Vintage Suitcase Side Table

Tags

antique, bed room, DIY, furniture, makeover, project, Things I've made, tutorial, vintage, weekend, What I'm working on

Have you seen all the creative things people are doing with vintage suitcases? I am in love! I don’t know if it’s because I love anything vintage, or because of all the times I’ve moved in my life (let’s just say that currently, the record in one house is 4 years), or because of all the pins on Pinterest. There are so many possibilities! Besides the more common ‘stack of suitcases’, you can make a pet bed, a chair, or a table. You can even make shelves and drawers or medicine cabinets out of them. Look here for a bit of inspiration.

Needless to say, I have a small collection of vintage suitcases and trunks and this weekend, I finally got around to doing something with one of them.

The suitcase…

I decided to make an end table out of one of mine. You could try the hardware store for legs, but I like to see what I can reuse from something else. So, I hit up some thrift stores to see what I could find. Enter a cute little circle side table that had just the legs I was looking for! And for a whopping $5! Unfortunately, I forgot to take a before pic of the table, but I have a few ideas for repurposing the top.

I removed the legs from the table and set them aside while I gave the suitcase a little tlc.

Removing the legs

Next up was to position where I wanted the legs to be and drill pilot holes.

Positioning the legs

Drilling the pilot holes

Attach the legs, turn it over, and voila!! Perfect! You can even use the inside of the suitcase to store your journal, or some books, or whatever else you can think of.

Voila! A unique side table!

Depending on the suitcase, you may want to add a bit of plywood to the inside to make it sturdier. Just cover the plywood with a bit of pretty fabric. And if you’re worried about attaching the legs securely and esthetically, you could use Chicago screws, which will ensure a secure fit without any protruding screw ends.

I have plans for this table in our guest room. Can’t wait to be able to work on it.

What would you make out of a vintage suitcase?

~Angie

Linking up with:

http://www.artsychicksrule.com/2013/05/project-inspired-linky-party-15.html

http://www.redouxinteriors.com/2013/05/link-party-105-and-les-features-plus-i-am-hitting-the-road/

http://www.commonground-do.com/

http://www.lifewelive4.com/2013/05/linkyparty13.html

http://www.artsyfartsymama.com/2013/05/artsy-corner-link-party-3.html

http://www.housewifeeclectic.com/2013/05/creative-showcase-creative-link-up-with.html

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A Bed fit for a Princess

Tags

bed, bed room, chalk paint, DIY, furniture, head board, makeover, paint, project, vintage, What I'm working on

Over the weekend, the princess vanity went to its new home. Such a beautiful piece and Lady G is such a lucky girl! And as Lady G’s mother and I were standing back admiring it we were talking about how the room was going to be decorated. She told me that this was the first piece for Lady G that was not a hand-me-down from her brother. Well, didn’t I have just the piece to create a beautiful set fit for a princess!

Enter this twin bed set. I had originally picked it up (each part in a different place!) with intentions of building a bench out of it. But, clearly, this bed was destined for bigger and better things! And as soon as Lady G’s mother got a look at it, her redecorating plans got a kick-start! We started throwing ideas around for accessories and such! Let me tell you, this is going to be a beautiful room!

Before…she needs some work

The only problem with the bed was that there were no bed rails…all I had was the head and foot boards. Luckily, the next day as I was running errands, I stopped in to one of the local thrift stores that I frequent and there they were (for $4.00)!!!! Sweet! And a perfect fit (as sometimes older bed rails can be fussy). I also picked up another head and foot board set that I hope to turn into a bench.

Now, back to the bed frame. The original paint finish was chipping and there were some stickers and tape that needed to be removed. A scraper got all of the stickers and tape off and a good sanding smoothed out the surface. I gave it a good wipe down and filled in the nicks and dents.

Time for paint! Since this piece was to match the princess vanity, I used the same blue and off white. I painted the posts white and the boards blue.

And the blue goes on

A little medallion attached to the headboard and a little distressing gave this piece the character I was looking for.

Adding some Bling

And now, the finished product!!!

The Princess Bed

Lady G’s mom is so pleased with it! She can’t wait to surprise her little girl with a super girly bedroom that will grow with her. I so loved being a part of this room. Now, off to find something else to paint!

~Angie

Linking up to:

http://www.artsychicksrule.com/2013/05/happy-monday-project-inspired-linky-party-14.html

Princess Perfect Painted Vanity

Tags

antique, chalk paint, DIY, furniture, makeover, paint, project, vintage, What I'm working on

I’ve been collecting antiques and furniture for a while with the intent to paint them. I just love to be able to be creative and artistic and refinishing furniture has given me so many opportunities to do just that. I’ve refinished many pieces in our home, including our dining table and chairs, our bedroom furniture, my youngest son’s dresser, and some of our living room furniture. Needless to say, I have the painting bug!!

Enter this vanity I picked up at a local thrift store…who donates the proceeds to Mental Health! A win-win in my books! This beauty needed a bit of work. The veneer was peeling, there were pieces that needed some glue, and a little tlc all over. But she had beautiful lines!

Before

First things first, she needed a good wipe down! And doesn’t everyone feel better after a bath? I removed the hardware and started to work on the peeling veneer. After a quick google search, I decided that the ironing method would be my best bet. And it worked like a charm. The old peeling veneer came off and she was looking better and better. A beautiful wooden medallion (for some bling), a bit of wood glue to fix some loose pieces, and some wood filler to smooth out the surface and we were ready for some color!

After a good cleaning

A little bling to dress her up

Painting the top…she’s gonna be purdy!

I chose a beautiful blue with off-white accents to make this piece pop! The drawer pulls got a good cleaning and a coat of paint too. A bit of furniture wax to seal and protect the finish, and she’s ready for a photo shoot! She certainly is stunning and fit for a princess!

Voila! Fit for a princess!

She is off to her new home this weekend. I just know she will be loved and adored. Now, on to the next project!

~Angie

Linking up to:

http://www.artsychicksrule.com/2013/05/happy-monday-project-inspired-linky-party-14.html

Vintage Camper Reno – Part 2

Tags

camper, DIY, makeover, project, remodel, travel trailer, vintage, What I'm working on

After a crazy weather week which included snow (20 cm! What happened to spring?) and cold and rain, we’ve finally had some nice weather. And what better way to spend the day than to tackle the camper reno.

Ready to go!

The kids were in school and Hubbs was at work. Armed with my work gloves and a bucketful of determination, I headed out to the camper. We had only gotten half way through the gutting stage (see the post about that here) so I still had a fair bit to do. Since I don’t know much about electrical or plumbing (that’s what Hubbs used to do before he joined the military), I decided to just do what I could.

Front corner

Back corner

Tearing out the rest of the bench seating was the easy part. I quickly got both areas down to the frame and looked around to see what I could do next. We still needed to remove the stove, sink, heater, and refrigerator. The biggest problem for me was that the camper had been built with 8 point headed screws (had to google that one). It took forever to find a screwdriver that would work on them. (I am certainly not proficient in screwdriver terminology…I use descriptions such as square, “x”, line, etc.)

Removing the stove

The first appliance to be removed was the stove. It came out fairly easily, and I got a huge ego boost. If it was that easy to remove the stove, I wonder how easy it would be to remove the heater? How about the fridge? Turns out it wasn’t as easy as I thought. So I just tore out the walls around them.

Tearing down around the heater

Now I was on a roll! Next onto the bathroom walls!

Demoing the bathroom

Finally, Hubbs and the boys were home, and I got some help.

My little helper!

Hubbs removed the fridge, heater, sink and pipes for me. But since it was getting late in the day, we had to stop. Oh how I wish there were more hours in the day!

Almost finished gutting

As we were doing a final clean up, we found a cute little treasure! A fishing knife that floats!

A great find!

Next step is to remove the remaining cabinet and countertop, and then on to the flooring! I’m hoping to tackle that job this afternoon!

~Angie

*Update: We did not finish this project. Hubby ended up with an opportunity for a career change and we just were not able to complete the project before he left for training and then a move shortly after his return. Hopefully we will be able to do something similar in the future.

Vintage Camper Reno – Part 1

Tags

build, camper, camping, DIY, Glennell, out with the old, reno, vintage

With the beginning of camping season in a little over a month, we decided to get moving on fixing up our vintage 1978 Glennell Travel Trailer.

All ready for the reno!

Originally, Hubbs and I were only going to replace a few water damaged spots, but as we began removing bits and pieces, we quickly realized it would be better to just gut the whole thing and start from scratch!

part way through the demo

Today, we got the ceiling and walls, bunk beds, cabinets, and table and bench seating removed.

Part way through the demo

Now all we have left is to remove the sink, stove, fridge, bathroom and flooring so we can start to rebuild!

~Angie