I would like to say it was a friendly parting of ways. That the 1.5 year long relationship between myself, my family, and the house located at 812 Rose Avenue was a great one, filled with wonderful memories and butterflies and rainbows and all that....
but it wasn't! It was one of the most challenging, and not nearly as rewarding as it should have been, experiences of my life.
And it's over.
Finally.
After sitting on the market for over a year.
It has sold. And I have my money back. And I could cry tears of happiness.
So long 812 Rose Avenue. I won't be seeing you again.
P/S - To the new owner, I apologize now when everything falls to pieces. The house was pretty much put together with Popsicle sticks and duck tape.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Habitat for Humanity is starting to rip me off....
....and I don't like it!
There is no rhyme or reason why they price things the way that they do. One week I can get a dining room table for $25.00 or a freaking white buffet like the other day for $35.00. Then the next week I go in there and a small side table, which should only cost $5.00, is priced at $15.00! I don't get it. It makes no sense to me and it's starting to bother me. Maybe there is a complaint line I can call. I'll look into it.
Well this will be a short post because I didn't take before photos. I know, I know. Deal with it.
I went into the Habitat for Humanity Restore on Saturday and only found one little side table that I had any desire to refinish. It was NOT WORTH $15.00. But I wanted it so I paid $15.00 for it. There is hardly any profit margin when it comes to smaller items. From now on I'm only sticking to dressers/buffets/armoires (or other larger items).
But here is the side table after I painted it black and put new brushed nickel knobs on it. It was brown before, the same color as the dresser in the previous post. Only took one can of black matte spray paint.
Total Cost: $25.00
Table - $15.00
Spray paint - $4.00
Knobs - 3 knobs at $2.00 each = $6.00
I have it priced on Craigslist at $40. Although I will probably end up selling it for $30-40. Not a large profit margin at all!
Update 7/23/12
Sold for $30. Not a large profit but hey, it buys a meal at McDonalds.
There is no rhyme or reason why they price things the way that they do. One week I can get a dining room table for $25.00 or a freaking white buffet like the other day for $35.00. Then the next week I go in there and a small side table, which should only cost $5.00, is priced at $15.00! I don't get it. It makes no sense to me and it's starting to bother me. Maybe there is a complaint line I can call. I'll look into it.
Well this will be a short post because I didn't take before photos. I know, I know. Deal with it.
I went into the Habitat for Humanity Restore on Saturday and only found one little side table that I had any desire to refinish. It was NOT WORTH $15.00. But I wanted it so I paid $15.00 for it. There is hardly any profit margin when it comes to smaller items. From now on I'm only sticking to dressers/buffets/armoires (or other larger items).
But here is the side table after I painted it black and put new brushed nickel knobs on it. It was brown before, the same color as the dresser in the previous post. Only took one can of black matte spray paint.
Total Cost: $25.00
Table - $15.00
Spray paint - $4.00
Knobs - 3 knobs at $2.00 each = $6.00
I have it priced on Craigslist at $40. Although I will probably end up selling it for $30-40. Not a large profit margin at all!
Update 7/23/12
Sold for $30. Not a large profit but hey, it buys a meal at McDonalds.
Dumpster Diving Dresser
I love dumpster diving. People throw away some really awesome stuff! For instance, check out this dresser that someone left by a dumpster at my boyfriend's condo complex. I was leaving one day and walked past the dumpster and nearly had a heart attack. I quickly pulled my car up and loaded it into the back. Mr. Emily (boyfriend) thinks I'm crazy and came out of his condo to help me with the expression of "God, not again" on his face but do I care? Nope.
So this is what I got for F.R.E.E. I love Free.
Here are the after photos. It looks much better I think.
Total cost: $28.00
Dresser = Free
Knobs = $20.00
Spray Paint = 2 cans of slate blue at $4.00 each for a total of $8.00
Price on Craigslist: $100.00
Now, let's hope it sells! I may have made a gigantic mistake painting it blue. It may be white come next week.
Update 7/24/12
Sold for $75. I had someone interested in coming over last night to buy it for $100 but they didn't show up. This other woman really wants it but can only afford $75 and can come by tonight. Since I'm nice and really just want this thing out of my living room, I said that's fine. $50 bucks profit buys me a LOT of happy meals.
So this is what I got for F.R.E.E. I love Free.
Definitely needs some TLC but overall it's a decent dresser so why anyone would throw this out is beyond me. They could have at least sold it for $25 as in on Craiglist! Oh well, their loss is my gain.
I decided to take a risk on this make over. I should stick to only universally liked colors, such as white or black. But I felt adventurous so I decided on Rust-Oleum's Slate Blue Matte. This time I used a white primer before I spray painted it in blue. I would have to say doing a quick once over in the white primer made the main color adhere better. It only took 2 cans of the Slate Blue and maybe 1/4 can of primer that I had left over from the white buffet I sold last week.
As for the knobs - I purchased replacement brushed nickel pulls and knobs from Lowe's. The only downfall of these older dressers is that the holes for the pulls are in sometimes hard to find sizes and sometimes the drawers have different size holes, which makes finding matching knobs a pain in the ass. For instance, with this dresser, the 4 drawer pulls on the top two drawers were 2.5" wide and the bottom 2 pulls on the last drawer were 3" wide. In general 2.5" pulls are hard to find so to find matching pulls in different sizes was going to be difficult. Lowe's only had one option and had pulls in 2.5" and 3 and 1/4".
Since the 3" holes on the bottom were slightly too small I had to measure out a new hole, plug the hole I wasn't using with caulk, sand it down after it dried and spray paint over it a second time. It really didn't take that much time. Maybe an hour or two total from start to finish. And a lot of that time was waiting time while everything dried. Then you just measure out another hole and drill it. Voila, now the bottom holes are larger.
Total cost: $28.00
Dresser = Free
Knobs = $20.00
Spray Paint = 2 cans of slate blue at $4.00 each for a total of $8.00
Price on Craigslist: $100.00
Now, let's hope it sells! I may have made a gigantic mistake painting it blue. It may be white come next week.
Update 7/24/12
Sold for $75. I had someone interested in coming over last night to buy it for $100 but they didn't show up. This other woman really wants it but can only afford $75 and can come by tonight. Since I'm nice and really just want this thing out of my living room, I said that's fine. $50 bucks profit buys me a LOT of happy meals.
Monday, July 16, 2012
DIY: Apothecary Jars
I've always loved apothecary jars, especially when placed in the bathroom to hold things like cotton balls. But they are always so expensive! Places like Home Goods sell the jars for anywhere between $5.00 for the smaller ones to over $20.00 for the larger ones. Ridiculous!
So I decided to make my own.
Talk about a cheap project. And so simple too.
First step: Go to the dollar store and purchase candle stick holders and glass jars/vases/glasses. I purchased 3 candle stick holders and 3 pillar candle holder vases.
Third Step: Place your pillar candle holder on top of the candle stick holder.
Fourth Step: Let sit and dry overnight.
Fifth Step: Admire your handy work!
So I decided to make my own.
Talk about a cheap project. And so simple too.
First step: Go to the dollar store and purchase candle stick holders and glass jars/vases/glasses. I purchased 3 candle stick holders and 3 pillar candle holder vases.
Second Step: Put glue on the top of the candle stick holder. I used a cement adhesive, which DOES NOT WORK. I found this out a few hours later. I then used Gorilla Glue. That stuff will stick to ANYTHING. It's my go to glue (I even glued down my kitchen transition pieces using Gorilla Glue).
Third Step: Place your pillar candle holder on top of the candle stick holder.
Fourth Step: Let sit and dry overnight.
Fifth Step: Admire your handy work!
Total Cost: $6.00
Buffet anyone?
Every Saturday I take a trip to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore to try to find furniture pieces that I can fix up and re-sell. A few weeks ago I found this nasty brown buffet that needed some serious TLC. The cost was $35.00.
I, of course, realized I needed to take a "before" photo after I had removed the knobs/doors. But what do you people want from me? Be thankful I actually remembered to take the freaking photo this time.
The inside of the buffet drawer was lined with this green felt that had been super glued down. It was very time consuming removing that. Took a lot of elbow grease and nail polish remover to try to loosen up the glue. Even after 99% of it was removed, the bottom of the drawer was still bumpy. But I can only do so much!
I used a matte white spray paint from Lowes. Whatever the generic name brand spray paint they sell at Lowes. I also purchased new hardware for the knobs. In order to have the hinges match, I spray painted them a metallic gold. Once it was painted and dried, I realized any little nick or scratch would remove the paint. So I went back to the store and got a clear matte top coat and sprayed that all over the buffet. Worked like a charm.
Here is the afters!
You can't really see the bumpy residue from the felt glue, but trust me, its there.
Total Cost: $82.00 ($35 for the buffet. $12 for the new knobs. And about $35 in spray paint.)
Sold on Craiglist this weekend for $120.00
Total profit: ~$40.00
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Gold, gold and more gold
I am not a "gold" person. But when it came to the tv bar cart, I felt gold was appropriate since the knobs were gold and the tv inlay was gold. It's growing on me. Kind of makes it a little more classier, in my opinion.
After looking at my inspiration photo, I decided I wanted a gold plated serving tray, some 1950's/60's inspired glassware, and some few other odds and ends. I went to my local thrift store, Sister's Thrift and Consignment Shop (AMAZING thrift store - with awesome owners), and hunted around in their massive glassware section.
I also stumbled upon a silver plated serving tray. Which, again, I forgot to take a picture of before I spray painted it metallic gold. I suck at this picture taking thing.
I purchased the tray, a set of 8 vintage looking glasses, and this gold painted vase looking thing. Haven't figured out what I'm going to do with THAT yet. Maybe I'll put swizzle sticks in it. I found a website on ebay that sells old school ones so that's what I may do. But that's another post for another time.
This post details my gold serving tray and gold rimmed glasses. Yes, again I find inspiration on Pinterest and decide I want gold rimmed glasses.
But before I forget, here is my new serving tray:
OK! Now onto the fun stuff. My glasses! This is a very tedious job, warning you now.
Supplies you will need:
2) Paint the section with the color paint you want. Here it is after 1 coat. I let it dry for about 30 minutes and then painted another 2 coats on.
3) A few hours later I tried to get the tape off and the paint came with it. Not cool. I found that using an exacto knife really helped. All I did was very gently slice right above the painters tape so that it broke the tape away from the paint. So when I pulled the tape off, the paint didn't come with it. You will find some paint did get under the tape but I just used the exacto knife to chip away at it and make my line look smoother.
To cure it you do the following:
Total cost: $3.00 for the tray, .50 cents for that painted gold vase thing, $1.50 for the glasses, $1.50 for the paint and about $1.00 for the brush.
After looking at my inspiration photo, I decided I wanted a gold plated serving tray, some 1950's/60's inspired glassware, and some few other odds and ends. I went to my local thrift store, Sister's Thrift and Consignment Shop (AMAZING thrift store - with awesome owners), and hunted around in their massive glassware section.
I also stumbled upon a silver plated serving tray. Which, again, I forgot to take a picture of before I spray painted it metallic gold. I suck at this picture taking thing.
I purchased the tray, a set of 8 vintage looking glasses, and this gold painted vase looking thing. Haven't figured out what I'm going to do with THAT yet. Maybe I'll put swizzle sticks in it. I found a website on ebay that sells old school ones so that's what I may do. But that's another post for another time.
This post details my gold serving tray and gold rimmed glasses. Yes, again I find inspiration on Pinterest and decide I want gold rimmed glasses.
But before I forget, here is my new serving tray:
OK! Now onto the fun stuff. My glasses! This is a very tedious job, warning you now.
Supplies you will need:
- Glasses (or whatever you want to paint)
- Acrylic paint (usually under $2.00 at your craft store)
- Small brush (usually under $2.00 at your craft store)
- Painter's tape
- Exacto knife (MUST HAVE)
2) Paint the section with the color paint you want. Here it is after 1 coat. I let it dry for about 30 minutes and then painted another 2 coats on.
3) A few hours later I tried to get the tape off and the paint came with it. Not cool. I found that using an exacto knife really helped. All I did was very gently slice right above the painters tape so that it broke the tape away from the paint. So when I pulled the tape off, the paint didn't come with it. You will find some paint did get under the tape but I just used the exacto knife to chip away at it and make my line look smoother.
4) Once you fix the paint and the glasses look the way you want them to, you need to cure the paint so that you can actually USE the glasses (wash them, drink off them, etc.) **Always check the manufacturer of the paint you are using to make sure it can come into contact with food/liquid**
To cure it you do the following:
- Place glasses in a COOL oven.
- Turn oven on to 325 or 350 degrees (I set the oven to 325)
- Wait 30-40 minutes
- Turn the oven off and leave the glasses in there until the oven is COOL again
- Wait up to 5 days for the paint to completely cure before using/washing
Total cost: $3.00 for the tray, .50 cents for that painted gold vase thing, $1.50 for the glasses, $1.50 for the paint and about $1.00 for the brush.
Monday, July 9, 2012
1950's TV Bar Cart Transformation
I found this idea on Pinterest. Some cleaver person took a vintage 1950's tv, gutted it, and transformed it into a bar. What a genius idea! The moment I saw it, I knew I would have to re-create it. Here was the inspiration:
First I had to track down a tv. I scoured Craigslist and found someone who was selling one for $25 so I snatched it up.
In order to make a "bar" out of a tv, you need to remove all the "guts." Let me tell you now that removing the picture tube (inside of the tv) was a terrifying experience. I had read tutorial after tutorial online regarding the CRT (cathode ray tube). Every single tutorial I read said that if the CRT breaks, it would explode like a bomb sending glass particles everywhere. I.was.terrified.
I did not take any pictures of the tv before it was gutted, or of the actual picture tube itself. Why I don't know but here is a stock photo I found online to show you what I was dealing with!
It took me literally two weeks to slowly remove everything because I thought if I did it slow enough, I would somehow escape death. Well it worked. And I finally got it out. And then carefully put it in my trunk and took it to the landfill.
I knew I wanted to have a tiered inside so that there were 2 levels to sit the bottles (like in the picture). I took measurements of the inside of the tv and enlisted the help of my father to cut the pieces for the inside as he has all the power tools at his house. We cut ply board pieces for the sides and bottom, and then built the shelf insert. It was my plan to cover all the pieces in fabric and then glue the side pieces to the walls.
Testing out the tiered insert:
I made a huge dummy mistake and took EXACT measurements, leaving no extra room. What that meant was the cute little shelf fit nice and snug inside the tv...BUT the side pieces were not able to fit in. To solve this problem, I glued the fabric directly to the sides. **If you do this, you need to use thick fabric or else the glue will seep through and you will see glue stains.**
Don't do:
Do (check out that awesome retro print I found in the 1/2 off bin at JoAnn Fabric):
For the back side of the tv, I glued mirrors purchased at Ikea ($9.99 for four). Some mirrors needed to be cut to size so I took them to Lowes where they usually do it for free. Being a girl probably makes a difference here :) I did not use the sticky tape that came with the mirrors. I used construction adhesive and let it sit overnight. Worked like a charm!
It looks magnificent all lit up!
I used Liquid Gold to clean the tv up a bit. I may put vintage casters on the bottom so I can wheel it around, but I haven't decided on that yet. I spray painted the knobs gold, repainted the numbers on the turn dial using black acrylic paint (not the prettiest job but it works).
I will end this post with a picture of my cat Lucy who decided to jump into the tv as I was working on it. "I Love Lucy" was on tv that night! Get it? Ha.ha.
I did not take any pictures of the tv before it was gutted, or of the actual picture tube itself. Why I don't know but here is a stock photo I found online to show you what I was dealing with!
It took me literally two weeks to slowly remove everything because I thought if I did it slow enough, I would somehow escape death. Well it worked. And I finally got it out. And then carefully put it in my trunk and took it to the landfill.
After that was done I was left with the gutted tv frame. Since I don't have any before pictures, here are the afters:
I made a huge dummy mistake and took EXACT measurements, leaving no extra room. What that meant was the cute little shelf fit nice and snug inside the tv...BUT the side pieces were not able to fit in. To solve this problem, I glued the fabric directly to the sides. **If you do this, you need to use thick fabric or else the glue will seep through and you will see glue stains.**
Don't do:
Before - I added some weight so they would adhear better.
After (approx. 3-4 hours):
For the interior lighting I used LED lighting strips from Ikea ($14.99). They were extremely easy to put together and screw into place on the top part of the tv.
Now I need to stock pile some booze! I see a massive ABC store run after my next paycheck. My next blog post will show the accents that will go on top of the tv (think DIY gold rimmed vintage inspired glasses, gold painted serving tray, etc. etc.). Hopefully by then I'll also have the alcohol inside the tv and the turn dial knob put back on so you can see it in its FINAL form!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)