Suburban surprise...with scrollwork

During October I spent a weekend with friends, nothing surprising about that.  After dinner we went for a walk, nothing too out of the ordinary.  Then, when we were only 1 block from their house we came across a bunch of discarded items that had been set out for trash day. Jackpot!  Does the freestyle follow me? No, really its just that once you start looking its hard to stop seeing.
It was dark but from what we could see of this metal and wood table it was servicable and in ok shape.  It had nice scrollwork details, probably over a decade old based on the styling, aaaaaaand the amount of dust on it.
I kid, it actually wasn't too bad, just some dust inside the scrollwork- because who would dust that?

After the requisite cleaning we paused to look at it.

We could't tell if the wood was solid, burl veneer, or maybe some sort of patterned pressboard product.  Furniture mystery.
There were a few spots where the knots/burls had been scuffed, so maybe that means there is some real wood?  If anyone is more informed about this table or others like it feel free to leave a comment.
The next day we swapped some tables around and arrived at this arrangement.  It works for now since the heavy metal look doesn't really go with the rest of the furniture, but since you only see bits of it from the rest of the room it doesn't overwhelm the space.

Yes, that is a cutting originally from my fern, all grown up!

Its a useful entryway table and sofa end table.  For $0 I'd say it was a lucky night on the town.

Happy freestyling.

Windsor windfall

(This post was delayed for a bit, but the fruits of summer freestyle can be enjoyed all year long!)

Summer moving season is here, and with it comes the garbage-fruits of other people's apartment. Yay!

I spotted a pair of Windsor-style chairs in the discard section but initially passed them by because our apartment has plenty of seating already.  However, the very next day a friend with nearly identical chairs expressed the desire for more seating (and a willingness to take freebies). Quelle coincidence!  Luckily the chairs were still there.

Pair of chairs

The finish isn't perfect, and there are a few scratches, but this seems normal for a pair of chairs that are 20+ years old.  When I was turning them over to inspect the loose connector I found a stamp on the underside of the seat, "Made in Yugoslavia." Interesting.

One chair was solid, but the other required some wood glue action to get the cross-brace back in shape.  I don't have any clamps, so I used some bungee cord and books to hold things together while the glue dried.

After a short car ride this pair of cold-war castoffs finally found a new home and some comfortable green cushions.

Happy freestyling!

Purple mountain-of-a-blanket majesty

I got this heavy-weight jewel-tone blanket a few weeks ago, and man, it is awesome.  Originally from Pottery Barn the internal batting is really heavy, perfect for snuggling under on cold nights.

 Unfortunately the underside lining was a thin silky material and the decorativ stitching that went through the blanket had caused the lining to rip in a few places.

It had been repaired in a few places before.....

But at some point you just have to decided to either reinforce, or replace, the entire backing. So that's what I did.  I had found a set of like-new ike sheets in a dark grey, a perfect tonal complement to the jewel-plum color of this blanket, and decided to sacrifice the flat sheet to this higher calling.  Just like making a pillowcover I put the 'right' sides of the fabric together and sewed around the edge for most of the way, then turned everything rightside out.  I finished the final bit with  machine since I was not interested in hand stitching suh a heavy duty item.

In order to cover the entire backing I had to go around the edge of the blanket a bit, so if you were to lay it flat the front velvet side would have a thin grey border.  A recent houseguest heard this story and got to try out the blanket for a few nights.  She declared, "This blanket it awesome.  I want it."

There you have it.  Another example of a successful attempt to repair, reuse, and remake.  

And the entire thing is machine washable!

Happy freestyling.

Mango wood I ?!?

You wouldn't think that a search term as generic as 'round wood coffee table' would actually help you identify the lovely mystery table I found a while ago, but thank goodness for the internet.
I found a round wood coffee table, and the only identifying clue was a half-attached sticker than said CB2 on it.  I wasn't sure if it was associated with the table or had just gotten stuck as part of someone's move, but lo and behold, there was my new table splashed across the internet.

Apparently it is named the 'Stout' coffee table, and was made from mango wood.  Not needing a new coffee table I passed it along to some friends who have a house to furnish.  Now it graces their living room, and looks might nice holding up a plant or two.

Even the dog approves.

Happy freestyling.

White, bright, and out of my sight

I had a wonderful pair of Ikea Urban chairs on my porch the whole summer.  They were lightweight but not flimsy, pretty comfortable for an un-upholstered chair, and apparently are made out of some reinforced polypropylene.  I think they look a little futuristic.

Whatever, they were nice for the price of $0.  With fall rolling around I thought it was time to do a little patio rearranging and increase the light transmission into the living room for the winter months in the hopes of keeping the remaining houseplants alive through the winter.  So the chairs went up for grabs and some friends with a large deck and a penchant for dinner parties snagged them.

Here they are on the patio, just waiting for a party!

Happy Halloween, and Happy freestyling.

Going bananas

It just so happens that in addition to furniture I also come across discarded plants from time to time.
Sometimes they are in a planter, sometimes just in their own little dirt pile in a plastic bag - hoping to be rescued.
Last month I came across this monstrous dwarf banana plant, which I suspect is originally from the scandi-superstore.

 It was large, the photo doesn't really do it justice, but luckily the fronds are flexible and it made it to my balcony without shredding the leaves up too much.  Another friend had called dibs on it as soon as they saw the photo, so a month later the discarded banana found a new home.
First it had to survive a rather undignified car ride.....

But now it's found a happy sunny corner with lots of room to spread out. 

plants and books and plants and books...

As a bonus it sits on top of another freestyle find - a glass and metal coffee table.
Happy freestyling!

Prickly new friend and then some

As part of the Great Autumn Plant Rearrangement I paid the freestyle forward and gave away various plants to friends.  I adore this cactus with the soft white prickles, but since there is currently a cat in my apartment I didn't want to risk any feline foul play.  I know its new owners will give it love and a sunny windowsill to thrive on.

Also on the give-away list was this small pot of burro's tail / donkey's tail.

It's a great trailing succulent and complement to the taller more sculptural plants, but I have another pot full of it and needed to make indoor space for a few other plants that had summered outside.


Wherever you are, make it better, make a garden.

Happy freestyling.

June bonanza update, freestyle finds in their new home

You may remember the June bonanza post, or not.
 Basically I found a bunch of furniture and gave it to some friends who have a house to furnish.
Their car was packed.

There has been some progress in the redecorating front. 

The small metal and glass coffee table has a home in a sunny corner.

The large wooden corner shelving unit now supports a television and entertainment center.

And this Ikea botanical wall hanging brightens up the stairwell. 

Happy freestyling and sharing!

Yucca luck-a

Found: possible yucca plant in white Ikea cachepot, half-dead. One of three stalks was totally dried out and I pulled it out before removing.  The other two have signs of life.
Hopefully with water and sunshine this yucca with have some luck-a recovering from the tip necrosis that was affecting most of the leaves.

Some detail shots of the greenery, because why not?

Happy freestyling, don't be afraid to try your hand at plant doctoring.

The damaged demi-lune, Part 1

When I found a damaged demi-lune table I immediately had visions of a graceful entryway, maybe with a large leaning mirror and flowers in perfect bloom. 
Well, that hasn't quite materialized....  Let's chat about great expectations and furniture painting frustrations.

Here is where it all began. 
A curved table with graceful lines (the photo below is after I had sanded it, but picture it all shiny).

But ahhh, look a little closer and you can see some damage, a large chip out of the back left corner.

Now, I could have stopped right there and given it away, or just decided to cover the chip with a cloth and call it a day.  But where is the learning experience in that?  I decided I would fix the chip AND repaint the table in a lovely shade of blue. 

The first part was fixing the chip, about 4 inches long and 1 inch deep at the edge.

I decided to make a temporary base so that the bottom of the repair would be in line with the rest of the table top.  I did this by attaching a scrap piece of wood (leftover from the slipper chair surgery) with some light glue.  I would later remove the piece of scrap wood, so I didn't want it attached too strongly.

The next step was to build up layers, made of bits of wood shims and glue.  Yes, again I decided to buy some supplies, total cost was under $10.

I broke off pieces of the shim to glue along the angle of the original table top.  You can see from this side view that the original chip was wedge shaped.  My strategy was to get the top piece attached and somewhat flush with the table surface and then fill in underneath.  This may not be woodworking orthodoxy, but that's what happens when you are making it up as you go along.

Eventually I got to a point where I couldn't cram any more gluey tiny shim pieces into the gaps.

At this stage the work with shims was over and I decided to try to start using wood filler to fill in the holes.

Wood filler can dry a little rough, so I had a few rounds of filling and sanding.

Eventually I got to this point, where the top and sides seemed smooth enough.
I was pretty proud of my repair, it was solid and I'd managed to be patient and let the glue dry between layers.

Now, what I could have (and maybe should have) done was the paint the repaired chip black and call it done.  But smokey blue colors haunted my dreams and after reading all about it I thought I'd give non-toxic milk paint a try. 

The mixing and painting was pretty easy, and I have to say I was impressed with the LACK OF SMELL.  Milk paint has no toxic fumes, it is water-based, so I didn't worry about getting headaches or killing brain cells (which is one reason I tend to shy away from painting things).  Also it comes in a powder form, so you don't have to worry about storing awkward cans of unused liquid paint.  yet another bonus is that it dries pretty quickly.

This picture was after 1 or 1.5 coats.  You can see the black spot on the leg where the milk paint had flaked, or chipped, off, a foreshadowing things to come. 

I was so excited to finish this table because the color was lovely, and at first everything looked good....

...as it dried I started to see more and more flaking, and I thought to myself "oh crap.  Even though I sanded all the surfaces I should have bought the bonding agent." 

To be continued.

Freestyle @Friends' - The adventure card

I've found that frames are a fairly common freestyle find.  I think this speaks to the strong impulse to personalize a space, and the even stronger impulse to not carry something breakable to your new home and having it, well, break along the way.  Or maybe I'm reading too much into it and there are just too many cheap frames floating around out there.  Either way, a freestyle friend found a navy blue wooden frame with white matboard in her own building free-space. 
She used it to frame an inspiration card.

The great adventure awaits! 

I bet for me it will involve the continued hunt for hidden treasures.

Happy freestyling.