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Saturday, August 27, 2011

Neighbor's Trash Turned Into My Treasure!

Before I begin this post, I just want to say......don't judge me. 

Perhaps I should start at the beginning......

While taking the dog for a walk recently, I noticed that my neighbor put this piece of furniture on the curb with a bright yellow "free" sign attached.....

Being someone who is still in the process of furnishing her home, loves the word "free" and can make ugly things beautiful,  I was intrigued with my neighbor's junk, so I stopped to take a look at the piece.

Now it was definitely damaged, but it wasn't in horrible shape.   I knew I could clean it and repurpose it, so when the hubs got home from work I shared my idea with him.  He, of course, did not see the beauty nor practicality in this piece of furniture, but after two and a half years of marriage, he has learned that there is a method to my madness.  Nonetheless, he drove to the corner across the street and loaded the heavy dresser-like-thing in his car, all the while not caring what the other neighbors who were out and about for the evening thought of him.  Such a good man, that husband of mine. 

I've had a busy few weeks, so my neighbor's junk has just been sitting upstairs for nearly a month.  But yesterday, I finally got motivated and started the project.  First I took my Black & Decker electric detail sander (that I got at a garage sale for $2 thank you very much) and sanded off the top layer of shine.
 
I bought this primer for the project.  This stuff saved me hours of sanding seeing as how I don't own a heavy-duty sander that can easily sand down to the original wood.  Not wanting to break my wallet by buying a new sander or ruin my manicure by sanding for hours by hand, the nice gentleman at Lowe's directed me to this product and told me that I only had to sand off the top layer of shine on the furniture before using this particular primer.
Using a small furniture and cabinet roller, I primed away.  Two coats of primer later, I was ready for the next step.

Now I really wanted to keep this piece white, but I was going to put it in our bedroom which means I had to paint it black to match the pieces that I found on Craigslist. You can read more about the Craigslist purchases here. 

When I purchased the furniture on Craigslist, the lady gave my a small container of touch-up paint, so I took the touch-up paint to Lowe's.  They matched the color and sheen perfectly.  I purchased one gallon, because I still have an armoire hanging out in my garage that I need to refinish in the same color. 

After letting two coats of paint dry, I added the hardware and put it in its new home ~ the sitting area in our master bedroom.

I left the original hardware on, because I had a hard time finding something that I liked to replace it.  Our bedroom has a vintage feel though, so I think it kind of works.

We did, however,  have to replace the two knobs, because one was missing.  These were $4 each at Hobby Lobby.  If you wait for the sale, they are only $2 each.
We still need to paint our bedroom and add curtains, so try to ignore that in this picture.  Slowly but surely everything is coming together thanks to garage sales, thrift shops, Craigslist......and now I can even say thanks to my neighbor's trash;)
 


24 comments:

  1. That looks so awesome! I love it black and that you kept the hardware! Wish I could find that. I know sometimes I feel kinda wierd eyeing up trash, but I admit to picking things up. A dresser and three chairs over the last year. I don't know why it seems so taboo and as if we have to sneak, but it does seem that way. Great find - I would have snagged that, too!
    Stacey of Embracing Change

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  2. That looks great! I'm always assessing things that my neighbors have set out as trash. I think it's great if we can re-purpose and reuse what someone else is finished with!

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  3. I'm in love with that hardware!

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  4. It looks amazing! The hardware is perfect. And never be ashamed of being a free stuff warrior. It's pretty magical :)

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  5. Great re-do and I love a freebie! I am looking and looking on the curb, but have yet to see anything that I was brave enough to rescue! Came over via FT Think Pink Party.

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  6. Great job! It's beautiful...I hope your neighbors don't see this post or they may come knocking on your door wanting the dresser back!

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  7. Gotta love trash picking...it looks great. Amazing what a little sanding and painting and changing hardware can do! Nice job.

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  8. i love this!!! it looks awesome! i tried this once a while back...it was tragic. lol. At that time i had no clue what i was doing. lol. it ended up in the trash i think. :/

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  9. Awesome! I'm tempted to go get a craigslist dresser right now, nice inspiration piece! Please stop by and share on my MoMomma Monday Blog hop :) http://momommamoney.blogspot.com/2011/08/mommy-monday-with-momomma.html

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  10. i love that. I am trying to get my hubby to redo some of our furniture but I have not had any luck. He doesnt like painted wood but I think it looks nice. Its amazing what paint can do

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  11. good job. It looks like something out of fancy furniture catalogue. what a deal! I started a link party at my blog and I'd love for you to link this up. I also have an awesome digital scrapbooking giveaway going on. If you're interested it's http://caribbeanmissionarywife.blogspot.com/

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  12. OH WOW! So has your neighbor seen what you did with their cast-off??? This is so beautiful!!

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  13. It fits in great and looks like you bought it that way! Great job!

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  14. Oh my goodness, it turned out AMAZING!! I am so impressed that you got it for free and turned it into something amazing. And my husband is the same way- after a couple years of marriage, they just start to not ask questions about our ideas, huh? :) So funny! Thanks so much for linking up to Strut Your Stuff last weekend! We would LOVE to have you come back and link up more of your great projects tomorrow!
    Camille @
    SixSistersStuff.blogspot.com

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  15. Rachel this piece turned out gorgeous! Love it in your bedroom. Thanks for sharing. Stopping over from Serenity Now Linky Party. Have a great weekend!!! :)

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  16. Gosh! That turned out just beautifully!!! Thank you so much for sharing the tips like the primer you used, etc. I am a "closet" curb shopper...I usually wait until dark if I see something on the curb in our neighborhood to go grab it (and hope that it is still there). I also dress in black to do my curb shopping.
    I saw your post over at Serenity Now party.

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  17. LOVE LOVE LOVE this. Just wanted to let you know that I'll be featuring this next Tuesday on Sew Woodsy!

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  18. What a great find...so lucky to get a good piece of furniture for free! I commend your patience in tranforming a piece the rest of us would have ignored:)

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  19. OOOOO... What treasure it is! Yay for free finds! Great make-over. Thank you so much for linking your post up at Savvy HomeMade Monday!

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  20. Ooooh, it's gorgeous! I love free stuff - especially furniture that you find in a neighbor's trash. I have my share of stuff like that.

    Great verse at the bottom of the page. :)

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  21. It looks beautiful! Don't you just love trash on the street?! Thank you for linking to It's a Party!

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  22. Wow! I am not sure what is better...the free dresser or the $2 sander! =)
    ~Kelly @ Corner of Main
    P.S.- I love your blog background

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