UsedEverywhere.com

My Garbage Chair

I’ve always loved the idea of finding great furniture in the dumpster (although, still not sure why people don’t list the items for free on their UsedEverywhere.com city site). For so many years I’ve seen chairs and stools and tables rescued from the curb and made into something spectacular. I’ve always been a fan of the people who pull over and take someone’s junk to make it useful again. I have just never felt comfortable doing that myself.

So, when I saw this chair on the top of a large pile of discarded household furnishings (someone moved out) I drove around the block to take a better look. Then I drove around again, wondering if I should stop and get it. Then I kept going and got almost home, but turned around and went back. I drove past reeeal slow. I felt like a stalker. I pulled off on a side street and told myself I was being ridiculous and garbage day was the next day and it would get crushed up for no good reason. So, I went back. I pulled into the driveway and took that chair and put it in my car. Of course neighbours were out raking and getting their mail and they totally stopped and looked at me (and in my head they were judging me something fierce) but I had my prize and I took it home and looked at it for a while. I am so glad I stopped!

 

The chair is a mid-century piece but it’s a knock off of a designer chair. Not the best quality. However, under the fabric that had been nailed to the legs, was the original cushion (orange. So perfect) and it was FREE. It was missing a leg support and the finish was cracking all over but these were easy fixes. I sanded it down all over, just a quick sand but I paid attention to the rougher spots. I got a 3/4″ dowel and cut it to size, glued the ends and put it between the legs where the old one was cut off. Those got a nail in each end. Then, I painted.

 

A paint that I find really useful for these kinds of projects is Tremclad. They have a paint that’s for wood and metal, and it comes in flat, gloss, and high gloss. I used the regular gloss because that is what I had at home already. It dries quickly and has a really great sheen on it. It is also water soluble so it’s easy for clean-up.

 

For the cushion, I used a remnant I had picked up at the textile store a few months ago. It cost me a whole $1. I put it right on top of the old cushion, as it was clean plus I like to keep old fabric underneath when I can for someone else to discover somewhere down the road. I always like finding the original fabric on something! Staple guns make this kind of job much easier. I use a hand powered one, not an air compressor or electric one. One day I would like to get a fancy staple gun, but for now my father-in-laws will do.

 

So, that is really all that it took to take a $1 chair from the garbage back from the brink and into the modern world. I really love this chair, and am glad it was an easy fix. Sometimes a coat of paint and a piece of printed cotton can really work wonders. I am definitely stopping to pick up treasures again.

UsedEverywhere.com is encouraging it’s users to snap pictures of discarded future-treasures and post the pictures to Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #ShouldaUsedOttawa (#ShouldaUsedVictoria, #ShouldaUsedVancouver, or #ShouldaUsedRegina etc. – depends on the city you live in of course). It’s much easier to find free stuff on a UsedEverywhere.com site than driving around searching for unloved items that could already be damaged by the elements.

 

Has anyone else rescued something from the curb and put it to good use?

DIY Beds for Spring

Valentines day is supposed to be the symbolic day of Love. I, among many others, think that one day just isn’t enough. And no offense, February… you are kind of a stinky month. Do you know what gets me in the mood? SPRING.

Yes that’s right. I get spring fever. All the melting of snow and the bursting forth of flowers…well I’ll leave the imagery alone cause this is a PG blog but you get the drift.

I always feel romantic in springtime. I like spending as much time outdoors as I can. But when I come inside there’s got to be a continuation of that feeling. I like to buy hothouse bulbs, or cut tulips, or go to the woods and chop a few pussywillow brnaches down. I get cleaning out the dusty crammed corners of my kitchen. I want to move.

After all that moving is done, I am exhausted. Which brings me to bed. I also like to spend a lot of time in there. (Yes just sleeping).

A long time ago, people bedded down beside each other under and on top of furs. Eventually we moved on to bigger and better things, beds. Where they better? Well that is up for debate. I recently watched a program care of the BBC that spoke all about the history and anthropological niche of beds. It got me thinking: in society today, a bed is a real symbol of love. Whether it is carnal love or domestic bliss or even chasteness, beds are an important fixture in our homes. So I thought I’d look at a few examples of fantastic beds that might stir the fire inside you. And they are all things you can make!

First off, is this awesome LED panelled headboard. How cute is this? The directions are here if you want to know a bit more, but all I know is its sparkly and big and i like it!

LED lights create a fairytale look

Next is a romantic metal bed with swirls of chiffon. Now, this particular bed is a four poster canopy. But, if you made a frame as big as you wanted it out of either metal or wood, and attached it to you ceiling, you could definitely recreate this look with the bed that you already have. Soft yellows and whites are very dreamy (and springy!). There are even canopy frames that you can buy. Alternately you could do something a little simpler, like hang a circle over the bed for a neat and crafty look. Who doesn’t like being romanced behind closed curtains? I personally think I’d get a better sleep behind chiffon.

an easy to recreate look, if you’re crafty! not just for a doggy to enjoy!

This next bed is super easy and looks very beautiful. I like a simple, woodland fantasy look. Get a few big sticks from the woods, attach some twinkle lights, voila! You have a super awesome starry bed.

using a feature from nature with some twinkle lights

Next up is a good use of pallets. Now, do be careful as some pallets are treated with some pretty nasty chemicals. If your pallets are good to go, you can make a platform bed very easily. This example shows them in a raw wood form, but I have seen ones that are painted as well. I would probably seal the pallets, and maybe give them a sanding, just to make sure they wont snag your linens or your toes. But this would give you lots of room for candles and whatever else you’d want by a sexy bed.

pallets: usually untreated pine that’s very sturdy. Be careful with fire and wood, readers!

I could show you a million beds that are easy to make and are super awesome. However, I like to leave something to the imagination. What kind of things would you do to your bed if you could, to make it a little more sexy? Me, I’d make a whole bunch of pretty pillows and get some cool old vintage quilts to put on it for snuggling in.

Getting creative with furniture restoration

Something that I always try to be, whether it is fashion, housewares or furniture, is original. Having something different is fun, to me at least. Vintage clothing is usually fairly unique and different. You won’t have to worry about someone else showing up to the office party wearing the same dress as you! Awkward moment avoided!

I like thrifting. A lot. A lot a lot a lot. My house is a veritable treasure trove of weird and wonderful things. Nobody else has my candlesticks or place mats or chair covers. And I like that. It is fun to tailor your home to be something that is totally unique and awesome. And while it does take some time, your creativity and You-ness can really shine.

It is really easy to make furniture be a centrepiece of this identity. Its usually big, you probably actually use it, someone besides yourself will sit on a chair or couch. What are some things that you can do, you ask. Well, I am so glad that you want to know

Cushions: probably the easiest thing you can do is get cushions, or even make them, that either blend in to your style or contrast with it, depending on what you like. A simple throw cushion can take a boring beige chair from frumpy to fabulous in mere moments. And because cushions generally don’t cost too much, you can replace them whenever you want to mix it up a bit. I know some people that bring out new combinations of cushions with each season. While that is a bit much for me, it is a great way to refresh your living space. And if you sew, making cushions is super duper simple.

These chairs would look quite boring without some awesome bright cushions. Look at how they really pop against the neutral decor.

Paint: while I generally cringe at the idea of painting wood furniture, sometimes it needs to be done. A fresh coat of paint on a tired old plant stand can make your plant pop out of the woodwork so to speak. Have an old broken kitchen chair languishing in the basement? Pull it out, paint it, you have a new plant stand for indoors or out. You can paint a chair, couch legs, picture frames, really anything. You can even paint fabric (click here to see some instructions. It sounds like a lot of trouble but hey who am I to tell you what not to do). Paint is usually fairly inexpensive and if you go to your local home improvement store often you can troll for cheap mis-tint paint like I do.

sick of looking at your faded scratched wood table and chairs? look how cute this is!

Fabric: it isn’t that hard to make slipcovers, if you know your way around a sewing machine. You can pick any fabric you’d like, and if you can’t sew it, you can have someone else do it. This way you are reusing your existing furniture but giving it new life. Dining chairs are easy to redo, and you can really let your creativity shine here. I am currently fixing an old chair up and using a cable knit sweater for the cushion! You could sew together old doilies and layer that over a contrasting fabric for a really cool effect. The possibilities are really endless when it comes to chair bottoms. I change mine all the time. I think my husband believes I have some commitment issues!

look at this great refinishing project! see how to do it here

Using things that aren’t intended for that purpose: an old barrel with a cushion on top becomes a fabulous chair. An old door mounted on the wall becomes a headboard for your bed. An old office credenza becomes hallway storage. Old fabric remnants can be framed and hung for a cool and vintage look. An old dining table can be an office desk. There are so many things you can use in different ways, just thinking about it makes me excited. If you want some inspiration click here and have a Re-Imagining Weekend; fun for the whole family!

an old ladder hangs down for a great small space reuse pot rack

What sorts of creative things have you done in your home? Let us know!

 

Something Old, Something Borrowed, Something Green: How to Plan a Beautiful Eco-Friendly Wedding

The average cost of a Canadian wedding today is $24,000. $24,000! No wonder so many fathers are angry when their daughters announce they’re getting married. Even though most couples actually pay for their own weddings these days, that is still a huge bill to begin a new marriage with. But if you don’t want to start your honeymoon in debt, what are the options? Well, since this is the UsedEverywhere blog, of course you can throw a beautiful, eco-friendly wedding for a fraction of the usual cost!

My fiance and I had a tiny wedding budget thanks to two years of ongoing renovations on our fixer-upper. Over a year and a half of wedding planning, we found out that when you go green, you save green, even in weddings. We learned where to save big money and where to go green … and that the two usually went hand-in-hand. Elegant does not have to mean expensive, and neither does eco-friendly. We planned a gorgeous, “green” wedding for all our family and friends, and saving the planet was just a bonus.

In planning the wedding, Rolf and I turned to the same resources as we had been using in our ongoing renovations: the knowledge and help of our friends and family; online classified websites such as UsedOttawa.com for cheap and free materials; and Google. For 1/8th the cost of a standard wedding, $3,000, we got married last summer in a sweet, vintage wedding with one hundred of our closest friends. And partied our asses off.

In upcoming posts in this blog series on throwing a low-budget but beautiful wedding, I’ll go over all the aspects of planning a wedding, showing you where we saved money, what the green options are, and what not to DIY! Over the coming weeks I’ll cover all the wedding planning essentials:

The venue.

The invitations.

The rings.

The flowers.

Photography.

The dress! And other wedding clothes.

The food.

Centrepieces and wedding favours.

Wedding cakes and cake toppers.

If you’re out west this weekend, UsedVancouver.com is proudly sponsoring The Original Bridal Swap. Bridal Swap connects past brides and brides-to-be in a fun atmosphere so they can buy and sell gently used wedding items.

Create Your Own Story This Valentines

Valentine’s Day is almost here. If you are looking for something special to give the love of your life there may be added pressure ensuring presents are sustainable. Holidays are slowly becoming a place to showcase skills and memories rather than your ability to run to a store to purchase ‘stuff’. With consumers asking questions of where products are manufactured and what they are made from, the chances of finding satisfying answers is tough for last-minute gifts. For those that want a story, feeling, or movement behind their Valentines gift this year, go with an up-cycle. Why? Every up-cycled gift will show effort and even if the original purchase was manufactured in a distant country made with not-so-earth friendly materials, when you go 2nd hand with gift giving, you are breathing new life into a gift and giving it your own story.

Here is your project with a beautiful story: barn window memory frame. Let me break down the symbolism for you and we’ll proceed with the project instructions. Barns exude the feel of haunting romance. A barn can be literally falling apart, but the more weathered it becomes, the more mystery surrounds it and that is romantic. If your project includes pictures, old cards, or poem, these will reflect the window of your heart. You might need to trust me with the symbol of how romantic a window pane is and the more weathered looking the better. If it can’t be from a barn, just a wooden window will be okay… but you might not be able to use the word ‘haunting’ in your gift presentation… and really, is there a better word?!

Our Prairie Home shows you how to take an existing window and cut squares of chicken wire to back each window. I love the chicken wire look because it creates a very special look and makes attaching cards, notes, pictures, or mementos super easy with little wooden clips. This could easily change from a note board to a special picture frame. Picture belongs to Our Prairie Home:

 

It’s actually easier than I thought to find windows to upcycle. With a quick search on UsedVictoria, I found 2 windows here and here. If you like the look of glass rather than chicken wire, there are also very cute up-cycle options with windows that still have glass. Check out the below frame pinned to the UsedEverywhere Pinterest board.

Supplies Needed:

Wooden window frame
Chicken wire
Printed photos
Tape measure
Hot glue
Picture hanging kit

There is still time to create magic for the love of your life and use some creativity that will be treasured and proudly displayed all year round. Think about incorporating up-cycling into your special Valentines this year and your efforts will be noticed. And you can use words like ‘hauntingly romantic’ in the description or something unique. When you upcycle, the story becomes yours to tell.

 

Decor DIY Disaster Averted

You know when you see an amazing project on Pinterest and then you try and try and try to recreate it and then finally (mercifully) admit defeat?

That’s what happened to me here.

Nearly a year ago I pinned some awesome DIY frosted vases and for the past few weeks I’ve been trying to recreate them.

I did everything right. I found jars I wanted to convert to vases, a ton of rubber bands, and “frosted glass” spray paint.

And then I got to work.

Coat after coat… after coat.

I just couldn’t get my project to look like the original.

So I switched methods. Instead of creating cool frosted vases with rubber bands I decided to try a glue gun picture on the jar, followed by a few coats of frosted glass.

This idea went better.

I did two: a heart and the word “love” in honour of Valentine’s Day.

The glue was difficult to see against the glass but after a few rounds of spray paint it looked positively embossed. I was pleased to say the least.

The spray paint took a while to dry completely (doing this project in warmer temperatures would surely have sped up the process) and once it did I filled my new vases with red wax and candles to test out their frosted glow.

It was a pleasing effect.

Now I’m hoping to find some short-stemmed flowers to try out another look but really the possibilities are endless.

I like how such a simple project can take a regular everyday jar and turn it into something fun and unique.

Create Your Own Unique Lighting On a Tight Budget

One of the most important ways to up the WOW factor of your space is with proper lighting. Too many people use overheads, which don’t address lighting needs around the room, and fail to highlight areas that can really pop with just a little extra effort.

In my house, we have a great bay window, that provides tonnes of natural light to our living room, but is a challenging space to work with. The shape is such that you can’t really put anything against it, and since our living room (and whole house) is relatively small, it means you have less space to work with. So we turned this room into a reading nook. All it took was building a simple bench, and a novel approach to lighting it.

By day, there is loads of light, but at night, not so much. The overhead doesn’t reach it, there is no place to put a floor lamp, and because it’s all windows there is nowhere to stick a wall sconce.

We got around this by coming up with a lighting option unique to the space. What you are looking at here is a collaboration between my wife and I that cost us all of $15. It consists of a string of incandescent Christmas lights, origami boxes my wife made, and a really big stick I found in the woods. It doesn’t generate much light, but it’s enough to read by, and makes the space super cozy at night. What’s great about this is that it helps carve a very small room into different spaces, and makes our whole house feel bigger.

Is it safe, you ask? Well, barring any shorts in the wire, the lights are designed not to ignite dry Christmas trees, so we are prepared to take the risk that they will not get hot enough to ignite the paper origami boxes. That said, we would never leave these lights on when we go out, or go to bed, just to be on the safe side.

Transform Your Rooms on the Cheap

I’m one of those people who love to rearrange furniture constantly and do room makeovers. I even collect paint decks. My friends sometimes call me Martha Stewart but trust me, I am way too lazy to be Martha Stewart. I also don’t have Martha’s deep pockets, and updating your rooms can be expensive – especially if you’re addicted to it. But I’ve found out that (as usual), if you approach it from the environmental route, you can renovate without spending huge amounts of money in the process.

Fresh from the Ottawa Home Renovations Show, I thought I’d share the latest renovation in my house: turning the sunroom into an office. The goal was to spend as little money as possible but still achieve a complete transformation of this room. Using freecycled items, things we already owned, and even curbside finds, this room got a major update for cheap and it was super environmentally friendly because we reused old things instead of buying new. Even the flooring was free!

The sunroom before. The early 80s linoleum felt permanently sticky and this room was unused except to kill the occasional plant in.

 

The sunroom after. This room is so bright and warm, perfect for an office. The house got a significant upgrade and this room now gets regular use.

How cheap was this renovation? Well, except for shelling out for paint, new blinds, and a laminate flooring installation kit, everything else was either something we already owned or something we scored for free. This room has gone from complete disuse to being my favourite room in the house!

Check out the source list:

laminate flooring (free on UsedOttawa.com)
mini chandeliers (already owned)
couch (free on UsedOttawa.com)
retro TV (free on UsedOttawa.com)
chair (found on a curb)
retro radio (already owned)
plant stand (already owned)
desk (already owned)
houseplants (free from Ottawa Plantcycle)
blinds (purchased from Ikea)

Stumps: Natures End Tables

I’m a sucker for dumps. Yes, they’re smelly, terrible places where all the ugliness of our wasteful culture is gathered in one shameful spot. But sometimes there is gold to be found in those hills of garbage.

First off, I don’t go digging. It’s dangerous, not allowed, and you wouldn’t find anything useful anyway, since everything has either been covered in last week’s left over tacos, or crushed by roving heavy machinery. The trick is to pay attention to what others are dropping off. There is a no-man’s land between the backs of everyone’s cars and the pit where you can score treasures that have no business ending up at the dump.

I’ve found everything from chairs to mirrors to weird bits of art painted on scraps of plywood that have ended up becoming cherished household treasures that are either still with us, or have gone on to new homes altogether.

One of my favourite pieces though, was a chunk of log I once found. Sure, I could probably have found another appropriate log in a more savoury place, but when I saw it at the dump, something clicked and I thought to myself, “hey, it’s nature’s end table!” Glancing over my shoulder to make sure nobody was watching, (you’re not suppose to steal from the dump for some reason) I quickly hauled the 30kg monster into the back of my truck after dropping off a load of trash and made for home with my ill-gotten dump log.

I think the piece was alder, and when it was a tree, it clearly had vines clinging to it, making it all the more beautiful. My job was made easy by the fact that whoever cut down the tree from which it came, did so incredibly neatly, slicing out chunks roughly 18″ tall, and perfectly evenly, so that it sat on the floor without wobbling with an almost perfectly level surface.

After letting it dry on my porch for a few months, I hauled out my orbital sander and went to work, starting out with the heaviest grade of sandpaper I could find (80). It took me a solid, dusty hour, but by the time I was finished, my stump had a beautiful finish. I used the vacuum to clean the dust out of the cracks on the surface, gave it a good wash, and once it was dry, I coated the surface with a semi-gloss latex clear coat.

It lived in my sons’ room for a few years, and recently after a move from Vancouver to the Kootenays, we were lucky enough to reclaim it for our living room where it now sits, and people still ask me where we bought it.

I think we’re going to need a few more of these around the house.

Upcycling Ideas: Make the Most of The Free Tab on UsedEverywhere!

The mason jar mania of the last two weeks got me thinking, ‘what’s the weirdest upcycle out there?’ My ponderings were quickly answered by a browse on the UsedEverywhere blog. You may have read this great post ’5 Uses for a Toilet Paper Roll’ by my fellow blogger, Erin Berube, and like me, found the ideas ingenious. The heart stamp for Valentines and the cord organiser are just two of the ideas I will be coveting.

Heart Stamp

 

I decided to go in search of other upcycling possibilities and boy did I find some wonderful ideas!

Having lots of musical friends, I just love the idea of music sheet wrapping paper, trimmed with old jewelry.

Music Sheet Wrapping Paper found on Pinterest

 

I also have a lot of friends who drink wine and was amazed when I saw these upcycled wine corks. Unfortunately I cannot find a tutorial or the source for this photo, but if you are crafty enough, this could be a great gift project especially if you have a cork from a special occasion.

Wine cork jewelry.

 

This next idea is a good one for those who have their eye on the Used sites. I often see old windows and doors for free on our sites. Check out this gorgous coffee table upcycle from ohgloryvintage.com.

Window upcycled into a coffee table. From ohgloryvintage.com

 

Again, another great idea if you can grab a freebie from UsedEverywhere – a bed head board upcycled into a garden bench. Tutorial from addicted2decorating.com

Headboard upcycled into garden bench. From addicted2decorating.com

 

It’s worth it to keep you eye on the Used sites for things people are giving away. There is even a tab specifically for Free items on the homepage of each site. Some people have renovated their whole house with free items (more of that later) but if you are a crafter or a maker, then this is where you will find ideas for many an upcycling project.