Blue Happy Living

I do lots of makeovers every week. I’m on the lookout for that next piece that tickles the fancy of my creative soul. Some are simple no repairs with little more to do than paint. Others need a week in the shop to get it back to where it needs to be so I can paint it. Then there are those creative pieces you make from this and that. Sometimes I find a piece that grabs my creative heart and pulls on it. I have walked away from them and ended up returning to save it. Greg looks at me like I’m crazy but he knows I can’t help myself.

Many of my treasures come from me digging at estate sales.  I try to only go on the last day when most sales are picked over.  That might seem a bit non productive but really it is the best day.  The estate sale company are willing to make a deal to get rid of what is left and that is when the best diamonds in the rough are found.  You have to enter with an open mind and think outside of the box.  It isn’t the best pieces left but those piece left have the best restored life creativity to offer.

I messed up and forgot to take a before picture of tonights blog piece.  To be honest maybe I did but in the thousands of photo’s on my phone it’s unclear if I did.  So let me set the stage for you.  I arrived at an estate sale a few weeks back and right inside the door next to a floor to ceiling fireplace was this beautiful bench.  I noticed it right away because the color just screamed  “oh please pick me I will be beautiful”.  As I inspected the bench  it was clear that it had damage.  No rips or tears, no stains from food or drinks but it was sun damaged.  At some point it was placed under or near a window and the sun had bleached it’s color.  This discoloration was near one end of the bench in long even stripes but it was clear it had sun fade.  I bought it and my sweet Greg put it in the truck.  As we got in the truck to leave he said can’t wait to see how you pull this one off. I giggled and began to create in my head.

A trip to Hobby Lobby for fabric paint to match the pillows that came with the bench  was the easy part of this restored life design.  It sat for a couple of days until I got my head wrapped around it and knew just how to create around the damage.  I tapped off the stripes and painted them.  That could have been enough but I wanted more.  So out came my stacks of stencils and I settled on this ornate circle shape.  I stenciled using all the colors of the pillows to pull it all together.  It is now restored and ready to sit at the end of a bed or in the entry way of a home.

It just shocks me how we give up on things we own.  Furniture isn’t useless if it gets a stain, a table that has wood damage can be refinished or painted. It’s all how you look at things and just how much you are willing to restore what you have and not replace what you have.  I always remember an old saying I heard as a child “A penny saved is a penny earned”.  Repainting is cheaper than a repurchase.  Recycling is always the better choice than to put it out to trash. Over all if you step back and look the things you have in your home you will remember just why you bought it in the first place.  Things get old and worn out it doesn’t mean toss it. These things only need restored life.