I fully admit that I have an amazing vision for turning pieces that seem hopelessly fated to carry out the remainder of their sad life in a trash heap into beautiful, one-of-a-kind gems. When I drive by an old dresser on the side of the road my brain immediately starts to justify the need for having it. Fortunately for my family I have incredible self control! Something that helps me maintain this self control is taking a picture. I know it seems silly, but it really works. Although I love the process of hacking and updating old furniture and seeing my vision come to life, it is nearly as satisfying to snap the photo and revisit my design whenever I like. (Hey, I never said I was sane...) I decided I would share with you some of my favorite finds and what I loved so much about them.
Words cannot express how much I love this dresser. The shape is gorgeous and the detail around the frame is stunning. This dresser stood about chest level and was on small wheels. The price tag? $14.99 - it was hard to walk away from that!
I envisioned this one going one of two ways: using a white milkwash all over and using a dark glaze to bring out the dotted detail around the dresser and using either black or oil rubbed bronze hardware OR painting the entire frame of the dresser black and painting the drawers and the dotted detail a VERY soft cream (almost white) and using black hardware. Certainly bolder, but fun!
These lamps are practically a dime a dozen at thrift stores! Hit it a couple of times with a can of spray paint, top it with a new shade and you have yourself a super cheap, instantly awesome lamp! I love these and since they're usually $2.99- they are very hard to walk away from!
I know this picture will instantly skeeve some people out, but I love it!!! These chairs are so funky! My vision for these was fun outdoor furniture! I'd reupholster the seat cushions and the seat back with outdoor fabric, paint the bases white and seal them to make sure they would stand up to the elements. I'd definitely replace the weird back pillows that mimic the shape of the seat back and replace them with low rectangular accent pillows :)
Wouldn't that be so cute in the backyard?!!!
I know I've already made one, but my original thought when I saw this was "That would make a super cute kid's cooking set!" It's kind of mini sized, but it would be AWESOME! I would probably build a little hutch type thingy behind it for shelving/ pots & pans and such. I'd also remove the doors below and replace them with a retro style curtain. I was thinking a retro red or robin's egg blue!
Speaking of red... It's not just furniture that I get dreamy about. I saw this beautiful red leather suitcase and ran over to ogle at it. The buckle is what really caught my eye. When I went over to check it out I fell in love.
Inside of it was another drool worthy suitcase! And wouldn't you know, inside that was another which was in the same perfect red, but was more of a satchel-type bag meant to be used as a carry-on. I closed my eyes, blocked my ears, and ran away as fast as my legs could carry me. Still kicking myself!
This buffet/ sideboard was calling to me. From the picture you can't really tell, but this thing is a Behemoth! I'd guess it was about 7 feet long! I really wanted this one in my dining room, but there's no way it would fit! After accepting that it wouldn't work for our house I let my mind wander to what its imaginary next life would be if I had my way with it. It immediately screamed "Bathroom vanity!" The style I was feeling for it was country, so the finish was fine as is, but I could also see it in a distressed white (or even red if it was carefully thought out) with vintage hardware. I pictured double sinks - one centered on each of the stack of drawers leaving lots of space in between for handsaop, mason jar candles, etc. I would also cut out the center of the two doors in the middle, leaving just the frame. I'd replace it with chicken wire and use it to store rolled up body and hand towels.
{In case you haven't noticed, I have a major crush on dressers} Even though I don't love blue, it seemed perfect for this dresser. I pictured it a soft, powder blue (NOT baby blue) with the square trim detail on all the drawers (three on the top, one over the two bottom drawers) painted white. I would have also spray painted the drawer pulls white. I may have even painted the top surface white as well.
For some reason, this chair was drawing me in. I don't know if it was the ornately carved detail or the interesting spindles on the chair back. I didn't really have any plans for this one (except maybe painting it black) but I wanted it.
So there you have it. My house will remain clutter free now. My hard drive? Not so much! If you find something drool worthy while you're out and about, snap a photo and share it so we can drool together :)