I found this media cabinet on Craigslist for a steal of a price and took the look from Santa Fe to Cottage Chic.
~Dawn

Love!

this is my most recent project...Love the results. THIS IS FOR SALE!!!!!!!!!!

Merrigay ... "I'd like to strip the shellac or whatever it is from my mother's old dining table. The wood is in good shape. But the top has crackled. How do you know what has been used so that you know which product to use to take it off?"

You can test the finish with solvents. When you find one that works, apply it liberally and then scrub gently with steel wool and wipe away the sludge. Or use a good paint and finish remover.
http://www.woodmagazine.com/materials-guide/finishes/what-finish-is-that-anyway/


Here's my work in progress, unfortunately a couple hundred miles from here right now. This is what a good solvent clean up can do on a cruddy ancient finish:

I bought this cabinet from Salvation Army for $70 and spent about $10 on spray paint and I love the results. The brown cabinet is the original and the robin's egg blue is the finished cabinet.

I used Krylon spray paint in Peekaboo Blue and a satin nickle spray paint on the fixtures. I can't remember the brand of that, but I got it at WalMart.

Sandy what kind of spray paint did you use. I have a cabinet in my bedroom that I will be working on soon.

You are all making me want to hit up the thrift shop.

Me too Emily, me too.

This vanity was previously a dresser. Saved it from my parent's home when we started clearing stuff out. The mirror used to be mounted on the dresser in a horse-shoe frame, but the frame was never found when I took the dresser.....We had to mount the faucet on an angle as there wasn't enough space behind the sink. The drawers have been removed for the plumbing, and the fronts are now held on to the dresser with magnets for easy removal should there be a plumbing problem......

Vanity mentioned above.....

I've never had my own bedroom set, so I decided I would just take what I had and make myself some. Starting with a dresser a good friend gave me, that had been her husbands when he was a child.

Beautiful job...

I recently refinished this old coffee table. I actually found it in a building of my dad's -- he has no recollection of where it came from!

Here's an old nightstand I repurposed into workbench for my grandson

Here are 2 of the four midcentury chairs that I found on CL for my apartment dining area about a week ago. Found a remnant piece of silk fabric that tied in perfectly with my living room and reupholster them the next night.

I found the chair on the left for ten dollars on craigslist about 6 years ago and I already had the ottoman.

The first picture was my second attempt at reinventing it.

When I found the material in the second picture I knew I wanted to use it for something and finally settled on reupholstering the chair and ottoman yet a third time.

You know what they say the third time the charm

I redecorated my whole room around it. :-)

[houzz=]

it's official. I would be way too embarrassed to post any pictures. everyone is so talented and artistic! obviously I fell through the cracks of the old wood floor :)

Mousy, maybe they'll have a discussion where people get to display the mice they've made, you and I could rule that thread!!!! :D

I found this sideboard at local thrift store for $80. My husband stripped it down to bare wood, it is now our new media cabinet.

Love them all! Such wonderful pieces from someone elses junk.

I paid about $50 for both chairs and fabric. I sold them to fund my design wants. The first one was practice so the fabric on the arm was not aligned well. The stripe wasn't the best choice.

This is an old bed frame we found in a barn and turned into a hall bench.

I have had this bed frame for ages, it was relegated to a guest room years ago. I have seen this same bed frame in no less than 50 bedroom dilemmas. Decided to paint it with chalk paint and fellow Houzzzers suggested I paint a navy accent wall to make the white pop. Turned out to be about a 100 dollar investment to get a new look to the room.

Here are a couple of mine from when I liked flowers painted on everything. I enjoyed doing them though.....

I wish I had "before" pics. This is the "after." It was my grandfather's (and possibly great grandfather's) telescope. He had bought it secondhand so it is an antique. I had it restored by a professional and really glad I did because it looks AMAZING. We have just moved so I still have to figure out where it is going to go, it is so eye catching it needs to be thought through a bit more.

A very old piece that we had to revive.

@Angela P, I used Krylon spray paint in Peekaboo Blue and a satin nickle spray paint for the fixtures!

This is the desk in my office, 8 dollar door from habitat store and reclaimed table legs added a glass top and it is the perfect desk.

Always working on something. It's my "me" time. Last one was a footstool I rescued from neighbors trash. It only took a couple of hours, most of it waiting for paint to dry.
Now I'm working on a table that my kids brought me in pieces (it's hereditary). When I saw the old square nails I got excited, you can see the table in pieces on the floor in the back. I have it all back together, every piece was there, hinges are in great shape, legs look good. It's a great old drop leaf, I think from early 1800s. I was going to paint it but I think I'll go with stain.

I took an old $25 garage sale find (not this exact one) Unfortunately, I didn't take before photos of any of the pieces) and painted it a Benjamin Moore black and added these pricey knobs to it. The other pieces were all a cherry wood color and they followed behind in the same way except for the tallboy dresser, from my childhood. I spray painted those handles silver to match the others.

Christine
Simply Tangerine

I used Annie Sloan chalk paint on this piece to add color and a rustic feel.

I inherited an old RCA TV from my Grandma and used it until it died. I wanted a "piece of furniture", not just a modern looking tv, so my husband gutted it, lined the inside, and added the legs. I painted it red first, then added bees wax where I wanted the red to show. Then I painted it black and with a rag, rubbed off the black paint where the the wax was. We then filled the space with a flat- screen tv that fits perfectly.

Wow, kathybroen what a great idea!

How neat. I love the end result and the concept. True green living.

kathybroen, you did an amazing job finishing the TV stand.....totally love the look. I have some small wood pieces that I bought second-hand, and want to do a similar-looking finish, but they are intended for my flower beds, so will have to be exterior paint. They will be brought in during the winters.....( a small doll's high-chair for a plant pot. When you bury slightly taller items in the flowers, you're able to have a plant pot sit higher to give an extra pop of colour. a carrier box for wood for the fire-place for a plant pot, a white wicker baby's bassinet for a huge fern plant, either for the front porch or back deck. I even have a small wooden shelf with a plate track that I want to hang on the face board of the back deck, above the flower bed, for small pots. I enjoy finding unexpected uses for things). Each of these needs painting......(winter projects for next Spring).

I'm loving this thread! So many creative people and bright ideas I intend to steal. Love the photos.

This is a table that I built out of an old and no longer useable bedframe and 3 old post office drawers. I love old wood and making new and useable furniture out of it is such fun!

Margaret-you been holding out on me.

Kathy Davis! That table is incredible! My favorite transformation posted so far! Very well done.

Oh thank you so much!! I'm kind of new at trying to make things and your lovely comment just made my whole year! Thank you!

Mahogany chair refinished and upholstered in leather

Repurposed flea market find.

A client of mine was going to throw this vertical filing cabinet out. We took it to our shop. Stripped off the original paint, removed the dents, and polished the stainless steel.

Thanks for the comments on the TV. Here's a little table I did as well. It was a $5 garage sale find. I did a mosaic on the top and the same finish as the tv on the rest. I can slide it under the couch between 2 people if I want. Kinda cool!

I bought this table at a yard sale years ago and paid 5.00. I had someone offer me 100.00 for it and I wouldn't take it. lol I hand painted the design.

we turned an old yellow {lighted!} china cabinet into a wardrobe for the dressing room! was desperately seeking a piece with chicken wire and found it on craigslist! we removed the glass shelves and installed a rod instead, and painted the outside to match the other pieces in the room, including the built-ins on the opposite wall {not pictured}.
eventually, I will post the rest of the 2nd bedroom turned dressing room photos here!: http://www.houzz.com/pro/sharonnamisha/

What an amazing amount of talent on this thread!!!!!

When my son graduated and moved to his own place, we found this old table and chairs and refinished them. A little elbow grease went a long way.

Hi Emily. Can you recommend any reading, reference or other material that will teach me how to restore furniture made with metal, fabric, etc? I have several lamps, and 4 mid century (perhaps 1960's) dinette chairs with a copper looking finish or the metal body. I am also looking for a source for retro style vinyl to remake the cushions.

Used this really useful article to help me on my first restoration project https://www.gively.co/post/restoring-furniture-our-top-tips