Motel Headboard Re-Purposed

The brown board you can see in front of the old doors in this pic was a curbside find from a pile at a motel undergoing some renovations.  It has a french cleat on the back because it was originally a headboard.  That's right , those plain motel headboards are attached to the wall with a french cleat and are surprisingly heavy.  I grabbed three doors from the same pile.  It was quite a score.

I gave the headboard a thorough cleaning with some hot water and TSP and a couple of coats of this green chalky paint I had at the time and used it as a headboard for a while.  It was only a temporary fix though until the room changed.  

To re-purpose the headboard I removed the cleat from the back and painted the center with a DIY chalk board paint.  It's just some black craft paint that I mix with a teaspoon of plaster of paris . 

I painted the frame in this barely there gray called "Lovely in Linen" from BeautiTone.  You can see it has these subtle undertones of sage green.

I cut a section of the french cleat to fit the shorter end so I could hang this chalkboard vertically, and it is the perfect fit for the space between  two doors.

Tip:  If you haven't used a french cleat before, it's the perfect solution for hanging really large and extremely heavy pieces like this chalk board  or large mirrors. All you need is one 4" wide board cut slightly shorter than the piece you want to hang.

Make a diagonal cut lengthwise so you have two pieces that are the same. Attach one to the back of you piece and the other to the wall.  Make sure you attach the side of the cleat the is narrowest to the wall and the same to your piece.  When you go to hang your piece the one side will hook over the other side and snug into place.

Now I have a long chalkboard that fits nicely between these two doors on one wall of my kitchen.

To turn this piece into a message center here's what I did.

I attached a little screw right at the top to hang a calendar.  I flipped ahead a month because this month has a lot of notes on it already.

I cut the bottom of a little plastic bottle and painted it to match the frame.  I attached it with   screws and filled it with some pens, markers and chalk.

A cup hook to hold scissors.

A few little screws added to hang clip boards and even one to keep the ruler handy.

Then a quick trip to the thrift store for a few little baskets. I don't know what these were originally used for . They are vinyl covered wire.  I gave both a coat of matching paint.  The smallest one holds incoming mail.

The larger one  holds  note books and receipts pads.

So here is my message center all finished.

This is perfect for me.  It has a chalk board to take down quick phone messages until they can be taken care of.  And  paper mess  mail that gets dumped on my island can now be put into the baskets until it's dealt with.  

My receipt books for daycare are always right at hand.  I can grab a pen, or marker when I need it, instead of the regular "hang on while I grab something to write with" scenario that usually happens when the phone rings.  Even scissors to clip coupons are handy.

And here's the very best part of this project. The headboard was a curbside find. The paint was left over from other jobs.  The baskets came from the thrift store for $1.  Everything else I had on hand.

There isn't a lot you can make for a buck, and I'm super happy how this one turned out.

Apple crate

I bought this craft style apple box a while back to use on my kitchen island. 

Even though it's cute with it's rustic look, it's not what I really wanted.  That didn't stop me from bringing it home though. I knew I would have exactly what I wanted with just a little paint.

Of course I used my DIY Chalky paint for primer first.

The paint colour I chose for this was Benjamin Moore's  "Lovely in Linen".  It's so soft and pretty. Just a hint of colour.

Once it dried I used a sanding sponge to distress the letters very lightly.

I love how it looks now. It's the exact look I wanted for this piece.

Pantry from Cheap Sears Bookshelves Part 2

A while back Ages ago I started a project to create a pantry space near my small kitchen to help supplement the tiny amount of cupboard space I have. You might remember it if you've been following along, if not you can find Pantry from old Sears bookshelves Part one here.

Well let me tell you what happened.  I got the shelves stacked together and being in desperate need they ended getting filled up with pantry stuff. Then winter hit hard,  I went into hospital and had a total knee replacement done,  I was busy recovering and doing my physiotherapy.... And .... time just flew by..  

Spring has finally arrived, the snow has melted and it's getting warmer every day. I'm walking without a limp and am happily getting back in the swing of things.  ...those ugly bookshelves are full of stuff and staring at me like I completely forgot about them.  I keep staring right back, but I've finally realized  I cannot live with the guilt of an unfinished project any longer.  Something needed to be done.

I was babysitting a little fellow but he had just gone down for a nap, so I knew I had approximately 1 hour.   I immediately dug the hinges I had purchased for this  project out of the bottom of the junk drawer (they were at the very bottom) and brought in the shutters I was going to use from my stash. 

The shutters had been separated for a previous use so I re-attached them using hinges in the middle and then I hung the shutters to the shelves using the same style of hinges.  Nothing fancy just little 2" hinges from the hardware store.  The doors were an exact fit side to side but not top to bottom.. I left the bottom up a bit so give it good clearance and I will have to find a solution for the top.

Then I added a couple of magnetic latches on the inside to keep the doors shut. 

About this time the little fellow I was looking after woke up from his nap.... so I guess part two of this project is done..

So I don't really have a lot more accomplished,  and you will definitely have to stay tuned to see what else I have  planed next.  At least the shelves are covered and  I promise not to wait three months before I get to part three. 



Market Sign

I apologize for not being around for a while.  I have been recovering from surgery and dealing with an infection at the site if the incision, so actually I've been doing a lot of nothing. I did work on a few little projects though.

I have this little wall space that is the bulkhead over my kitchen cabinets.  It isn't really a lot of wall so you cant hang a picture, and I dont' have a pile of pretty plates I can put there.  I've been dwelling on it for some time now and decided a board would fit there really well so a few  signs seemed the logical thing.  Going through my stash the other day I found two signs that I had painted years ago when I sold fresh eggs and rabbits.  They hung at the end of the drive for years and were weathered and discoloured.  In other words perfect. They got me thinking ... If I could hand paint a sign fifteen years ago I could certainly paint something now. I don't own a cricut or anything like it so freehand is the way I've always done things. 

I wish I had taken some before pictures but a board is a board.
I picked  a board that looked like the right size and sketched the lettering on with a pencil. 
I painted the letters directly onto the board , because I thought I wanted the background natural but when they were done I hated it .  
To fix it I painted over the letters with some white chalky paint, then repainted over the letters with some the black again.  It was better but looked like I had just painted it.  duh..

 

I grabbed some white vinegar and sprinkled some large droplets over the surface of the board and with a cloth I immediately rubbed with the grain to take some of the layered paint off.  I used a sanding block to take off a bit more until I was satisfied with the look and then covered the whole thing with some paste wax for dark furniture.  The dark wax is what gives it the "not just done" look I wanted.

It's the perfect fit  for the area above the stove and I wish I had done this years ago.  I love it.

And here's this little "eggs" sign I made about fifteen years ago.  You can't duplicate the wear that wind and rain create so this little treasure is perfect. It sold a lot off eggs, and the cash bought a lot of chicken feed. It's a  hard working little sign that deserves a place of honor above the fridge. 

Feel free to leave me a little note. I'd love to hear from you.

Pantry from Sears Bookshelves. Part 1

I don't have a pantry but I really need one because my kitchen has very limited cupboard space. I currently keep items in the cabinet in the laundry room, and in a tiny kitchen cupboard.

I don't have the funds to build a pantry cupboard from scratch so I need to make this with what I have available. 

What I have is a pair of  well worn Sears  bookshelves that have been used to store stuff in a garage and then in a junk room. spare bedroom for years. They are worn and have holes where they have been screwed together and the back needs to be put back on one.  OH... and they are very very ugly.

I also have a louvered bi-fold door.  Now things don't usually work out like this but it just happens that this bi-fold door is exactly the same width as the shelves.  So far so good.

The shelves have this kick plate at the bottom, so if I turn one shelf over and stack them with the two tops together, this kick plate will be at the top and the bottom. 

 The two shelves stacked  aren't quite the same height as the shutters so it might take a bit of fiddling.
hmmm ... I'll need some hinges, some door knobs, and some trim... oh and paint.

I'm not sure it's  going to work yet so you'll just have to check back next week to see whether or not this is going to be a winner or a colossal fail.  Wish me luck.

I'd love to hear from you.

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what you think of todays post.

Coffee Creamer to Storage

 

 I am a coffee lover.  It is an absolute must in the morning. I drink mine with the original Coffee Mate creamer and I usually  put  those neat containers with the red lids into the recycle bin. 
Here's what I did with a few I saved.

All I did was remove the original plastic  label  and add a neat little labels with some white glue.  They stuck really well and I added some over the front of the label  so they would be easy to wipe clean. Here they are sitting on the back of my stove. 

They are the perfect size to keep some of the items I use a lot, close at hand, for when I need them.



Update: These containers are the perfect size for pantry storage for a lot of baking items as well. The handy  pour spout makes them great for  baking soda and powder, yeast, sprinkles and cake decorations.  If you can think of other things please leave your ideas in the comments. 

I'd love to hear from you.

Please leave a comment and tell me

what you think of todays post.