Dining chairs

I bought 6 dining chairs for $80 with great ambitions to repaint and reupholster them. After many nights ripping out staples and watching movies, I realised I had bitten off wayyy more than I could chew. Consequently they went on ebay minus the fabric and cushions. I didn't expect to make any money, in fact I didn't expect to break even so you can imagine my surprise when they sold for $180

Furniture for our new house: Spare room bed set

You know what I love? When you get a great deal at auction and then see the exact same item go for way more a few days later. Maybe it reinforces for me the fact that I got a good deal (or maybe I'm just sick) I don't know - either way, I like it ;) plus it shows that if I need to re-sell the item at some point, I should be able to at least get my money back.

It happened this week while I was shopping for furniture for our new house...

Spare room bed set
We bought an Ex-Marriott Hotel bedroom suite which included a double mattress, ensemble base, bedhead, 2 bedside tables, 2 lamps & 2 lampshades $270

The same seller split an identical set into separate listings and it sold for a total of $473

That's a difference of $200 for the same thing - Whoo hoo!

100% Cotton Jacquard Throw Rugs

Good old Crazy Clarks, so much junk to be rummaged through. I'm a big fan of getting cleaning supplies from Crazy Clarks, but often the quality of other things is hit & miss. Anyway... I found some 100% Cotton Jacquard throws 127cm x 150cm for sale. They were marked from $19.99 down to $9.99 to $7.95 and then they had a 1/2 price sticker on them which brought them to a total of $4 each. How could I pass that up? I bought 6 in total and they are surprisingly good quality, we use 2 and I've given a couple away (obviously not on their own) but still have 2 left in the cupboard. I've listed them on Ebay and will be interested to see if they sell.

Total price for 6 throw rugs: $24

Cafe Style Framed Blackboards

I bought 3 huge framed prints off ebay for $7.68. With a bit of coaxing, the prints peeled off. I painted the thick cardboard that the prints were stuck to with 2 coats of blackboard paint. 2 of the frames I spray painted gold & the other I painted flat white. The plan is to keep the flat white one & sell off the gold ones.





These should look cute stuck above a buffet. I'm looking forward to hanging ours in the new house!

Total Cost for 3 blackboards: Frames $7.70 paint $18ish = $25.70 or $8.55 each
I sold 2 of the 3 blackboards on ebay and made $88

So... all in all I'm up $60 and technically got a free blackboard out of it.

Shabby Chic Bedside Table

Shabby chic is popular at the moment and although I don't like the look, it seems people will pay a premium for stuff that looks, well.. old!

I bought this bedside table for $1.75 off ebay about 12 months ago. I didn't actually need it, but it's hard to pass up a piece of furniture at that price (even if it is UGLY!) I'd already started sanding the top drawer before I took the pic.


A lot of sanding and painting later, it came out like this...



I still think it's ugly, but so long as someone buys it for more than $1.75 I'll be happy ;)



I repainted the existing handles and then scrubbed them with steel wool.

Total Cost: Table $1.75 Sand paper $1.50 Paint $3ish = $6.25
It sold on ebay for $15.50... nothing to write home about, I'll chalk this one up to experience too

Bedside Tables

About 2 and a half years ago I bought a pair of bedside tables off ebay, they were listed at $15 but didn't sell so I contacted the owner after the auction and ended up buying the set for $10

This is a before photo of the ugly twin...


With a little paint & TLC they came up like this...

Having bought a new double bed, bedside table set & bedhead for the spare room, we decided we didn't need these anymore before I sold them, I gave them another update.




What I learnt:

• Perhaps it was the brand of spray paint I used, or perhaps it was just a bad idea. Trying to transform something cream, to glossy black with spray paint did.not.work. Well, it did eventually, but 2 cans of black gloss, one can of clear gloss & 1/2 a can of poly later - the finish still isn't super glossy or even. Never mind.
• I used flat white paint to paint the drawers - super easy
• Blingy handles saved this project
  

Total Cost: drawers $10 handles $16.20 paint $40ish (ouch!) = $66.20
These are listed on Ebay at the moment, I'll update this when they sell ______

Shabby Chic Chair

You know those people who take their 4WD & trailer around the streets collecting peoples trash just before the Council roadside collection? Okay, well let me preface this by saying I'm not one of them (at least that's what I tell myself ;) )However... the people in our area sometimes throw out some pretty cool looking stuff, which naturally gets picked through very quickly. Last time there was a collection I drove past this chair and had to go back for it. I don't think anyone saw me, but I guess now that I'm publishing the fact on the internet it doesn't really matter :-P

The chair had some carved wood detail in the middle which was broken. I watched a youtube clip on how to use a jigsaw and promptly cut the rest of the detail out - thankfully without removing any fingers in the process :)

Some sanding, priming, painting and distressing later it went from this...


To this...







What I learn't from this project:
I love Frenchy looking chairs (& Youtube)
Pulling out old staples = serious blisters

I sold the chair on ebay, I barely made anything from the sale so I'll chalk this one up to a learning experience