Reuse, Recycle, Re DONE!

This post has nothing to do with paper crafting or card making but it is what I have been busy doing lately that has kept me out of the craft room -- :0(   This has been my follow up project to my kitchen island that I had bought on Craigs List:

Quite the "looker" I know... but after I refinished it and new stainless steel top:

This island has doors on both sides so it is perfect as my "baking station" and it gets lots of use. . .  Happy to have this new-to-me kitchen island but the project I just finished is our guest room - - this all began with DH buying and laying real oak flooring in that room. With the floor installed and sealed now it was up to me to "design and decorate it". . .  Had to decide the wall colour and paint the room. Then to decorate which brings my niece and her family who live out of state and visit us every August to mind . . .

She has little girls and last year the girls took turns putting soda cans and card board items in the recycle bin DH had built a stand for in the kitchen during their visit.  They do not have a recycle bin at their house and this was a big deal to them. So keeping them in mind I decided the guest room would be a "Reuse and Recycle" room to show the girls everything does not have to be new and "matchy, matchy".

Where to start??? Awhile back DH was going to an auction at an auction house and asked me if I wanted to go along with him. I had never gone to an auction before and this auction had his car parts and tools as well as household items for sale. DH shopped outside and I shopped inside. I bought an armoire for $35.00 thinking I could eventually refinish it and use it in the guest room once the floors were installed and finished. But that was the only piece of furniture I had for that room.

Remembering that DH had made benches out of old wooden doors over a year ago and I liked that he used an old wooden door for that so why not ask him to build a headboard for a double bed out of a wooden door? He agreed and he bought this wooden door from Restore -- they had priced this door for $25.00 but it had not sold for a couple of months so DH picked it up for $10.00:

This was a swing door so it did not have a door knob on it so no hole:

Here is the bottom to show this was a swing door:

DH explained he would be cutting off this corner of the door so it would not change the layout he had for the head board. Here is a photo of the head board cut and framed out with molding at the top:

Now this is where I come in.... DH can build pretty much anything and it all looks so nice... but don't ask him to paint anything as he does not like to paint and he complains it takes too much time... . which I know since I have been painting since the week of Easter.... haha. With the floors installed and finished I asked him to put up crown molding so he did that for the room. I then painted the walls and the crown molding and the baseboards. With those done we moved the door headboard into the room for me to paint it.   Here is a photo of the backside of the headboard upside down right after I painted the first coat on it:

DH attached the metal bed frame to the headboard after it was all painted:

Now to the armoire. It was not in bad shape but just needed painting and I wanted to add a glass door knob and a wooden applique to the bottom front of it... Sanded it down and DH glued the wooden applique on the front of the armoire:

The armoire took time to paint as I painted the inside and out and it took a couple of coats of paint.  Here are the photos of before:

Here is that painted and finished:

With me being busy in the house with all my painting I had honestly not even given a thought to nightstands for this room but DH was working on those. He used a wooden door and built the nightstands and the tops to these nightstands are made up extra oak flooring pieces he was not using:

His nightstands are a simple design but again uses old doors for the sides and back with flooring for the top and shelves. I painted the inside and outsides of the nightstands and he did the tops and shelves.

Just when I thought my painting was over DH told me one day after work that he had seen a small dresser at Restore and it would make a perfect fit for the guest room. He knew I would paint it but he did not know if I wanted to have a small dresser in there or not. I told him with the size it was it would work on the one wall of the room so the next day he picked it up and brought it home. I was happy that he bought it but what a painting nightmare for me --- Tip Toe Through the Tulips or It Is Not Easy Being Green both come to mind:

This poor little dresser had a couple of coats on it with a painting faux finish as the top coat and hand painted tulips on the drawer fronts. The piece on the back of this dresser also had to be replaced but the stamped logo in the top drawer says it was made in New Hampshire and it is maple. It is well built as the drawers are all dovetailed and solid. So DH moved it outside and I began sanding to take off the tulips when I found the emerald green paint (from Dorothy's old room on the Wizard of Oz? haha):

After sanding was complete DH removed the old back on the dresser and he added a new piece of lauan cut to the size for the dresser back. Then we moved the dresser back into the room for the coats of paint I would have to put on it:

I was surprised this dresser had white porcelain knobs that all matched?  DH explained he found the porcelain knobs also at Restore for $1 each and I am happy he bought those.... They were dirty but remember Dawn is not just for ducks and dishes.... I filled up a small plastic bowl of warm water and added the knobs and a squirt of Dawn and in a half hour the knobs were all clean and shiny white again. A day after the final coat of paint dried I put the porcelain knobs on the dresser and here that is:

Picked up an eyelet dresser scarf for the top of the dresser at the Restore and a larger dresser scarf for the top of the armoire at a thrift store. Brought them home and they went for a water ride - washing machine. Air dried those and ironed them and they look nice on their new homes:

Here is a photo looking into the room at the entry door:

Wall and furniture paint from Sherwin Williams (on sale). Comforter set by Ralph Lauren from Macy's (on sale and coupon), rug on sale at Wayfair, drapes and sheers on sale at JCPenney.com. Table lamps on nightstands are from Ikea. Here is a better photo of the headboard which started this project:

A BIG thanks to DH for his building talents and for helping me put this room together with my "Reuse and Recycle" ideas. My PIC (stamping Partner In Crime) has seen this room and she wants to know when she can move in?  LOL -- Hoping the girls enjoy their stay when they visit with my niece in August in the "Reuse and Recycle" guest room.... I am certainly happy to be finished painting and hoping to spend some SERIOUS time in my craft room again!! TFL