Thrifty Thursday: Re-purpose it!

Due to a week of tackling my massive to-do list (and ignoring said list), I did not do any thrifting this week. Instead, I thought I’d show a few of the ways I’ve repurposed my thrifty finds. Next week is {hopefully} going to be really fun for my family, and I don’t want to spill the beans just yet in case I jinx it. BUT, if things go as planned I have a really neat Thrifty Thursday in store for you next week, so stay tuned!

I found the first piece at an antique store. It’s a reproduction iron scroll piece and the price was a steal– under ten dollars. Honestly, for this purpose I’m GLAD it was reproduction and NOT a valuable architectural antique! I attached it to the wall between the microwave and oven as a make-shift backsplash.

I was thrilled it fit perfectly! Which was good, because I bought it in Boston and I live in Pennsylvania. My kitchen was renovated before we bought it, but the owners thought that heavily grooved oak cabinets and green laminate countertops were an update, apparently. Until we save up for another renovation I have to insert my style in little ways! This was one of them.

Onto the dining room. In a former life, this $3 cart was brass and very shiny. Then it met a can of black spray paint, so for a total of $4 it turned into this:

Loaded up with drinks and barware, it’s right at home under our framed prints.

I used to keep this by the front door until Noodle got mobile. Now it’s under protection in our gated dining room. This is a nod to my beloved Grammie, whom I miss very much. These keys came from her home and I displayed them in a frame.

I always see keys at flea markets and on eBay, so this would be very easy to do! Here’s an extreme close-up. I used a dot of hot glue to attach them to scrapbook paper in a frame.

I bought this hutch with the intention of refinishing it to match whatever table/chair set we bought. It has good bones, right? Look at those inset panels on the bottom just begging for some type of treatment (grasscloth? fabric?) and the nice moulding on the top edge.

Happily, I got pregnant soon after I bought it. Sadly, that meant no fume-y refinishing for me. I have no idea how I’ll find the time to do it now, but maybe I’ll find the energy next summer. Or perhaps I’ll stumble across a complete dining room set and I can gift the hutch to someone else!

No, that’s not an apparition in the lower right hand corner. Noodle got past the gates and is gung-ho on running around the room. See why we need the gates? It’s hard to see with the reflection (I didn’t have time to style this photo with The Noodle on the run) but I was hoping to cover the inside with either a gorgeous fabric or painted to make the displayed items POP!

This normally would not be considered thrifty because I found it at an antique shop in downtown Bar Harbor where the typical piece has a price point in the hundreds. I couldn’t pass up this bargain at $8… a map of my beloved North Carolina! I put it in a simple frame and atop a book it really stands out. I believe it came from an old atlas, so I’m sure you can find something similiar in a used book store!

And books! I have my thrift store books on display in the sunroom:

I found this $3 trunk at a yard sale when I lived in NC. It was spray painted metallic silver and was full of nails and had broken hardware. I spent hours on my third floor balcony stripping, sanding, painting, and fixing it up (sorry, downstairs neighbors!) It served as storage in that little apartment, but now I don’t have much room for it. I’m probably going to let it find a new home when we have a garage sale in the spring.

Right now this has photos attached to ribbons with clips, but it’s about to get repurposed as a bow holder or bulletin board for my daughter. The frame was dull gold, so I spraypainted it white and voila! A photo display!

I don’t like clutter (although you can’t tell in the state my home is in right now…) so here’s my trick. This desk came from my Grammie and sits in my guest room.

Surprise! Here’s where I’ve squirreled away my treasures!

I can just open it any time and see some of the heirlooms and other things that are special to me.

This capiz shell windchime came from a gift store at the beach. It cost $4. These are really popular as lamps right now, so I got the look for A LOT less than Pottery Barn charges!

Hope you enjoyed the sneak peek of my home. There’s so much more to come. And I counted FOUR hints as to what I might be doing next week. Can’t wait to share it with you soon!