As you know, I have a passion for resurrecting old objects, for bringing them into the present so they do not end up sitting on a curb waiting for a pick up. I have picked up an object now and then from such a curb but really enjoy picking through a building, barn or field full of old stuff pulling out an item here and a find there, looking at it in a different light and asking myself, “what could this become?”. I love working on these pieces to bring out their former beauty or to reinvent them for a new purpose. The battle with this love is that you have a tendency to collect too much “stuff” that could be a candidate for this process but not enough time to make it happen. In fact just recently, someone stated that I could be labeled a border line hoarder. Might have been my husband! 

This year, I am setting aside the time to work on some of the former cast offs that I have sitting in storage areas of the barn, the garage, the wood shed, the horse stable stalls and making it happen. It is a good thing that Maggie, who joined us two years ago last month, also has a love of giving a new life to these objects and doesn’t mind getting dirty. She and I have been working away to bring some of these re-inventions to you in time for the upcoming Summer Sale. Below you will find a sampling of some of the BEFORE  beauties that we found that needed a little lovin to bring them back.  There are also some AFTER photos in the post as well but we do not  want to give too much away for we would love for you to you to come and see these items in person at our upcoming Summer Barn Sale, June 2nd – 4th. We are woking on a step by step DIY post series that we will be launching this summer where we will share all of our tips and tricks so that you can tackle a project or two yourself! 

Crates, footstools and a half painted French arm chair with beautiful lines and a wonderful upholstery job done in a not so favorite fabric choice that some past owner tried to change. 
Piles of old grain and feed sacks and cut boards.
I love the texture of these vintage sacks that I have collected over the years and the fact that someone saved them for another purpose.
More cotton feed sacks and batting to be used in converting the old crates into seats…

like this one…

and then once attached to the crate where we had previously secured castors onto, you have a great little rolling seat to pull up to a coffee table.

Chippy vintage chairs where the chippy is more like peeling.
Little DIY tip here… it is always a good idea to prep your surfaces before painting and sanding is a great way to do that.

Finished painted chair that has not yet been subtly distressed or seated.

And the finished chair!

Wouldn’t this on-the-way-to-be-rotted-out old silo door make a great towel rack?

A lot of sanding…

and then a coat of dark wax brought back its luster and sealed the rough edges. 

Why anyone would paint these leather-topped stools in this color blue is beyond me… and I normally love the color blue in all shades!
I guess the past owner of this set could not make up their mind and painted some of the stools black after agreeing with me that the blue was a no-go. This is where I stepped in and said all of the paint had to go and this is where the handy-dandy sander came in to work away on the layers of paint.

Here is the finished product after getting all the paint off and waxing the old leather and spray painting the metal legs black.

I love them!
Gorgeous shape and adorable diminutive size… but definitely not loving the paint and fabric.

A base coat of white coat moved the chair in the right direction but still not loving the fabric with the stye of the chair…

so another coat of paint, some distressing in the right areas and a newly covered seat cushion makes for a lovely little chair.

This piece has seen better days and I think the past owner must have been the same person who painted  those leather stools with the same blue!

We thought that it might be a beautiful wood underneath … so we covered it back up again in a new coat of white paint and then did some waxing and distressing. You’ll have to check out the finished product at our upcoming Summer Sale!

This gorgeous piece that we made a couple of years back needed some TLC with damage to its top. It is going to a new home with a beautiful customer who frequents our sales so we wanted to make it right for her. The big reveal on this beauty will be coming up in our DIY series.  

“What is old can be made new again”  is our motto here and we so appreciate those of you who feel the same way and support our efforts in this endeavor. We are looking forward to seeing many of you at our upcoming Summer Soiree Preview Party on May 31st or our Summer Barn Sale which opens to the public free of charge on June 2nd- June 4th.

Click here to purchase tickets to our Summer Soiree Preview Party on May 31st!

I leave you with this quote that I found that speaks to what we are doing here by repurposing items that might be cast-offs to some.

“We are not to throw away those things which can benefit our neighbor. Goods are called good because they can be used for good: they are instruments for good, in the hands of those who use them properly.”