Category: Furniture Restoration

Vintage furniture makeover, furniture restoration, save money buy used furniture

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Leather Belt Ottoman Diy

I was inspired a few years ago with a chair that I saw in a artsy shop made with leather belts and so I started my own belt collection.

Vintage leather belts are a dime a dozen at a lot of thrift stores. I pick them up when I see them. They don’t have to be in great condition and they don’t need to have buckles for these types of projects, you cut them off anyway.

This was my pile. I went through them and cut off the ends. I used fabric shears.

I picked this foot stool up from Goodwill for $2 and thought it would be the piece for this project. It was already painted this a avocado green with a distressed look to it. I did want to change it. It was perfect!

The only things I did to it was remove the seat, four screws and wash it up.

This is my absolute favorite tool. A Ryobi Airstrike. I don’t think I could have done this project without this. I’m a weakling lol. I used 1-1/4” staples. They went through the thick leather belts like butter!

I separated the short belts from the long belts and went to work. I stapled all the long belts on first, both ends.

Then I started weaving the short belts through the long belts. It was easy until I got to the end. It got pretty snug but I got it. The tooled leather belts are my favorite.

This is what the underneath looked like when it was finished. I put two staples in each belt.

Here it is…I’m not sure how much weight this will hold but it is so sturdy! I’m not sure we’re I’ll put it yet but I tucked it in this corner to get some pictures. I’m in love!

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Removing Paint from Vintage Hardware/Cabinet Handles

Here is a quick tip to remove old paint from old vintage hardware.

Use a crockpot that you don’t plan on using for food. Add hot water and a squirt of dish soap. Place hardware in crockpot. Turn on high for a couple of hours.

Use tongs to remove hardware and place on a towel. Be careful, it’s hot! Don’t let it cool completely, as soon as you can handle it, start peeling off paint.

There may still be some residue left. You can the other back in the hot water for a little while then try again.

Use an extra fine 000 steel wool to buff any remaining paint.

This is an almost 100 year old cabinet that we redid. The hardware was perfect!

Here’s the link where you can see how we refinished this cabinet: Check out the before and after pics: 100 Year Old Cabinet Restore

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100 year Old Antique Cabinet Restore/Refinish Before & After

My husband curb shopped this amazing antique cabinet. He knows I love to restore old furniture and thought I would like this piece…well…I LOVE it! We decided it would be a perfect piece for our mud room. We needed a place to put the things we grab on the way out the door. Hats, scarves, mittens, ponchos, dog leashes etc. It is absolutely perfect for the space.

The first thing we did was remove all the hardware and clean it out. The hardware had previously been painted and I wanted to strip them back to their original brass. It was a lot easier then we thought. Here’s how we did it.

I put hot water and a squirt of dish soap in a crock pot that I will only use for crafting. I don’t recommend using a crock pot for cooking food after doing this. I turned the crockpot on high and put all the hardware inside and let it sit while we worked on the cabinet.

We had a lot of fun working on this project together. Look how rough this cabinet looked!

We knew it would take a lot of work to make this perfect so we decided to make it more of a shabby chic, farmhouse style. We scraped and sanded all the loose paint off. We discovered some interesting things while taking this thing apart.

There were three layers of paint. I had already decided on the paint color before we found out what the original color was. I could not believe how close my paint color was to the original color!

I flipped over a drawer while cleaning it and found this date and initials. We figured this cabinet is almost 100 years old!

I painted the year and my initials next to it. Look how close the paint color is..

The original blue.

The color I already had on hand. Annie Sloan paint is my favorite chalk paint.

After we painted the cabinet, we checked on the hardware. They had been soaking for a couple of hours.

The paint peeled off rather easily. There was a little residue left so we put them back in the water for a bit to soak.

We used very fine steel wool to buff off the remaining paint. We were very happy with how they came out. They look perfect on the cabinet.

We decided we didn’t want this cabinet to be perfect. You can see here that there are some rough looking spots. It’s gives the cabinet a lot of character. The hardware isn’t perfect either and I think they compliment each other very well, just like me and my hubby.

Here is the finished product. The handles are not straight, that’s how the person that built it installed them, we just left it just like it was…I am in love with it. I get very emotionally attached to furniture that I redo. Does anyone else?

Here it is in its place. It fits perfectly. I put contact paper in the drawers to finish it off. It is so sturdy and well made, I’m sure we will get use out of it for many years. We are still in the process of decorating our mud room. This is a great addition.

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Curb Shopped Vintage Footstool Redo

My husband was out working one day and seen this bench setting out on a curb. He brought it home to me and I was ecstatic!

I love vintage furniture and I love restoring it. I knew what I was going to do right away.

The frame on this stool is amazing. I didn’t have to do one thing to the finish.

It was solid and clean! So I just redid the upholstery. I removed the leather that was torn and added a thin fresh padding to the top. I bought white fur from Joanns and stapled it on.

I just love it! I put it in my walk-in closet. It was such a dramatic transformation. You can find so many cool things in the trash!

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Restore Outdoor Gravity Lawn Chairs

I recently came upon a picture of our gravity chairs that I restored and wanted to share. You don’t have to throw these chairs out when they start falling apart. Save a lot of money and spruce them up.

We have had these chairs for many, many years. They were coming apart and the paint was chipping all over!

Here is my before and after!

  • First, I snipped the cord off of the metal loops on the frame and removed material. As you can see, the cord was very deteriorated.
  • Then I cleaned and spray painted the frame with outdoor spray paint
  • I scrubbed the material with dawn dish soap, my go to for cleaning outdoor furniture
  • After the frame was dry, I laced the material back onto the chair with gravity chair replacement cord that I found on Amazon: Replacement Cord

This was a few years ago and the cord is holding up great!

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Shabby Chic Chandelier For Guest Bedroom Thrift Store Find

I have been decorating my guest bedroom at the lake with Shabby Chic decor. I’ve always wanted a shabby chic room and I am having so much fun with this one. I wrote another blog about the different pieces I have added. I’ll link it here: https://thethriftyjewell.com/2020/02/28/decorating-our-lake-house-on-a-budget-the-shabby-chic-guest-room/

I found the perfect chandelier for the bedroom! It was $2! It was missing a few of the teardrop crystals, no biggie, I found replacements on eBay. I added them and gave the chandelier a good cleaning.

This is when I brought it home. It was a hot mess, but I saw the potential.

My husband had to re-wire it. The original wire was cloth and brittle . We dated it back to the 50s to early 60s. It’s an antique, even the bulbs are old. The brass plate that attaches to the ceiling didn’t come with it, my husband found it in a thrift store but it looks like it was made for the chandelier.

I love it so much! It adds such character to the room.

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Up Cycled Vintage Train Case Suitcase

I found this avocado green vintage train case at a thrift shop for .50! I decided to shabby chic it and use it for storage inside my tv console.

I knew it’s not going to be heavily used so I decided to paint it.

Here’s the paint I used. I picked outdoor acrylic hoping it will have a little more lasting coverage, although I don’t mind if it gets nicked here and there at all. I picked daffodil yellow because it jumped out at me at the craft store.

First coat. I did two coats and a third touch up coat.

I used nail polish remover and a Q-tip to remove paint that I got on the hardware.

After it dried, I brushed chalk wax on it to help seal it.

I let it dry for a couple of days…

Then I made a vinyl sticker with my cricut and stuck it on.

I’m using it to store my grandsons games and controllers for the Xbox.

It looks so cheery and makes me smile every time I look at it.

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Painting Fabric DIY Vintage Ottoman Painted with Chalk Paint

This is the first time I have painted fabric furniture. I bought this ottom at a thrift store for $5 and I love it! It’s a cute style and it’s very sturdy. The gold color didn’t go to well with my decor and it had some stains on it but still! I decided to paint it. I figured if it didn’t work out, I could always reupholster it.

This was before I did anything to it.

My supplies:

  • Chalk paint
  • Chalk paint brushes
  • Spray bottle with water
  • Fine grit sandpaper

I started by spraying the fabric with water, one section at a time, saturating it.

Then with this round chalk paint brush: https://amzn.to/2yP8OEj

 “I applied the paint to the wet area in a circular pattern. When the chalk paint mixes with the water, it acts like a dye. I really worked it in. I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Graphite and white for the legs.

I covered the whole fabric area with one coat and let it dry, then I went around with a second coat.

I painted the legs white. It’s a bit of a contrast here but I applied dark wax over the two coats of white paint.

After the fabric dried, I took a fine grit sanding block and rubbed it lightly over the surface of the paint. This is what softens the fabric back up. I also scuffed the legs. I love a shabby chic look.

Here’s the final piece. It’s so adorable!

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Queen Anne Highboy Dresser Makeover Restoration

I am so in love with this new (vintage 1976) furniture I got for my master bedroom at the lake!

I got a Queen Anne Highboy and a nightstand. I got these beautiful pieces for FREE a friend was giving them away. I knew the second I saw it, I wanted it. I’m now on the hunt for another similar nightstand to redo.

This is what it looked like before. Very pretty but didn’t go with my lake decor. I went with Annie Sloan Napoleonic Blue and her Dark Wax.

This was by far the most challenging piece of furniture I have done! It was a lot of work but worth it!

This is the paint only, before the dark wax was applied. So bright, I know! But I had a vision. This paint is amazing. It covers well, no sanding needed! I just used Awesome Cleaner to wipe off any residue, that’s it. I painted two coats of blue then applied the dark wax.

This was after the wax was applied but before buffing.

This is after buffing.

All finished!

Here’s the nightstand.

The tools I used:

These brushes. The big brush is a chalk paint brush. I used it mostly. The others were for small detail areas.

Awesome cleaner from dollar store…it’s well, awesome!

I wore a mask while using the Awesome. It has a strong odor.

The paint and wax I used. I used a soft cloth to buff the wax.

Here’s the link for the nightstand makeover: https://thethriftyjewell.com/2020/04/25/vintage-queen-ann-end-table-makeover-chalk-paint-furniture-restoration/

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Front Door Makeover Chalk Paint

I painted my front door red years ago and it needed a redo. I wanted to change the color for something different.

This was before. It was pretty beat up. There is a clear glass window in the door and I like privacy so when I painted it red I added this stained glass look window film.

Here’s a better look. It just didn’t look right after I painted it the new color so I ordered more window film from amazon and changed it out.

This is the new film and a peek at the new color. I like the film. It lets in light and you can still see outside a bit.

Here it is all finished. The bottom is still drying. I used Annie Sloan chalk paint “Graphite” two coats and then I clear coated it with “Shabby Chic Multi Surface Sealant” to protect it and give it a shine.

I want to change out the handle to a nickel finish.

It’s amazing how much the wood bead wreath pops now. See my Diy on the wreath here: https://thethriftyjewell.com/2020/05/08/wood-bead-hoop-floral-wreath-diy-craft/