Freebie Fix-Up: Good Ol' Green & Gold

Every Saturday that I am in Vermont starts the same. Mike and I get up early, empty my car, put my back seats down and head out for garage sales (with a quick stop at McDonald's - coffee for me and frappe for him). A few weeks ago we headed out on our usual 4-hour loop, but before we even made it to McDonald's we stopped at a tag sale. I saw a dresser I liked, but at $35 it was too much to spend so early in the day. I told him, "let's keep going, and if on the way home it's still there and the car is still empty, I'll buy it."

We went out and tag saled all morning, and I forgot about the dresser until we were on our road heading home. I saw it, sitting on the side of the road, with a FREE sign taped to the front! I pulled over, packed it up and brought it home. Then I did a little jig in the driveway out of excitement!

The hardware was great, it had obviously been replaced, and I vowed to use it in the fix-up. I wanted to do something different than my usual white and gold, I wanted to go bold. I remembered I had a sample can of green paint. By using this paint I would essentially make this a $0 fix-up. So I got to it!

First I had to fill in a lot of dents, scratched and missing corners. I let that dry. Then I sanded it down, primed and painted. This piece took about a week to complete.

How do you like the makeover? I am going to touch it up a bit tonight before listing it on Craigslist. There is still a bit of white primer showing inside the bottom drawer.

Thanks for stopping by! Check out some of my other fun fix-ups I've done:

Before & After: Fancy File Cabinet	Rachel's Darling Dry Sink	File Cabinet Revamp: Snazzy Sister State Storage	The Great White Bamboo Redo

Rachel's Darling Dry Sink

My sister Rachel recently bought an old dry sink for $10 at a tag sale. In case you are not familiar, a dry sink is a piece of furniture used used in most homes before indoor plumbing. They could be found in the kitchen or washroom, or any area where people would wash or shave. While considered to be more of a decorative accessory today, it is still possible to purchase a dry sink that is fully functional.

Here is the before:

Here is the after!

"Man, this was exhausting and I made a lot of mistakes!" Rachel told me via e-mail.

These were here take-aways:

1) I am now an educated consumer and can fully appreciate the beauty of paying retail price for a finished product and letting professionals like you do all the work.

2) If there is ever a next time, I'll have to use foam brushes only and wear a hair net. I painted so many damn hairs into that thing, it looks alive when you stand too close to it.

3) My favorite part is actually the hardware, which was original to the piece (called a "dry sink"). My only involvement there was a vinegar-and-water toothbrush scrub down, and they came out looking SOOOO shiny.

4) Those are the yellow candlesticks I got free from Aunt Becky. Love them!

I love that she used the original hardware, and I really love the way she accessorized! It will look wonderful in her bed and breakfast.

What do you think about this fabulous fix-up?

I'm Back From Vacation!

Hi everyone! I am back from a wonderful week-long vacation to the Outer Banks, North Carolina. It was great to get away for a bit, but I am definitely glad to be back in Vermont. It has taken me a few days to get back into the swing of things as I am getting over a pretty nasty cold/flu/virus that kept me in bed for the past few days. I'm back at work today, but have a bunch of errands, housework and yard work to get to this week before I can jump back into furniture fix-ups. Hopefully I'll be able to sand and prime two pieces of furniture that have been waiting in the garage by the end of the week.

Here are a few photos from our last night at the beach. 1 - 2 - 3 - JUMP!

Grandma Lil and some of her grandkids.

Mike and me on the beach.

I hope the Internet didn't miss me too much while I've been away. I hope to jump back into blogging tomorrow by checking out all the linky parties I missed out! Happy Tuesday.

Fancy File Cabinet Fix Up: Bold, Bright, Beautiful!

I picked up two free file cabinets through Craigslist last week. I find a lot of free stuff, but I usually have to work for it. Often times I have to carry heavy pieces up or down several flights of stairs on my own. That's the price I pay to get it for free! These people just want their "junk" taken away, and they don't usually want to do it themselves.

So Mike and I carried these file cabinets down two long flights of stairs and brought them back to the house for some fixing up. I literally had to take a hammer to these guys to bang the drawers back into shape so they could open and shut properly.

Then my well-rehearsed file cabinet revamp got underway: I removed the drawers and popped the hardware off to give it a good shine. Then I cleaned the cabinets with a rag and spray painted them a deep red to cover up the scratches and minimal rust spots.

I cut up the fabric only to find that I only had enough fabric to cover one set of drawers... the other cabinet is still sitting in the living room waiting patiently for its spruced up drawers. (Stay tuned to find out what I end up doing to it!)

I spread Mod Podge on the front surface of the drawers with a cheap brush and smoothed the fabric down and around the front. I cut out a circle so the key hole could pop through.

I let the drawers dry overnight. In the morning I took an exacto knife and cut the fabric through from the back to make holes for the hardware.

The fabric and the color is so bold and bright!

What do you think about this fix up? I really enjoy sprucing up file cabinets... soon I want to create my own patterns and designs for the front of the drawers! Then I can launch my own "Fancy File Cabinet" business :) Thanks for stopping by! Feel free to check out some of my other fun fix ups I've done:

Before & After: Fancy File Cabinet	Tribal Red & Black Fabric	File Cabinet Revamp: Snazzy Sister State Storage	The Great White Bamboo Redo

Sunny Rolling Cart Revamp

My mom found this rolling cabinet in someone's trash pile! She snagged it and held onto it in her garage until I came to visit, at which point I carted it back up to Vermont with me from some serious TLC.

I didn't like the dark, sticky look that it had and I wanted to take it in a completely opposite direction, so I splashed it with my favorite color... yellow!

I think it's LOVELY! Do you like it? I spray painted the screens white because for some reason there was a red outline on it. I'm debating keeping or selling this piece. I'll decide next week.

The wheels on the bottom of this piece have inspired me to make my own rolling dolly platform for fixing up furniture in the future. It's difficult to move large pieces in and out of the garage when Mike isn't around, so a rolling block will help. And it will keep the pieces off the ground a few inches so I can get complete paint coverage from top to bottom. So that's up next!

Meanwhile I am working on 2 file cabinets, however this weekend I will have to put that on hold as Mike and I trek out to Rochester, NY to see my grandparents and family! I'm also playing along with a few August photo challenges, so follow me on Twitter @TheresaMcCabe and Instagram @TheresaMcCabe to see my fabulous photography skills! Have a great day :)

Check out some of my most popular posts:

Before & After: Fancy File Cabinet	Master Bedroom Dresser Do Over	File Cabinet Revamp: Snazzy Sister State Storage	Freebie Revamp: Super 6-Drawer Dresser