Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Kijiji and Baby Love--my latest project

She's not really a looker....but it's the quality that counts right? :)

 Anyone who knows me can attest to my love of finding, refinishing and revamping treasures. Pretty much anything-furniture, clothes, jewelry, you name it. If I can repaint or remake it, I will! Oh, and I do use the word "treasures" loosely because well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder right?  : ) Apparently it is something I have become known for because I can't count the times someone has said to me "you would be so proud of me or I pulled a 'Sarah' and snatched this off the side of the road, or found this at a garage sale, or remade this into THIS!" haha, I love it! I get a pretty good laugh out of the fact that I am becoming known for my junk findings : ) It's something I have always done, but I guess it is starting to catch on. Inspire beautiful baby!  

I have practically furnished our entire house thanks to things I have scored on Kijiji for amazing prices.  There are SO many great reasons to shop Kijiji instead of buying new: a) reusing = better for the earth and not in a landfill b) more affordable = easier on the bank account c) you can customize to your own tastes and colours d) unique one-of-a-kind finds e) usually better quality than you can purchase in the stores now. Convinced yet?  :)

So onto my latest project....the baby's room. Long story short, we aren't having a baby, we're adopting. James and I have been in the process for a while now...and will likely be for a while to come. We planned to adopt a baby boy in July, but in the end the mother changed her mind. So the baby's room is half finished, but when she changed her mind we obviously stopped everything. I decided a little while ago though, even if it is not happening yet, I know God is planning our child and WILL bring him...so I might as well just finish getting the room ready! I guess it keeps me hopeful and looking to the future. So the challenge with this room is that it's crazy small. Just enough room for a rocking chair, crib and some sort of cabinet along the wall for toys...and even that's tight! I planned on building one (and by "I" I mean James haha) since everything has to be very exact or it won't fit. This was what I was thinking and the inspiration for a toy/whatever else cupboard. Obviously the baskets would have to bigger though...

http://www.decorpad.com/photo.htm?photoId=426&index=21&currentPage=1&searchQuery=nursery&searchType=photos


Sorry, it won't let me post the picture but check out the link. Very cute. The problems: it could be expensive since wood isn't cheap AND James needs to find the time and motivation to build it. ; ) So oh happy day when I happened to stumble across this hall table on kijiji! Solid wood, the perfect measurements and $30? Yes please!! 
The before:


It's hard to see, but there is a lovely crackle thing happening on the top. It was...interesting. So interesting it just had to go. I used paint stripper and scrapped off the LAYERS of crackle paint (honestly why do they even make that stuff?!) then gave it a good sanding. The crib is an espresso colour, so in an effort to make things a little more cohesive, I decided to stain and match the top. I have used oil based stains and Polyshades in the past, and while they did a great job, the smell was SOOO strong it made us sick and lasted for months. After reading a lot about the dangers of VOC's, I'm pretty picky about the paints and stains I use, especially when it comes to the baby's room. So after much searching (who knew a water based stain was so hard to find?!) I finally found a good water based, low VOC stain.



It's a Saman stain (made in Canada, which is nice!) in Chocolate. I have to say, I was pretty impressed and definitely will use it again. It went on easily and had no horrible need-to-air-it-out-for-six-months kinda smell. After a few coats of stain, I sealed it with another 4 coats of Clear Coat (also water based) and then gave the shelf and legs a fresh coat of white paint. After letting it dry and adding some baskets that we already owned.....

The After:


....I have a quality, perfectly matched, perfectly sized, $30 toy shelf! Heck yeah!



What do you think?? Have you ever found an "inspiration photo" and then tried to do it yourself? I love seeing people's ideas and works of art!







4 comments:

  1. Excellent! Definitely cheaper than buying or building a new one. The whole concept is very good. I like the way it turned out. Can't wait to see it in person.

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  2. So cute! Wanna come do judes room? He is six months and his room is full of boxes. Some baby out there is going to be so lucky to have you!

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  3. Haha, I would SO love to come to cali and do judes room! at least he's only young and doesn't notice if his room is one giant storage unit! lol ; ) you'll get there!

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