refurbishing furniture

How to Restore Furniture & Where to Get it for Less- 8 Sources Revealed!

If you love to restore furniture… You’re my kind of people!

Below you will see how this beautiful TV Console came to life and what it looked like when I got it!

Then I’ll share 8 Places to Treasure Hunt for your pieces so you can restore furniture even when you’re on the absolute tightest budget!

Furniture Restoration of Our TV Console

This was a Facebook Marketplace find for $40! It is a cool item, listed at a great price, so naturally people jumped on it immediately. I got my hand in the pot within the hour it was posted. The seller said there were already about 10 people “in-line” before me. I lucked out when those people came, saw, and changed their minds!

It was no mystery why the others had changed their minds. Chunks of rotted wood from the bottom were flaking off as my hubby & nephew carried this enormous treasure into our house. I was afraid to open the cabinets because who knows what I’d find inside.. But I could also see the vision of it restored, in all its beauty, as focal point of our living room. I had no doubt a little elbow grease could get me there!

How to Restore Furniture- The Process for Old Cabinet turned TV Console:

Busted out the rotting gross wood on the bottom. We used 2×4’s to rebuild the bottom.
The inside of the cabinet had a musty smell to it. To remedy that, I painted the whole inside with coat after coat of Zinnzer Mold & Mildew Killing Primer…. Right about at this point I had to keep reminding myself of the end prize, as I was So. Sick. Of. Painting. These projects really are a labor of love for the treasure will get at the end!
Painted the whole outside with the popular soft black shade, Tricorn Black.
Went over every inch and put white paint on every defect, knick, scratch, nook, cranny, crevice, crease, & at all the creases of the molding on the fronts of the doors. Let the white paint dry half way, then buff it in with a microfiber cloth or whatever rag is available.
Added White paint to the knobs, and tiny specks of teal & green for a little patina as well as some copper to make the metal appear brighter. I had fun with these. My goal was to showcase thier beauty an detail.

After its all said and done, I’ve got a one of a kind piece of furniture, that has character & looks like it was made to fit into this niche. How to decorate this living room niche has always been a question of mine. Now I see, having one piece that goes all the way across simplifies the focal point of the living room. The clean-ness of the one large piece, makes the room look bigger.

This TV Console also creates a ton of extra storage! It houses all my extra home decor, candles, faux plants, etc. The end cabinet has our workout equipment- dumbells, foam roller, massage ball, etc. So its always readily available to take full advantage when the mood strikes! I would show you the inside of the cabinet but, Everything is more “shoved-in-there” than “perfect-beautiful-storage”. Everyone has their “Monica closets” right?! At least mine can be behind closed doors now, but still easy to access.

8 Places to Find Furniture to Restore

You know you’re a treasure hunter when all the Christmas morning feels hit as you score a piece of old furniture to restore!

So, you want to get all the good DIY Vibes you get from creating a one of a kind, show-stopping piece of furniture by refurbishing old furniture. But- by the time you buy the old piece of furniture, along with all the products you need to refurbish it, this is a hobby you can’t afford to indulge in! I’ve been there!

Treasure hunting for furniture to refurbish is so much fun if you figure out where to get treasures for next to nothing! I have discovered some game-changing, secret places to find treasures for free or next to nothing! I’m going to share these secrets with fellow treasure hunters so you can restore furniture and get those ‘Christmas morning feels’!

#1 Restore Furniture You Find Curbside-

We have large trash day around here where everyone puts their large trash out once a month- I’ve gotten so many treasures from that including my oversized nightstands, dresser, & toolbox.

#2 Restore Furniture from Facebook Marketplace-

I’ve also gotten so many great treasures on there, including my Live Edge Pecan Slab for our coffee table, coffee hutch, and this TV Cabinet, which is my BEST & most FAVORITE! If you want to get the really cool stuff that is priced really well- pulling up FB Marketplace and browsing at all hours of the day has to be a hobby- ha! Things go fast that are really cool & priced well!

#3 Restore Furniture from Garage Sales-

I used to love me some garage sales but since I started hitting Large Trash Day I haven’t really been hitting any garage sales. That, and Saturday mornings are now filled with kids’ sports, and there’s no where else I’d rather be on a beautiful Saturday morning than at the soccer/softball/or baseball fields.

#4 Restore Furniture from Goodwill-

People drop their old dated, sometimes amazing unique pieces there all the time. As you know it is Hit or Miss each time you go- depending on whats there!

#5 Restore Furniture Finds From Antique Shows

In this area of Texas, everyone who loves to restore furniture goes to the Roundtop Antique Show during their Annual Antique Weekend. There are fields full of vendors selling anything and everything you can imagine. It is such a fun day to do with some girlfriends. You have to come ready to barter, pay a little more than a ‘large trash day find,’ pay for entry, and walk and shop for hours. Its an experience though!

#6 Restore Unique Furniture Finds from Antique Shops-

Antique Shops can be pricey. At Antique Stores I usually get cool knick-knacks (Like the label frames I used for our Shoe Storage) & decor items, rather than the bigger (more expensive) furniture pieces.

#7 Restore Furniture from Friends Moving or Getting Rid of Stuff

People know I love to restore furniture & give old items a new life. Friends & neighbors have given me some really cool hand-me-overs, when they have something they don’t want anymore…

My neighbor gave me a handmade drawer storage. I am using for my hair/makeup stuff. I’ve got a drool-worthy vision in my head for a furniture-makeover!

#8 Restore Old Items of Your Own that You Don’t Like or Use Anymore

Find a new purpose for it and make it over or into something else. There are some versatile pieces that can be used for so many different purposes. Quickly restore these furniture pieces time and time again to fit in difference spaces.

An Example of that is: The IKEA ledges that we once used in our living room at our first house, then in the garage at our next house, are currently being used as the girls’ desks.

Painted Swing Set: The Best Paint Revealed

Our once beautiful, cedar plank swing set had seen its day… Now it is looking ragged and trashy. We want to enjoy the view from our patio, and this big eyesore is all we see! The kids still play, climb, swing all over it. How can we make it a little easier to look at? My DIY Vibes were leading me to my next project: A Painted Swing Set!

The beautiful “cedar” has lost its red luster. I’m not feeling the green & yellow accents anymore either. I’m going to go with a white, gray & black neutral color scheme.

The first step of the painted swing set makeover is the spray painted accents. I used about 6 cans of white Rustoleum spray paint for all the metal fixtures. Spray paint first, so no taping has to be done!

The Best Paint for a Swing Set

For the main parts of the swing set I thought this Kilz Slate Gray Concrete & Floor Paint I have leftover from painting our bathroom floor tiles would hold up well. It was a little on the dark side, and I didn’t want it to be hot to the touch, so I added some white paint to it. About a 50/50 mixture of each.

The painting went by really quickly because we didn’t have to be careful since we were outside. I could also let all my little “helpers” join right in because there was no messing this up- even if paint spilled- no prob, we are outside!

The roof was calling for black paint. I love how rich black paint looks, and the roof is safe to use it because they don’t have to touch it. I know in the Texas sun anything black will be too hot to climb on.

Some battery operated star lights hung in the clubhouse of the swing set, and it is now a piece of beauty.

Such a huge makeover from mostly leftover paint I already had. Inexpensive & a huge impact… leaves me with the best kind of DIY vibes!

How Well Does a Painted Swing Set Hold Up?

Look at how well this paint mixture as held up so far!

Wall Mounted Desk

A wall mounted desk is such a cute way to add a practical piece to your home! These days we all could use a work space at home more than ever. A wall mounted fold down desk is a great solution for small spaces. My fellow small-home-lovers will appreciate what little space you need for a wall mounted desk. We have it nestled between our couch and dining room table. I also love having a workspace in the ‘main-drag’ of the house.

DIY Wall Mounted Desk Transformation

Step 1:

The very first thing was sanding… so so so much sanding. And what makes this desk even more special is my sweet hubs sanded this little beast along side of me while I was stripping the finish off of our Dresser & Nightstands. Volunteering to sand furniture for me= My love language! Click here (Dresser)&(Nightstands) to check out those transformations. It was definitely my kind of Saturday with so many projects going on at once around here!

Step 2:

After sanding I had to hydrate the wood. I’ve learned this the hard way from lime-waxing over wood that is dried out and lost its luster. It just doesn’t turn out with the same amazing finish. I used Fusion Hemp Oil to hydrate the wood back to life. Side note- one bottle has lasted me several projects and I still have about half a bottle left.

Step 3:

Then I used liming wax to create the cerused wood look. Cerused wood desks are VERY expensive to purchase but such a joy to DIY! It is a very fun process to turn plain bare oak into a cerused finish using liming wax. Just dipping a waxing brush into the wax and spreading it over the wood instantly gives you that cerused wood look! Liming wax is very stinky, so apply it outside. Once the liming wax is dry it has an amazing smooth, wipeable finish!

Step 4:

I left the back of the piece unwaxed so that I could paint it black. I used Sherwin Williams Tricorn Black, one of my favorite black paints because it is a nice soft black that goes well with everything including warm tones.

I wanted the back to look chippy, but the paint I had was Behr Marquee paint- one of my favorites because it stays on so well. But for the chippy paint look this high quality paint makes it hard to chip off. I used duct tape after the paint was dry but not cured. It gave me a little. Then I used a wire brush and a razor blade to get it a little more chippy.

Decorate:

Wha-la! All I had to do was hang it on the wall in the studs & scoot my cozy little swivel chair under it- and I could do the best part: Decorate it! The whole project & look really comes together when you add decor to this desk. I LOVE plants, but have to go with faux inside because I can’t keep the real deal alive. I have a cute little coaster made from Free the Captives tucked into the bottom cube & ready for my coffee to rest on. My go-to spots for faux plants are Hobby Lobby & Target. Target has really stepped up their faux plant game lately.

The DIY Desk Transformation is complete for this Vintage Wall Mounted Secretary Desk.

Shop for a Wall Mounted Desk

If you want a wall mounted desk but can’t come across any vintage treasures- I found some cool ones:

This desk would be great for small spaces, and can also fold up. It is available on several different sites including Urban Outfitters, which has cool boho home stuff. But the best price for it right now is at Home Depot for $103.

This wall mounted desk has a cool industrial vibe! It would look great in an industrial farmhouse or boho farmhouse style home. Minimalist design but could be dressed up with some hanging plants draping down on the wall next to it. It’s at Pottery Barn for $284.

This wall mounted fold down desk from IKEA has so much potential! You can use the steps I did to get a similar vibe of mine or get creative with your DIY skills. It is real wood, so the possibilities are endless! It’s a bargain piece for $119.

If you are really just wanting to use your elbow grease rather than your pocketbook, I found this plan. It doesn’t look too complex, but looks like a cool desk, really similar in design to mine!

If you could use a cute little workspace squeezed into one of your living areas- I hope this provided some inspiration of how it can be done. A separate office/den isn’t necessary to have your own little desk space. Hope you enjoy the process along the way! Please share your desks with me. I’m so grateful you share your projects with me. Seeing them always makes me giddy!!

Heres our desk all folded up!

4 Savvy Desk Ideas for Small Spaces

We’ve got 5 people in our beloved 1460 square foot home. That’s helped us get creative with some amazing desk ideas for small spaces! We have been able to use 4 different desk ideas for small spaces to give each of us our own workspace.

Many of us live, work, and school (or at least homework) from home. We can squeeze desks into our already filled homes with desk ideas for small spaces. Our family of five live (and for a time also- worked & schooled) in a 1,440 square foot home. Even in our beloved little home we have some great desk set-ups for everyone now! They are all desks meant for small spaces, and work perfect for us.

Desk Ideas for Small Spaces with Photos of how we’ve implemented each in our home.

Floating Desks
Wall Mounted Secretary Desk
Ladder Desk
Narrow Table Desk

Desk Ideas for Small Spaces #1: Floating Desks

In the girls’ shared room we have Floating Desks. These desks don’t take up much space at all. We made ours from Ikea Lack Shelves because we already had them when we moved in here. They are only $20 and 2 of them fit easily into the girls’ room. They aren’t super deep, so if that would bother you, then scroll along to the next 3 options with deeper working spaces.

Our girls love them & join their virtual school Zoom calls at them. They have small chrome books and their writing notebooks fit on them, and that’s all they use them for. These see-through chairs also give the illusion of taking up less space, keeping the room looking like a nice open space. I bought an inexpensive chair, like this one, and painted the base gold. (I searched high and wide while shopping for those chairs and the nice looking gold base chairs were always more $$.)

Desk Ideas for Small Spaces #2: Secretary Desk

We wanted a desk in the main area of our house but there wasn’t a designated space for one. I came across this vintage wall mounted secretary desk on Facebook Marketplace. I fixed it up and put it in the little corner nook between the couch and the dining room table. It looks great & functions perfectly! If we were to need additional space it does fold up. The chair is from World Market, swivels, and is as comfortable as it is cute. Quick tip for fellow World Market shoppers- I signed-up for their price drop notification on it and got it for $99 rather than $199!

Desk Ideas for Small Spaces #3: Ladder Desk

Ladder desks are very inexpensive, lightweight and fit well into small spaces. This was an old laminate one I got– in the trash. I painted it, and added some plywood, waxed with Annie Sloan dark wax, and secured it into the studs. It is sturdy, and has a nice big working space as well as shelves for storing things.

Desk Ideas for Small Spaces #4: Entry Table as a Temporary Desk

The hubs uses an old entry table, that we had sitting in the garage, as his desk. It’s the perfect height for him to look straight ahead at his computer screen thus no sore neck from looking down. We have it right in front of our shelves in our bedroom. It is narrow enough to not get in the way when we are opening & closing our closet door. This desk is temporary- we won’t keep it here after this work-from-home stint ends.

In the Spring, quarantine was so unexpected so we did a lot of improvising on who went where, to do their work & school. After the addition of these 4 types of desks for small spaces we’ve all got our designated space. The house runs smoother and everyone’s stuff is more organized- thus less of the… “Where’s my notebook, where’s my computer charger, etc…”

You really don’t need a lot of “space” to create a great little workspace for you & your people. We love living in our tiny home, even after being here so much! Hope you enjoy creating some similar “desks for small spaces” in your home so you & your peeps all have a place to get your work D-O-N-E!

Swooning over our wall mounted secretary desk? That was a DIY Facebook Marketplace Transformation. Check out how we Revamped this Old Desk!

Farmhouse Nightstands DIY

These gorgeous farmhouse nightstands originally came to be by way of the side of the road! I understand why someone would be parting with them because they were outdated with their dark finish and thick lacquer. But… they were solid wood and I saw the potential for a couple of gorgeous Farmhouse Nightstands under all of those layers of lacquer. Read on to see how they came to be…