I am so excited for the upcoming spring and summer time because that means more Garage and Estate sales. I love getting home furniture and décor items at Garage and Estate sales and upcycling them to give them a fresh and modern look. I feel so much better when I take something that someone isn’t using anymore and giving it a new life. Also, If the upcycling project goes wrong I don’t feel as bad because it wasn’t expensive and it was already something that somebody was going to throw out.
Here are some of my favorite Upcycling projects that I have done so far.
Metal Wall Decor
This Upcyling was really simple. I found this Metal Wall art at a neighborhood garage sale. It came with a bunch of glass candle holders.
I loved the spiral design. Also circular décor is really in style. I see a lot of wall decor in stores and online that are circular so I felt this was an easy piece to breathe fresh life into. This is the main reason it caught my eye.
This metal piece was meant to hold lots of small candles. This function seemed a little outdated and would not suit my personal style. I like candles but no that many in one location on the wall. Instead of using the candle holders to hold candles I found a faux eucalyptus wreath and draped it within the candle holders. The candle holders held the wreath perfectly. I got this eucalyptus wreath at Hobby Lobby in the wedding section. Usually anything to do with weddings is expensive but these wreathes were on sale at a great price.
The faux eucalyptus wreath gave it a more understated modern look. At first I thought it looked a little sparse and I added an additional wreath, but it didn’t not look great. I realized that less is more and the understated look with one wreath actually worked better.
Wreaths are really great for any season and can add more life to your everyday decor items. I recommend using them to enhance empty spaces in your home such as shelves or even window sills or like this example add them to existing wall art.
Bed Side Table
I got this side table for $3 at a garage sale in our neighborhood. I thought it made a perfect side table for our guest bedroom. I had planned to paint it turquoise to match the guest bedroom. See my previous post Guest Bedroom Decor. I first wanted to remove the existing paint since it was very chipped. I bought some furniture paint remover and watched some tutorials on how to remove the paint. I covered the table completely with the paint remover outside and I wrapped the table in saran wrap and let it sit overnight.
It was during the summer time so I put it outside so we wouldn’t have the chemicals inside. It turns out this was not a great idea because it was windy so it got kind of dried up. The paint remover instructions said to keep it at room temperature. It might have been too cold overnight.
The next day I used a paint scraper to try and remove the remaining paint. This was a little difficult mostly because it was so chipped. It was hard to remove large pieces at once. Also the curves in the legs of table were hard to remove the paint from. I did the best I could with removing the paint. I used an electric sander and sanded the whole thing so at least it would have a smooth surface before I started painting it. Luckily the original paint was white so it was not to hard to cover.
When I went to shop for the turquoise paint, I decided to go with regular paint that we use for walls. I used BEHR Aqua Fresco. I decided against spray paint because in my experience I had to use a lot to get good coverage. The regular wall paint worked great and I didn’t have to use very much for it to cover the whole table. I consulted with the paint counter at the hardware store to make sure I was getting the right gloss and finish and amount. The paint went a long way and I was able to use the left over to paint a white mirror and hang it in the guest bedroom to match see in Guest Bedroom Decor . Here is what I got below. I bought a quart and a sample and this was more than enough to do the job.
I always buy a little extra paint for projects and keep it. This has paid off for me because I have been able to use the paint for other projects and it’s a great way to tie different items in your house together since they are the same color such as the side table and mirror I just mentioned.
It has also saved me some trips to the hardware store. I can shop my own paint colors in our workshop/basement.
Amanda's Cozy Casa 