Another way to be thrifty!

I found this little mirror about 6 months ago at a thrift store for 1.91.   (why 91?) Anyway, I thought it was really cute and for the price I could put it somewhere.  Well I hung it up in my garage as is to keep it from getting broken and kind of forgot about it.   Well with the spring cleaning and getting the house and yard ready for summer I remembered it and decided to use it to decorate the tiny bathroom stall in my master bedroom.   The bathroom is pretty big but the toilet area is closed off all by itself and is pretty small.  It is the one closest to the pool so I decided it needed a little something.   I recently painted the walls in my master a really light teal and have gone with some teal accents so I decided to paint this the same color.   The frame had something clued on it once so I had to pry the scraps of wood off and sand a little.  Then I got out some paint and gave it a new life.

Dah, dah!!  I know it's not much but what you see is it as far as room and wall space.  It's just a small bathroom stall.   I think the mirror and frame gave it a little pop of color.  My mom was doing some cleaning and was getting rid of the picture.  I won the candle at a baby shower recently.   It doesn't get any thriftier than this!  $ 1.91  (well, wait, it might!)

My son found this bar stool on the beach in a trash can and drug it home.  (Gee I wonder where he gets that from!)  He's an artsy guy, studio art is his major in school.  He was going to fix it up and paint it his way, probably lots of color and images.  Well it sat in the garage for almost a year and I asked him last week if I could have it since he hadn't done anything with it.   He said sure and I went to work on it.  I sanded it down some, the paint was already up and chipping so this was pretty easy.  It was an expresso color originally, a Pier 1 imports barstool.  Then I got out more of the paint I already had and painted it a teal color too.   I decided I could use it in my bathroom as a makeup/hair chair.   I had a vanity chair but for me it was just too low and too far away from the mirror so I was always dragging in a bar stool from my kitchen to use.  It's higher and a lot more comfortable for me.  I have pretty long hair so coloring or blow drying, whatever takes a while and I like to sit down.  Make up takes a little longer these days too ( = older).

 Anyway I am happy with the way the chair came out!  And it didn't cost anything at all, just my time which it didn't take up too much of.  I still need to make a cushion for the seat but I haven't decided on a fabric yet and I've been doing other painting.

Now on to the backyard.   We kind of have a mish mash of yard furniture that I wasn't too happy with and had considered making some furniture myself out of wood.  After I went shopping for wood patio furniture and saw that a chaise lounge I liked was selling for 1200.00!  For one chair.  For the backyard!  Well I can't pay that kind of money for patio furniture so I was trying to figure out what I was going to do.  Our pool and spa have blue and white tiles so I decided to go with those colors.  Now to figure out the furniture part.  Well it just so happened my sister in law had recently purchased this wood furniture, unfinished and her husband didn't like it.  He promised to buy her something else if she would get rid of it.  So she asked if we wanted it and I thought I could definitely use it after some paint and some sewing.  We got a loveseat size and four single chairs with two table tops.

So far I've only got the loveseat done but I think it looks great!!  I used a really glossy white paint by Ace hardware, an oil based enamel, color Ultra White Gloss.   Before I put the paint on I used a primer by Zinsser, Bulls Eye 1-2-3 water based indoor outdoor primer for all surfaces.   I am not much of a painter and I don't know what to use but the people at ACE hardware are a huge help.  (Ace is not involved in my posting in anyway, I just really appreciate them and their customer service)

Voila!  I think it looks really beautiful and simple.  I painted a couple of old  pots with a blue spray paint to test out my blue and white color scheme and I really like it.   The paint cost me about 24.00 so far and will probably paint at least one more chair and table top and the chairs were free, so you can't beat that.  

Well I have a few more projects, finishing up the chairs, possibly getting my sons to help me build a chaise lounge and a table in the same style.   I have begun refurbishing my swing that I received on Mothers Day in 2005,  it was looking pretty shabby but the frame is still perfect.  The only replacement canopies I could find were beige so I am sewing my own.   I have painted the pieces of the frame and am sewing a new canopy and seat cover.  I forgot to photograph the before but I will post the after when I'm done.   Thanks for looking!