Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Reuse . Refurbish . Recycle

NEW!

There is just something about that word, so many meanings. It's clean, it's fresh and it's yours. But sometimes these new things that we want or need are not always easy to get. Expenses are the hurdle we need to jump and we are not always willing, nor is it worth it.

Well, in our sometimes seemingly repetitive daily lives, new things can be something refreshing. But, you don't have to get something brand new to have it be new.

An ongoing project I have for myself is redecorating my room. In the process I needed a new nightstand, but was not willing to pay prices for something simple. So I rummaged through my house for something I could find and planned to refurbish it. I found an old white nightstand with green handles that was a little nicked up and not the most attractive.


There was no way I was going to put that thing into my room. But despite it's jumbled look, it still had a good basic shape and the wood was in good condition. With a little love and just over a week's time, I sanded the white paint off with a hand and belt sander. That paint was layered on THICK. When finished sanding off the paint I filled the nicks and dings with wood putty to even it out, let it dry and lightly sanded those surfaces again. Then I began painting. I chose to paint the unfinished interior white and chose a sky blue exterior paint. Those green and pink striped handles were hideous so I went to my favorite store Anthropologie and chose some new handles. Before placing the new handles on I polyurethaned the whole thing to protect the nice paint and...

VOILA!!!


I love it so much. When you make something new out of something old, you feel proud, you have bragging rights and you save $$$. This baby cost me about $30 for paint, drawer pulls and sandpaper. Most of the materials I needed like the belt sander I already had at home.

What will you refurbish? Release your creativity by rummaging through your house or checking our this seasons garage sales or consignment shops. Please share with me your new things :) I love to hear.

3 comments:

  1. i my word that is SO BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!

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  2. I'm so happy it all worked out! LOVE the Anthropologie knobs ;)

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  3. Love before & after posts! Well done! It looks lovely. :) And Anthropologie is definitely the place to go for furniture hardware... :)

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