A Small Update in the Kitchen

 This is my sister's kitchen.  It is a lovely kitchen, so we didn't have to do much in here.  

But do you see her poor island?!!  

Those noodles had to go!!!  

For one, they were not my sister's style, and second, they even opened to allow her two year old to scatter them throughout her house!  

We decided to remove the noodle cabinet faces, replace the glass with beadboard, then paint the island white.  We thought this would also brighten up the kitchen a bit since it doesn't get much natural light.

So we started by having Blane (my sister's awesome hubs) knock out the glass from the cabinet face.  We then attached beadboard in its place with liquid nails.  We also glued the cabinet face to the island so it would no longer open/close, then caulked the edges.

 When the noodles were taken care of, we started painting.  Instead of sanding we started with a coat of Cover Stain and then finished with a white semi-gloss.  

 Doesn't it look amazing?!  Just one little update in this kitchen made a HUGE difference. And it definitely made the room feel brighter!

My sister also wanted me to decorate above her cabinets, so I had lots of fun doing that!

 I tried to use some of what she already had, but we incorporated some fun pieces we found at her local antique mall and thrift store

Here is her kitchen all finished!  

 I think it turned out beautiful!!!

 Therena

Party Links:
By Stephanie Lynn, Nifty Thrifty Things, DIY Showoff, Keeping it Simple, Craft-O-Maniac, Life on Lakeshore Drive, The Casual Craftlete, A Stroll Thru Life, Farmhouse Porch, Rain on a Tin Roof, Naptime Creations, Coastal Charm, Mod Vintage Life, Miss Mustard Seed, Reasons to Skip the Housework, From My Front Porch to Yours, Embracing Change, The Shabby Nest, Love of Family and Home, Skip to My Lou, I Should be Mopping the Floor, A Stroll Thru Life, Home Coming, Love Grows Wild, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

 

Thrifty Thursday: Thrift Store Wreath Transformed

Ok, before I get into my wreath transformation, I have to mention a few things!  

First of all, tomorrow I am heading to Texas for over a week!  I have not been able to contain my excitement for days!  My sister and her family just moved there from New Jersey, and because they plan to "put down roots" there, they bought a house!  So I am going to help her with all of her DIY projects, painting, and decorating.  And did I mention I'm going solo....meaning no kids?!  Oh yeah!  My sister has 3 boys too, but to go by myself is just fabulous!  

Anyways, so I will be somewhat MIA until I get back.  But when I do, I'll have LOTS to blog about :)

Secondly, I fixed my profile so I'm no longer a No-Reply Blogger!!!  So sorry, I had no idea I was, and now its fixed! Yay!

On to my wreath: This is the finished product! 

While I was browsing the thrift store the other day, I came across this cheezy, ugly looking wreath.  But it was only $6, so I got it thinking I could probably do something with it to make it pretty!  It doesn't look so bad in this picture, but it was!  It just looked really cheap...the leaves are stiff and spindly!

 So I first added some orange and yellow burlap.  I looped it around the wreath, hot glueing it where I thought it needed it.  Then I added some pine cones (which I also found at the thrift store...$2).  And finally I glued some little "pumpkin picks" that I found at Wal-Mart for $1.97 each.

 I was able to turn a cheezy thrift store wreath into a nice, pretty one for about $20!  I think it was worth it....have you seen the prices for wreaths lately?! No thank you!!! lol

Have a fabulous week!  I'll be back in about a week!

Therena

Party Links:
I Gotta Create, House of Hepworths, Tatertots & Jello, By Stephanie Lynn, Savvy Southern Style, The Shady Porch, Oh My Creative, Fluster Buster, Posed Perfection, Shabby Creek Cottage, Embracing Change, The Blissful Bee

Thrifty Thursday: New Plate Vignette

I have been wanting to jazz up the space above my dining room hutch, but wasn't quite sure what to do.  I've seen all these lovely plate walls and vignettes, so I headed to Goodwill and the Dollar Store to find me some plates!

This is what I came up with:

 I actually shopped at home first before heading to the stores.  

The only plates that I had to use were the 2 blue ones:

The plain white ones came from the Dollar Store, and the rest came from Goodwill!

So I was able to change this (blah):

 Into this!!! For only $15  

Therena

Party Links:
Reasons to Skip the Housework, Oh My Creative, Embracing Change, French Country Cottage, The Pin Junkie, All Our Days, The Shabby Nest, Love of Family & Home, The Grant Life, Remodelaholic, Tatertots & Jello, Its Overflowing, Six Sisters Stuff, By Stephanie Lynn, Nifty Thrifty Things, Craft-O-Maniac, The Casual Craftlete, Huckleberry Love, Keeping it Simple, Pink When, Rain on a Tin Roof, Skip to My Lou, I Should be Mopping the Floor, Home Coming, Coastal Charm, Love Grows Wild, Naptime Creations, Adventures of a DIY Mom, Sugar Bee Crafts, Mod Vintage Life, Be Betsy, Savvy Southern Style, DIY by Design, Clean & Scentsible, Fluster Buster, Green Willow Pond, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Not Just a Housewife, A Stroll Thru Life, Made to be a Momma, I Gotta Create, Someday Crafts, Shabby Creek Cottage, From My Front Porch to Yours, The Blissful Bee, Newlywed Pilgrimage, House of Hepworths, Too Much Time on My Hands

How to Strip Veneer & a Dresser Makeover

I finally finished a dresser that I found at Goodwill a few months ago!  I fell in love when I saw her, but she definitely needed some work! 

This is how she looks now:

But this is what she looked like when I bought her:

 Two of her drawers had lost most of the veneer, and the third was cracking!

And the top!!  Oh, it was disgusting!  But she had some pretty details that I couldn't resist. 

Normally, when I see furniture with veneer that is cracked or peeling (like this piece), I tend not to even bother with it.  Veneer is not easy nor fun to deal with, in my opinion!!! Ha!

However, I figured a few drawers wouldn't be too bad!  

This is the method I use to strip veneer:

First of all, I get a very damp cloth.  Then, working in small sections,  I lay the cloth over the veneer,  take a hot iron, and press it firmly onto the cloth.  I hold it there for about 30 seconds or so before removing the iron.  

 Then I take my scraper and slowly peel off the veneer.  The moisture from the cloth and the heat from the iron loosens up the glue, making it come off quite easily.  If it doesn't, I go back and repeat the process until it does!  

This method works really well, its just time consuming and tedious!  Not my favorite thing to do!

Anyways, once I removed all the veneer, there was still some glue residue on the drawers, so I sanded them down, getting them as smooth as possible.  

Then she was ready for the fun part!! Although her top was nasty, I loved the dark color, so I gave the top a good sanding as well, and restained it in Minwax's Special Walnut.

I chose Betsy's Linen for the body of the dresser, and went with Shiitake for the drawers.

Then I distressed her and gave her some new knobs!

 I think she is just gorgeous, and worth all that veneer stripping!  

Oh, and I almost forgot...I paid $20 for her at Goodwill, and the knobs cost $14 at Hobby Lobby.

The paint and stain were leftover from other projects, 

so the total cost for her was $34! 

Therena

Party Links:
Not Just a Housewife, The Winthrop Chronicles, Fluster Buster, Clean & Scentsible, The Shady Porch, DIY by Design, Savvy Southern Style, Be Betsy, Domestically Speaking, Craft & Repeat, The Koenigs Create, From My Front Porch to Yours, Someday Crafts, Made to be a Momma, Sugar & Dots, The Shabby Creek Cottage, I Gotta Create, Glamorous Affordable Life, The Newlywed Pilgrimage, The Blissful Bee, House of Hepworths, The Crafty Blog Stalker, Start at Home, Reasons to Skip the Housework, Oh My Creative, Embracing Change, French Country Cottage, The Pin Junkie, All Our Days, Miss Mustard Seed, The Shabby Nest, Love of Family & Home, The Grant Life, Remodelaholic, Tatertots & Jello, Its Overflowing, Six Sisters Stuff, By Stephanie Lynn, Nifty Thrifty Things, DIY Showoff, Craft-O-Maniac, The Casual Craftlete, Huckleberry Love, Keeping it Simple, Pink When, Rain on a Tin Roof, Skip to My Lou, I Should be Mopping the Floor, Home Coming, Coastal Charm, Love Grows Wild, Naptime Creations, Adventures of a DIY Mom, Sugar Bee Crafts, Mod Vintage Life, Be Betsy, Green Willow Pond

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Funky Junk Interiors