Negative: Bags of Beach Stones

Positive: Beach Stone Pot Holder

 

 

How I made my positive:

I purchased a tan drawer liner from the dollar store.

Then, I positioned the rocks in a rectangular layout.

I used a hot glue gun to glue down each rock.

Before:

 

 

After:

 

 

 

What I love: The memories in Rhode Island with friends are on my table every day.

What I would change: I would use felt or some other material to back up the drawer liner as it is hard to remove from the table and can be flimsy.

Status: Not for Sale

How to Style your Home with Antiques

Negative: Hand-me-downs

Positive: Functional and Practical Antique Furniture

My mom has been given many pieces throughout the years whether she has wanted them or not. She even tried to give away some of these clunkers but had no luck. I admire her ability to take something that is bulky and make it fit into a room. Her creativity inspired my list:

How to Style your Home with Antiques:

 1. Use a wardrobe to display personal items.

This traveling trunk is beat up from the outside, but the inside is in rather good shape. We all have baby clothes stowed away. My mom chose to display some of our handmade outfits.


2. Old dressers and chests can be used for storage.

This chest has been used to store holiday decorations for many years. Now, mom mother hides linens in this chest in the guest bedroom. Ideal to hold extra blankets or towels.


3. Refresh an old piece that serves a legitimate purpose in a room.

This luggage rack was painted white to match the theme of the room. Every time I visit I use this to hold my suitcase.

When shopping or rummaging through your aunt's garage, think about pieces you truly need: a bedside table, desk for an office, bench for the mudroom.

What I love: My children's baby clothes will one day be hung besides my Christmas dress and my mother's christening gown.

What I would change: What else do you see the traveling trunk being used for? One day it will be mine!

Status: Not for Sale

Easy Sew Graphic Pillows

Negative: Too-small sweater

Positive: Graphic Pillows

I love this sweater. It is comfy and cute. However, half-shirts and midriffs have a shelf life for a female over 16 years old.

 

 

 

Probably the last time I wore a midriff shirt.

 

Even with a shirt underneath, I can’t imagine wearing it out of the house. My dilemma: too cute to get rid of, but will never be worn.

I decided to make a graphic pillow as a compromise to myself.

 

Before:

 

 

How I made my positive:

1.       Cut two simple squares with graphic centered.

 

 

 

2.       Place your squares right sides together.

3.       Sew the top and two sides.

4.       Sew a portion of the bottom leaving about four-six inches.

 

 

5.       Flip the pillowcase inside out to reveal the graphic.

6.       Push the pillow into the pillow case.

7.       Hand stitch the bottom corner. (I used an “invisible” seam)

 

After:

 What I love: I get to keep my sweater.

 

 

What I would change: Nada. My couch looks perfect!

Status: Not for Sale

Tips for making your own:

·         Have old t-shirts piled up from marathon runs, concerts, charity events?

·         Has your child out-grown their favorite piece of clothing?

·         Is there something fancy in your closet from a special occasion that you’ll never wear again? It might make a posh pillow!

Styling a Sophisticated Apartment with Antique Maps

Negative: Renting

Positive: New Roots

 

I was gifted antique maps a few years ago and didn’t know where to put them. From my research they are late 1800s and sell starting at $55. I believe they were found on Ebay for a lot less than that.

 

Living in an apartment sometimes makes it hard to call it your own. In college, you can add movie posters and that’s enough. While I was living alone I created a mirrored wall and made myself a runway in my bedroom. In young adulthood something more is expected of you because you are a so-called “grown-up”. The décor we used to have when I moved in is now located in the garage. Time to start over.

 

How I made my positive:

1.       Find map

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tips:

-Consider places you’ve traveled to and hang the map alongside an artifact you’ve collected from that area

-Pay homage to your ancestors

-Find a map of where you met your significant other

-Check the attic/basement/boxes in the garage

2.       Buy a Frame

 

 

Tips:

-If you can’t paint the walls think about using a colorful frame

-Black or white are always simple and classic

-Seek a frame from a thrift store, antique shop, or tag sale just as old as your map

-The frame pictured is a float frame, this is helpful for pieces that are uneven like mine 9.5 X 12. It also makes the piece look like it belongs in a museum or is an art piece. Collectors use float frames to display newspapers, magazines, and comic book pages.

3.       Hang it

 

 

 

Tips:

-If the map is sentimental to you and your partner, place it in the bedroom

-Want to start a conversation? Hang your map above your mantel

-Framing a place you’d like to travel to? Position your artwork in your office where you can see it from your desk. Maybe you’ll burn the midnight oil to earn that trip a little more quickly.

Before:

A feeble attempt to give an apartment style and interest.

 

 

After:

Grown-up and sophisticated apartment. 

 

 

What I love: Hanging an antique map is a sophisticated way to style your home and/or apartment. I’ve seen architect sketches in vacation homes, land surveyor plans in home offices, and aerial land photographs in cabins. You don’t have to own a vacation home to get your apartment to look like this.

 

What I would change: Float frames are easily smudged, if you want to avoid that, consider a shadowbox for a classy look.

 

Status: Not for Sale

3 Truths, 2 Myths, and 1 Trick to Wood Restoration

Negative: Playing rough on the piano

Positive: Family Heirlooms

At my school, the staff played an icebreaker where everyone wrote down something that no one knew about them. Example: I dance ballet, I was a speech writer, I won the spelling bee, etc. You have to find that person by going around the room and mingling. My little known fact was “I restore furniture”. Shortly after my confession, a co-worker and mentor of mine sent me a few pictures. It’s a family heirloom that was “gifted” to her and it needed help stat. Scratches, gashes, and water stains.

How I made my positive:

When going about restoring this piece, I learned some lessons along the way that I bet you’ve heard about. Let me save you the time and effort.

3 Truths: I used 1. Old English and, 2. Stain pen to cover the little nicks and scratches. Lastly, 3. Sanding, wood filler, more sanding, and stain completed the front panel. (I sanded by hand, sanding with an orbital sander may damage your piano).

 

2 Myths: 1. The oil in walnuts covers up scratches, 2. Wood pen covers up scratches.

1.       I mostly just rubbed a walnut all over the wood and left a residue.

2.       The wood pen came out like a crayon. I felt like a kid drawing on the dinner table.

1 Trick: Denatured alcohol took care of the water stain.

Before:

 

 

 

After:

 

What I love: This student can continue to perform for many years to come.

 

What I would change: When using stain indoors, keep your stain in another bucket. When staining outdoors or in my garage a spill won’t matter, but indoors, things can get messy quickly.

 

Status: Not for Sale

What’s laying around in your attic or basement? Were you recently "gifted" something and don't know where to begin? I challenge you to dust off grandma’s rocker and give it new life.