Trash'n'Treasure Find to Brighten the Back Door
(Sorry about the blurry image, I had the shakes today! I'll try and get a better photo with the tripod tomorrow)
Our back door is under our verandah and is quite dark, so I've been looking for something to brighten it up,
Of course now we have Lacey visiting, plants in pots won't last, that dog sure likes to dig in my pot plants.
Hannah and I were at a Salvos op shop (Stud Park for any Melbournians) and I found this old fashioned letter rack for $2.
It was in reasonable condition, just ugly. Brown, and not a nice brown, with very bright Swiss Alp type images on each pocket. Not my cup of tea at all. But the bones were good and it had potential.
Of course now we have Lacey visiting, plants in pots won't last, that dog sure likes to dig in my pot plants.
Hannah and I were at a Salvos op shop (Stud Park for any Melbournians) and I found this old fashioned letter rack for $2.
It was in reasonable condition, just ugly. Brown, and not a nice brown, with very bright Swiss Alp type images on each pocket. Not my cup of tea at all. But the bones were good and it had potential.
Home it came and I started to get it prettied up.
A light sanding to smooth over the rough bits and so the paint would stick to it (it was varnished and I wasn't sure the paint would stick without sanding).
After sanding I wiped it over really well with these alcohol wipes. They are the best for cleaning things before painting and they're cheap too.
A light sanding to smooth over the rough bits and so the paint would stick to it (it was varnished and I wasn't sure the paint would stick without sanding).
After sanding I wiped it over really well with these alcohol wipes. They are the best for cleaning things before painting and they're cheap too.
Then I painted it. I used Rustoleum white because that's what I had. It took three light coats and I decided it just didn't like it white.
So out came the pretty blue that I just love, and it only took one coat to cover the white and bring this piece to life. Phew! I was so relieved and just love the colour pop it brings to the back door.
And no, three (or four) very light coats doesn't use more paint, but it does give a much better finish. Light coats mean the paint doesn't run, so you don't get those drip streaks - those you need to sand down, wipe over and repaint. I'd rather do it right the first time!
So out came the pretty blue that I just love, and it only took one coat to cover the white and bring this piece to life. Phew! I was so relieved and just love the colour pop it brings to the back door.
And no, three (or four) very light coats doesn't use more paint, but it does give a much better finish. Light coats mean the paint doesn't run, so you don't get those drip streaks - those you need to sand down, wipe over and repaint. I'd rather do it right the first time!
To pretty it up I printed some free labels from The Graphics Fairy, cut them to size and used Mod Podge to stick them to the pockets on the letter rack. When they were dry, I very, very lightly and very, very gently used a sanding block to age them a little. When I was happy with the look, I gave them another coat of Mod Podge to act as a sealer.
The hooks went back into the bottom.
And I dropped it! Can you see the crack across the bottom pocket? Oh well, it's old, and I'm going to leave it. It adds character to the piece and as it is purely decorative, it doesn't really matter.
And it was hung on a nail.
Stage one of decorating near the back door is done!
Cost:
$2 for the rack (from the op shop)
$2 for the paint (that's being very generous, I'm sure it would be much less but it's hard to gauge just how much of the spray cans I used).
$0 for the nail - it came from the stash of recycled nails and stuff in the shed.
Total: $4 and about half an hour of my time.
I had a peek on Etsy - boy these things are expensive! They range in price from $15 (it was in poor condition, they called it vintage) to $160 (it looked to be in good condition, and again it was called vintage, personally I think they're dreaming with this price tag).
I'm happy to know I've not spent at least $11 more than I had to, to get what I wanted.
The hooks went back into the bottom.
And I dropped it! Can you see the crack across the bottom pocket? Oh well, it's old, and I'm going to leave it. It adds character to the piece and as it is purely decorative, it doesn't really matter.
And it was hung on a nail.
Stage one of decorating near the back door is done!
Cost:
$2 for the rack (from the op shop)
$2 for the paint (that's being very generous, I'm sure it would be much less but it's hard to gauge just how much of the spray cans I used).
$0 for the nail - it came from the stash of recycled nails and stuff in the shed.
Total: $4 and about half an hour of my time.
I had a peek on Etsy - boy these things are expensive! They range in price from $15 (it was in poor condition, they called it vintage) to $160 (it looked to be in good condition, and again it was called vintage, personally I think they're dreaming with this price tag).
I'm happy to know I've not spent at least $11 more than I had to, to get what I wanted.