DIY Weekend

Kristie Hudson

9 years ago

Whew! What a busy weekend this was! It was also so much fun! I spent the weekend with my Dad looking in thrift stores and polishing up our finds.

We started out Saturday morning with breakfast at Denny’s. That’s like my parents “Cheers”, everybody knows their name! Our original mission was to find a coffee table and some more headboards for the benches Dad makes. They’re really cool, so read all the way to the end to see pictures!

Our first stop was at the Habitat for Humanity, then we went on to Honey’s Workin Bees (I hope this is the right name!) in Warwick, GA. Let me just say, I benefited more from this trip than Dad did! While perusing the thrifty goodness in Honey’s Workin Bees, Dad spotted this shelf:

He pointed it out to me and said “Isn’t this neat?”

Me “Yeah, what would you use it for?”

Him “What would you use it for?”

The wheels in my head started turning – there may or may not have been smoke coming out my ears.

Then it hit me – FABRIC!! The dividers, the sturdy metal construction, and the size (3′ x 5′-2″ x 1′-1″) were all perfect for storing fabric! The fact that it was only $25 was even better!!

I have accumulated quite the collection of fabric over the years. Before this

shelf, most of it was housed in stacks of plastic bins. When I needed to find something I had to un-stack, sift through fabric, and re-stack before any cutting or sewing happened. Not fun!

So, Sunday was spend scrubbing, prepping, and painting this shelf, a metal filing cabinet ($10!), and a lonely shutter ($2).

Here’s how it went:

These are the colors I chose. The “hammered” grey went on the outside of the filing cabinet, the metallic silver-grey went on the shelf, and the blue went on the shutter and filing cabinet drawers. I highly recommend getting one of these trigger attachments if you are using spray paint for anything bigger than a vase! Hello finger cramp!

We scrubbed all the items with Grease Lightning and water. This helps get off all the funk before you paint. Since all of these things were pretty scruffy already, we did not need to sand them. I did use steel wool to knock off some of the loose paint on the shutter.

Dad has this great paint rack he made! It’s just a pipe attached to two posts in the ground. Very handy for spray painting and drying!

After everything was dry we attached the shutter to the side of the shelf with self-tapping sheet metal screws. Then we hauled to my house!

Dad attached it to the wall with about 1″ self-tapping screws for more security. I have wood, like ship lapping, behind most of the walls in my house, so we didn’t need to find a stud. For most houses, you will need to find studs to attach to. Studs are usually spaced at 16″ on center in the wall.

After Dad left, it was time to load it up!

Woo Hoo! No more shuffling plastic bins! I will eventually wrap some of the slinkier fabrics around cardboard so they stand up better.

Side shot! I’m using the shutter to hang fabric samples and such.

I have them on a big safety pin and I used a small S-hook to hang it.

Here’s the filing cabinet:

I may have scratched it a little while loading it up! (sorry Dad!) This now houses my collection of Burda Style magazines and printed patterns. I got the bin on top from Michaels for $7.49! It’s original price was $29.99! The front end was cracked, but Dad fixed it with some Gorilla wood glue and a nail gun. This is keeping my packaged patterns all neat and tidy. 🙂

We also worked on refinishing this chair I picked up last year at the 100 Mile Peanut Pickin’ Yardsale. (Definitely going again this year!)

But more on that later! Remember the really cool benches I told you about earlier? Here they are:

The small benches are made from old headboards. The bigger one is made from an old wood coffee table and old wooden folding doors. It even has hooks for hanging coats! This would be great in an entryway, just add some baskets under the bench for extra storage.