homebeautiful
a place to be yourself, to be inspired, and to live life with laughter & love...in a beautiful home
Our new guest blogger, Jennie, has some exciting furniture steals from her latest Treasure Hunts! Check out these great finds she’ll be sharing soon on her upcoming DIY Project posts::
I’m most excited to refinish this solid wood hutch I scored for $65 at Goodwill. I also have a dining table in the works to create a matching set.
A $19 bookcase from Goodwill I will be using in this unique entry way arch along with an antique gold mirror I found several years ago for only $10 or $15. By adding the mirror and some other fun decor touches to the shelf I hope to make this a beautiful entry way to our home.
This entry table has a classic design and with a little wear and tear it only cost me $25. I will be reconditioning this great piece to create a finished and elegant look in my entry way.
If you would like to be a guest DIY blogger, please contact me at: ahomebeautiful@gmail.com.
Before
After
On Display
I’ve been hunting for a shallow basket to put near our front door and found this plain woven wood one on my last Treasure Hunt. It had the right shape but it was really blah and didn’t go with our darker living room decor. But since it was plain wood and I had some left over stain from my antique window project this became an easy d-i-y decor piece. And I love how beautifully it turned out with the dark walnut stain.
Supplies::
Wooden basket made of natural unstained/painted wood
Wood stain (I used walnut)
Foam brush
How I did it::
1. Work on a surface that you don’t care about getting stain on because it will leak through a lot! I did this on my work bench. I recommend working outside on a scrap piece of wood or thick cardboard. The stain will stain everything it touches.
2. Dip a foam brush very lightly in your stain. Instead of painting on the stain as you normally would a smooth surface, press the foam brush into the woven pieces to cover all of them, don’t worry if it’s a little thicker in some places than others, keep dabbing all over with the foam brush. It will pick up the excess where it needs to as it runs out of stain on the brush.
3. Let your basket dry for several days. It may still feel a little tacky but rub a clean rag over it to make sure nothing comes off. If not, it is ready for display!
Before
After
On display
I found these frames on my latest Treasure Hunt for less than $1.50 for all three. With some left over spray paint from our bed frame and fabric from building our awesome West Elm style headboard I only needed to get a few simple supplies. For less than $10 I turned these old frames into a beautiful display with easy access to my favorite pieces I wear all the time.
Supplies::
various wooden frames
white spray paint
scrap fabric - (you can use old clothes, linens, patterned contact paper, or scrapbook paper instead of buying new fabric)
cardboard, if your frames don’t have backing in them - (you can pick up free boxes at beverage or grocery stores)
masking tape
staple gun (optional, see note on step 3)
brass cup hooks - (1 package of five 1/2 inch and 1 package of five 1/4 inch)
brass eye hooks - (1 package of seven)
string
ribbon
photo hangers or nails
How I made them:
1. Remove any backing from your frames, two of mine had cardboard and old fabric backings already, and spray paint white or color of choice.
2. Measure and cut cardboard for new backing. Cover with fabric and attach to back with masking tape.
3. Insert fabric covered cardboard as the new backing in the frames once the paint is dry. Secure in place.
Note: I had to replace the staple fasteners for the backing on one of my frames. I did this by holding a narrow flathead screwdriver where I wanted to place a new staple while I punched in a new staple with a staple gun. This kept the staple from being flush against the frame. Use the screwdriver to pry the staple out far enough so it can bend down and secure your cardboard.
4. Attach your cup hooks to the frames you want to hang necklaces and bracelets on.
I used the 1/2 inch cup hooks for necklaces on the short edge of my largest frame. By attaching them to the outside of the frame it gave them an extra inch to hang. I used the 1/4 inch cup hooks on the long inside edge of a smaller frame so that the bracelets would lay flat against the backing.
5. Attach eye hooks on the short inside edges on either side of the frames you want to hang earrings on. Tie string or ribbon between them to make rows. Position them so your longest pair of earrings will still be inside the frame and not dangling over the edge when you hang them. I used string on one frame and gold ribbon on the other.
6. Hang your frames using photo hangers or nails.
7. Hang your jewelry for a beautiful display!
Before
After
On dislplay
A simple spray paint transformation for this pressed flower frame easily turned it to a beautiful decor piece. It looks great on our recently updated bookshelf with the hand carved stash box I found at the thrift store on my Treasure Hunt this past weekend. For less than $8 and a little left over spray paint from another project, these two versatile decor items will be treasured for quite some time in our home.
