Under $25 Makeover: Deck Before

I'm trying to get a head start on tomorrow's makeover reveal by posting the "before" pics today. I did a lot of projects for this makeover unlike some of my more subtle makeovers. I'm going to start with individual pieces of furniture.

Side tables:


Chairs:


And finally, the couch:


Gotta love that 70's floral pattern!

So you know what we're dealing with, here's a pic of the whole deck:


I cannot wait to show you the reveal tomorrow. It's the most dramatic makeover yet! And don't forget you can join the fun by linking up your makeover or fun project on Friday. In the meantime, you can still link up your thrifty projects here. Remember, every link gets an entry into a drawing for a prize pack! I'll be doing a separate post with the prize pack later today.

Happy Crafting!

Under $25 Makeover: Side Table

It's the final week of the Under $25 Makeovers! This week is a little bit of a cheat. I actually spent more than $25 on the final space, which is my deck. But there was quite a bit of purchasing involved and a lot of bang for the extra bucks!

For my project this week, I am sharing a side table I redid. I actually didn't do that much to it, but I think it make quite a difference.

Here's the before.


I decided to add my two main colors, red and turquoise, to the white (I'm bringing the colors from my kitchen out onto the deck since all the kitchen windows face out to the deck.)

Here's my taping job.


A little spray paint in each square (on all four sides) and this is the result.




I think it adds just a little extra punch. The best part? It was free. I already had the table and the paint!

Check out the deck transformation on Wednesday!

Happy Crafting!

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Under $25 Makeover: Kitchen Details & Linky Party

I'm going to share some of the details of the kitchen makeover up close and personal and then, you can join in the fun by linking up your thrifty projects. Remember, first one to link up gets a $10 gift certificate to my store.

Here's the accessories on top of the cupboard.


Aren't those poppies great? Here's the shelf details.



And finally, here's my favorite grater.

It's my favorite because it has a curved body. It gives it a nice architectural quality to it. Kitchen utensils as art. It doesn't get much better than that!

Link up your thrifty projects below. Remember, first link gets a $10 gift certificate. All other links get entered into a fabulous drawing for a prize package (seen here) at the end of Makeover Month!

Happy Crafting!

Under $25 Makeover: Kitchen After

I had a near disaster yesterday. Well, I guess it was still kind of a disaster, but it could've been a lot worse. I was putting some final touches on the kitchen yesterday. I opened a cupboard to put something away and something else fell out. I bent down to get it, and came up directly under the cupboard door, hitting my head square on the corner of it. I fell over in pain, with blood dripping down the side of my head. I totally freaked. After I called my husband (who was at work), he calmed me down, the blood stopped flowing, and when I finally got a good look at the wound, it wasn't that bad. I'll have a scab smaller than the size of a dime. Needless to say, I had a huge headache and was not feeling up to posting yesterday.

Okay, enough of that! On to the after of my fabulous kitchen!! (If you missed it, the before is here.)

Here's the dining room table area.


The enamel pot on the table holds napkins. :)

A closeup of the wine area:

I use an old enamel bread box (seen on the second shelf) for storage of plastic utensils, napkins, etc. I bought it for $5.00 at an auction.

Here's a closeup of what's on the wall. I did some rearranging, and adding of different accessories, including these votives.


Here's the corner cupboard. This was there before, but just with extra accessories.


The bird was a mother's day gift from my daughter (and husband). The coffee urn is plastic, but comes in handy when we have parties. I thought the poppy design was so cute. I got it for $1 at a thrift store.

My mom gave me a shelf for above the window. That was free. The two red mercury glass things on the end were $1.00 a piece at Crafts Direct on clearance. The plates are melamine and were $0.50 a piece on clearance. Everything else was stuff I had.


And in the corner, I hung this:


Isn't that fabulous! My hubby helped me wire it up. I used an old wire lampshade frame I got for free in a pile of junk and a swag lighting kit that was around $10.00

Here's the counter next to the stove.


I put some utensils in a pitcher I already had.

Here's the other side of the counter.


Pretty boring.

Here's the wall above the cabinets. I had the book page frame up there before, but it looked lonely. Then I found a whole passel of these antique cheese graters for free in a junk pile and voila!

And lastly, I changed the picture next to the refrigerator. I found this vintage picture at a rummage sale for $1.00. It had really great red tones in it. But the frame was kinda an ugly 70's green brown. So, I painted it a nice turquoise to go with the accents in the room.

That's my kitchen! Let's add it all up:

• bread box: $5
• votive project: $6
• coffee urn: $1
• mercury glasses: $2
• melamine plates: $2
• swag light fixture: $10
• vintage painting: $1

Grand total: $27.oo. I went two dollars over, but I got a lot of impact for every single dollar, don't you think?

Don't forget, tomorrow I'll post some details up close as well as a linky party where you can post your thrifty projects. In order to kick off that party, the first link will get a $10 gift certificate to my shop as well as an entry in the grand prize drawing.

Happy Crafting!

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Under $25 Makeover: Kitchen Before

This is a edit of an older post. But rather than retake the before pics, I decided you would get the idea. See the original post here.

Here's the view coming in from the living room:The table is covered in a vintage table cloth. I recovered the chairs right before we moved.

Closeup of the centerpiece:
Footed cake plate is part of the china we got for our wedding (The Sophie Conran for Portmeirion Collection). Red and turquoise plates are melamine from Walmart. The vase is something I've had forever and is a nice blue green color. Gerber daisy is from my garden.

The cupboard in the corner:

My mom added the paintable wallpaper to the door panels. I use it to store liquor on the top shelf and various seldom used appliances in the rest (like the blender!). On top is an Eiffel tower statue my mom got me a long time ago. The turquoise urn I got a A & W Furniture here in town. I put some red candles with it to complete the vignette.

Here's the wall next to the table:

I got the red rattan shelf at a garage sale. It was already painted that color. The Paris sign is from Hobby Lobby. My mom gave me the stars. The candles actually light up, but the plug ins aren't in the right spot, so I just tucked the cords behind for now. I need to put more blue ball jars like the one on top in here.

This picture shows the view from the windows:

That is our deck. Eventually, we would like to put french doors in here so you don't have to go all the way through the garage to get to the deck and yard.

Here's the view opposite the brown wall (which is mostly just the back of the cupboards):

The words are metal from Hobby Lobby.

Here's the side of the cupboards and the stove:

Please ignore the dishwasher hanging out here. It's a new stainless steel one that we are getting put in this Thursday. I hung the canvas of Big Ben here to make it more interesting and to cover up the outdated cupboards. You can also see the bottles I have hanging in the window pretty good in this picture.

A more direct view of the cupboards and stove:

Eventually, we are going to rip out this upper cupboard and move the stove against the wall to make more room in here. I am thinking one of these days that I'm going to paint the cupboards. I'm not sure what color yet. I don't think I can go white or off white, as the counter top is white. What do you think? I do need to change the hardware out for sure!

Here's the sink:

You might remember the book page frame. I thought it looked nice here.

Here's more counter space and cupboards:

A few appliances (mixer and toaster), knife block and misc. veggies! You can see the dishwasher (old one) is below. I got the cookbook stand at Crafts Direct (love that store!).

Opposite the sink is a wall of cupboards and my fridge (sorry for the blurry pic!):

The fridge is a mess from my nieces and nephew (Maddy is too young for the alphabet magnets!). The Casablanca canvas is from Gordman's.

Here's the corner by the doorway to the living room:

Please ignore the mess in the living room! We made a little wine corner here with the wine fridge and bottle/glass display. When we finish the basement, all bar related stuff will go down there.

Above the doorway:

The shelf used to be that gaudy 70's gold color (yay spray paint!).

That's the before post, after to come shortly

Happy Crafting!

Under $25 Makeover: Living Room After

This particular "after" won't seem as dramatic since I don't have the before furniture rearranging pics, but believe me, it's a huge difference. (To see the before look here)

I'll start with right next to the front door. We have an old secretary type desk that hides all the mail and junk.


The oil painting in the barn wood frame was a gift from my Dad who painted it for me. I did let my husband hang his deer antlers in the living room, but only because they look pretty nice (and they're in the corner). ;)

Next to that is two chairs I recovered, one slightly overstuffed and one glider rocker. (The couch used to be here under the windows.)

I recovered both of these using an old loveseat slipcover that I had laying around. It's pretty nice fabric, light green in color. It was from the Shabby Chic line at Target a few year back.

Here's the glider again along with a side table and part of the couch.


The couch is angled off the wall a bit.

The picture above the couch actually hung above the head table at our wedding. My mom helped me make that. My mom also made the cabinet next to the couch using an old window for the door.

Next to the green cabinet is a doorway and then the buffet.

The only change I really made here is to rearrange the accessories on top of the buffet itself. I added a stack of old books under the digital picture frame to give it some height. I but a willow tree figure under the glass dome and moved the mercury glass piece over.

Then comes the kitchen doorway. On the other side of that, is the china hutch and t.v. stand.

Here I moved the sconce piece to the other wall and added the window piece above the t.v. I think I need something small on the wall next to the window though. What do you think?

Over all, this makeover cost very little. In fact, I spent $10 on the glider rocker and $2.50 on the toy box. That's it. The rest was done using what I had. That brings the grand total for this room to $12.50! It's amazing what you can do by just adding a few pieces and rearranging the furniture. Join me on Friday for some of the finer details of this makeover. And don't forget, there will be a linky party to join.

Happy Crafting!


*Shared at:

• Get your Brag On (Gluesticks)
• Transformation Thursday (ShabbyCreek Cottage)
• Strut your Stuff (Somewhat Simple)
• Frugal Friday (Shabby Nest)