Upcycling is the act of turning trash into treasure (my favorite HGTV show is Flea Market Flip). Older furniture sometimes looks for a second life and I’m glad to oblige by adding my personal touch.

 

Crying for Color

This golden oak chest of drawers was craving a trip to Tuscany. I painted Italian landscapes and motifs to remind me of my favorite travels.

 

I found this carved wooden base in an antique store (it may have been a ottoman?). I turned it into an end table by adding a thick piece of plywood to the top and then painting it to look like marble (remember those days of faux finishing?). I also painted the embellishments between the legs.

 

 

I stenciled this old farm table with paisley cows (you may remember it from my Cows blog post []). The herd also grazed on a box and a wooden brief case.

 

Reimagining the New

When I last moved, some of my ceramics broke. This gave me the impetus to finally  make a mosaic. I bought this raw wood coffee table at Ikea, stained it, and mosaicked the top. The tiles at each corner and in the center are from the Moravian Tile Works in Pennsylvania. The one in the center reads pitura ornat domum ornat which roughly translates “paintings decorate the home.”

 

I painted this table and chair set for my new little daughter. It was used more for LEGOS than tea parties. My design was strongly influenced by the whimsy of Mackenzie-Childs.

 

Cut and Paste

My daughter found this square card table on the curb and brought it home to me. The top was all scratched, so I sanded it down. I cut illustrative plates out of an antique Italian dictionary and decoupaged them onto the top. Several layers of shellac protect the surface from pups trying to look out the window.

 

Another decoupage project: This armoire became obsolete when big screen TVs arrived. So now it’s in the library and used for storage. Since it’s sharing the room with my globe collection , it has a new face of maps.

 

Chairs Redux

My final trash-to-treasures are my repainted and reupholstered dining chairs, which I previously blogged about in my Chairs collection.

 

Until next time, reimagine and cherish your clutter!

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