Friday, May 27, 2011

Little side table make over

A few weeks ago I picked up a little side table at a local thrift store for around $5. And made my friend Brooklyn carry it home for me. To be fair, I would have carried it, but I was already carrying a bentwood chair and a big drum shade.

Yes, we stopped a girl walking down the street and asked her to take our picture. Turns out she was on her way to the same store.

Both the little table and the lamp shade were items I picked up for an area of my living room I am currently trying to improve.



This little area on the wall past the TV has changed around a bit since we have lived here, I switched out the ottoman with the one that lived on the other side of the room, put the chair on one side or the other, and even moved the couch, but still never liked that space.




Now I am starting over entirely. So far my progress has gone a bit like this:
  • Got rid of the wicker chair (just stuck it on the sidewalk and in minutes it had found new owners!) 
  • Bought a new, more comfortable chair on sale from Target (The upholstery wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but for the sale price I figured it was worth it to buy it anyway, and DIY a slipcover or re-upholstery job)
  • Donated the purple-y ottoman to goodwill (the gold ottoman in the second picture belongs to one of my roommates who is about to move out, so it is still here at the moment, but is not a permanent item.)
  • Changed out the framed poster for four art prints I ordered off Etsy, framed and matted in inexpensive frames from target which I gave a coat of spray paint
  • Changed out the too-small and too-red lamp shade for the pretty white drum shade I am carrying in the picture above (I especially like that it has a subtle gray and white pattern on the inside of the shade [a bit like zebra or tiger stripes], which only shows through when the light is on)
  • Replaced the little outdoor table with a new end table
  • Gave that new end table a bright new coat of paint (see below)
  • Started to plan out how to make a slip cover for the new chair
  • Compared a bunch of fabric swatches from fabric.com for the slip cover
  • Ordered 2 yards of the fabric I decided on
Anyway, back to the little table:

It started out a mahogany-ish color that I thought looked pretty dated, but had these cute curvy wooden legs, and was generally sturdy, so I thought it had potential. I went "shopping" in my apartment to find some little accessories to inspire me. I wanted to go bright and fun and bold. Here it is in its original finish, accessorized with a couple of books, the lamp with its new lamp shade, a ceramic owl bank and a tiny quartz elephant.

that disaster of electrical cords is another post entirely...


I starred at this for a while. Then starred at some paint chips. Then I got moving. And after some spray primer and a coat of paint, in True Value's Color Made Simple line "Moroccan Blue" it looked like this:





I am absolutely in love with the pop of brightness this cute little table adds now. And it has inspired me to go bold with the slipcover for the chair next to it, too.  Here's a sneak peak, with some of the fabric swatches I have been considering. More on that soon!



2 comments: