Thursday, March 29, 2012

From the Front Door Looking In

After painting the East wall in my living room the other day I decided to bring in the old weathered ladder that's been outside on the back patio since I found it in somebody's trash, along with it's little mini-cohort.

The mini cohort, the little X-backed companion ladder through the looking glass,
nestled amongst some of my other thrifty finds. However, I've already changed this. That was just me trying to figure out what to do with some of the things I have found.


Here's what I changed it to for the moment:

Still needs some color here. Little by little I've been cooling off the warm colors in the house over the past many years. Rarely being decisive or bold, these things take me some time.

I already had the weathered window that I purchased at the Palm Beach Gardens indoor garage sale, and it's been sitting on my Ethan Allen Table ever since I got it. So I added a palm in place of the old fake ficus that was shedding leaves as if it was dreaming of reality, and I gathered together some of my sundry treasures from here and there and sort of threw them together. I am working on creating some sort of conglomeration. It's a work in progress that seems to be morphing daily. Until it's just right, I won't be able to stop fussing with it. It sure helps having roses growing out back and hibiscus growing on all sides. They splash the place up with loads of color and make me happy.

For now, here is what I've got going by the front door entry:

This is the scene that greets me when I walk through the front door now.






I was playing with the colors of this after the fact.
I kinda liked the desaturated look.

Love my colored and varied glass collection.
It's making it's way all over the house.



The rose played an extra in my photo shoot,
but turned out to be quite the camera hog.



My "new" ladder shelf



A close up of the chippy paint, some of which matches my new wall color. Nice!

A wider view. Waa! Laa!

Looking out to the world beyond...


I took a zillion pictures today. Kinda fun playing photographer. My neighbors must wonder why I'm always crouching just outside my front door taking pictures of my table. Oh well. Let them wonder. My girls should be happy. They're always on me to use the camera they got me, more often. So there you have it. Done and done.

Okay, well not exactly done. I've already made numerous changes including the addition of a newly painted old chair I found in the trash. I'll post that sometime soon.

Find this at Rooted in Thyme

Rooted In Thyme

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Mildew & Elbow Grease

This post has been updated with new images.

The chair was waiting to be taken to the great landfill beyond in a neighborhood trash pile in Lake Park, Florida.


While driving by a huge pile of yard clippings, there it was upside down and half buried. I almost dared not touch it because of all the mold/mildew (and I had to wonder about its previous life), but after much hem-hawing about whether it was going to be worth the time I'd have to spend on it, I hauled it home.




I ended up getting very cozy with the mildew by the time I was done. It took days to scrub and peel off the coating that had been ruined by the exposure to all that grunge. I refinished the wood as well.

Not long after picking this up, I came across the old suitcase at a garage sale for $2.00.


One day I realized that the two were a color match. I wanted to make a footstool out of the suitcase, so the pairing was ideal. The suitcase redo was a lot of work and it's not quite sturdy enough for just any use. The legs didn't have enough of a rigid surface to bite into in order to hold really steady. If the user is careful, it works fine. Even so, for looks, it completes the chair and they make an attractive couple. The step stool is also useful as a side table for magazines or a hot cup of coffee. I tore out the dirty, stained and stinky fabric inside and lined it with burlap. It makes a good place to store some magazines or books. The result was worth the effort, and I enjoy having them adorn my old school Florida Room complete with terrazzo.