How to Add New Life to Tired Furniture
September 26, 2016
Stylish furniture can come with a premium cost, and when you are starting with your first or second apartment nice furniture doesn’t always fit the budget. Hitting up the local thrift stores and yard sales is a great way to obtain sturdy furniture at a fraction of the cost of buying it new, but it may not look like new. Below are some fun ideas on how to spruce up old pieces of furniture to breathe new life into your home’s decor.
Step 1. Find pieces of furniture that you like. A good rule of thumb is to look for pieces with similar styles or color patterns to coordinate the pieces together. For example, if you have a round coffee table look for round side tables with a similar look to achieve a cohesive design.
Step 2. If your acquired furniture pieces are looking a bit tired, give them a facelift with a fresh coat (or six) of paint or stain to make them look shiny and new again. This may take some time and a lot of elbow grease, but it is well worth it in the end. You can use a bright color to make the piece stand out.
Optional: Go over your fresh paint job with a piece of sandpaper to add a modern, distressed look to the piece. People pay good money for furniture to come looking pre-worn, why pay for it when you can do it yourself?
Step 3. Decorate, Decorate, Decorate!
Here is the final step. Decorate your bookcase, office desk, or other piece of furniture to add a modern flair. The sky, your wallet, and your imagination are your only limits! Here are some ideas to get you started!
Stencils
Stencils aren’t only for school children anymore! Visit your local home improvement store or hobby store to find an intricate stencil that you like. Then simply tape the stencil to the piece of furniture and paint on your design. Wait for the paint to dry, remove the tape and stencil, and you have an amazing work of art to display on the side of your furniture.
Wallpaper
Who says you can’t add a bit of color or patterns to boring wooden furniture? Remove the shelves on your bookcase and wallpaper the back with your favorite colorful design, then put it all back together for a unique decorative look. This idea is also great for a linen closet, bedroom closet, or really anything with shelves.
Decoupage
Use this innovative decorative technique to create an awesome looking collage on shelves, end tables, or any other piece! The decoupage process involves taking pictures, pieces of paper, or even cut-outs of magazines or comic books and gluing them onto furniture. You then go over the paper several times with varnish to protect the paper from harm while keeping them securely in place. Go online for more details.
Word Carving or Wood Burning
If you have the skills, or know someone who does, this old-fashioned decorating idea is perfect for decorating furniture pieces, wooden picture frames, or other wooden artwork in your home. You can also hire someone to do the work for you, but that may be costly depending on the extent of the work you want done to your piece.
Stick on Tile, Brick, Wood, or Stone
Are you in love with shiny tile, sophisticated brickwork, rustic looking wood, or even modern looking stone? You can use faux veneer or stick-on tile pieces to create a textured appearance to the back of your bookcase, wine cabinet, or other surface. This idea may be a bit more costly, but may be worth it for a piece you intend to keep around for a long time.
Remember, there is no wrong way to decorate your home as long as you are happy with the end result. You can always find inexpensive shelves and small furniture pieces online for a great discount so you don’t have to worry about sprucing up your furniture, only making it your own with some decorating.
Dorm Living
September 25, 2016
Dorm Living – 10 Essentials Less than 10 Dollars Each
It’s a new semester, and you’re getting used to dorm living, and probably missing all the conveniences of home, while enjoying your new freedom. But now that you’re settled in and rooted in the space, you remember everything you forgot to bring to college. You may share a bath with one to four other people, in which case, there probably isn’t room for four hair dryers in your cupboard. Where to put yours? And what about that curling iron? You might have lots of odds and ends and just don’t know where to put them. A stackable basket is one idea. Cabinet door organizers are another great way to add storage and maximize space. And, then there’s the problem of cosmetics. What do you do with your lipstick and eye makeup? Now that you’re actually in your space, you can better evaluate what you really need to keep yourself organized. Read on for 10 inexpensive dorm living essentials – all under 10 dollars (some are as low as 7 – great for a girl or guy on a budget).
1. Wall Mount Blow Dryer Holder
Install the blow dryer holder on the wall or on a cabinet, and your hairdryer is accessible and ready to use. Plus it won’t hog space in your cabinet.
2. Curling Iron Holder – Over Door
Over door hangers are great when you’re short on space. This curling iron holder comes in nickel and bronze and can also hold your hair dryer. It takes up little space and requires no hardware.
3. Silver Mesh Stackable Tray
This stacking tray gives you a place to put notes, mail, class assignments, printed homework and other paper items that need organizing. Buy as many as you need to manage your paper clutter.
4. Magnetic Chalkboard
This magnetic chalkboard attaches to any metal surface and is a great place for you and your roommates to leave notes, poems and random thoughts. Nice thing is you can erase them.
5. Acrylic Vanity Organizer
Lipstick and eye makeup won’t end up in unexpected places – or lost forever – when you use this lightweight little acrylic organizer. Keep makeup here and you won’t find mascara globs in your purse or backpack.
6. Over the Door Hook Rack
The over-the-door hook Rack is the perfect solution for dormroom space crunches. Create storage for towels, jackets and other items instantly. No hardware or tools required.
7. Pop and Fold Laundry Basket
Lugging laundry is bad enough, but the weight of large plastic baskets just adds to the chore. Plus baskets take up space, which is premium when you live in a dorm. When you’re done with this lightweight basket you can fold it up for compact storage.
8. Bedside Storage Caddy
This denier bedside storage caddy is a fabulous indulgence because you can keep magazines, notebooks and other reading materials right on your bed. It has storage for tissue, a pocket for cell phones and larger pockets for books, magazines and tablets. Use it to make a mini-entertainment center right on your bed.
9. Foldable Cell Phone Holder
This super-slim folding cell phone charging station attached to any outlet and folds up when not in use. This is also a great way to keep track of your phone if you make it a habit to charge it when you come home.
10. Stackable Plastic Storage Basket
This stacking basket is ideal for storing all those things that tend to get scattered around your room – a versatile dorm accessory. Use it for bathroom products, makeup, devices or other small items. It’s about 9 inches long and comes in several cool colors.
Enjoy your semester and if you need accessories for dorm living, be sure to check out our websites. You might also like our Dorm Pinterest Board for TONS of dorm organizing and decorating ideas. Also read about dorm essentials here on our blog.
How to Remove Rust
September 15, 2016
How to Remove Rust Naturally
Have you ever wondered how to remove rust without expensive chemicals and toxic fumes? We’ve all had mishaps with metal, whether it was the prized garden tool left out in the rain or a sink of utensils inadvertently left over night. Rust – the annoying thing that eats our cars, hardware, faucets, garden tools and more.
I have used a variety of expensive chemicals including naval jelly and those stinky nitric acid solutions that make you choke. Most of them do actually remove rust, but at a cost to your pocket book, health and the environment. How to remove rust without toxic fumes and scary chemicals? Here’s how, using safe, biodegradable ingredients you are likely to have in your home.
1. Salt and Vinegar
Vinegar is great by itself but salt adds some abrasion when you want to scrub it. Use 6 parts white vinegar to a tablespoon salt. Submerge your object or, if that’s not possible, wrap it in rags soaked with the solution, replenishing as necessary. This is a great way to clean shower heads and faucets if you don’t want to disassemble them.
2. Plain White Vinegar
Soak the rusty kitchen accessory or other object in a vat of white vinegar for a day. Pull it out to see if rust has dissolved. For larger objects, soak a wash cloth or towel in vinegar and wrap it around the object; then pour more vinegar on it and let it soak. This is great for faucets and faucet parts.
3. Molasses and Water
This is a farmer’s trick (my favorite method) and I’ve seen whole cars submerged in baths that came out completely clean. Ratios vary, but try 1/4 molasses to 3/4 parts water, mix it, and then soak your rusty can opener or other accessory for a day. Pull it out to see if rust has dissolved and soak for another day if it hasn’t. Do not leave your rusty object in the solution for more than a day without checking it, as this is a really powerful solution.
4. Lemon and Lemon Juice
Cut a lemon in half and use it to clean around fixtures. Let the juice sit and the acid with loosen the rust. You can also use lemon juice in a container and submerge the rusty object (check it every couple hours). Lemon also excels at removing hard water deposits.
There you are, four natural solutions for removing rust that won’t break the bank. Please use these ideas but take care in continually monitoring your progress, as the molasses trick in particular can break down iron if left in too long. Feel free to send pictures of your de-rusting projects too!
You might enjoy this post about removing water spots from furniture (from the Clutter Control Freak).