Furniture Makeovers Archives | Page 2 of 111

Furniture Makeovers

All Things Home

making a slipcover for a recliner

Shortly after we moved in, I bought a manual wingchair recliner off of Facebook Marketplace for $40. I had a feeling it would be a “placeholder” for a nicer recliner in the future, but it seemed like a good tester piece. We could see how much we used it, see how it fit in the room (while fully open), and help us make a more informed decision in the future. I intended to make a slipcover for this recliner, but after using it for a few weeks, it became clear that it wasn’t worth the effort or the cost. The chair wasn’t comfortable and piece by piece, the mechanism was falling apart and got to the point where it would just randomly pop open. So, for almost a year, I looked around at recliners. I looked at new and used and was very wishy-washy and undecided. I didn’t mind saving

September 5, 2023 29 Comments

Before and Afters

reviving an antique wood hutch

I’m not sure if you were aware, but we do have rooms in our house other than the kitchen! We’ve been talking so much about the kitchen lately, I’ve still been doing a little bit of this and that in other rooms and, as the kitchen renovation is coming to a conclusion, I’m already excited about transforming other spaces. The projects will be much smaller, though, and we’ll be doing all of the work ourselves. It’ll be a good long while before we tackle some of the other larger outstanding projects, like renovating both bathrooms, replacing more windows, etc. While the big projects are flashy, the smaller ones are honestly more my speed. Just me and a paintbrush and a sewing machine. Organizing, rearranging, decorating, fluffing. I still need to paint the dining room walls and figure out exactly what I want to do in the room (another mural is

August 7, 2023 22 Comments

1970 home renovation

1970 kitchen renovation | the antique baker’s table island

You’ve been seeing little peeks of it, but let me show you the refinished antique baker’s table and how it looks in the kitchen. As a reminder, I found this antique baker’s table at the Lucketts Spring Market a few weeks ago. I had purchased a pine counter from a blog reader for $200 (you can see that HERE), but I wasn’t convinced it was the island. It was worth picking up, though, so I had something to use until I found just the right one and I wouldn’t feel pressured. Plus, it will make a fantastic folding counter for the laundry room or in the garage as a workbench. It was a no-lose purchase. But, when I was at Lucketts, finding the kitchen island was still on my list. As I shared in my post about shopping at the Lucketts Spring Market, I initially looked at antique shop counters,

June 15, 2023 77 Comments

Furniture Makeovers

stripping an antique pine baker’s table

Who is ready for a furniture makeover tutorial? I haven’t had one of those in a while, but you can find a bunch of old ones HERE! If you’re new here, working on furniture used to be my specialty. I do refinishing, painting, upholstery, repair, slipcovers, and all types of rehab. When I moved to Minnesota, though, I shut down that part of my business and I only work on pieces here and there for my own home. I do still enjoy it to a point, but it’s not what I want to do all day every day anymore. After working on this table, my back and arms confirmed that! So, I bought this beautiful antique baker’s table at Lucketts to use as our new kitchen island. I knew that I didn’t want the black-painted base, but I also knew that was something I could address pretty easily. While I

May 23, 2023 41 Comments

All Things Home

my French dining room chairs

If you’ve followed me for while (even through this most recent move out of our MN home), you know that I’m pretty game to sell just about anything. I can’t tell you how many times Jeff has come home to an empty space where a piece of furniture once sat. He’s gotten to the point that he just shrugs and goes about his day. But there are a few pieces that I haven’t parted with, even with some pretty good offers being extended. Four of those pieces are the French chairs I’ve had in my PA dining room as well as my MN dining room. They were chairs that I hunted down for years, customized, and I can’t imagine myself selling them. Since I got them years ago and they went through a slow transformation that was documented over several posts, I thought I would share the full story of

July 25, 2022 21 Comments

Decorating

painting a vintage dough bowl

I’ve had this vintage wooden dough bowl for a few years. My mother-in-law gave it to me when they were cleaning out Jeff’s grandfather’s house. She thought I would like it and she was right. It is a practical size and shape and has a pretty patina. I’ve always thought it would look pretty with some blue paint on the bottom and, so I finally pulled it out and painted it a couple of weeks ago. I was in a mood to work on a project and this was one that’s been on the to-do list for far too long. Here’s how the vintage dough bowl started… I love how wooden pieces wear over time. Can’t you see some color on the bottom? I adore primitive wooden bowls and trenchers wearing their original milk paint, but they are always so expensive. This is a nice way to get that look

August 18, 2021 18 Comments

All Things Home

cleaning a smoke smell out of wood furniture

When you buy used furniture sometimes musty, dusty, pet, and smoke smells come with it. When it comes to severe pet and smoke odors, I’ll usually pass on a piece. They are notoriously hard to completely remove from furniture, especially upholstery. But, there are times when a piece sneaks through my filters or I’ll make an exception if I think I can remedy the issue. Jeff picked up this Facebook Marketplace find for me and, while I told him to check for sturdiness and a few other things, I didn’t tell him to check for odors. As soon as we brought it in, I would have to address the lingering stale smoke smell that came with this beautiful antique quartersawn oak table. So, I thought I would take you along and share how I go about cleaning a smoke smell out of wood furniture. This is the table I spotted

August 3, 2021 18 Comments

All Things Home

putting furniture pieces together

The piece of furniture I’m asked about most is the large antique cabinet in my studio. I totally understand why. It’s an impressive piece and one I would ask about if I saw it! If you read this blog regularly, you know its secret. It’s not one piece, but two. Not only is it two pieces married together, but two pieces that were found 1,000 miles and about three years apart. The bottom piece is a storage counter out of an old hardware store in Maryland. The top is a bookcase from the Wilder School in Minnesota. I bought it from a former student of the school who attended when it was just a one-room schoolhouse. I assured him it was going to someone who appreciated that. (The wood on both of these pieces was revived with Miss Mustard Seed’s Hemp Oil. The interior of the upper cabinet was painted

June 23, 2021 16 Comments

I’m Marian, a painter, writer, and lover of all things creative. From art and antiques to home projects and everyday life, I share my journey in hopes of inspiring you to embrace your own creativity and make beauty in the spaces you live.

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