Updated Metal Chairs

So I know it's February, but here in Southern California it feels more like June right now. It's been in the high 80s/low 90s for the past few days and I have been taking advantage of it! A few months ago, I showed y'all how I updated an old rusty metal table we had lying around... well, there are actually chairs that go with it :) With all this beautiful sunny weather, why not finish off the set and enjoy the view?

The chairs were in great condition to begin with, but they were painted the same sky blue as the table was originally and they were just chipped and showing some neglect. Here are some before shots:

Originally I was going to paint them all the same color as the table, but then my Hubby gave me the great idea to go all dual-color on them. I decided to do these colors:

I know it seems weird to put black on a metal chair (hot tush anyone?) but for the past few days they haven't actually gotten all that hot...even when sitting in the sun all day. So the first thing I did was spray paint the section of the chairs black first. Here is what they looked like after they were coated a few times:

Next, I covered the areas most prone to getting color mixture with painter's tape (a little time-consuming and tedious, but easier in the long run) and then began covering them with the second color of choice:

I ended up getting a little bit of paint outside the lines, but overall they turned out great! I am really loving the two-toned look of them and might end up do the table they same way down the line (maybe black legs?) What projects have you taken on lately? Thank for stopping by!

Spray-painted Acorns

Awhile back I was trolling one of my friend's blogs and she put up a post on creative ideas for Autumn decorating and this one caught my eye. It is her Mercury-Glass Acorns and they were so cute and easy to do, that I just had to try them!

Every year my husband's family goes apple picking and when we went this past year (I keep forgetting it's 2016!), I went with a purpose: I was going to get me some authentic acorns right from the source! I sort of stuck to that idea... I actually picked most of them off the ground, but they were in excellent condition and I managed to get a whole paper bag's worth :) When I got home, I had to sort out the good from the bad (cracked, holes, etc.) and then decide how many I was going to want to have. I settled on spray-painting some and leaving the natural color on others; I also used two colors of silver: a shiny one and a regular matte gray color. Here's how they turned out:

Before

Matte Gray

Silver

In the end, I used both in small glass vases with tea lights and placed them around the house for ambiance. Thanks for the idea Justine :)

Adirondack chair for my Little A

So like most of your lives, mine has gotten pretty busy over the past few weeks. I started this project probably about two months ago and actually finished it last month, but it has taken me awhile to get the pictures together so that I can show you everything that I did.

My sister actually found this Adirondack chair set that someone was discarding and totally scooped it up... she knew that it would be a perfect fit for my little A (thanks sis!). Here are some before shots:

For the most part, the wood was in great condition and there weren't any missing pieces or anything like that :) I did have to tighten down some bolts because it was a bit wobbly, but all in all, a great find! Here is what it looked like after using a power sander (and a paint stripper!!!) to remove the faded white paint:

After a few hours of elbow work to get off as much paint as possible and to make the whole set nice and smooth, it was finallly ready for a new coat of... what else?... spray paint!!! You guys probably think I have a whole room full of the stuff, but in reality it is just a small tub :) This time around though, I went out and bought (gasp!) two cans of gray paint because I knew I didn't have enough on hand to get the job done. This was my inspiration for the color:

This piece of granite tile was left over from a project that my parents did in their house and it just so  happen to be the perfect size for the side table that came in the set :) It was a good thing that I bought two cans, because that wood absorbed a lot of it and I was down to fumes in both cans to cover all three pieces of furniture. In the end though, it turned out marvelous! After shots:

Even though I put the tile on top, I did end up spray painting the entire top of the table just in case. I also coated the bottom of all the pieces (that's where the spray paint fumes went) so that from any angle, none of that ugly white would show through. Remember, there is nothing better than free stuff and a little spray paint :)

Updated Metal Tub

Hey everyone! This is just a short quick post showing how I updated a metal tub (salvaged from my Nana-in-law's junk pile) and with a few coats of spray paint, transformed it into a semi-new bucket:)

My husband rescued this bucket for me knowing that it was something I would love to re-do... he was totally right! Obviously the pink would have to go and there were some rust issues and dents that would have to be addressed, but nothing I wasn't up for :) My little wanted to use the mallet, so all credit for getting out the dents (or most of them) go to her. After (once again) raiding my supply of spray paint, I decided on a two-toned look for this tub. I took a couple of coats on both the inside and the outside, but in all it turned out really nice!

I didn't bother with taping the edges of anything and even though you can't see it, there is some gray spray paint freckles on the blue, but it is so discreet that it almost looks like a shimmer in the blue color:) Thank goodness for that! Right now, this holds supplies and such in the back of my car, but I might have other uses for it in the future. Bye for now!!!

Plant Stand Side Table

It seems like there is a never-ending stream of projects around my house right now. Today I want to share a quick update that I recently did to my side table. I originally had a regular brown table next to my bed and while it was really pretty, it didn't exactly offer the storage options I was looking for. So like most situations, I looked outside of the norm at furniture both around the house and outside the house. That's when I stumbled onto this plant stand that my mom was using.

My little helping me :)

 It was rusting away in the corner of her garden, so I asked her if I could use it. She said sure, but only if I replaced it with something else... done! (I put an old shelf unit in a different spot to hold her plants and to keep the shelf safe from other elements of nature). Here are some pictures of the metal shelf in it's somewhat decrepit state:

Thankfully the most this project required was some scrubbing with a wire brush and a good coat of white spray paint to make it new again.

I have since added a piece of leftover granite tile to the bottom wire shelf to make it look nice :) This night stand fits some much better in our cramped little room and holds everything I need while looking pretty and stream-lined at the same time! What is the most interesting piece of furniture you have found to use for something other than what it was intended? I would love some new ideas!

Idea into Creation

One of the changes that I am making in my life is trying to get a little more creative about things around me. Sadly, we are living with my parents right now, so there isn't a whole lot of room to branch out and do my own thing most of the time. However, this lack of space (and sometimes privacy) does allow for me to see things in a whole new light and purpose.

You know how the old saying goes: "Recycle, Renew, Reuse"... that's my new mantra. And though I tend to lack in the creativity department (hence the title of my blog), there is luckily an endless supply of other people's ideas out there (thank you Pinterest!!!) that I can use and try to make them my fit for me and my family.

One such idea was taken from an ad in Martha Stewart or BHG or one of those awesome home improvement magazines. I wish I still had the ad, but my Baby A got to it before I could stop her. Anyway, it showed a beautiful metal table with two chairs in this pretty green color in the middle of a forest with leaves all around it... awww. Peaceful right? Well, my table was a little worse for wear and was in desperate need of a makeover, so I figured, "Why not?"

Enter my multi-layered rust spotted table! Not much to look at at first, and even that got uglier once I started using a wire brush on it to take off the who knows how many layers of paint from previous years :( It had seen too many outdoor beatings of rain, wind storms, and general California sun and was in sad shape... but nothing that a can of spray paint couldn't fix :)

Ready for it's paint job!

 The entire time I was scrubbing this thing, I was trying to think of the how I wanted to paint it. I definitely didn't want forest green or silver or anything and as I was rummaging through my parent's collection of spray paint, I happened upon this little beauty from a project a few years ago!

Here goes nothing!

I know it might look green in the photo, but it is actually this super awesome teal color... I was super excited too because it was a full can (which means no running to the store halfway thru the project!) Here are the before and after shots:

Before

After

I couldn't have been more excited for the end result! Now this once neglected table has new life! Here is a close-up of the details and color on the table top:

SO PRETTY!!!

The best part about this whole project was it didn't cost me anything except some elbow grease:) Thank you for the idea home improvement magazine!!! I hope this idea-turned-creation helps you look at something different around your house/apartment/thrift store and see the potential in it. Have a great day :D