Pretty In Pink

Finally, after a break of way too long, I’m back!
My apologies for the lengthy wait. But here I am, back with a fabulous treasure I picked up on the side of the road a couple of weeks ago. A dressing table! The wonderful former owner of this piece even helped me load it into my car, went and found string to tie the boot down, then asked me in for drinks! Some people are just nice.

It’s solid wood, with lovely curved drawer fronts, dovetail joints. Perfection. I decided to remove the rail at the back, which was simply attached with screws, then give it a coat of paint (or four coats of paint. Note to self, a white undercoat is a great idea. do it next time).

I’m currently experiencing a love affair with pink, so there really was no choice when it came to paint colour. Mind you it will probably have many colour changes before I decide what suits it best. It lives in the entrance hall, where it makes a wonderful phone table, with lots of storage in the drawers for my son’s rapidly expanding collection of X Box games. Underneath it I’m storing shoes in an old ammunition crate.

Much to my delight, glass display domes are in fashion and I picked these up for a bargain price at a discount store.

The white bird cage was a lucky thrift store find. and only $5.00. The domes hold all kinds of treasures, including feathers and a metal plate with peeling letters that I picked up on a walk, a flower borrowed from a neighbours garden, vintage bottles, a wooden box of rubber stamps, and a metal skull that my Dad gave me which I remember from my childhood. All valuable treasures indeed.

A big thank you to everyone who has waited patiently for my return. I appreciate your support and I promise it won’t be so long between drinks (blog posts…..you know what I mean) from now on.

Urns

How often do you find a couple of ceramic urns on the side of the road? Never? I would have said the same thing. But while out for a walk the other day I passed an antique store, and next to that store in an unused doorway, was a pile of junk obviously considered unworthy by the antique dealers. There was crockery, a few ornaments, nothing fancy, and two white urns. The urns caught my eye and were in my hand bag within seconds, on their way to a better life.
At the moment I’m having a love affair with all thing white and neutral. So I knew I could include them in my current decor with ease. Yes they are a bit daggy and a bit tacky, but hey, you know I like a challenge.

I thought I’d display them with items I’ve found. Nothing here cost me any money. The wooden circle in the background is the top of a wine barrel, and I found the small suitcase in the recent council cleanup. I never cease to by amazed by what people throw out.

The Things I Drag Home!

Sometimes I see something on the side of the road, and I know it’s probably just a hunk of junk, but I love a challenge and it comes home with me anyway. I picked up a piece of turned wood, perhaps from a staircase, in the council cleanup the other day. At the time I had no idea what to do with it, but the collector in me just couldn’t let it go.
Well, naturally I’ve managed to find a home for it among the other thrifty treasures. Lets see what you think.

Obviously it makes a good candlestick. I left it unpainted because I like it’s faded glamour.

And then I did this. I don’t really know what to call it. A platform perhaps. What ever it is it looks great on my mantle, displaying repurposed medicine bottle vases.
I also think it would look great attached to the wall with brackets, for use as a shelf. Small decorative items could be displayed on the flat areas on the ends. Or, a glass shelf could rest on top.
It’s amazing how much potential can be found in throw away items, so keep your eyes peeled for treasures near you!

Roadside Door

While cruising the streets for treasure recently, I spotted an old door, with a perfect neutral colour and chipped paint. My son and I loaded it into the car, then drove home leaning forward and to the side as the door was taking up all the room! Worth it though, because it’s made a magnificent bed head.

Here it is. It didn’t need any work, just a quick clean. Then inside it went for it’s repurposed new life.

Such an easy transformation. It works perfectly with my side of the road chairs that are currently being used as bed side tables. I’m considering painting the door a mint green colour, but am hesitant because the door is very neutral at the moment, and will work with any colour scheme I choose. And let’s face it, I change the colour scheme often!
What do you think? I’m really happy with the result and it just reinforces my love of side of the road style!

Delicious Drawer

As you may know the council clean up worked it’s magic in my suburb recently, and while out on a walk (read – poking around in people’s piles of rubbish) I found a broken, battered little table. If it was in one piece it would have been fabulous, but it was beyond repair. It did, however, have a little drawer. I whipped it out of the table and carried it home straight away. It had potential my friends. Read on.

Just a crusty old drawer to some, but not to me. Look at that beautiful peeling paint, and the rusty handle. Perfectly imperfect. I pulled out the plastic lining, then gave it a good wash. Unfortunately when I blasted it with the hose most of the peely paint flaked off. Disaster! But enough remained to give it character. Now, what to do with it.

It makes a cute little platform for my coffee table, adding interest to the vase of lilies and stack of paperbacks.

And here it is being used as a mini library, holding a selection of reading material in the lounge room.
I just love being able to breathe new life into old pieces. This was destined for landfill, but now it’s a stylish addition to my decor.

Ladder to the Stars

This has been an exciting couple of weeks for me. Council clean up! All the junk you can imagine, piled out onto the streets. Treasures just waiting to be rescued and transformed. Today’s side of the road find is a ladder. I’ve wanted one forever, and finally the Garbage Gods have smiled apon me.

It’s wooden and very heavy, with just the perfect amount of crusty, peeling paint. Score! The bit jutting out at the top had to go, so I gave my son a hammer and seconds later, the job was done. After a good clean I brought it into the house, only to find it was about a foot too tall. No problem. Out came the saw, I lopped off the legs and voila, perfect.

First up, towel rack. I’ve always loved ladder towel racks. Unfortunately my bathroom is tiny and won’t accommodate such a large piece, but you get the idea.

Here it is being used in the bedroom as a bookshelf. Imagine how glorious it would look with my collection of Penguin paperbacks. I spared you yet another photo of them though! It would also look great displaying my collection of thrift store scarves.

And here it is in the lounge room, where I’ve decided it will live from now on. It looks great as an art display.
What do you think? I know you can buy decorative ladder towel racks new, but doesn’t this one have much more character.

The Wooden Tray

What’s the most wonderful time of the year? Christmas? Your Birthday? For me, it’s council clean up time. Yep, those glorious weeks where the unwanted contents of neighbourhood garages are piled onto the side of the road, waiting to be whisked away be the council trucks, never to be seen again. Of course before the trucks come, the people come. Slowly driving up and down the streets, checking for treasures. Every now and then a gem is spotted, the car comes to an abrupt stop, and the item is snatched up before someone else sees it. Oh joy!
The suburb next to mine is having it’s clean up this week, so I’ve been out and about searching for that elusive find. Today, let me introduce you to the Gibbs bakery wooden tray.

These days, baked goods are delivered in plastic crates. But this tray comes from a different time, a better time. It’s simple, solid wood, with Gibbs printed on the side. I picked it up on the side of the road, cleaned it up and put it to use.

Here it is on the coffee table, keeping everything neatly organised.

And here it is forming part of my mantel display. It’s functioning like a shadow box here, holding my metal letter S, which I’ve spray painted white since it’s last blog appearance, and a lily in a repurposed herbal medicine bottle.

A lucky find indeed. My back yard is filled at the moment with side of the road finds, waiting to be cleaned and spruced up, displayed, arranged, photographed and blogged. Stay tuned!