THE ALTERED FLEA: flea market finds

Showing posts with label flea market finds. Show all posts

Friday, January 15, 2016

Vintage Desk Secretary Gets Promoted

This beautiful flea market find didn't start out looking like this...

See the final transformation and

full tutorial on my new site,

AlteredArtworks.wordpress.com

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Nightstand Transformation from Blah to Beauty-ful

Gotta love how paint can completely transform an outdated furniture piece.

I picked up this little ~~eyesore~~--err, I mean potential beauty--for $15 at the local flea market a few months ago. Even with St. Patrick's Day coming up, its shade of kelly green did nothing for our home decor.

So, out came the ASCP (Annie Sloan Chalk Paint) in French Linen and Old White.

There is a great deal of discussion on whether ASCP is worth the high price. I've been experimenting with a few colors of the expensive paint. It really does cover well. You only need 1 - 2 coats. I can't say I'm hooked, but I do enjoy its consistency and ease of use. Some days, it beats making my own chalk paint.

I tried my hand at stenciling this time by adding a decorative design to the top of the nightstand.

[so fancy!]

And a little stamping on the bottom drawer.

As well as a decorative paper liner inside the drawer.

I finished the nightstand with a little distressing around the edges.

This transformed beauty landed in my daughter's room, replacing an old boring bookcase.

Like I said, gotta love what a little paint can do!

I've been featured!

Sharing here:
Vintage Charm
Oh My Heartsie Girl
Nifty Thrifty Things
French Country Cottage Feathered Nest Friday
My Repurposed Life Catch as Catch Can
My Salvaged Treasures Vintage Inspiration Party

Sew Crafty Angel Wake Up Wednesday

Domestically Speaking Inspire Monday

FMFPTY Treasure Hunt Thursday

Chic California Be-You-tiful Party

Artsy Fartsy Mama

I Gotta Create

katherine's corner thursday-favorite-things

Lambert's Lately create-it-thursday

stacey embracing change creative-inspirations

the deliberate mom

Fluster Buster's Creative Muster Party

Organized 31 This is how we roll link Party

Answer is Chocolate BFF Open House

nancherrow fridays-unfolded-link-party

this and that foodie-friends-friday-linky-party

Sunny Day Family frugal-family-linky

This Silly Girl's Life project-parade

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Lockers: The Right Combination

When the going gets tough, the tough get the paint out! That's my mantra right now as I work towards giving my craft room a complete overhaul.

I'm happy with the way I transformed the Industrial Chic Cabinet, so I got started on this old school locker.

First things first, it got a much-needed cleaning. Just simple dishwasher liquid and hot water did the trick.

I wanted to keep the handles in their original gray finish, so I taped them before painting the rest of the locker.

First, I sprayed a quick heirloom white metal primer onto the entire locker [inside and out]. To achieve some level of cohesiveness in my craft room, I decided to paint the locker the same color as the Industrial Chic Cabinet, a seafoam-aqua hue. I again mixed the paint with some Plaster of Paris to create chalk paint. I used a small foam roller to easily apply the chalk paint to the five compartment doors. I used a small painting brush to get inside all the nooks and crannies of the air vents.

Here is the newly-painted locker:

Of course, I can't just leave well enough alone, so I lined the shelves with coordinating scrapbook paper.

I decided the front of the locker needed something extra as well, so I printed out numerals 1-5, and using my Xyron, turned them into stickers, and adhered them to the cabinet faces.

Help me say ~~good riddance~~ goodbye to the plastic bins:

And hello to my transformed locker:

I've been collecting vintage, rusty and old graters (and anything that resembles a grater), so now I have a place to display them.

Two graters hang on the side of the locker; one holds a memo pad.

Also displayed on top of the locker is a smaller version of my

Chicken Wire & Burlap Painted Frame.

Here is a photo of two 2-drawer file cabinets.

One is painted; and the other one is on the waiting list.

[Blame it on the locker.]

As you can see, my craft room is slowly being transformed

from a bunch of plastic storage containers into

Vintage Industrial Chic

How do you store your craft supplies?

You may be interested in these projects:

From Plastic Bins to Industrial Chic

Framed in Chicken Wire & Burlap

I've been featured!

Sharing at these fantastic blogs:
Repurposing Junkie - Sweet Inspiration
House by Hoff
Revisionary Life
Chipping with Charm Junkers Unite

Knick of Time
Thrifty Decor Chick
Coastal Charm
Power of Paint
Home for 4 Sweet Home
Upcycled Treasures The Makers Linky Party
Tip Junkie Handmade Projects
Not Just a Housewife
Shabby Nest Frugal Friday
Miss Mustard Seed
Chic by Tab
Funky Junk Interiors
Serenity Now
COM Sunday Soiree

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,