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Coffin Turned Coffee Table

OK, OK, it’s not really a coffin… it’s just a HUGE beat up old trunk!!! It’s so big that I probably could bury my little sister in it (of course I wouldn’t – you know that, right, Lee Lee?).

Happy Tuesday’s Treasures! Has another month nearly gone by?? How can this be? Between custom orders, life changes and the dishes…  I feel like I blinked and this month is about gone. I’ve shown you so many pinks and reds during this month of love, so today I’m sharing a love of wood that I also enjoy. Sometimes I get comments on Facebook or on my website about how I should have refinished a piece instead of repainting it. I respect their opinions, but usually disagree. lol  I just like the painted look much more on most furniture pieces… except ones like this. ;)

Here’s the before picture… an over 5 foot long wooden box. We bought it from a man  who said it came from a farmhouse in Connecticut. It was in really rough shape… scratches and abuse all over it. I could see past it’s ugliness and thankfully have a hubby who trusts my gut by now. He carried this coffin turned coffee table in and out of my work space for me and that was no easy(or light) task.

After 4 hours of sanding, it was finally ready to be beat up by yours truly. Yes, you have to make it look perfect before it can be beat up or “distressed” in the right way. So, I went at it with a hammer, screws, and a 5 in one tool to give it the distressed look that I wanted. After you beat it up, you have to hit it again with a 220 grit  sanding to smooth out what you’ve just distressed.

Then I stained it with Minwax’s Jacobean 2750 to give it a nice deep, dark base and for the second coat of stain, I used Minwax Red Mahogany 225 because I wanted it to have a red hue without screaming redness at me!

We custom ordered corner brackets from an iron smith. They were one of the hardest parts to find. I wanted something that would wrap around the corners of the trunk, but something that was also long enough to be the right size for a 5 foot trunk. I looked everywhere online to find something, checked local hardware stores, called trunk makers from California to New England and no one had what I wanted. Finally, I found the right shape online and then I asked an iron worker if he could make the right length and style for me. He was awesome and put the 90 degree corner in it and hand hammered each arrow head a the end. I loved that they are not exactly the same and it gave the trunk a more authentically rustic feel because that’s how it would have been done 100 years ago.

I also added antique caster wheels from old engine carts to the base. They look so tiny on this trunk because it’s huge. I LOVE the whole look and definitely didn’t want to hand this one over to our customer Jen. Jen let me go with my gut for everything with this trunk and was so sweet. When we finished it, John said, let’s just keep this one. I had to break the news that it was a custom job. He was a sad puppy! lol 

Are you ready for the after pictures?? I know I am and I’ve already seen it!! Oh, and I think it looks a little murky in the pictures, but it didn’t look that way in person at all. The photo of the top gives you a better indication of the finish. As Jen said when she picked it up, “It looks even better than in the pictures!” Yay!
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Black French Provincial High Boy Dresser Set For Sale

If you aren’t a fan of our Facebook page yet, you might have missed that we added this beautiful Black French Provincial Dresser Set to our For Sale Page. I thought I would surprise you this Monday morning and share the before and after pictures with you. If you’re interested in purchasing it, please double check our Furniture For Sale page here to make sure it’s still available and email me using our Contact Us page.

Here she is before and what you can’t see is all the scratches on the top not to mention the yellowy wood that you can see  which made it scream “PLEASE PAINT ME”. If you’ve been on the hunt for a french provincial style dresser, you already know two things… usually you can only find the while laminate versions of this style,  not the hardwood antiques and they almost never come cheap. I love the french provincial style because it has such a rich, sophisticated feel. I went back and forth on a couple different colors and styles, but decided on black because I liked the look and it’s been almost a year since I painted a dresser black so I had the hankering. ;) lol 

Here’s the before pictures of both pieces.

And here it is with black paint and metallic silver glazing. I used all of the original hardware and painted it sliver to highlight the glazing. I love this set!  

Thanks for looking and I hope it makes it’s way to your home soon. Have a marvelous Monday everyone!!!!

Thanks,
Sarah

If you like what you see, please like our face book page to keep up to date on the newest finds, vote on colors and give your input on our creativity.

There is a box at the top right of this page to enter your email address in to receive notifications by email when I post something new on this blog. Please sign up today!

Last but not least, let us customize a furniture piece for you. We create custom furniture for customers in upstate NY and ship throughout the US.  Send us a note with what you would like using our contact page. Or buy something that we’ve already designed from our furniture for sale page.

 

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Valentine’s Day Red Hutch – Tuesday’s Treasures

To continue with my month of love and celebrating the reds and pinks, I’d like to share another red hutch makeover. We seem to be all about hutches this month with three hutch orders to finish. If you’re a fan of our facebook page, you already know how much I love red hutches. I own this California Poppy Red Hutch and have redone many a red hutch, but for some reason, I never stop loving red hutches. At the end of each project, they always take my breath away. Maybe it’s just me, but I couldn’t help but share my love for red hutches with you.

This was a custom order for Nicole and she was more than kind and gave me more than I asked for it when she came to pick it up. I can’t say anything but thank you, thank you, Nicole! Not to mention, I pretty much want to look as cute as she does after 6 kids! Adorableness for sure!

So, she found this piece on craigslist and brought it to me to add some love and color. 

Let me forewarn you that repainting a hutch is well worth the time that it takes to redo it, but it is ALOT of work to do right. I don’t recommend this project for the faint of heart or beginner DIYer. :) First, you’ll need to sand everything, tape off the glass, take off all the hardware, prime and paint it and then seal the whole piece. If you want to see step by step instructions on how we repaint furniture, you can see our post How To Paint Furniture.

I painted it with my new favorite Benjamin’s Moore’s red painted called Caliente AF-290. I’m in love with this red. So amazing!! Then we glazed it and sealed for protection. Here’s the after for you.

If you’d like one of these beautiful red hutches with some of your tax return, use our contact page form and ask me to find one to redo for you or even turn that ugly old thing weighing down your dining room into a stunning focal point in your room.

Happy Redesigns Everyone,
Sarah

If you like what you see, please like our face book page to keep up to date on the newest finds, vote on colors and give your input on our creativity.

There is a box at the top right of this page to enter your email address in to receive notifications by email when I post something new on this blog. Please sign up today!

Last but not least, let us customize a furniture piece for you. We create custom furniture for customers in upstate NY and ship throughout the US.  Send us a note with with you would like using our contact page. Or buy something that we’ve already designed from our furniture for sale page.

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Kelly Green Dresser For Sale

Hello friends! I just wanted to quickly share the before and after pictures of a Kelly Green dresser that we just finished. It’s St. Patrick’s day this month so OF COURSE we had to help them out with a Kelly Green dresser for their window display.  You can see more of our available piece on our Furniture for Sale page.

Here’s the before picture of the dresser :

We primed this piece and then hand painted it with Kelly Green paint made into chalk paint. If you want to see how we painted the Kelly Green Dresser check out this link: How To Kelly Green 

We also bought new knobs for the bottom from Hobby Lobby. Are you ready for the after pictures??

And a close up of the knobs! ;)

To check the sizes and to see if this piece is still available for sale, please see our Furniture For Sale page.  Stop down to see Petra’s amazing window display and to see this beauty in person this Friday night (February 22nd) for Troy’s Night Out! The shop will be open until 9:00pm that night.

Happy Redesigns Everyone,

Sarah

If you like what you see, please like our Facebook page to keep up to date on the newest finds, vote on colors and give your input on our creativity.

There is a box at the top right of this page to enter your email address in to receive notifications by email when I post something new on this blog. Please sign up today!

Last but not least, let us customize a furniture piece for you. We create custom furniture for customers in upstate NY and ship throughout the US.  Send us a note with with you would like using our contact page. Or buy something that we’ve already designed from our furniture for sale page.

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Pink Dresser for a Baby Princess – Tuesday’s Treasures

To continue this month of love in the most appropriate color possible, I’m here to share the best little love story. If you’re anything like me, falling in love with my husband slowly grew from friendship to attraction and admiration and then to the deepest forever love. That’s the kind of love we usually celebrate on Valentine’s Day.  But if  you’re reading this and are a mom, you will understand the love that you feel in your heart when you hold your baby for the first time. It’s a protective, perfect, overflowing love that is unbreakable and knows no boundaries. Well, little miss Dylan Rose came into this world healthy and as beautiful as can be 5 WEEKS early. Congratulations Taryn and Kevin on your amazing miracle!!

We thought we would be safe getting this dresser done 1 month early. Little did we know… ! How it all started? Taryn emailed me to ask me if we could repaint this dresser for her soon to be arriving baby girl’s room.

Even though these aren’t antiques or solid wood, the design and detailing of the pieces made them definitely worth saving. When we went to pick them up, we went back and forth on a couple different colors. For me, at the first picture, I SO wanted Taryn to pick pink. In the end, they let me go with my gut and I couldn’t be happier with how it came out.

The paint is Benjamin Moore’s Pink Cadillac 2002-70 color. After it was painted, I glazed with with a silver glazing from Martha Stewart. Are you as excited about the after pictures as I am??

And a close up for a better shot of the color.

Happy Redesigns Everyone,
Sarah

If you like what you see, please like our face book page to keep up to date on the newest finds, vote on colors and give your input on our creativity.

There is a box at the top right of this page to enter your email address in to receive notifications by email when I post something new on this blog. Please sign up today!

Last but not least, let us customize a furniture piece for you. We create custom furniture for customers in upstate NY and ship throughout the US.  Send us a note with with you would like using our contact page. Or buy something that we’ve already designed from our furniture for sale page.

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Rosy Pink to Rich Red Dresser – Tuesday’s Treasures

Hi! We’re into February… ahh! Where did January go? Well, what better way to start the month of love then with a pink dresser turned red!! Jamie had ordered a couple of pieces from us towards the end of last year. She’s one of those people who I hit it off with right away.  I had my kids with me the day I delivered a piece to her house and met her for the first time. I had a long day ahead of me, full of client meetings and visits with friends. Jamie was the first stop that morning and my kiddos were filled will glee when they found out Jamie had kids and TOYS. They quickly went downstairs with Jamie’s 2 year old son and played with legos and dinos. Jamie and I hit it off and chatted for a while. Well, it was time to meet the next client so I went downstairs to get the little monkeys. When I turned the corner to find my Sweetie buck naked from the waist down, I didn’t know whether to start laughing or try not to cry out of sheer embarrassment. Then to hear her say, “Momma, I peed my pants so I just took them off!”.  Oh man… not the mother of the year moment for sure. To make things worse, I had a full day planned and was a good 30 minutes from home with no spare clothes. My kids don’t pee their paints anymore, or so I thought. ;) Not only did my daughter parade her nakedness, she had also left her peed on pants on Jamie’s carpet. What to do?? I really had to leave, I was late for my next appointment and I had NO time to go buy clothes or clean a carpet!  What were my options, take her in her soaking clothes to the nearest Target or could I actually ask Jamie, someone I had just met, “can I borrow a pair of your son’s pants?”. And that is what I did!  That question was humbling I tell you; very humbling.  Jamie was WAY more than gracious and understanding. She was kind as could be, cared less about the carpet, and found the most girly boy pants she could for my little Sweetie. I knew that day that there was something special about Jamie and she was someone I wanted to be friends with.   I am so thankful for her friendship since that first day. She is kind and strong and thoughtful. I have been so blessed by her already! Hugs ;)

Too sappy? You’ll have to deal with it. I’m one of those. lol Anyway, she asked me to find a dresser for her son’s room. She wanted it to have some nice lines and character and definitely an antique. We found this when going to look at a different dresser in downtown Troy. I had to get beyond the pink color to decide if we could make this manly enough for Jackson’s sports room. I think we did!

Can it be done?? We sanded it down, primed and painted it with Benjamin’s Moore’s new red called Caliente AF-290. I’m in love with this red. So amazing!! Then it was distressed, glazed and sealed for protection. Here’s the after for you.

Happy Redesigns Everyone,
Sarah

If you like what you see, please like our face book page to keep up to date on the newest finds, vote on colors and give your input on our creativity.

There is a box at the top right of this page to enter your email address in to receive notifications by email when I post something new on this blog. Please sign up today!

Last but not least, let us customize a furniture piece for you. We create custom furniture for customers in upstate NY and ship throughout the US.  Send us a note with with you would like using our contact page. Or buy something that we’ve already designed from our furniture for sale page.

 

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Delicious Brown and Teal Dresser Set – Tuesday’s Treasures

Happy Tuesday’s Treasures!! I hope you all stayed warm and out of the gelid weather last week. My only crazy moment was trying to sand down an old table top in our unheated barn on the day that only reached 6 degrees for the high. After45 minutes, when I could no longer feel my hands, I decided to give it up. Why didn’t I start the wood stove?? Why oh why? lol

Boy oh boy am I excited to share this one with you. I bought this dresser set last summer and wanted to refinish it to put on the for sale page, but custom jobs kept on coming and this beauty just sat their crying for me to redo it. We went to Pam’s house a couple of weeks ago to talk about creating a couple different pieces for her home. After seeing her style, this dresser was in my mind as the perfect fit. Pam was a little nervous about the elaborate detailing on the top drawers, but most graciously trusted me and let me go ahead with the plan. For this piece, I used Behr’s Bear Rug brown paint and Benjamin’s Moore’s Azure Water for the front of the drawers.

Here are the before pictures:

If you want to see how we paint furniture, check out our post How to Repaint Furniture.

I painted the brown and teal, then distressed the teal, but I felt like the brown in contrast to the teal looked too perfect. So, I distressed the brown and then watered down the Azure Water paint and turned it into a glaze. I’ve never done that technique, but I LOVE how it came out.

It was just what this set needed. I also removed the knobs and replaced them with new knobs from Home Depot. Are you ready for these after pictures??  

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New Life to an Old Chair

Hi All! You’ve probably already seen pictures of this chair on our For Sale page, but we just brought it down to Anchor No. 5 in downtown Troy to be part of their Valentine’s Day window display. I wanted to share with you the before and after pictures because I think you will be impressed with my mom’s amazing work (as always, right??).

Here’s the chair before in all its white and ripped apart glory… or not. Mom found this piece and bought it.

I had the ottoman and thought the legs looked like they were meant to be together.

We wanted to go with a fabric that had the same colors but different patterns to give it a rich, unique look. After many, many hours of love. Here’s the after pictures!

I can’t thank my mom enough for all of her hard work on this piece.

Please stop in at Anchor No. 5 and check it out. Their address is 288 River Street, Troy, NY 12180. Hours: Tuesday-Friday 11:00am to 6:00pm and Saturdays 9:00am to 5:00pm. Tell Petra hi for me when you stop by. :)

Happy Redesigns,
Sarah

If you like what you see, please like our facebook page to keep up to date on the newest finds, vote on colors and give your input on our creativity.

There is a box at the top right of this page to enter your email address in to receive notifications by email when I post something new on this blog. Please sign up today!

Last but not least, let us customize a furniture piece for you. We create custom furniture for customers in upstate NY and ship throughout the US.  Send us a note with with you would like using our contact page. Or buy something that we’ve already designed from our furniture for sale page.

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Warm Teal and Aged Wood Desk and Chair Set

Happy Tuesday everyone! This Tuesday’s Treasures is a piece that I would love to keep for myself, if I had room. Thankfully, I own a small house so I can’t fit much more of anything in it. :) I just put it on our Furniture For Sale page so if you are interested- please check that page to see if it’s still available.

I started with this table that I bought over the summer. The man we bought it from said that it was in his family for a long, long time. It was made from two leaves off of an old oak table. They attached it to a different base and his family used it for years. I loved the size of it and thought it would make a perfect kitchen table or desk.

Jessica and Zach reached out to me to see if I would be interested in having this chair and giving it new life. But of course!! I loved the shape, but I didn’t noticed until I was picking a chair to go with this table that the legs match almost perfectly.

I’ve done some research and read online about different finishes for wood and haven’t found anything unique to give it the aged look I wanted. I tried a couple things that didn’t work, but then ended up sanding, distressing with a hammer and different tools that I had laying around. I then lightly sanded it again to smooth out anything that the distressing may have made rough. I did a blend of stain and paint wash and couldn’t be happier with how it came out. It has a beautifully aged color with a hint of aqua on top.

I painted the base with Benjamin Moore’s Azure Water made into chalk paint and distressed it to show the wood through it.

Oh… I’m melting over here. You know my love for aqua by now, right?? You add aqua with some rusticness… yum yum. :)

Remember that red chair, I sanded down the red to find some pretty wood and then I stained it the same way I did the top.

Are you ready for the whole thing together??

If I were you girls, I think I would be asking for this beauty for Valentine’s Day. You won’t love anything more… well maybe you would… maybe not. I’m sticking with not. ;)

Enjoy this week and as always, thanks for letting me live each day doing what I love. Happy redesigns.

Blessings,
Sarah

If you like what you see, please like our facebook page to keep up to date on the newest finds, vote on colors and give your input on our creativity.

There is a box at the top right of this page to enter your email address in to receive notifications by email when I post something new on this blog. Please sign up today!

Last but not least, let us customize a furniture piece for you. We create custom furniture for customers in upstate NY and ship throughout the US.  Send us a note with with you would like using our contact page. Or buy something that we’ve already designed from our furniture for sale page.


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1930’s Sideboard Buffet – Tuesday’s Treasures

One of the many ways that we’ve continue to be blessed is by old friends who encouraged us in this adventure called FunCycled. This week’s Tuesday’s Treasures comes with a lot of memories for me. When I was a little kid, the families that went to our church were so close to each other. The Jackson’s were one of those families. My brothers, sister and I spent hours and hours at their house, playing in the woods, feeding their chickens, ice skating on the little pond next to their house. When mom and dad would go away on trips, we would stay there. Mrs. Jackson had three boys so when I would go to stay there, she would try to make everything as “girly” as possible. I remember one stay where she actually put a scarf and hat on the deer head mounted in the room I was staying in. Lol! We still laugh about it to this day.

It was time for this sideboard buffet to be brought back to life so Mr. and Mrs. Jackson asked if we would want it to “funcycle” it. This piece was in their entry way for as long as I can remember. It made me so excited to bring it back to life. Here she is!!

First things first… the mirror was pretty badly damaged so it had to go. I removed it from the back. Both sides of the buffet were severely damaged. John repaired those side using Bondo and lots of sanding.  Then, he sanded the whole piece to give me a nice “toothe” to repaint it.

I used a beautiful medium sage green from Behr and made it into chalk paint. I don’t normally paint the insides of drawers because they usually get scratched anyway and I find that they don’t slide as well. In this case, it was already painted so I did paint the inside yellow and I lined the one silverware drawer with an AMAZING fabric by Amy Butler.

For the glass section, we bought tin from Home Depot that is usually used as a back splash in kitchens. It’s not actual tin, but it looks just like it. I thought the tin was a little too bright so I used glaze to darken it up a bit. Then everything was sealed for extra surface protection. Are you ready for the after picture?

Thanks again to the Jacksons!! Check to see if this piece is still available for purchase on our Furniture For Sale Page. Have a great week and  happy redesigns!!!

-Sarah

If you like what you see, please like our facebook page to keep up to date on the newest finds, vote on colors and give your input on our creativity.

There is a box at the top right of this page to enter your email address in to receive notifications by email when I post something new on this blog. Please sign up today!

Last but not least, let us customize a furniture piece for you. We create custom furniture for customers in upstate NY and ship throughout the US.  Send us a note with with you would like using our contact page. Or buy something that we’ve already designed from our furniture for sale page.