Inspiration

Don't you just love when you have that "Ah Ha!!" moment that seems to solve a problem you've wrestled with for too long?

I like to start my day reading decorating blogs while I finish off that pot  cup of coffee, and this morning it paid off bigtime!
One blogger I enjoy, Just a Girl, wrote how she was utilizing the redone dresser she had moved into her craft room [I dream of having a 'Craft Room']...  so organized with everything right where she needs it...
See it here: Just a Girl- whats-in-my-drawers.
and suddenly... Shazam!

Inspiration!

First a little background:

This summer I spent many dirty hours cleaning out my Dad's barn of family items that I just could not bear letting go to a dump... including 3 dressers that are now occupying prime real estate in my over crowded metropolis many call a garage.

I have a lovely laundry room which is also my dogs boudoir, that once I really get it arranged how I want will serve in part as a Craft room.  Someday.  Here are pics of it at present:

The raw ends of those cupboards are going to get made into chalkboards.

And I do have all the crown molding to finish off the tops of those cupboards.

^See this space where the dog crate and saddle rack are?^

That is where I dream of having a counter with drawers underneath, to store craft goods, and a stool to perch on while crafting away.

Above it pegboard for tools, and shelves made from black boards and decorative shelf brackets.

But for now, Lo and behold, one of those dressers from my fathers barns, with 3 HUGE lovely [yet dusty] drawers, will fit right in there!

Storage!  Organized craft items!  Yippee!!

And more....

  

I bought this bookcase via Craigslist, and use these here in the laundry room for storing a myriad of items:

Laundry and cleaning goods

the various jewel/cigar boxes from my fathers barn full of treasures

Oh and all those used cans- those are for making donation cans for the horse rescue.

I swear I am going to get those done.  Soon!

Then you see those cherry pattern canisters?  Those were my grandmothers.  

*sigh*

Just before my father got ill, leading to the barn cleaning, I had wished for a vintage canister set among several other items we unearthed in that barn.

Several of these shelves I am going to cover with a nice 'curtain' so it looks less cluttered.

Sewing is a winter activity, the warmer seasons are for painting things in my garage.

Inspiring and motivating!  

I'll post how it looks once I get the dresser cleaned up and put in.

But tomorrow I am off to Womens Getaway Camp with my sister and cousin.

Always an inspiring weekend.

Have yourselves a Great, Inspired Weekend!

Before and After

Who doesn't love seeing a transformation?
I know I do and since I just sold this Welsh Hutch recently I thought I would show you all what it looked like before, and after:

Here it is, in parts, before:

Paint, distressing,  and new pulls that I also painted:

I also sold this one last fall, and thought it came out very nice.

Before:

After:

The 'counter' on that one was just sanded and sanded and sanded until it was super smooth.

And this one was my first, and is in my kitchen, 'After':

During:

And 'Before':

And Another.... I was in a real Hutch Funk for a while there...

I decided [after my husband used it as a spot to cut something and ended up cutting off part of the top] to redo this hutch I had already redone.  Cause, you know, there's no laundry or vacuuming or cooking to do around here.  OY!

Here it is redone 1st time:

The top is now sanded down to wood, and super smooth.  Now I have a hankering to take it a step further and paint the entire hutch, minus the powder blue interior, either black or grey.

Votes?

Nothing is ever, truly, 'Done' around here I guess.

If you are a Hutch Addict, don't go to that 12 step program, embrace it and join us at:

Jennifer Rizzo's Hook up your Hutch Party!!

What to do with an Ugly Dresser, Part II

Sing it with me:

What do you do with an ugly dresser?
What do you do with an ugly dresser?
What do you do with an ugly dresser?


Make it into a dog bed!


Yes, it took alot of convincing to get my husband to cut this dresser, but as I said, there were 2 bottom drawers that weren't.
One was completely missing, and trying to find oak to match this old piece was next to impossible.
The other had no bottom.

Here's how it turned out:

It makes a nice nightstand in my guest room, with storage for items [but not too much storage that guests get the idea that they can stay long].  I am debating putting little feet on it of some kind.

This guest room is a nice mish mash of family items- the bed was a gift from my Grandma Mary.  The cross stitch above is a prayer she made for my sister and I.  The pitcher and bowl are from my fathers barn which I cleaned out this spring/summer, I am guessing they were my other grandmother Ceciles'.

The wall opposite the windows was the perfect length to hang my riding ribbons on, apparently I quit showing my horse at just the right time;  when I had earned just enough to display on this wall!  I spent way too much money to get those to have them folded up in boxes!  Going through them and ironing them was really eye opening, I did not realize how many firsts and second [blue and red respectively] my horse actually earned- I thought he had way more green [6th place], which really was his color anyway!

The remaining part, the bottom drawer and original legs became a dog bed:

Right now it too is in the guest room, because my dogs are too large or too old to use it.  

It is for sale like half the furniture in my house, unless of course I happen to get another dog who it would suit.  [Biting tongue]  

It needs a few tweaks.  I am thinking of making a bolster to go around the 3 sides, in the same pretty fleece fabric.  I think that would make it ultra plush and cozy.  A contrasting skirt would also be cute.  There's always a chance I'll stencil something on that square bit that hangs down in front as well.

Suggestions appreciated.

Can anyone explain this to me?

Watching decorating  shows while doing housework... why when they redo a room, do they take a sledgehammer to a perfectly good counter that could be reused?

Is it me?  Am I such a dumpster diver that I don't even recognize trash anymore?
Or is it incredibly short sighted and wasteful?

What do you do with an ugly old dresser?

What can you do with a dresser?

Ok more specifically, a trashed or beyond ugly Dresser?

This Dresser I have was doomed from the start anyway.  I got it third hand from a friend of my mothers when I was so desperate for furniture I didnt really care what it looked like or where it came from.  It was covered in layers of paint, the most recent a bright shade of turquoise.  And of course it had one drawer missing, and another drawer was there, minus the bottom- which really in terms of a dresser makes that drawer useless as well.  Really.  Remember, I was desperate for furniture, but honestly, I can’t fathom how this thing even qualified since it was 1/2 useless.  And ugly.

Ideas?

One Mans Trash

Sassy Sites  asked for it so here's mine... ALL of mine.
I'm also adding a table [to the end of this post] I actually picked up on the side of the road, and yes got quite the look from my hubby over.  I have no 'befores', but trust me it needed saving!

I have been a horse lover all my life.  According to my mother I was talking about horses since the age of 2 when I wanted to BE a horse.  After I came to realize I could not BE a horse, I just wanted one.  BAD.
I don't know where this innate 'horsey-ness' came from, and many times I have wished it wasn't so much a part of me, but there you are.

I finally got my horse at 24, after I graduated college, scrimped and saved, and found a horse who reminded me so much of my favorite lesson horse MAcGregor that I just could not pass him up.  I bought him intending to put some 'miles' on him and reselling him.
Over the years my hot, red-headed, Off the Track Thoroughbred [OTTB] earned many reputations, most of them not as flattering as they could have been.  I ended up keeping that horse because, honestly, as wonderful as he was as an athlete, he was also a handful that many just would not have tolerated.

Look closely at his mouth, hes trotting off with stalks of grass hanging from his lips

I consider him One Mans Trash... that was and is my Treasure.

As with many things, my plans for my riding life did not work out as planned, and here we are almost 20 years later.  He's retired, and apparently [due to finances] so am I.  But the lessons I learned along the way certainly make up for the road I intended to travel but detoured.

As many of you may know a few years ago I was made aware of the plight of horses who head to slaughter for human consumption and another passion was born.
I volunteer at a horses rescue near me.  This organization is amazing, the network they have and the works they do... so heartening!
Rescue shows you the worst in people [those who neglect or abuse] but then also the best in people [others who spend their Sundays in the rain, cold,... you name it... helping animals in need].
I spend alot of time writing my legislators to pass the Federal ban on slaughtering and exporting for slaughter, US horses, and shouting from the roof tops to raise awareness of this inhumane industry.
You can find more info on all that here:

http://www.kaufmanzoning.net/

The bottom line for me is that these horses are not 'unwanted', but they are many times 'under-marketed', and in many cases misunderstood.  So many times a horse comes into a rescue, finally gets worked with by someone with an open mind, and voila!  You find out the horse is 'misbehaving' or has not reached it's potential because s/he has an un-addressed medical issue, was trained for a different discipline or not trained at all, or worse- trained by someone who shouldn't be training Lamps,.... or otherwise truly has an 'excuse' for not having become all it could be.

You put those horses into the hands of a rescue and....

Suddenly what was once One Mans Trash... becomes another mans Treasure.


Speaking of pets that are misunderstood... my very first dog was a Beagle named Joey, or as I called him Joseph Napolean.  He had some serious 'little man' syndrome going on.
I had to put Joey to sleep this past spring, after his back went out for one last time and would just not resolve.  Many people who I contacted to share the news with were astounded to learn I still had him!  The girl who saved him 12 years earlier responded in shock, something to the effect that he certainly must have found his rightful home with me, as no one else would have put up with him.

There's a life long theme- animals no one else can put up with seem to flourish here.

Joeys 'problem' was not willfullness, or that he was 'bad', per se.
That dog was SMART.
So smart.
He was certainly a challenge.  He was 'misunderstood'.  There will never be another dog like him, and I mean that in a good way, not in a 'whew, thank the Lawd!' way.

Joseph Napolean Beagle

You can't find a Treasure if you're not willing to really look at something closely, and understand it.

Since having to put Joey down, I have 'adopted' a lovely little female Beagle named Hailee, who was dumped in a cemetery where she dug herself a little hole to hunker down in.

For the life of me I can not understand how anyone could just dump this little dog.  She is the most affectionate, sweet, funny, happy little dog.  She is very 'Beagle-lite' as we call it around here, meaning she's not constantly on the hunt for something,  not baying non-stop, and doing other Beagle-ish things like Joey was.  I like to say Joey went to Heaven, saw 'the light', and came back minus his evil ways in the form of Hailee.
It just boggles the mind how someone could not see this little dog for what she was... and instead saw her as Trash, saw her only for what she wasn't and dumped her.

Hailee Bugg

One Mans Trash....

You may also know that more recently I have started to dabble in rehabbing/recycling/UPCYCLING furniture.
The first item I 're-did'  was a piece that I bought cheap for my new home even while my husband wondered how it was possible I wanted this ugly, 70's faux colonial piece so badly.
When my husband brought a friend over to our old house just before the move to help move some large item or other, the friend remarked to my husband that the end of our driveway [which dumped out into a very busy corner] would be a perfect spot for my husband to set me up with a hot dog cart to make a little side income.  {Thanks Woody}
An hour later when friend came to the new house and saw the hutch I re-did, he revised the hot dog cart plan, telling my husband I should be re-doing and selling my furniture.  Taking one mans trash and making it into another mans treasure.  I call this endeavor 'Late Bloomers'.

THANKS WOODY!

10% of all sales of Late Bloomers items is donated to my local horse rescue to help them continue the great works they do.  
Every little bit helps.   Please spread the word.

To see the present items I have for sale, find Late Bloomers on Facebook

Adding the table I saved from the gutter and gave a new life for those visiting from Sassy Sites and wanting to see an actual piece of trash:

Long overdue

It has been a crazy week with the start of school and my sons first Football game coming up.
Have I had you on the edge of your seat waiting for a report from the Fair?  LOL

Ignore the date.  Obviously, I thought I turned off the date feature so that I would not have to edit/crop it out of every pic.
OY!

The DC Fair is in Rhinebeck, NY, the hot locale this summer of Chelsea Clintons wedding.  Even minus the Fair and weddings, this little town is a great place to Antique shop, get a bite to eat and walk the lovely tree lined streets of beautiful homes.  Plus there's a great high end consignment shop and Toy Store!!

So, as many of you know I have pics of the Dutchess County Fair cows gracing the walls of my kitchen.  I just love these cows.  Holsteins, Hereford, Guernsey,... doesn't matter.

Look at these fluffy ears!  I have no idea what breed this is.  She looks like she should be cheerleading, or in a Dr. Seuss book.  She was intently watching the auction in the ring.

This guy was getting a bath and I just thought his white coat against the colors of the stocks was awesome:

 I just love the coat patterns

It seems that these Roosters were either upset about being photographed or yelling for their agents.
Every single one kept crowing at me.  Maybe they heard about me from the goats?  There were geese under them, maybe the Geese told them about me?  Geese and Goats, not my friends.

My grandfather was an expert on Chickens, and whenever I see one it reminds me of learning that about him at his funeral.  Bittersweet.

{I wish I could have figured out how to get pics of them without the interference of the cages and getting pecked to death!}

Goats, Sheep, and pigs!  Oh my!

Another one who was intent on learning the prices of all the animals going through the ring.  I started to wonder if there was some kind of betting ring or pool these animals had going regarding who would sell at the highest price per pound.

Anyone who knows me and goats would find it humerous that this goat kept threaten.... err ... talking to me!  Of course, being polite, I held up my end of the conversation too.

Every pig was smiling in their sleep.

Happy dreams of....? 

Does s/he not look like Groucho Marx?

I think the highlight of the night though, other than the rides and prize winning games, was this sow and her 7 piglets.  This girl did not move once while I watched her, and I was in those barns for 2 hours.  Of course she was weighed down with any number of piglets nursing at any given time.

And it gave me a laugh to see all the people oohing and ahhing about this Sow and wondering what their reaction to a human breastfeeding right there would be.

See the black and white piglet with his legs draped over his brother?  Well prior to that pic B/W piglet was Double Decker Nursing [laying on top of that brother who was also nursing].  Once he was full he just slithered off in slo-mo, too full to really put any effort into it at all, as he fell asleep.  Next to them the lil brown and white piglet, the runt, was just bumping and bumping and bumping away at that teat insisting there had to be more in there!  

Persistent lil bugger, should be juuuust fine!