. This isn't a how to blog. But if you want instructions, just email me and I'd be happy to share. For the cost of a cup of coffee or a new job.

During my first trip to the Rebuilding Center, I was on the lookout for something I could make a little vanity-type station with for my bedroom. A place I could put a mirror (which I already owned) and do my makeup and store my jewelry (since all my furniture is in storage).

And in a stroke of brilliance, saw an old drawer and immediately envisioned it as a shelf. Because I am brilliant. BA-rilliant. Honestly. I'd never thought of it before, but when I saw the drawer sitting on its side, it wasn't hard to picture it for another use.

So I bought the drawer for $3 and bought a $3 can of espresso colored spray paint (it was blond wood with a cream lacquer on the front of the drawer. I chose the espresso because my sheets are a rusty orange and when I get my bed, it's a creamy color, so the espresso should be a modern compliment. I really wanted a flat brown, but they didn't carry it, so I went with a satin finish. Ultimately, I like the satin, so I'm glad it worked out that way.

And of course I forgot to take a picture of the drawer before I painted it. But here it is after one coat of paint:

And here it is hanging on my wall with my stuff. I mounted that mirror on the wall and didn't set it on the shelf, because I didn't want it falling.

It's not crooked, I just didn't take a straight shot.

Didn't it turn out so cute?

But it doesn't end there! Lynnette and I liked this idea so much that we decided to do the same thing in our kitchen to make a spice rack above our ugly ass green stove *shudder*.

We went back to the Rebuilding Center and were lucky enough to find a drawer with partitions already inside it (I assume for socks or something) which would make nice shelves for our spices if we turned it on its side.

Once again, I of course forgot to photograph it before painting. But it was also a blond wood and we chose a flat black because all our kitchen furniture is black and red (but more on that later). Here 'tis:

I'm holding it up because we haven't mounted it yet, but you get the idea. 

See how ugly our stove is? *shudder*

So imagine it flipped on its side and that's how it looked as a drawer. And we took the handle off, painted it red and moved it sideways (you can see the original holes).

To use as a towel rack.

Next? Our kitchen table and chairs! oooooooh.

If you want instructions on how to do this, just email awesomecrazylady at gmail dot com.