Thrifting (as the Americans say)....

I found this cabinet at the Lion's Garage Sale which happens every second Saturday here in Margaret River.  I spotted it across the room and RAN (towards it).  Obviously it needed a bit of lurve, so I visited The Brick House to find Morgan's post on refreshing vintage wood (tried and tested before).  First job was to put the drawers in the right order so that the veneer lines up and they close properly!  I'm super happy with how it's turned out, but it's not quite finished yet.  I'll show you the inside soon....  

Oh, and it was all of $15.  Shazam!!

Nesting?....

Well no, I don't think I am nesting yet, but I am trying to get some things done around the house before Pikelette arrives.  One area in which we're lacking is bedroom storage, so I was super happy to find this fantastic dresser on ebay recently.  It needed a bit of a clean up, so I followed these brilliant instructions from The Brick House (also seen on design*sponge) and I think it's come up a treat.  Not having the same American products as recommended, I instead used a regular household cleaner (suitable for wood), delicious orange oil, and then some furniture wax.

Hmm, this photo makes me realise how stark the bedroom is without any art on the walls.  Plus, I need to make proper curtains (and stop putting up with some fabric stapled up!).

And yes, that is a bear on the bed.  Don't judge me!

Before + after....

Well this has been a long time coming.  I started this chair project almost 2 years ago and finally it's finished.  Keep in mind that I moved countries during that time, and had to take the chair apart to get the wooden frame in boxes for shipping, and the metal seat was checked in as luggage on the plane.  Not sure that was the most sensible approach, but anyhoo....

The image is of Pania of the Reef and I screen printed it using freezer paper.  You can see some posts (and photos) on the progress here and here.  I still think I could've done a better job with the print, mainly if I'd had some helping hands and a bigger screen.  Having said that, I'm pretty harsh on myself and the general opinion of those who see it in person is that it rocks.  I did all the sewing at the upholstery course I was doing at the time.

I didn't get a before shot before I started sanding back the wooden frame, but this should give you an idea what it looked like when I found it on the side of the road.  The wood was much darker and coated in some sort of lacquer that had gone yellow and started to chip. I hate sanding but this piece was small enough that I stuck it out (unlike our dining table which Mr Stink took over restoring after it broke me - maybe that's a before and after for another time).

I hope you like it!

I am no carpenter....

This photo is what my chair frame should look like.  Alas, my attempts over Easter to turn it from pieces of wood back into a beautiful chair frame were unsuccessful.  How ironic that I should find my carpentry skills to be so inadequate over Easter.  Not to worry, I won't let it beat me.  I'll try again - this time with the right size dowel, something more suited to cutting wood than a small craft knife, and a hammer rather than a shoe.

Sneak peek week! Day five....

I seem to be back to writing about funiture that needs repairing.  I picked up these chairs from the front verge a couple of weeks ago when there was a bulk waste collection. They're a bit rickety, but I probably won't bother going to too much trouble to repair them, just give them some paint and new covers.  We have NO CHAIRS apart from our lounge, so I figure these will do until I find my dream dining chairs.  Fingers crossed I get these underway this weekend. Perhaps I'm destined for a weekend of chair repair?

Have a great weekend everyone.  And don't for a moment think this is the end of sneak peek week!  I'll be posting tomorrow so be sure to drop by!....

Sneak peek week! Day two....

Oh dear.  This is a project that has certainly run overtime.  Do you recall the Pania screenprint I did for my upholstery course late last year?  And this beautiful chair frame that I restored? Well the whole project ground to a halt in the move from New Zealand to Australia. More to the point, to get the chair frame here, I had to destroy it!

I'm not sure I have the carpentry skills to put it back together, and I'm also (still!) not sure that I'm happy with the screenprint, but I am determined to get this project moving again this weekend.  Stay tuned....

Hmmm, Pania revealed....

Well here she is....
And truth be told, I am undecided whether I'm happy with her. Never one to do things the easy way, I printed the second colour alone (not easy when the image is larger than the screen), using a stupid technique that I seem to have made up on the spot, resulting in the colour bleeding. So, once it was dry, I decided to hand paint some of the messy bits, only to find I'd mixed the colour slightly wrong so I needed to hand paint all the light colour. So now the light bits are a bit blotchy. And the dark bits are too think, so it has a plastic-y sort of feel. Honestly, why did I think this would be easy?!

I'm not sure if she's good enough to use for covering my chair. I've got her pinned up on the wall to contemplate. We shall see....

Pania revealed!....

Well, not quite yet, but here she is with the first colour printed and the stencil for the second colour in place. A huge thank you to Jen for sending me a roll of freezer paper! I did end up finding some here, but it's so expensive. I'll be doing a lot of stenciling from now on, so stay tuned! I think I really want to show Pania off at this stage so you can see how much work went into cutting the stencil. It was painful (literally), but hopefully it all turns out ok.

I'll be printing later today so that she's ready to take to my upholstery class tonight. Exciting times! Stay tuned for the finished piece....

Project chair....

I've had to put the Pania stencil for my chair on hold for now (which is frustrating!) so I've moved on to the frame of the chair. I sanded it back yesterday and this afternoon I waxed it with some delicious smelling furniture wax. It obviously wasn't a very fancy chair when it was produced as a couple of different types of wood were used. I think it's come up well though, and quite like that it's a bit of a hodge podge.

I really want to get started on cutting the Pania stencil but I need to print it first, and it's an A2 stencil so I can't do anything until Tuesday (no Sunday trading plus Monday public holiday)! I've decided to use a combination of screen printing and freezer paper stencilling, so I also have to track down some freezer paper too (not as easy as I thought). Then, with any luck, the whole thing will be sewn at upholstery class on Thursday. (I can be such an optimist).

I'm feeling very impatient. Perhaps an afternoon beer will take my mind of things....