Monday, March 23, 2009

Literally trash to treasure

One of my favorite activities on Sunday night is to drive around town and see if anyone is getting rid of anything good. I don't do it every Sunday, but if we are driving around doing errands I always sneak a peak and see what my neighbors are tossing to the curb.

Last Sunday I found a chair that looked like it had seen better days. First off it was covered in wet dirt, then it was full of rust spots and it was a bit wobbly, but I saw potential and it came home with me.

Here are the steps we took when we came home to get it picture perfect:

1. We cleaned it off with Ajax. It helped remove alot of the rust stains.



2. We then sanded the chair to get it primed for spray paint. We also used the sandpaper to get rid of the rust stains on the metal legs.



3. Since it was windy outside we didn't want to spray paint the chair outdoors and have dust particles or dirt get stuck in the paint. We took some plastic tarps we already had and tented up an area in our basement shop area and we were ready to spray without covering the whole room in white!



4. We then used 1 can of Rustoleum white spray paint. In between coats of spray paint we would check it see if areas needed more sanding to get an even coat.




5. Voila! That's it. It was a super easy project. Especially for me, because all the "we's" I wrote about were actually my hubby. It was done rather quickly and for only around $5-$10 bucks depending on what supplies you already own. I now have a new chair that I love, but I still need to find a permanent space for it in my home.



Here is a close up shot:



I didn't have any luck yesterday in finding any treasures, but as the weather continues to get nicer and more people start getting into spring cleaning mode I'm sure there will be more items that I will being doing a quick drive-by in order to pick it up without drawing too much attention to myself.

Do any of the items in your house have the same story of my chair? Take a seat and share.

26 Comments:

Blogger Sarah Ring said...

Oh Em Eff Gee!! That looks sooooo good! You constantly amaze me!! What a find!!

March 23, 2009 at 11:24 AM  
Blogger pve design said...

yep, lots of trash to treasures here. I love your find!
It would look sweet in your office!

March 23, 2009 at 11:24 AM  
Blogger Liz Harrell said...

Ok...I'm beyond jealous! Fantastic!

March 23, 2009 at 11:27 AM  
Blogger Erin {House of Turquoise} said...

WOW, it looks great!!! What a great find! I'm so glad you included all the steps on what you did...I'm totally clueless with this sort of thing, but am always on the look out for my own treasures!

March 23, 2009 at 11:31 AM  
Blogger Haven and Home said...

Ah!!! Love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

March 23, 2009 at 11:31 AM  
Blogger Fargerike Dagny said...

Looks amazing! :) :)

March 23, 2009 at 11:43 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Looks amazing!!!!! I'm super impressed!!!

We don't have too many things like that- except for a certain rocking horse that a certain Aunt Camila picked up for Kaitlyn!

March 23, 2009 at 11:43 AM  
Blogger Kate Riley said...

What a great find. You have an eye for turning drab to fab !

March 23, 2009 at 11:56 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

UGHHHHHHHHHHHH! that looks freaking amazing!

March 23, 2009 at 12:01 PM  
Blogger alison giese Interiors said...

Great job on the chair - looks perfect!

March 23, 2009 at 12:04 PM  
Blogger Debra said...

Love a found object of desire. A little face-lift and 'presto-change-o'
look what you have!

March 23, 2009 at 12:04 PM  
Blogger Sarah's Fab Day said...

Why can't I find any good trash?? The chair looks great!

March 23, 2009 at 12:10 PM  
Blogger LindsB said...

what an awesome transformation- I LOVE that chair. I'm going to make my boyfriend take me around the city to see what trash finds I can score this week- beautiful chair!

March 23, 2009 at 12:19 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Great find!

March 23, 2009 at 12:21 PM  
Blogger Jenny at LGN said...

Love it! Great find!!
I was on a run last week and saw this seriously incredible round coffee table on the side walk. Unfortunately I was still about 3 miles from our house and by the time I got home and drove back to pick it up, the table had been snatched up already! I was so bummed.
Glad to see the curb-side furniture gods were smiling on you this week! :)

March 23, 2009 at 12:42 PM  
Blogger Brooke @ Blueprint Bliss said...

so fun. i love from trash to treasure. great job!!!

March 23, 2009 at 1:08 PM  
Blogger Maria Killam said...

That is such a great chair! Love all these makeovers that so many bloggers do, it's so inspirational!
You have vision!

March 23, 2009 at 1:49 PM  
Blogger Kierstin Bridger said...

the best thing is that you did something with it right away-I no longer welcome "project furniture" in my life unless I have a plan that I can execute within 36 hours!

March 23, 2009 at 1:58 PM  
Blogger Lauren said...

LOVE it!!! too cute

thanks so much for your mssg- i'll give you a call tmrw when i've cleared my head. xoxo

March 23, 2009 at 2:20 PM  
Blogger Lynett said...

Great find! I love the outcome :)

March 23, 2009 at 4:05 PM  
Blogger Lauren said...

Camila!!!!! oh my goodness thank you SOOOO much for the flowers!!! :) you made my day & you are just too freaking sweet!!!! awwww huge hug. you're the best. Thank you sooooo much- I don't deserve you!! haha
xoxo

March 23, 2009 at 4:07 PM  
Blogger Under a Green Roof said...

it looks great! I also love finding trash and making it fancy! girl after my own heart!!!

March 23, 2009 at 8:07 PM  
Blogger Pink Wallpaper said...

wow!! love it!

March 23, 2009 at 10:16 PM  
Blogger Courtney said...

WOW! Looks fab!!

March 24, 2009 at 4:37 PM  
Blogger Kwana said...

How much fun is that! Woo Hoo!

March 25, 2009 at 12:08 PM  
Blogger Joi said...

LOVE it!

March 25, 2009 at 8:29 PM  

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