Windows, Doors & Drawers ~ Repurposing Household Items

I have an addiction.  I can't seem to get enough and it's already affecting my everyday life.  I don't know what will happen if I don't get my fix.  Yes, it's true.  If you aren't careful you may become addicted too!

The truth is I'm addicted to repurposing, recreating and reusing discarded furniture and household items.  It's a good thing there's no shortage of cast-off items to keep me at it indefinitely.  And for that quick shot of inspiration I like to visit Hometalk to see what other's have been up to.

Some of the items that are so often discarded can be easily repurposed into amazing home furnishings and decor.  The possibilities are endless!  So I thought I would share just a few ideas I found on Hometalk just to get your creative juices flowing.  I have an entire board devoted to the repurposing of Windows, Doors and Drawers and I'll continue adding new ideas each time I find them.

Find all of the above projects and many more in detail on my Hometalk Board 'Windows Doors and Drawers'

Next time you see that stray window, door or drawer on it's way to a landfill you may just want to grab it and see what you can make of it.

Wonderful windows re-purposed:

Design Dreams by Anne created this adorable little greenhouse with some old windows.

This amazing old window headboard was shared by Liz Marie Blog.

Wildflower Creative has a thing for vintage windows and I have a thing for how cute this photo display window turned out!

We've had fun with old windows here at Pondered Primed Perfected too, like these Porch Signs we created.

Delightful door DIY's:

The Pink Hammer Blog fashioned this fabulous desk from a door.

Tammy of Deja Vue Designs didn't let this roadside find pass her by.  

Instead she created a one of a kind hall tree just by adding a few key details.

How about this Privacy Screen put together by Not Just a Housewife?  

I totally need one of these on my back deck!

Now for some drawer redesign:

Proud Pooch Mama, Roeshel of DIY Showoff, is the creative force behind this drawer doggy bed!

Brightnest showed us a fun way to reuse those little cabinet drawers as planters.  Oh so cute!

And let's not forget the cabinet doors themselves:

Beth used this cabinet door as a canvas.  It looks so sweet!

Jaime of Crafty Scrappy Happy created some stylish storage with these little cabinet doors, some hooks and some knobs .

For even more Window Door & Drawer ideas visit my board at Hometalk

Thanks for stopping by today!

Sherry

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22 Clever Cabinet Ideas found on Hometalk

I'm a fan of clever ideas.

Many of my favorite projects involve taking something that is intended for one use and using it for an entirely different purpose.  The really cool thing about being a DIY blogger is we aren't limited by conventional ideas when it comes to our projects.  Everything we come across is seen as a possible makeover, repurpose, or upcycle project.  We are forever looking at the potential behind each and every yard sale, thrift store and roadside find.

I get excited when I see other peoples' ideas for the clever use of furniture.  There are so many great ideas out there.  And just to show an example of the creative ways people are finding to re-use furniture I've compiled 22 Clever Cabinet Ideas from  posts I've found on Hometalk.

Click photo to go to 22 Clever Cabinet Ideas on Hometalk

Cabinets hold special significance for us here at Pondered Primed Perfected because Our Very First Blog Post Ever  was about a freebie garage cabinet that Scott and I cleaned up and painted to use as a craft cabinet INSIDE our home.  It was a fun project to tackle together (we learned so much through the process!) and that cabinet has been an invaluable source of storage and organization ever since:

But we aren't the only ones repurposing cabinets.

Here are just a few Clever Cabinet Ideas I found on Hometalk by doing a quick keyword search:

At the Picket Fence shared this cabinet turned fun game center, with a dart board inside and chalkboard doors for keeping score of all the good-natured competitions that are sure to happen.

You may not like having all your sewing stuff out in plain sight but want it handy when you need it, right?  How about creating a Sewing Armoire like A Southern Belle with Northern Roots shared on Hometalk.

Coffee, anyone?  I totally need a coffee bar in my home like this one, shared by Wit Wisdom and Food on Hometalk.  If only it came with a built in Barista!

And if you need something a little stronger than coffee...Eve of Reduction shared this sewing cabinet turned cool Beverage Cart.  I'm totally feeling thirsty now.  :)  

The above and below cabinets both remind me of the stereo cabinet that Scott and I repurposed into a fun mini bar.  We shared that post on Hometalk too.  See our Hometalk post HERE.

This old stereo cabinet, shared by Practips, makes a perfect bathroom vanity.

And speaking of bathrooms, check out this cabinet:

Recaptured Charm shared this kitty commode she created from an old, discarded cabinet.  

(When it's all closed up you would never guess what's inside!)

Maybe you don't need a cabinet inside your home anymore?  There are many clever ideas for repurposing cabinets for use in your garage, shop or yard too.

How about this metal filing cabinet flipped on it's back and drawers removed.  A little paint and pegboard create an ideal storage spot for all those long handled tools and whatnots hanging about in the garage.  Shared by Brightnest on Hometalk.

Or this mini potting shed made from an old Armoire and shared by Art is Beauty.

WOW!!!  Those were just a few of the cabinets I compiled on my Clever Cabinet Ideas Board on Hometalk.

Click photo to be taken to 22 Clever Cabinet Ideas

You won't want to miss the rest of these Clever Cabinet Ideas.

You can visit my board on Hometalk HERE.

And next time you look at a discarded cabinet, just let your mind ponder the possibilities! 

If you haven't checked out Hometalk yet, you really should.  It's just overflowing with Home Improvement ideas and inspiration all being shared by Professionals, Bloggers, and Homeowners alike.  You can create an account to share your projects and even ask questions when you need help or advice on any home related subject.

Plus you can follow all of your favorite Hometalk peeps to see what amazing projects they are sharing there!

What are you waiting for?

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When that little voice inside your head says "paint the bed"...you paint!

My parents gave us a King Sized Sleep Number adjustable mattress.  They decided they would be better off with another type of mattress and so they generously brought their sleep number up and delivered it to us.  Many thanks to my wonderful parents!  We also got brand new memory foam components from the Sleep Number company.

You have no idea how much we appreciate you and your generosity, Mom and Dad!!!

So here is how our Master bedroom looked on Friday night.  How's that for red and dated? (below)

We were so excited to be getting a dual adjustable bed, especially because Scott likes his bed FIRM and I like my bed SOFT.  Can you believe it?  On another note, it is our 13th wedding anniversary today!  And that's about how long we've had this knotty wooden bedroom set.  Actually, I think we bought it when I was pregnant with Alex so we would have room in our bed for Scott, Myself and my big belly!

Of course getting a new mattress fueled the fire to change our bedroom.  It was long overdue.  I've had the paint for months...many months.  Sometimes I get all 'painted out' for awhile.  But it was time for that decade old, dated red TO GO!  It sucked all the light out of our room.  Great for sleeping but not so good for anything else.  We needed calm and peaceful, BUT we also wanted light and cheerful.  And so I pulled out all the painting supplies and got busy Friday night after work painting the walls with my helper, Alex.  Best to get the walls painted while the old mattresses were off the bed and it would be easier to move, right?  So I pulled the bed out from the wall and got to painting.  But that little inner voice in my head just kept at me, saying "You know you want to paint the bed...you've wanted to for a long time."  And I knew it was true but darn, painting the entire room:  the walls, the trim, PLUS the bed, was a lot of work in one busy weekend!  And I really did not want to take that bed frame apart and carry it downstairs by myself while Scott was away at tennis championships.  NO WAY!  And the thought of not finishing and being left without a bed for any number of nights...NOT GOOD.  It is our anniversary today...did I mention that!?  ;)

But late Friday night while Alex was sleeping and Scott was away, that inner voice started whispering to me again..."Now's your chance!  There's no mattress in the way, you've cleared the room and you've already got all of the painting supplies up here."  And so I grabbed a little roller and started painting the bed with some white paint...right there in the middle of the night...in the middle of the room...

Turns out a bed CAN be painted right where it sits.  Some cardboard under each leg so I could paint all the way down without getting paint on the floor was all it took.  Being extra careful not to paint the carpet or anything else in the room was important.  I just went with white because that's what I had and I'm very happy with the decision.  Even Alex and Scott like the white.  Yes, those men that are forever teasing me that I paint EVERYTHING white, said they really like it.  And so do I.  It is a nice, subtle contrast with the soft blue/grey of the walls.  And I like that the wall color makes it feel like we are floating on a cloud.

And the bed can be set to the perfect firmness for Scott AND me.  We feel like we are in heaven!  Thanks again Mom & Dad.

There's still much left to be done in this room, but for now we are loving the changes and taking our time deciding what color to paint the other furniture in the room.  If we decide to paint it.  Although the changes feel pretty good.

We still have an end table...

A big dresser with a mirror...

And the secretary desk (that came from my sweet grandma) I use as a side table to possibly paint....

A few more details and we might have an entire room makeover to share.  I think I just wore myself out thinking about all the things that still need to be finished...shwew...it may be awhile now!  Haha.  Let's hope not.  :)

Thanks for stopping by today to see what we've been up to!

We love that you are here!  Please take the time to click on your favorite method to follow (on the sidebar or that little purple bar conveniently located at the bottom of the page).  THANKS!

Sherry

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DIY Chair Planter ~ In the Flower Garden

I have had a thing for chairs for awhile.  I don't know exactly what it is.  Maybe it's because there are endless varieties of chairs.  Maybe it's because when you have lots of chairs everyone has a place to sit and make themselves at home.  That's always nice.  I just find chairs so charming.

But lately I'd noticed a couple of chairs that didn't have a place around here anymore.  They were looking tired and worn out and they had cracks going through the seats.  Not so charming.  Not the kind of chairs you want to offer to your guests, for sure!

They were destined for the next donation drop off...

But then all this Creative Planter talk going on got me to thinking....

About what I could add to these chippy "old" chairs to turn them into some fun garden planters.

I removed the cracked and broken seats and screwed the chains of wire hanging baskets right to the seat frames.  These hanging baskets have had a good life too...just like the chairs.  Notice all the cracked and faded charm they have?

I started out trying to cut a circle into the seat, BUT the seat was so badly cracked that it just came apart while I was sawing through it...so this ended up being the best solution.  Work with what you've got, right?

I quickly popped off the seat of the 2nd chair by turning it upside down and hammering it fiercly.  We call this therapy around here.  :)

I lined the wire baskets with some of this green moss. 

(It's grown right here in The Pacific NW ~ how's that for local!).

Many stores also sell the liners for these wire baskets, BUT they were out at the store I went to today.  I was so determined that nothing would thwart my chair planting project that I just grabbed the moss and moved on.

I also grabbed these shade happy geraniums, some quick growing vines and those adorable little "mega-white" Bacopa flowers that are great filler in hanging pots.  Just enough to fill my baskets with a little growing room left over.  I know these plants will need room to grow and mature so I didn't want to over do it.

My first chair planter finished!

Here are both chairs in the garden with a cute little girl playing peek-a-boo behind the tree.  :)

I'm so excited to watch them mature and fill in.  The vines I bought said on their insert that they are good with part shade and are FAST growing.  Just what these planters need.

I'm hoping they will become big bushy mounds of flowers growing over the seat area and vines cascading down the sides just like the big beautiful hanging baskets.

I can already picture it!

I'm loving this sweet little vignette in the corner of our yard.  

We are completely surrounded by fences, sheds and other people's houses, so it's nice to have something pretty to distract from all of that "fenced-in" feeling.  

For more fun Creative Planter Ideas check out this Google Hangout hosted by Kelly Elko of Eclectically Vintage and some other talented bloggers.

Enjoy your Spring Gardens!

Sherry

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The Love of a Dog. Happy 7th Birthday Sadie!!!

Today was Sadie's birthday!  She turned 7 years old..  Seven years that she's been a part of our family.  That means Alex was just three and a half when she came to live with us.

I did this painting of Sadie and Alex from a photo I took of them when they were just wee little ones together.  I posted about the painting HERE.  (I still need to do some finishing touches...sheesh, maybe I should finish it.)

She was six weeks old when we got her. I remember I could carry her in the palm of my hand...she was that tiny.  We're convinced she thinks she's human too.  You should see how jealous she gets when we all cuddle together on the sofa as a family without inviting her up.  How dare us???  She sure knows how to make us feel bad about leaving her out of the group!

And I almost forgot her birthday today.  I was so caught up in worrying about her....

Two days ago we noticed a hard little lump on her throat, underneath her collar.  It is definitely new because we like to move her collar and scratch her neck right there.  That's her favorite scratch spot.  :)  So Wednesday when Alex was scratching her favorite spot he first noticed the lump.  It was maybe the size of a gumball.  I figured I would watch it and see what happened over the next day or two.  

When I checked her neck Thursday the lump had grown quite a bit.  It was more the size of a walnut and had spread horizontally a bit.  And the bottom of her neck under her jawline seems swollen and stiff as well.  I thought maybe she got stung by a hornet since she likes to chase them and try to catch them in her mouth.

She has been chomping on hornets and bees for years.  She gets a bit obsessed with catching them.  She's been stung inside her mouth a couple of times before and the side of her face has swollen up pretty big, making her all lopsided and funny looking.   You would think she'd give up on the hornet chasing after getting stung once or twice, right!?  Nope.  Not Sadie.

She's really been the best friend our boy could ask for.  Here she is incognito with Alexander.

And I've learned that she likes to model in my blog photos.  Matter of fact it's a challenge taking a room picture without Sadie in it.  So I just let her have her day in the limelight.  Maybe she'll be famous someday, right?

Plus she's inspired some great blog projects like this silhouette dog bag.

Going to the park with the kiddos is one of her favorite activities.  Just don't tie her to a picnic table though!  She gets a bit boisterous if you tie her up.  Free spirited pooch that she is.

Here she is modeling her pink winter jacket.  Everyone kept calling her "HE" so I thought I'd give her something really girly to make a point.  Plus she gets cold so easily with that short fur of hers.  Boxers are definitely indoor dogs.  

Although she does enjoy a good snow day!

Here she is tearing it up in the snow.  She ran and ripped through the snow for a good 15 minutes or more this day.  It was hilarious!

This picture was taken on a late night snow excursion.  We were too afraid the snow would melt by morning so we snuck out to play in the dark.

She also loves play dates with her bestie.  She loves hanging with friends! 

And believe me, Sadie is friends with EVERYBODY!  And everybody LOVES Sadie.  She is quite a social butterfly.  (I just noticed how grey her face has gotten this last year or two...not much black left).

She can nap in the sunshine with the best of us.  

She's been here for so many of our fun life events...like trick or treating with Alex, The Mad Scientist...

And napping with all the babies that have grown up in this house.   She just cannot resist a baby laying on a blanket....EVER!  

As a matter of fact, I think kids are her favorite people.  She is the most gentle, loving dog we could have asked for.  

She even won Scott over.  He never really wanted a dog.  He just went along with it to keep the rest of the family happy...wonderful man that he is!  But he certainly fell in love with her just like the rest of us.  

Here she is looking to catch a Bullfrog.  It was her mission on this little walk around the pond....luckily they were too fast for her.  And she doesn't like to swim much.  ;)

Today is Sadie's Birthday and I wanted to honor her and all of the joy she has brought to our family.  I still remember those first years.  Years when she thought her name was "DOWN" instead of "Sadie".  And the numerous times we chased her through the neighborhood calling and begging her to come to us.  She just wanted to run free and visit each and every neighbor.  DAILY.  We survived those early years.  I'm still not sure how. I remember when people would tell us how adorable she was we would respond with "You want her?"  And back in those early days it may have been tempting to give her away.  The spunky, mischievous little puppy she was! Thank God we made it through and have enjoyed so many unbelievably rewarding years with our beloved pooch.

Here she is lounging in what became known as "Sadie's Chair".  Sadie just loved to sit in it right next to the front window ~ where she could keep an eye on the yard and driveway and all of the comings and goings!

This morning she did not come downstairs to eat her breakfast.  That never happens.  When I went up to find her I noticed her neck had swollen up huge overnight and she was barely able to move.  She appears very stiff in her joints.  Sometimes she holds her front paw up off the ground and she seems reluctant to sit or lay down again once she stands up.  It's clear she is feeling awful.

I pray she feels better soon.  She has an appointment with the Veterinarian at 1:30.  I hope that it's nothing serious and they can help her feel better quickly.  I hate seeing her feel this way.  

We love you so much, Sadie!

Update:  


Sadie made it in to the Veterinarian's.  The Hope Animal Hospital was so sweet and caring.  They let me rush her in right away because her swelling was increasing so rapidly and I was so anxious about her condition.  They gave her an antihistamine shot and a steroid shot. They felt she was having an anaphylactic reaction to a sting or bite.  Her swelling is going down and she's not nearly as stiff.  Already she seems better and we have more antihistamine medicine to give her.  Let's just hope she stays away from the hornets, wasps and bees from now on.  

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