THE ALTERED FLEA: March 2014

Thursday, March 27, 2014

From Plastic Bins to Industrial Chic Organization

I just can't get rid of these fleas!--these flea market treasures, that is! And why would I? Here's the latest and greatest flea market find that I recently updated, a 33-drawer metal cabinet.

At a ginormous flea market held once a month in Southern Californial, I actually passed by this heavy metal piece twice, telling myself that it was too cumbersome to lug home, and I didn't want to pay the asking price.

Fast forward to my third walk-by. It was still there [obviously, it was calling my name]. I negotiated the price down to an equitable amount for both me and the seller.

I brought it home, and here it sat...not for days, not for weeks, but for months. Until finally, I got into gear and cleaned it. [That's the not-so-fun part.] I thoroughly washed every last drawer--and did I mention there are 33 of them?

I knew I was a woman on a mission: to transform my tiny craft ~~cave~~ room from cheap plastic bins into industrial chic organization.

I spray-painted the entire frame with a clean metal primer followed by two coats of Heirloom White.

Then I spray painted each drawer with the metal primer. It was going to be tedious to tape up each of the 33 drawer pulls--plus I had a vision, so they got sprayed, too.

And then came the fun part: the splash of color! Using a foam brush, I painted each drawer, including the sides, in a beautiful sea foam color, being careful to paint just up to the edges of the drawer pulls.

When I removed the drawers from the cabinet, I started to keep them in order to guarantee each fitting into its proper slot when it was time to place them back, as the cabinet had a few dents here and there. However, this plan immediately went out the window. [Note to self: next time, number each drawer on its bottom.] With a little elbow grease, though, I got each drawer to fit into a slot.

I then sprayed the entire cabinet with a matte sealer to help protect it from nicks and scratches.

Because, obviously, this piece is going to get frequent usage!

Just for comparison sake,

here is the BEFORE photo of my plastic bin storage:

And here is the AFTER photo of the

new [old] industrial chic organization cabinet.

I typed descriptive labels on my printer, and placed them into the center of the drawer pulls. I love the fact that the cabinet resembles a library card catalog.

I'm still in the process of filling each drawer with my craft stash, keeping only what I ~~have accumulated over the last 30 years~~ plan to use.

And once again, industrial chic organization:

Come back soon and check out the industrial locker transformation I'm currently working on. Yep, picked up the locker at a flea market, too. What treasures have you recently bought at the flea market?

Thanks for visiting,

Très Magnifique Tray Table Makeover

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Sunday, March 23, 2014

Très Magnifique Tray Makeover

While strolling through the Topanga Vintage Market a few months ago, my friend spotted a set of three very rusty old tray tables.

They were in really bad shape, but she thought they would look good in her rustic garden. She asked me to keep them for a few days until she could "sneak" them into her yard when her husband wasn't looking. [Hee-hee, can you relate?]

Well, a few days turned into a few months. When I reminded her that I still had the tables, she said she really didn't need them, so they were all mine. The price was right, so I decided to see if they had potential.

I started with just one of the tray tables. First, it got a really good cleaning. Then I made chalk paint with leftover antique white paint mixed with Plaster of Paris. Using a small roller, I applied three coats of paint to the tray. It took three coats to hide all the rust. What a difference paint makes!

I decided the tray needed a pretty Parisian typography graphic. I found this lovely Paris Apartment sign at The Graphics Fairy. It was perfect as it reminds me of our vacation in Paris two years ago.