365 Days Handmade

Making life a better place, one day at a time

Tag Archives: Shabby Chic


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Day 60/365: How to Upcycle an Old Bureau into a Shabby Chic Beach Cottage Credenza

3.1.2015D

As you know, on Valentine’s Day I found this little gem and rescued it from the trash.  I gave it a makeover and shared a sneak peek.  I promised a big reveal in two weeks, so today I give you the full deets!  (Click on each photo to enlarge.)

The poor little bureau only had two working drawers, and they were missing their knobs:

Before

Narrowly missed being sent to the landfill!

I bought some aqua paint (Clark + Kensington Good Life) and four faceted glass knobs, and then I got to work.

2.16.15

Paint ($10, but free to me because Sean paid) + glass knobs (4 x $6 each) = A damn good deal for the final product, if you ask me.

I put wood putty over the extra holes in the front of each drawer, and then I painted them.

BeforeDrawers

Sean built a shelf into the empty space where the missing drawer would have gone.  He also drilled a couple of new holes into the top drawer for me.

2.15.15C

Empty, hollow, and a little sad.

2.15.15D

Getting measured for a new shelf…

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… and waiting to dry.

I was hoping for a nice sunny day today where we could carry the bureau out to the backyard for a pretty photo shoot.  Of course it was overcast all day and rained instead.

At about 5 PM, I’d had enough waiting and decided to take photos on the front porch, clouds and rain be damned.  It did sprinkle a little, but I think the bureau did a nice job posing for the grand reveal.

And here it is, in all its upcycled glory:

3.1.2015A

Ta-da!

Before:

2.14.15

After:

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3.1.2015B

3.1.2015E

I think it would make a great credenza for the TV, DVD player, and DVDs.  It would also look great in my craft room where I store my yarn and fabrics.  Either way, I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out.  It’s got me thinking of doing a lot more trash picking and upcycling.  Stay tuned!

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Day 47/365: A Sneak Peek at My Drawers

2.16.15A

Some days I have a really hard time coming up with a good title for the daily blog post.  Today was not one of them.

So, as you recall, on Saturday I went trash picking and on Sunday I got to upcycling.  I forgot to mention yesterday that part of the day’s activities included going to Ace Hardware for paint and Home Depot for replacement knobs for the dresser drawers.

BeforeDrawers

They were stripped of their knobs when I rescued them from the trash.

You can click on the photo for an enlarged view, but you can see where the holes were drilled for the drawer knobs.  Apparently, the top drawer had two knobs, while the second drawer probably had two handle-type pulls.

I didn’t like the placement of holes in the top drawer.  So I used some of Sean’s wood putty and filled the extra holes that I planned to paint over.  Then Sean took his drill, measured the spots for the new holes, and drilled them in for me.

I knew I wanted glass knobs for that vintage shabby-chic look, and I found exactly the perfect ones.  They’re faceted crystal, and they remind me of disco balls, the way the light bounces off into rainbows.  At six dollars a knob, these were the most expensive purchase for this makeover.

BeforeKnobs

Costly, but oh so pretty!

I gave each dresser drawer two coats of paint, and that seemed like enough.  When the paint dried, I had the pleasure of installing my new glass knobs.

2.16.15B

So, to recap, from this:

BeforeDrawers

To this:

2.16.15C

Sean is back down in Ventura now, and I’ll be headed down there for this weekend.  It’s still foggy in Morro Bay, so I’m going to wait until we’re both up here on a sunny day to take more photos of the completed project.  Stay tuned for the Big Reveal in probably two weeks!

 


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Day 46/365: One Person’s Trash…

Remember this old bureau that I rescued from the landfill yesterday?

I spent most of today fixing it up, with Sean’s help.

2.15.15B

Click for a closer look of the dirty, dusty details.

First, I pulled out the two remaining drawers and discovered dust and a spider and a few other tiny bugs and crawlies.  So Sean and I carried the empty dresser out to the driveway, where I gave it a major powerwash with the garden hose.

2.15.15C

See? Much cleaner.

Sean got started measuring the space where I wanted a shelf, since one of the three drawers had been missing its front panel and was beyond repair.

2.15.15D

Measure twice, cut once.

In the meantime, I started painting.  I went with two coats and thought that was a good place to stop.

2.15.15E

Wet paint!

It was foggy in Morro Bay today, so it wasn’t the best day to be taking photos in natural sunlight.  But I think you can get a pretty good idea of where this project is heading.

What do you think so far?

2.15.15F

P.S. The name of this paint is Good Life.

Which is kinda appropriate, ’cause that’s what we’re living, baby.