Bold Vermont File Cabinet Fix-Up

I finally got around to fixing up the second file cabinet of the pair I picked up over the summer.

Here is what I did with the first fix-up:

For the second file cabinet, I also spray painted the shell red, but this time I painted the hardware gold and decoupaged a Vermont map onto the drawers!

Do you like it?

Badger wanted to pose with the file cabinet.

This piece can be found for sale at my shop - Furniture Consignment Center - in Willison, Vermont. Stop by anytime and say hi!

Blue Ombre Sewing Desk ... FINALLY!

I have been working on this desk for MONTHS!

June: Bought the desk & chair at a garage sale in New Hampshire for $20.
July: Desk & chair sat in the garage collecting dust.
August: Dusted them off, prepped, sanded and primed.
September: First coat of white paint, with the gracious help of my dear friend Elly. Thank you!
October: Sat in the garage some more.
November: Finished painting the chair and drawers. Added knobs.

During October, I got caught up with launching the furniture consignment shop. But the Universe did me a solid this Sunday and warmed the Vermont region to a toasty 65 degrees, which allowed me to get outside and finish it up.

I had originally planned to sell this baby at the store, but after looking at the finished product, I couldn't let it go! I put it in the small guest room and plopped my sewing machine on it to create the perfect sewing nook.

So there it is! What do you think? :)

Happy Hump Day!

Recovered Chair Cushions

Good morning and happy hump day to all! I recently picked up a chair on the side of the road with the intention of painting it and recovering the cushions. So far I have sewn new covers, but I am not sure if I want to paint it or not.

Here's the chair:

And here it is with the new cushion covers:

What do you think? Should I paint the chair frame white? Blue? Orange? Or should I leave it the same?

Freebie Fix-Up: Good Ol' Green & Gold

Every Saturday that I am in Vermont starts the same. Mike and I get up early, empty my car, put my back seats down and head out for garage sales (with a quick stop at McDonald's - coffee for me and frappe for him). A few weeks ago we headed out on our usual 4-hour loop, but before we even made it to McDonald's we stopped at a tag sale. I saw a dresser I liked, but at $35 it was too much to spend so early in the day. I told him, "let's keep going, and if on the way home it's still there and the car is still empty, I'll buy it."

We went out and tag saled all morning, and I forgot about the dresser until we were on our road heading home. I saw it, sitting on the side of the road, with a FREE sign taped to the front! I pulled over, packed it up and brought it home. Then I did a little jig in the driveway out of excitement!

The hardware was great, it had obviously been replaced, and I vowed to use it in the fix-up. I wanted to do something different than my usual white and gold, I wanted to go bold. I remembered I had a sample can of green paint. By using this paint I would essentially make this a $0 fix-up. So I got to it!

First I had to fill in a lot of dents, scratched and missing corners. I let that dry. Then I sanded it down, primed and painted. This piece took about a week to complete.

How do you like the makeover? I am going to touch it up a bit tonight before listing it on Craigslist. There is still a bit of white primer showing inside the bottom drawer.

Thanks for stopping by! Check out some of my other fun fix-ups I've done:

Before & After: Fancy File Cabinet	Rachel's Darling Dry Sink	File Cabinet Revamp: Snazzy Sister State Storage	The Great White Bamboo Redo

Rachel's Darling Dry Sink

My sister Rachel recently bought an old dry sink for $10 at a tag sale. In case you are not familiar, a dry sink is a piece of furniture used used in most homes before indoor plumbing. They could be found in the kitchen or washroom, or any area where people would wash or shave. While considered to be more of a decorative accessory today, it is still possible to purchase a dry sink that is fully functional.

Here is the before:

Here is the after!

"Man, this was exhausting and I made a lot of mistakes!" Rachel told me via e-mail.

These were here take-aways:

1) I am now an educated consumer and can fully appreciate the beauty of paying retail price for a finished product and letting professionals like you do all the work.

2) If there is ever a next time, I'll have to use foam brushes only and wear a hair net. I painted so many damn hairs into that thing, it looks alive when you stand too close to it.

3) My favorite part is actually the hardware, which was original to the piece (called a "dry sink"). My only involvement there was a vinegar-and-water toothbrush scrub down, and they came out looking SOOOO shiny.

4) Those are the yellow candlesticks I got free from Aunt Becky. Love them!

I love that she used the original hardware, and I really love the way she accessorized! It will look wonderful in her bed and breakfast.

What do you think about this fabulous fix-up?

Fancy File Cabinet Fix Up: Bold, Bright, Beautiful!

I picked up two free file cabinets through Craigslist last week. I find a lot of free stuff, but I usually have to work for it. Often times I have to carry heavy pieces up or down several flights of stairs on my own. That's the price I pay to get it for free! These people just want their "junk" taken away, and they don't usually want to do it themselves.

So Mike and I carried these file cabinets down two long flights of stairs and brought them back to the house for some fixing up. I literally had to take a hammer to these guys to bang the drawers back into shape so they could open and shut properly.

Then my well-rehearsed file cabinet revamp got underway: I removed the drawers and popped the hardware off to give it a good shine. Then I cleaned the cabinets with a rag and spray painted them a deep red to cover up the scratches and minimal rust spots.

I cut up the fabric only to find that I only had enough fabric to cover one set of drawers... the other cabinet is still sitting in the living room waiting patiently for its spruced up drawers. (Stay tuned to find out what I end up doing to it!)

I spread Mod Podge on the front surface of the drawers with a cheap brush and smoothed the fabric down and around the front. I cut out a circle so the key hole could pop through.

I let the drawers dry overnight. In the morning I took an exacto knife and cut the fabric through from the back to make holes for the hardware.

The fabric and the color is so bold and bright!

What do you think about this fix up? I really enjoy sprucing up file cabinets... soon I want to create my own patterns and designs for the front of the drawers! Then I can launch my own "Fancy File Cabinet" business :) Thanks for stopping by! Feel free to check out some of my other fun fix ups I've done:

Before & After: Fancy File Cabinet	Tribal Red & Black Fabric	File Cabinet Revamp: Snazzy Sister State Storage	The Great White Bamboo Redo

Sunny Rolling Cart Revamp

My mom found this rolling cabinet in someone's trash pile! She snagged it and held onto it in her garage until I came to visit, at which point I carted it back up to Vermont with me from some serious TLC.

I didn't like the dark, sticky look that it had and I wanted to take it in a completely opposite direction, so I splashed it with my favorite color... yellow!

I think it's LOVELY! Do you like it? I spray painted the screens white because for some reason there was a red outline on it. I'm debating keeping or selling this piece. I'll decide next week.

The wheels on the bottom of this piece have inspired me to make my own rolling dolly platform for fixing up furniture in the future. It's difficult to move large pieces in and out of the garage when Mike isn't around, so a rolling block will help. And it will keep the pieces off the ground a few inches so I can get complete paint coverage from top to bottom. So that's up next!

Meanwhile I am working on 2 file cabinets, however this weekend I will have to put that on hold as Mike and I trek out to Rochester, NY to see my grandparents and family! I'm also playing along with a few August photo challenges, so follow me on Twitter @TheresaMcCabe and Instagram @TheresaMcCabe to see my fabulous photography skills! Have a great day :)

Check out some of my most popular posts:

Before & After: Fancy File Cabinet	Master Bedroom Dresser Do Over	File Cabinet Revamp: Snazzy Sister State Storage	Freebie Revamp: Super 6-Drawer Dresser

Master Bedroom Dresser Do Over

I fixed up a fourth and final piece for our Master Bedroom. I picked up this wonderfully large 9-drawer dresser at a garage sale a few weeks ago for $30 flat.

I removed the hardware, painted it white then screwed in all new brushed nickel knobs and pulls to match the rest of the Master Bedroom furniture. In total I have spent less than $100 to create this lovely set of matching furniture :)

A simple, cheap and quick fix for our final piece.

The Master Bedroom still seems a little bare, but I would rather it be that way then cluttered and full of stuff. As always, I intend on slowly collecting pieces for the house to make sure I get the right stuff, most importantly at the right price. Here are the other pieces in the MB:

Refreshed White Night Stands

Freebie Revamp: Super 6-Drawer Dresser

Soon I will actually make the bed so I can take a picture of the room as a whole ... haha!

I am looking forward to going to the Women Business Owners Network (WBON) Williston chapter breakfast meeting tomorrow to meet with some wonderful people. Have a great day!

Check out a few of the most popular posts here at QuarDecor:

Before & After: Fancy File Cabinet	File Cabinet Revamp: Snazzy Sister State Storage	Cool Blue Paint Chip Art	Freebie Revamp: Super 6-Drawer Dresser