upcycle – A Diamond in the Stuff

Upcycled Footboard Coat Rack

Courtney Carmean — Wed, 10 Aug 2016 13:00:13 +0000

Part of me feels like apologies are in order, I’ve basically been MIA on the ole blog here. However, the truth is we had a completely crazy busy fun family filled summer and I wouldn’t of traded a second of it. In the past months we have been to the National Archery Tournament (NASP) in Louisville, the World Archery Tournament (NASP) Mrytle Beach, Disney World, Illinois, and we’ve driven to each of the places. I think my car has about 8,000 more miles on it and we’re one windshield down. Sigh.

Now the kids are back in school, if you can believe that, and I am itching to get back to my projects. I have a MAJOR to-do list going on right now. So for today, I am sharing the other side of the very last project I shared before my summer of craziness! Here is my Upcycled Footboard Coat Rack……….

A while ago I scored this awesome headboard and footboard. Earlier this summer I shared what I did with the headboard in my Farmhouse Headboard Bench post.

I absolutely love how the headboard bench turned out, so much so I want to keep it for myself and not sell it. However I have no place whatsoever for it. This is the pain of loving what you do! After that project was complete I needed to come up with a project for the footboard. It was shorter and that posed some problems. I considered a child sized bench, but I wasn’t in love with that idea.

I’m not really sure what finally inspired me but suddenly I knew that this footboard HAD to become an awesome coat rack.

I used some Country Chic chalk paint in Vanilla Frosting. This chalk paint is quickly becoming some of my favorite chalk paint to use and no that is not a paid opinion! But hey Country Chic if you’re reading this, hey lets chat! ; )

I picked out these really beautiful iron hooks from Hobby Lobby and secured them to the footboard with screws.

I did some distressing on the new coat rack just like I did on the bench. I wanted to see some of the dark wood from beneath, I used a sanding block and hit random high points.

There you have it! So if you have an old footboard, or headboard, or hey anything really (get creative) it can easily be turned into a stunning coat rack that is sure to make a big statement! Afterall, why hang your coat on a boring ole store bought coat rack when you could have something unique and one of a kind like this Upcycled Footboard Coat Rack!

Thanks guys for reading today and I’m going to try and get back on the horse! The project horse that is!!!

Linking up to these link parties.

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While you’re visiting, come check out this amazing industrial coffee table! It’s amazing to see what it started out as!

Thrifty Thursday #64

Courtney Carmean — Thu, 28 May 2015 13:00:19 +0000

It’s Thrifty Thursday!!! The other day I was perusing an online yard sale page and spotted someone selling a bunch of chippy old goodies. I jumped at the chance to go grab some and came home with a truck load. Now I have to decide what I’m going to do with all these new thrifty finds.

First up is this old chippy wood door. It’s a good solid (aka: heavy) old door with lots of chippiness. I scored it for $20. Now the question: Do I leave the chippy or get rid of it and repaint? I’ve had my eye on some old door projects for awhile….I may just have to give one a whirl!

Of course I grabbed a couple more windows because I totally need more right? But if the price is right I’ll pick them up when the opportunity presents it’s self. I see lots of windows sold for upwards of $30 or $40 and I don’t pick um up for more than $5 or $10. Sometimes it takes patience but it usually pays off.

If I spot shutters for a good prices I always grab them! My favorite thing to do with them is turn them into card and mail holders. But with the matching two shutters I’m wondering if I shouldn’t find something different to do with them? I picked these up for $5 each.

Now check out this really awesome frame. It’s plastic and badly needs some TLC, but isn’t it amazing? Wanna know what’s even more amazing? I scored it for $5. But I’m really stumped on this one! A paint job is in order but then what? Maybe just leave it as that, an open frame for a wall gallery. Any ideas?

Well that ends my latest Thrifty Thursday finds for now! Got some great stuff and now it’s the hard part, deciding what each piece will become!!!

Linking up to these great link parties!!!

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Earlier this week I gave my window memo board another makeover! Come see the before, the after, and the after again!

DIY Salvage Blanket Ladder

Courtney Carmean — Fri, 20 Mar 2015 12:00:32 +0000

The other day I mentioned being on a massive purge around here. I have so many odds and ends that are begging to become finished products. I have a Spring Makers Fair show coming up so lets get some projects started!!!

Even though I’ve done a few projects with them, I still have a bunch of spindles from an old crib. So I simply MUST come up with some more ideas. The more I thought about it, I thought these old spindles would make some great DIY Salvage Blanket Ladders.

I began with some 1×2’s from the hardware store. They were super cheap for a 6ft piece, $1! The ends of the spindles needed to be cut down a bit because the ones I had were too long for the ladder.

Then we used a combination of finish nails and wood glue to attach the spindles to the 1×2’s. A little clamp action and I left them to dry.

Once the glue dried I decided to stain the 1×2’s a darker wood to “match” the color of the spindles. It isn’t exact but at least they are both dark. After the stain, I used some Heirloom White spray paint, did a little distressing, and topped it off with some clear matte spray paint.

Ta da!!!

It’s just absolutely beautiful and functional too!

I love the curvy spindles instead of more straight lines. I always add some curve to projects when I can.

I much prefer this method for blanket storage in the living room than our super fancy way of just throwing them over the back of our couches! Ha! The only thing better than a blanket ladder is a DIY Salvage Blanket Ladder! Amiright???

Linking up to these great link parties!!!

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Do you happen to have some old spindles laying around and need some more ideas? Check out this beautiful DIY Salvaged Wood Toolbox.

I Found a New Booth Home

Courtney Carmean — Wed, 08 Jan 2014 08:00:00 +0000

Right smack dab in the middle of the holiday season I found a nice shop with an available booth to rent. Ironically I found myself in the exact same situation a couple years prior. Getting ready for Holiday shows, Christmas craziness, and a new booth to stock and get ready.

And here I was again.

I was very excited to find a place and even though the room was pretty rough….I knew I could make it mine with a little hard work.

(sorry for the poor photo quality, these were all taken with my phone)

The picture above was what the room looked like before I started. It originally had some really awful carpet and had the choice to remove it or not. I figured whatever was under the carpet was better than it…..so I took the gamble! What lay under was some pretty messy plywood. To cover it I grabbed some white paint I had in the garage and did some dry brushing in both directions on the floor. It covered the wood and the other paint that was on there pretty good.

There was only one sad light in the middle of the ceiling with no other light source. So obviously I needed to bring some more light into the room. I didn’t want to go out right away and spend a lot of money so I went shopping in my garage and came up with the idea of hanging some icicle lights around the room. It really brightens up the place and adds a bit of a glow to the room.

I decided to paint one of the walls in the room. I had a quart of bright aqua (even though it looks light blue in the photos) in the garage and painted one accent wall. I cut out some vinyl with my business name and added it to the aqua wall.

I think the room has made a huge improvement! Especially considering what I had to work with and that I strictly shopped my garage for all the things that I ended up using. Obviously the room is filled with Christmas goodies as these pictures were taken when I got the room filled up just before Christmas! Now I’m working to whip up lots of awesome goodies to fill the room!!! So excited to have my own little space again!!!

If you live in or are visiting Louisiana and want to drop by, you can find my booth here:

Antiques and Art on Main

700 Main St
Minden, LA. 71055