Apple Crate Refresh

While I was spending a much needed weekend with the girls in Asheville, NC we squeezed in some antiquing.

My friend Sarah and I have heard about The Antique Tobacco Barn but had never been. And while in Asheville without children and an empty car, what else do you do?!

70,000 sqft of antiques!! Holy smokes. Enough to make your head spin (with great ideas) and your mouth murmer OMG more than a few hundred times. We saw some amazing things. A card catalog for one. But at $600, I wasn't really ready to swing it. And as much as I keep saying I want one, I'm not realy sure what to do with it. So it stayed there.

I did come home with a few things. A small white cast iron bunny, an old apple crate, and a wire basket.
I knew exactly what I wanted to do with the Apple Crate. Here is her journey:

I picked through the pile of apple crates to find the best one. Once I got it home, the bottom completely fell off!

First she needed a little stability and a bottom. The boys and I added some nails and screws and a new bottom. A visit to Lowes for a $5 piece of birch that they cut to size for free!

I knew this sanding sponge wasn't going to do the trick but it kept them busy!

She needed lots of sanding. I wasn't going to paint it, but even after sanding it with a palm sander, it was still pretty rough. Since this was going to be for the kids, I wanted it super soft. (AKA NO SPLINTERS.) Back to Lowes for some sample size paint. Then I was going to have to pick a color. However, if you are like me, you ALWAYS check the oops paint. Sometimes it can be inspiring, other times you can go with a neutral, and sometimes it can be a total bust. This day they had white. Why not for .50 cents!!
So Q & I painted her really good. Nice thick coats of paint. Remember, I was trying to cover splinters. I knew the paint would help coat some of those, but I also knew the palm sander was going to come back out. Painted is not the look I was going for!



The very last detail which is my favorite and a favorite amongst the boys are the wheels!

I had all intentions of using this for a library book holder. I was going to stencil "Library" or something of the sort on the sides. This way all the books stay in one place and make return trips easier.
Did I mention I have boys? Yeah, once those wheels went on, all bets were off. It was soon used as a race car, a boat, a train and many other modes of transportation.

She still doesn't have an exact purpose, but I am still smitten with her and can't wait to find her one! Maybe she needs some siblings? I seem to be good at that!

Have you ever started a project and their purpose changed mid redo? Do tell!

Pickle Jar or Vase

Here is the most simple of projects!

Normally I wouldn't use a pickle jar as a vase but I co hosted a baby shower and the theme was Pickles and Ice Cream. Well what else would I use for a vase?!
The quickest easiest cheapest repurpose ever!

Of course the other easy vase answer is baby food jars. I mean, it's a baby shower! Why not?

Can't.Stop.Pinning

So I could have blogged months ago about my obsession with Pinterest but that would require I stop pinning for 30 minutes or so and write. But I can't. I am obsessed.
I LOVE that I don't need my 3 ring binder anymore. I LOVE that if I find something in a magazine, I can find it online and pin it to a folder. No more need for paper. And that is great on so many levels.

I have two weddings coming up and have had a great time pinning wedding shower ideas etc. I've even completed a few projects I've pinned!

It may be a short welcome back post, but I will leave you with some inspiration and a need to get on Pinterest!!
Enjoy!

You could repurpose some scrap wood and make the slats different widths.VIA

Oh that Martha! She gets me everytime!

A great way to use up some of those extra pieces of yarn. It's a recycle for the birds!VIA


A lot of trees have come down in Richmond lately. Pretty sure I could find some extra stumps? Repurpose them instead of mulch!VIA


A new use for clohes pins!VIA

Recipe Refresh

An easy refresh that makes a huge difference:
Cleaning up and editing the recipe box.

I'm a recipe girl. I like to have a place for all my favorites in one place. My recipe box was slammed full of cut outs and print outs and odd sized cards. The dividers were two different sizes. There were not enough dividers for how I wanted to organize them.

So as a girl without a craft box and without a home to do some DIY, I am able to get a lot of things done that I just didn't have time to do before! As lame as the project felt at first, it really felt quite good to have it completed!

I got some fun colored cardstock at Michaels and went to town!

Then I refiled all my recipes under their correct label.
Easy peasy. And now pretty too!

More Play Space

Another way to refresh a space is by changing up your pillows. They don't have to be elaborate or fancy just because they are custom. I love making pillows. Maybe because I love fabric and this is the only way I can use all kinds of patterns and textures and prints together. I love the way they can change the look and feel of a room within a matter of minutes.

Here are the custom pillows in our play room. All I had to do was find black, white and lime green fabric!


Another easy refresh on an old stool.

We made the news...

Well we made a newsletter!
One of Raleighs best real estate agents (for legal purposes I guess this is where I have to state that it is my opinion), Jennifer Perkins listed us (with a link!) as one of her trusted resources in her monthly newsletter!

She turns to us, when looking to Refresh & Repurpose her own home! Nice to know because we turn to her when looking for "all things Raleigh"!

You can check out her Raleigh blog Home in the Triangle! Oh look, she blogged about us too! She has a great eye for good things...including houses! So if you are looking to buy she's your girl!

Functional Storage

I love storage. I love pieces that are functional. So when I find a piece that does both it's a no brainer! It's coming home with me!

Living in Boston provided many great things. However tons of square footage was not one of them. So, everything had to function.

My roommate went and bought a blanket chest like this one & I stained it.

Picture from Sanford Unfinished Furniture


Since our days there it has been around the block. Literally. As well as Chicago, back to Boston, Raleigh, and now Denver.

It has been re purposed many times over. A footrest, blanket storage, Christmas storage, a coffee table, an end table, clothing storage. Most of all it has been loved.

What's your favorite (non kitchen) functional piece?