“Good as new: Transform preloved finds, household items for fall decor fixup” |
| Good as new: Transform preloved finds, household items for fall decor fixup Posted: 21 Sep 2010 02:28 PM PDT TORONTO - Do-it-yourselfers who want to spruce up the house may not need to look further than those forgotten items tucked away in the garage or attic, an antique find or furniture pieces already in their living spaces. Whether you're looking for a small-scale change or to sink your teeth into a more sizable project this fall, a little time and elbow grease could translate into updated items that are as good as new. "I think if they're considering getting rid of a piece, before they get rid of it, take a second look at it and ask yourself, `What else can it be?'" said Wendy Russell, host of HGTV's "She's Crafty.""`Can I recreate this either with a coat of paint and it can be used in another room? Or maybe I can take a jigsaw to it, or reupholster it or something like that so that it can be upcycled into something new.'" Russell is among a trio of experts from the world of home improvement, decor and design, including fellow HGTV personality Melissa Davis and Lori Mitchell of Tomboy Tools, who will be sharing their know-how at the upcoming Fall Home Show in Toronto, kicking off Sept. 30. Russell has had her own experiences revamping items for the home. Using medium density fibreboard, she traced out an abstract "mod" shape, cut out pieces with a jigsaw and sanded the edges, which were primed and painted. Rather than throwing out a skinny mirror that was hanging on her bedroom wall, Russell had shapes she wanted cut out which were then attached to the MDF pieces, creating colourful wall mirrors. Russell also recalled creating a table out of a door purchased for $10 at a Habitat for Humanity ReStore, which accepts and resells a variety of new and used materials and pieces. Looking for a narrow table that could roll under her couch when not in use, she used half of a bi-fold door that was placed on casters. "I had this really low, Zen coffee table that you could sit around and put floor cushions out and sit and have sushi and the table just rolls right out of the way," Russell said. "It's about thinking outside of the box, and if you're looking for something in particular, maybe keep a picture of it in your purse for inspiration," she added. Davis, founder of Toronto-based interior design firm Your Designer Friend, is teaming up with Habitat for Humanity ReStore at the Fall Home Show to create a vignette of a dwelling complete with a kitchen, bathroom, windows and doors. Davis will also offer tips during her presentations on how to look for preloved finds and suggestions on how to spruce them up. Davis has had her own success scooping up vintage treasures that required little to no fixing, such as a glass doorknob, or a faucet missing a gasket that simply needed a little tightening and tweaking. Another such find was a custom arched window from a ReStore which had a piece of wood that was disconnected and missing a metal bracket. A 50-cent fix by the contractor resulted in her getting what would have been a $1,000 window for about $200. Davis also designed outdoor coffee tables crafted from scraps of leftover wood topped off with patio paver stones, which took a contractor about 15 to 20 minutes to put together. "Those little tables are absolutely something someone could do themselves," said Davis, on-air designer of HGTV's "Marriage Under Construction." "Because they're for outside, you don't have to do some refined joinery." Regardless of whether she's working with clients with a $2,000 or $200,000 budget, Davis said the process is the same — make sure you know your style. That means before stepping into the store, go through magazines or visit blogs for inspiration and place items in a binder to find elements that have common threads. But Davis said if you're going to seek out a vintage piece, try to maintain its character. "Why did they want to do a reclaimed door? It's because they wanted to do a character door that shows some of the history," she said. "Let there be little bumps and indentations, because otherwise why would they do that? They could just go buy a new, boring door and paint it." Tomboy Tools president and CEO Lori Mitchell said for those considering reupholstery, seat cushions are typically a simple first project and easy to measure because you're usually working with squares. It's also "extremely cheap" to go to a fabric store and get material, matting or additional foam if required, she noted. Mitchell recalled paying $25 for a couple of wood oak parson's benches from Value Village with upholstery that she described as "hideous blue vinyl" on the seats and the back. But now, one of the reupholstered benches done in a plaid wool soft chenille sits at the front door of her home. "If you make a mistake, no big deal," she said. "These projects are very forgiving." As for refinishing items, Mitchell's preference is to use either an angled or square sanding block, or even a small palm sander, depending on the size of the project. "If it's a big headboard, you might want to use an electric palm sander because it's a little more surface, but with chairs and things that have detailing, you can't do that, you have to do it by hand," she said. "The thing about the sanding blocks is they squish up and you can get into corners and spindles that you can't necessarily with plain old sandpaper." Crafting new items may be an alternative for individuals who want to showcase their creativity. Rather than shelling out $90 apiece for the three pillows she wanted from a high-end furniture store, Russell recalled going to the fabric store, buying a metre of chocolate brown faux fur material and three pillow inserts. A metre of fabric and the inserts ended up translating into $50 spent on five pillows. Using a photo of a 1961 Nash Metropolitan, Russell created her own piece of abstract-inspired art by having the image enlarged to poster-size for about $30. She then cut the poster into pieces and slid the pieces into hockey card sleeves, purchasing about 100 for around $20 from a sports memorabilia store, which she then looped together with rings. "It's just a neat way to display a piece of art," she said. "You could do that with anything, a family photo, a movie poster that you love, that kind of thing." Mitchell suggests another good beginners' project is mosaic tiling, for application on a terracotta pot or even a small table top. Local tile stores typically have wrecked, broken tile they either give away or sell for 15 cents a pound, she said. Regardless of what your project is, Mitchell's advice is to stick to a timeline and to start off small. "If you're going to paint the bedroom, you can do that in a weekend, but make sure you have a timeline on that project," she said. "Otherwise, you are going to have the half-painted room or the half-done project." ———— Online: Fall Home Show: www.fallhomeshow.com Habitat for Humanity ReStores:http://www.habitat.ca/restoresc648.php Tomboy Tools:www.tomboytools.ca Wendy Russell:www.wendyrussell.com Your Designer Friend:www.designerfriend.ca This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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