Small table, found curb-side

I really don't know why anyone would throw out a perfectly good table like this wee one....

The finish was wanting, but a coat of creamy paint fixed that problem. I'm using it to hold one of my pots and later, it just may sit beside a chair, or out in the sun porch. So versatile - again...it baffles me why anyone would think it to be trash.... Not me, for sure!

Spring Trees painting....

Yes, it's Fall, but I felt like Spring this week when I made this painting....

My curb-shopped concrete fountain

Look what somebody threw out!

A 5' concrete tiered fountain, that's what! It has a broken spot on one of the pillars and some small cracks in the bottom bowl - but I think that concrete and silicone epoxy should take care of that.

I'm so thrilled! I've been wanting one of these for a long time, but could never be the first one to respond to any Craigslist ads.

And I really like the price of this - $ZERO. Fit's my budget to a "T"!

Look away if painted furniture makes you shudder.....

A nice 2nd hand, vintage side table.

This was needing either to be stripped, stained and re-varnished...

Or painted a toasted almond color, which is exactly what I had on hand.

I think paint helps to define carvings.

This has 6 beautifully turned legs.

Nothing but paint was required to bring out its beauty.

This spot was getting too dark anyway.  Ahhh, a fresh coat of paint does wonders.

A little fall decor is slowly creeping in....

Appears that I have a "candy corn" theme going on....

Before/After Antique Secretary

A couple months ago I bought a can of creamy white paint. First I painted a dresser. Then a stool. Then a table. And now it's an antique secretary that had seen better days. I had to use that orange goo remover to get rid of all the oil and grime (it's from Craigslist, so it's not *my* dirt and grime) ;-)

And voila'! I just LOvEs me some creamy paint! What a difference, yes?

My paint can is not empty yet....... and I spy another vintage table and chair.... stay tuned!

Just feel like posting some front walk pics.....

This is just a temporary spot for the fountain. It will go in back, on the patio when the bricks and concrete are done. In the meantime, I'm enjoying the water noise right outside the front door.

We ripped up the carpet and painted the floor!

Yes, we painted the floor. We have hated the Berber carpet in our home since day 1. It seems to shed fine fibers that coat everything in the house in a thick layer of dust. Our walk-in closet seemed to be the worst place. So we have started there.

Ripping up the carpet and pad exposed the rough plywood underneath. Nothing special here. It was what we expected. Lots of staples and nails removed. Hubby made sure all the screws were screwed down under the surface.....



And LOTS of wood filler and sanding later.......



THEN it was finally time to paint. We choose Bear Rug by BEHR at Home Depot. Gave it 3 coats. The lines between the plywood sheets disappeared.


Then coated it with varnish for 5 more coats.....


We have to nail in the molding "shoe" as the finishing touch.

We love it! It feels smooth, like vinyl and it will be a cinch to clean. Yes, hardwood would look lovely.....but that may come later when the budget review committee approves it. ;-)

Next room is the master bedroom. That will be a big job! Will post pics as we get into it.

I'm linking up to Between Naps on the Porch's Met Monday. Click on the butterfly to see more "Before and After" posts from creative bloggers:

Fountain and Patio are coming together......

I've been searching Craigslist for the last several months for an outdoor fountain. Found 2, but both were cracked, so not good. Finally went to Lowes today to see if their's were on sale.

This one was originally around $300, marked down to $210, but they didn't have any left. Except the display. So I asked how much for that? Got it for $125! Bought an additional pump, since I know this one has been running all summer. Yes, it's dirty and needs a good cleaning - but I love a bargain!

Hubby is just about ready to pour concrete to enlarge our back patio.

That square is the spot for the fountain that will be filled with concrete. Hubby will be installing an electric box just behind that square for the fountain pump and for some landscape and Christmas lights. But I'm getting ahead of myself. A row of evergreens will be directly behind this patio edge to make a backdrop for the fountain. During the winter, when the fountain can't be ran, I'll have sparkly Christmas lights on the shrubs to brighten our view.


The corner piece is for the bbq grill....


The perimeter will be concrete and the interior will be vintage bricks.

More pics as this project gets further....

A little more curb appeal

Being a lover of earthiness, like brick and stone....this week I decided to build 2 brick columns in front of the garages. Using antique bricks that FIL game me, I dry-stacked 7 layers...


And topped them with "aged iron look" urns....


Later, I will mortar them for more permanence - like when the weather actually gets cooler and I can stand being out there for more than 15 minutes at a time.


I think a fat pumpkin in each of the urns would make a nice fall display. And come Christmas, I will use cut some holly sprigs from my bushes. (Yeah, I'm thinking COLD weather!)

Toile shower curtain rod

I'm changing out my kitchen window treatments so this wooden rod, covered in a toile fabric found a new home in the hall bath:


It snuggles up to the polka-dot ribbons and vintage drapery:


And lives cozily along with the coordinating toile wallpaper:

A little fabric, a little hot glue.......

A few posts down I had shown a leather club chair from Craigslist that I had gotten. Some of the leather was faded, which didn't bother me at all. But soon I discovered that one of my kitties took a liking to the chair, too, and dug his claws into the seat part. So, to head off future kitty damage, I decided to cover the cushion with some upholstery fabric I had on hand.....



And following that, I recovered an old 70's orange ottoman with the same fabric:



Those shiny gold feet needed some black paint and the legs also needed some sprucing up.



Some hot glue and jute does the trick. Ha! Looks like it is wearing white socks with black shoes! ;-) I may think about staining the jute a little darker color....... another project just developed...


And there's my sweet Sugar............