A Dish Towel with a Special Meaning and a ReStyled ReUsed Crate

Since Earth Day was Monday, I wanted to share ways in which I ReUse old materials or find new ways to use everyday items.  Last September, I visited New Hope, PA for the first time and while shopping around in Peddlers Village I found this adorable dish towel.

dish towel before

You can buy your own here.

The phrase "Love You More" has a special place in my heart which made me love this dish towel.  Instantly I knew I had to buy it, but also knew it would not stay a dish towel for long. I was going to turn it into a pillow for my couch.

After some easy sewing I made this!

dish towel turned pillow

Not your average dish towel anymore!

Also on Earth Day, here at RWL I did my part to recycle. I love old wood. I am that crazy lady stalking  construction workers asking if I can take their old wood (that they are throwing away). I also like the distressed wood on shipping pallet/crates. So many times you can find me taking old crates right from the trash. Why do I like this things you may ask? I like them because the wood is aged just right for making vintage signs or building coat racks.

So I did just that on Monday. Along with my fur baby and my trusty orbital jigsaw (by the way I love this thing). I sat outside in the beautiful New Jersey weather and started cutting away at the old pallet.

crate before

 (Don't worry my fur baby was out of the way for the cutting.)

The wood I cut on Monday will be used to make new signs for my upcoming festival, but here you can see an example of how I use this type of wood.

I ReStyled and ReUsed a different pallet for my "Nothing Makes Sense But Us" sign.

wooden pallet after

Who would have guessed this wood was covered in dirt and on the side of the road.

I will have more signs like this at the Hoboken Spring Art & Music Festival May 5th.

Happy Earth Day!

linking to:

The Shabby Creek Cottage

Big Day for Refurbished with Love!

February was a busy month for Refurbished with Love! Lots of reupholstering and a DIY article, "Vase Into Lamp" in Hoboken Digest Magazine.  Doing the article was lots of fun and it turned out beautiful!!

I originally found this candle hurricane at HomeGoods. It had a leather scrap secured around the top which was easy to remove. Also, I love the Mercury Glass.

Here are my step my step directions on how to make your own DIY Vase Into a Lamp.

lamp article

DIY, transform a vase into a lamp, step by step instructions:

Step 1: Picking out your vase

I suggest purchasing a vase from your local discount home furnishing store.  A few tips to remember when selecting your vase; make sure the bottom of the vase is not too thick (the thicker the bottom the longer it will take to drill your hole). Also, turn the vase upside down and make sure it is sturdy enough to hold a lampshade. Finally, try to select a vase that is the same thickness from top to bottom. These types of vases tend to be sturdier when flipped upside down.  

Step 2: Set Up    

Before you begin, it is best to prep your workspace. Here are the materials you will need: (Left to Right)

-Ruler

-Measuring cup (1 cup) filled with cold water and one ice cube

-Emery cloth sand paper

-A vase or candle hurricane (used here) to act as the base of your lamp.

-Small hand towel

-Permanent marker

-Cutting board (sturdy surface)

-Lamp rewiring kit (you can find one at your local hardware store): On/Off socket, cord

-Cork adhesive backing

-Electric Drill with a ½ diamond drill bit

-Wire strippers

-Screw driver

-Pliers

On my workspace, I use my wooden cutting board and a dishtowel to keep my vase from slipping off. Keep in mind, little pieces of glass will break off and the towel underneath keeps your workspace neat.

Step 3: Getting Started

Once your area is setup, use your ruler to mark the center of the vase bottom.  Using a permanent marker draw a large circle, this will be the area where you drill your hole.

Before you begin drilling, pour water on the underside of the vase, this will help keep your drill bit cool. You do not want it to overheat, because this can wear out the bit. If the surface cannot hold water pour it over your drill bit as you are drilling, keeping the surface wet.

Step 4: Scoring the Glass

Start with your drill as parallel as possible to the vase.  Drill slowly and do not use too much pressure or you may break the vase.  Hold the drill in place, it will move around a lot, but you are trying to break through the hardened glaze surface.  Once you have started drilling you want to create a mark similar to this one. Think of this as scoring your glass. 

Step 5: Drilling 

Move your drill into a perpendicular position with your surface. Drill slowly and with a firm grip. Soon you will feel the glass break as you break through to the other side. This step will take about 15 minutes depending on the thickness of your vase.   

You will also need to drill an additional hole towards the bottom of the vase for the cord to run through. 

  

Step 6: Sanding

Now using a piece of emery cloth sand paper, sand the inside of each hole which will dull the edges. Be very careful, the glass is very sharp!   

Step 7: Wiring Your Lamp

Now that the hard part is done, you can now wire your lamp. Using the cord included in your lamp kit, feed the cord through the bottom hole into the candle stick/pipe included in the kit. You will need about 6 inches of cord at the top of your vase.

Before you push the stick through the top hole, screw on the washer and a nut to the pipe. (double check that both are larger than the top hole).  Pull your pipe and cord through the top and screw on an additional washer and nut larger than the hole (these will help secure the pipe to the vase).

Next, pull the two strands of cord through the socket base and screw the base onto the pipe. Using the two strands of cord, tie an ‘underwriters’ knot. You will need to determine which wire is the ‘hot’/positive wire (this wire is smooth and has no ridges.) Loosen the brass screw on the lamp socket. Using the positive wire, wrap it around the brass screw firmly securing it against the socket without leaving any wires sticking out. Tighten the screw to hold the wire in place.  You will need to do the same to the ribbed wire and the stainless steel screw.  

Resemble the socket by pinching the socket shell back onto the socket base. Screw on the power knob and test your lamp. 

Step 8: Finish

Once your lamp is working properly, apply the adhesive cork backing to the bottom of the vase to protect your furniture’s surface (you can also use felt fabric.)

Finally find an amazing place for your new lamp!

Please let me know if you make and a lamp and how it turns out!

Check back for pictures of the chairs.

I made my own chalk paint!

Recently, I have wanted to explore using chalk paint on furniture. Fortunately for me I had a client send me their desk and stool which was the perfect candiate to test out this paint. For those of you who are not familiar with chalk paint, it is a fast drying paint mixture that creates a 'chalk-like' matte finish. It is a popular paint and said to be easy to use when creating a shabby chic look or when distressing furniture.

In theory, I like the idea of chalk paint but on the hand, it is very expensive. Since I was not comfortable paying $30 for paint, I started researching  recipes on how to make my own.  I found a couple great recipes one on the blog Elizabeth and Co. and the other at I Heart Nap Time blog.

Below is the guinea pig an old Ikea desk. Typically, I steer clear of Ikea furniture but the desk fits perfectly in my clients small Hoboken apartment. They wanted the desk to painted navy with gold highlights and were totally open to me trying chalk paint.

desk before

Chalk paint has a great deal of benefits.  It is the best type of paint to use on furniture that cannot be sanded or furniture you do not intend to strip. Also, it is extremely durable. I ended up using the Elizabeth and Co. recipe.  Overall I was very pleased with the mixture, however, it dries out quickly therefore I suggest making small batches of paint.

desk after

close up on leg detail and upholstered stool

close up on desk top

Next time I want to try I Heart Nap Time's recipe. I wonder if using a smaller amount of plaster of paris will make the paint last longer.

linking up to:

Keeping it Simple Motivate ME Monday
Skip to My Lou
Ladybug Blessings

A place for six to eat...

My clients, Kelly and Rainer, wanted their old dining room table and chairs to be refurbished with a modern look which included refurbishing everything from the seat cushions to the various water stains and chipped pieces of wood. The whole ensemble was in desperate need of a "Refurbished with Love" facelift!

It turns out their dining set had a matching china cabinet in decent condition which I used as a guide to match the new stain for the set. Since the table top had a layer of wood veneer, I chose to use new a product to refurbish it, a gel stain by Minwax.

I haven't had any experience with gel stains before, but supposedly they are an alternative for 'faux' wood surfaces. In the end, I developed a big love/ hate relationship with this gel and there are more reasons why I don't like it.  First off, I should warn you, the gel has the consistency of pudding and is better applied with a sponge brush as opposed to a bristled one. Secondly, it dries ten times faster than your typical oil based stains. Therefore, if you are working on a large area, I suggest staining it in sections. This will help tremendously considering if it dries on you, it will be tough to get out. However, should you run into this problem, I suggest applying additional stain over the dried section and buffing the heck out of it! Lastly, the gel seemed to leave a residue on the wood and was rough to the touch. This was obviously frustrating since you need your surface to be smooth as silk before applying the polyurethane at the end. Lastly, fom a price conscious perspective, the gel stain only comes in quart size amounts at a whopping $16, which can add up quick when trying to pick the right color for your piece.

table and chairs after

Half of the table had water damage and uneven color in many areas. 

table top before

table top before

table top after

chair after

chair after

close up on stud detailing

Overall, the dining set came out beautiful and the stain was spot on for matching the cabinet! I also upholstered the dining chairs in a neutral fabric picked by the client and added a stud detail which gave the chairs the modern appeal they were looking for.

Overall I do not think I would use a gel stain again, however I was very please with the final outcome.  This was a big project for my small work space, but definitely a fun one to transform.

I am now pleased to say, seating for six is now available at the Hoboken brownstone of Kelly and Rainer. 

Linking To:

miss mustard seed

A Seat for One

This project was by far my favorite. Why, you may ask? Because I love the way it turned out!  So much so that if I had a bigger apartment I would have kept it for myself but on the flip side it's a good thing since I have the typical small Hoboken apartment. I could find any excuse to keep everything! On a side note, to help put things into perspective for those of you who do not live in the New York/ New Jersey area, my apartment is the size of my parents master bedroom suite in Houston Texas! One evening, during one of my visits home, I was lying on their king size bed chatting with them as they were getting ready to go out. As I was lying there I looked around and thought to myself, my entire apartment fits in this bedroom including my bathroom and closet! How depressing! But I digress...enough about my small space, it is a treasure.

For those of you who are familiar with small space living you understand the need or limitation to having a single seat chair. I found this particular chair at a thrift store in Jersey City where it was substituting as a stand for a fan to keep the store cool. When inquired about the chair to the clerk she replied "Okay, but it doesn't have a seat!" so in turn of course I said "I know, trust me, that is not a problem!" 

chair before

I decided to try a new brand of paint that I fell in love with recently from Clarks & Kensington.  Ace Hardware recently introduced this paint line in February and it is an amazing combination of paint and primer in one. In addition to distressing the chair, I added a dark brown glaze covering the entire chair.

And of course I added a seat!  I picked out this beautiful and fun bird fabric from Premier Prints.

chair after

close up on distressing detail at bottom of chair

close up on distressing 

Like I said before this is by far one of my favorite projects and was a very popular item at the fair. It sold the minute the fair opened!

Up next are two chairs I found by a dumpster. Check back to see how I transform these chairs into a bench!

Linking to:

elizabeth and co
miss mustard seed

A Houston Family Heirloom... The Piano Bench

Over my summer trip home to Houston I took on two more projects and one of them was the old family piano bench at my sister's house. My grandfather, on my dad's side, was a professional piano player in Miami and this was the piano he had in Miami. It was brought to Houston when my grandparents moved in with us in the late 80's.

Our house was always filled with music. I can still hear my grandfather playing old songs from his night club days and how he endlessly practiced his new sheet music for his Lutheran church where he played.  I learned how to play "She will be coming around the mountain" on this piano. Can I still play that today? No, but I have fond memories of my grandfather teaching me.

piano bench before

To reupholster this bench I used fabric, trim and studs picked out by my sister. She also monogramed her family initials on the top. The monogram added an elegant yet personal touch.

piano bench after

close up on the monogram

It turned out beautifully and now looks great in her family study.

linking to:

coastal charm
skip to my lou 
miss mustard seed

My Etsy Store

Many of you have asked where I sell my furniture, well besides my mini pop-up shop at festivals and trade shows you can also find Refurbished with Love furniture and home accent items here at my Etsy store, Refurbished with Love.

my etsy store

I do have many more things to add to my shop, I just need to find the time to take pictures! Therefore, thank you in advance for your patience. In addition to these items I have 4 lamps, 4 tables and a chair not shown in my online store. If there is anything in particular you are looking for please send me an email and I will send you images of more items.

Happy Shopping!