A month ago she moved her refurbished chairs into a new apartment and needed a table to go with them. She checked out several secondhand stores, but everything she found was too pricey or too dilapidated, or both. So she went online and found a used unfinished pine IKEA table for $20.
My husband used a belt sander to sand a few grease stains from the top. Then we applied a couple of coats of shiny black paint, and voila! A great little dining set for the grand sum of $40!
Don’t you love DIY? You get something uniquely personal and at a fraction of what you’d pay for something brand new and generic.
Until next time,
Lee
PS: To jazz up the table, she’s using four La Rochere demi tasse cups and saucers as tealight holders, and a La Rochere carafe/decanter as a vase. All purchased secondhand at a fraction of their original cost. Isn't that a great idea?
4 comments:
Lee, your daughter's new dining table and chairs are divine! And I love the tealight holders and vase. I wish I was as inventive as your family.
Once we get settled from our house renovations, I'm going to try refinishing my Grandma's china cabinet. My Grandad wasn't big on caring for it as it should have been but it's handmade and I spent a lot of time when I was young taking all the contents out to clean it. He carried it home on his back for my Grandma, so it has a lot of sentimental value.
Sheryll
Sheryll, you know that saying about necessity being the mother of invention? Well, a tight budget certainly seems to promote creativity!
Thank you for sharing the story about your grandfather carrying you grandmother's china cabinet on his back. Now there's a hero for you!
A tight budget does most certainly inspire! :) And you and your daughter should be proud of that set. It looks beautiful.
We're constantly figuring out ways to do things ourselves to save. My parents have built every house they've lived in. Now they live on a farm in a huge dairy barn; they remodeled the front bottom half of the barn into their home, and the back half and entire hay loft is still 'barn', which is very handy on cold winter days. I wish I had a tenth of their creativity. :)
I've always fantasized about turning an old train station into a home, but living in a remodeled barn sounds so romantic. I love that idea!
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