Triple frame win

Nothing like finding some picture frames, unused, with the original sale images still inside.

Such events make for an exciting Saturday night.

When frames (or other home bits) like this are found does it make me happy? (because they were found?)
Sad?  (because they were acquired and never used?)

Let's say happy, because they get a new chance at making a home cozier.

Who knows what future memories they will display, but I'm sure the photos will be beautiful.

Happy freestyling!

oh Wood(en table) I

I have the most wonderful friends. They know what I am like, they know what I like like, and they aren't afraid to keep an eye out and send me text messages of random furniture at 5:44pm on a Thursday night, knowing that I'd be interested. Luckily it was a non-raining Thursday night when this little image popped up on my phone with the information that it was sitting at a particular intersection.

Looking for a new home...

Already being in possession of two wooden dining tables, and another cafe table that's in storage, I didn't need it for myself. However, I have a friend who was moving into a new apartment the following week (!) and needed furniture. Such coincidence! I texted her and asked if she was interesting, and coincidently she had just landed at the airport and was looking for an excuse to walk around after a long flight. I gathered up my tools, including a random fleece blanket and some tape, and headed over for some furniture disassembly fun.  Once we found the table it was short work of removing the legs.  It was a bit longer work carrying it to it's new building, but the new owner is very strong, she pretended the solid maple tabletop was a surfboard and carried it most of the way on her head.

Human table mover

After some reassembly and a small repair here is that formerly cast-off table, in a shiny new home and ready to host some tasty tasty meals.

I want to be shiny, like the treasure.....

Free table, free chair, free throw pillows, free plant centerpiece.

Happy freestyling, it takes a network!

From trashpile top to countertop cachepot

Is there any better way to end an afternoon-into-evening-craft-session-with-snacks than with a trip to the loading dock? Probably not.  The hostess found some small photo frames and a free trash can (because who wants to spend money on a trash can?). I found an interesting glass vase, made in 2009 according to the etched year on the bottom.

The next day I turned the glass object into, what else, a planter.

All I needed was an empty yogurt container with drainage holes cut into it, some potting soil and pothos cuttings.

After a few minutes of arranging, some dirt-pouring, and a little more arranging, I had a new cachepot for a pothos.

Pink glass on top of blue glass, now with a plant!

Nothing like some pothos leaves against subway tile.  The glass object doesn't look right with the countertop, it will find a home somewhere else.


















Happy freestyling, and when in doubt, maybe you can turn it into a planter!

Oak-frame and a historical photograph

The modern cell phone, so useful, and so hard to fix if anything goes wrong. Sigh. Such is the case with the history of this little project. Photos were taken, then the phone decided not to turn back on, and the photos shall remain locked inside for the foreseeable future. Oh well, not everything needs to be recorded for posterity I suppose. You'll just have to imagine that once upon I time I found a dusty botanical print with green matting, intact glass, and a dark oak frame.... and the wheels started turning.

I know woods like wenge and teak are trendy, but I have developed a 'thing' for oak ever since I discovered the finish technique known as cerusing.  Remember this cerused bookshelf and the cerused side table that were stripped, dyed with aniline dye, brushed with shellac, and then finished with liming wax to bring out the texture of the grain?

Bold and beautiful cerused oak bookshelf

Sort of green and weathered cerused finish on side table

Those projects made me look at oak in a new way.  Instead of associating oak with pickled pink 80s faux-tropical furniture or heavy pieces sitting next to overstuffed couches in musty rec room basements I see the potential. Oak is interesting. The grain of oak is beautiful once you decide to see it that way, and vintage solid oak furniture is relatively abundant and affordable to folks on a DIY budget.   

Now that you've been refreshed about the joys of oak and cerusing let me say that I decided not to ceruse this oak picture frame after all.  I had a friend moving into an apartment that needed to be furnished, and I asked her if she wanted the frame, answer = yes.  Her style leans towards natural wood tones, so after having it sanded down to the raw oak I finished it with only clear furniture wax. Specifically I used two coats of Miss Mustard Seed's furniture wax (and no, I'm not being compensated to mention that product, I just like it).  

This style of picture frame had a series of tiny nails pressing all the backing, art, and glass together against the wood frame.  This makes it inconvenient to swap out the framed art, so here it is in an almost-finished-but-without-the-finishing-nails-installed state. Still, you get the picture, such a beaut!

Oak frame, sanded and finished with furniture wax, corner detail

Refinished oak frame, original green mat, new historical photograph

The green matting was part of the original find, and the botanical print is still there in the back, peeking through next to the white edges of the photo mat.  Maybe someday I'll get a new picture of those, for now you'll just have to enjoy the lovely salvaged and refinished frame in its new home.  The entire piece now brings a bit of warmth to the cool tones on the walls and floors in this downtown rental apartment.

Happy freestyling, and don't be afraid to take that thing that you're not sure how to use, offer it to a friend and you just might make their day!