My scrap room

Ok, over a year and a half later I'm finally uploading the pics of my room. These are how it originally looked, there's been some small changes since. I may do an updated room post this fall. It's in desperate need of a clean up which is a bit of a challenge right now. This was my daughter's room and I took it over after her first year of college since at least 7 1/2 months of the year it wasn't really being used. During her time at home she uses an air mattress on the floor. The small closet is still all hers and she still has her bookshelf in a corner of the room you can't see. (you can just barely see a corner of it in the last pic next to the window.)

The photos start with an overall view and then go around the room counter clockwise. I painted all the white pieces to 'match'. I kept my sewing table original and painted the small bookshelf brown. I think having the few dark pieces helps ground it all. (my daughter's bookshelf was already painted brown, I got the same color to do mine.)  The big pink unicorn helps keep the cat from jumping up on top of those baskets up there.

You can see the post about my paper storage acquisition here: http://kaleidoscopecreations.blogspot.com/2018/03/paper-storage.html  My hutch was created from an old dresser and old bookshelf painted to go together and match the other pieces.

Paper storage

This post is way long overdue since I did this nearly 2 years ago but I'm finally going to post the pics. I need to post the ones of my room sometime, too.

I got this small entertainment center at Goodwill. It was marked for $10 but it happened to have a blue price sticker and it was blue tag week so I got it for $5. SCORE!! It's all wood - not particle board junk - and that was the other selling point. I wouldn't have wanted it otherwise. (Personally, I think particle board and MDF should be outlawed! :p ) I'm not sure, but this might actually be a handmade item.

I knew the size and depth would be perfect for storing 12x12 paper. I just needed to do some tweaks to it and give it a paint job. This is the before, with my cat checking it all out.

During my remodeling process. The decorative front on the bottom that is also a bit of the feet was damaged. One was just about broken off. Plus, I figured if I removed it I could also fit a couple of plastic cases under there. I also needed to move the top shelf down and decided the decorative piece on the front of it would be better at the top of the unit.

I also removed the backing piece at the bottom with the hole cut out. I replaced it with another larger piece (I had plenty left from another piece of furniture) that went from top to almost the floor. This would give it a solid back and would also help stabilize the whole structure. Here's the after - though I didn't have the knobs on the bottom doors yet.

Dressing table/vanity makeover

This is a vanity/dressing table my husband picked up for me free at the end of a neighborhood yard sale. I don't have room for it in my bedroom or bathroom, so in the meantime it's been in my daughter's room. I've been giving her room a bit of a makeover and this was part of it. She's into Japanese (and manga) so I'm incorporating a few Japanese touches into her room. I'll be adding some vinyl to the walls, but the paint is fresh and I need to wait for it to cure before I can do that, about a month. Stay tuned. LOL Anyway, here is the vanity before. It wasn't in the best shape (and still isn't) but it's improved with some fresh paint and fabric. And here it is in her room after the makeover. This is the chair closer up - I took the pic both without flash and with. I used a dark brown spray paint for both pieces and brocade fabric with Asian motifs for the seat. I had to find something that would work with the fabric in THIS QUILT I had previously made for her. You wouldn't think it would go, but the colors actually work even if the style of the quilt doesn't exactly go. LOL The gold threads in the chair work with the yellow in the quilt, the green background actually works with the colors in the green blocks and even though the color in the brocade is actually a purplish shade, with the way the light reflects off the fabric it still works pretty good with the pink. Not that you'd notice much with the chair, but I'll be making a matching pillow for the bed and possibly a runner to go across her dresser.

I did it!!

After yeeeaaars of thinking and/or talking about refinishing my kitchen table, I finally got a shot of motivation to tackle it. I don't know exactly how old the table is - it was passed on to us. We've had it just shy of 18 years now. And it didn't come in good condition to start with. I mainly wanted the top done because it was so bad. (As you can see!) And it's the only part I could do without using a chemical stripper (I used an electric hand sander). The legs weren't all that great either but with a scrub and then wiping the stain over them it gave them a bit of new life. They don't look half bad, except the foot part that was worn to bare wood, it took the stain really dark. But all in all, not bad. It took me 2 - 3 hours just to sand the main table part. My arms were incredibly sore that night and I hadn't even done the leaf in the middle! So my table looks pretty good now - I think I should put museum ropes up to keep it looking good. LOL Of course, my chairs still look bad. However, THOSE will require a chemical stripper and I don't think I'm up for that yet. So here it is - before and after (I took the pics without the flash and with the flash). Just click the pictures to view larger. I left a bit space on each side of the leaf in this pic while it's still curing. I had to sort of guess what stain color would come close to the original so it'd still work with the other pieces (the small buffet in the back and we have a hutch in the living room). Not quite the same but it worked out pretty good. It doesn't look that far off from the legs. Especially depending on the light. :)