Hellooo, everybody! The Fresh Pioneer is back. Sort of. What is that saying? Better late than never?
Well, here I am, up after an entire night of fevered editing and polishing, checking in to Yankee Belle Cafe (before I try to grab a few hours of sleep) and what do I see? Mindy's post is still up!
I laughed a little. UH OH, someone forgot to post!
And then I realized.... that someone was ME.
Yeah. So, I thought I'd talk a little about organization. Because, clearly, I don't have any.
This is my laundry room table. To be fair, we were redoing the living room and all the supplied somehow ended up here. Yikes.
Intro character number one: an old entertainment center that I had just convinced my husband to let go of, since it was half broken and was a $30 cast-off when we picked it up 15 years ago.
I was celebrating my victory and chatting with my friend Christalee. She said, "Have you seen those Pinterest pics of entertainment centers repurposed?"
Um.... No?
All it took was one picture and I was converted! I would SAVE the entertainment center and make it work in a whole new way!
Behold... the power of spray paint.
They didn't wait long!
TA-DAH!! Isn't that amazing? Final product! (And yes, that is a tank of frogs there on the shelf. There used to be a hamster but he passed away.)
So, I hope this post inspires you to organize the messy place in your house... or perhaps just inspires you to use a calendar to make sure you DON'T MISS ANY COMMITMENTS.
Apparently, I can't rely on the old memory anymore. Please tell me you all are forgetful, too. (If not, just lie. I'll never know.)
Until next time!
Oh, I'm so glad I'm not the only one who messes up! And I didn't get in to see Jan and Tex, so going there next!!!!
ReplyDeleteI had seen some of these on Pinterest and wouldn't have thought of this either, Virginia, unless I saw them with my own eyes. So fun!!! Great idea, not hard, and sudden storage.
SWEET.
I may watch for a couple of these to organize my playroom for the next two years until my little ones charge off to kindergarten. What a great, great, great idea!
isn't it? Just make sure you bolt or secure yours to the wall. This room is small so if someone decided to CLIMB it, and it fell, it wouldn't fall all the way.
DeleteLOL -- you just made me feel better because I thought you were 'perfect in every way' with all that you accomplish professionally and motherly and cookerly! I feel I can breathe easier now.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE repurposing, upcycling, whatever catch phrase they're calling it these days. So much fun and such a sense of satisfaction for a) accomplishing something on the cheap and b) saving our landfills from overflowing.
I've been upcycling my way through my house since the Christmas break. Turned a destined for the curb computer stand into a tv stand. :-) And my nigh table is now a bookcase. :-) :-) I still need more bookcases though. :-( I have a question about painting your entertainment center. It looks like it's made of laminate and particle board? If so -- do you have to use a special paint to make it stick?
I feel the same way, Kav! I now feel better. :)
DeleteCome on, you two! I haven't posted enough kitchen fails for you to feel okay yet? And when in doubt, look at my kids' hair. Yeahhhhhh, not the best at cutting hair.
DeleteAnyway, I chose a spray paint that adhered to "most surfaces" including metal and had a built in primer. A site I checked said that it's possible to paint over laminate without sanding, as long as you prime it. I didn't know if spray paint WITH primer counted... but it worked! No issues!
I love the way you repurposed the entertainment center! Now all those treasures have a home that's ACCESSIBLE!
ReplyDeleteWhere did you end up putting it when it was all beautifully painted?
In the laundry room, Jan!
DeleteLOL! Your laundry room table looks a lot like my dining room table (that's supposed to be my office)! :)
ReplyDeleteWe also had that exact entertainment center! Maybe we should have repurposed it. Wish I had thought of it back then.
Love what you did!
It's all due to my friend Christalee! I was sooooo happy I was going to be able to throw the old thing out. It's been in our living room, gathering junk, for over a decade and I was SICK of it.
DeleteBut... as Kav said, I'd rather find a use for it than put it in the landfill... And when Christalee sent me that link, I KNEW it would work! The Pinterest page was about laundry room redos, and although I won't be using mine as a laundry/folding center, that room is where I store all my painterly things, so I was excited!
You could be starting a chain reaction here, Virginia. Now we all want to go repurpose something. I know I have projects waiting upstairs. Out of sight, out of mind. Or maybe I'm just out of my mind.
ReplyDeleteIsn't spray paint wonderful? And I love all the cool colors they have now. Talk about instant gratification. Which makes it even better.
Lovin' your new storage space, girl.
It really was so quick- maybe four days? I ordered the boxes after measuring, and then started painting (thankfully before it started snowing). By the time I moved it inside, the boxes arrived from Amazon. Then it was probably 2 hours to sort through the table junk, clean up the floor, move it in and sort everything back into the right place.
DeleteAnd I'd always heard that spray paint was a terrible way to paint something, but that must have been long ago, because it's worked just fine for my last two projects. I'm converted!
Oh..my...goodness...you're back to 'perfect in every way' status. Who knew that Amazon had such a plethora of storage bins and baskets???? Not I!!!!! I've never ventured past the books. This new knowledge has completely changed my life. I have difficulties getting around and now I just have to click a mouse to shop. Who knew it could be that simple?????????
DeleteKav, Amazon is my first stop for almost every purchase. And you wouldn't believe what they offered me the other day. Same-day delivery!!! Yes, it would have cost me $4 more, but hey...if it was something I needed right away... I mean, how cool is that?
DeleteThis post made my night! LOL I am not the ONLY one that forgets things! YAY!
ReplyDeleteI am so jealous of the organization and how quickly you pulled that off!
I pin, Virginia DOES!! -And she does it with splendor and perfection! ;)
Red boots and cape status in my eyes for sure with a large bedazzled 'A' for Awesome. Oh, wait... that might be a little Scarlett Letterish. Maybe an 'S' for Stupendous? Oh, wait...*sigh* Well, you get my point. :p
~Christalee
Fantastic idea! It has been great to spray paint old into new around here and believe me there is plenty of things to work with just laying about-Montana- although I will have to wait till May to do any outside projects- It must be @60 in Washington to get the paint to dry! Keep up the good work!
ReplyDelete-Stacey-