Our Shelves, Ourselves

You might have been wondering what’s going on with The Mystery Thrift-Off, especially if you have submitted an application or inquired about donating a prize.  Don’t worry! I haven’t gotten back to anyone just yet. I’m feverishly working behind the scenes to secure a sponsor for this thing, so we can do it up right. I’m hoping things will fall into place in the next week or two, then I will be choosing the participants and contacting everyone.  Thanks so much for your patience and for sharing the excitement with me!

And now for your recommended daily servings of before and afters, here are a few organizationally inspired projects:

Erin at DIY on the Cheap  gave this tired bookcase a fresh look with paint and removable wallpaper. Straightening up and styling go a long way too.  I try my darnedest to keep my daughter’s bookcase neat and pretty, but she’d rather use it to display her collection of chapstick lids and crumpled paper. And single earrings. And plastic cupcake toppers. And broken pencils. Sigh.

Sarah at FunCycled couldn’t give up on this retro TV, even though it was merely a shell of its former self.  But that was all she needed to create a super fun shelf! From a shell of itself to a shelf, can you say that five times fast? I just tried, and I cannot.

 

 

And another one from Sarah, who comes to you with open armoires. She removed the doors of this piece so it could serve as a display area. Fun fact: the backing of the cabinet is actually wood flooring. Smart!

See it at FunCycled.

 

Kammy bought this waterfall dresser at a yard sale for $5.  “What a treasure she found!” you may be thinking.  What you may not know is that more than a few mice had discovered it too, and all but destroyed the inside with their little mice teeth and little mice feces.  (Sometimes I play a game with myself where I try to think of the two saddest words. For example, “What party?”  But if I tried to think of the two grossest words instead, ‘mice feces’ would be a winner).

So, even though the top and bottom drawers were a total loss, she salvaged (and sanitized) what she could and used it as storage space for her guest room.  I’d say it was all worth it for those amazing art deco handles alone!  See more at Kammy’s Korner.

 

 

And last one from Shelly, who didn’t need another dresser, but what can you do when life hands you a free dresser? You take that dresser.

In this case, ‘life’ was her step-dad who discovered this perfectly fine and functional piece sitting at the curb on garbage day.  Shelly decided that she’d turn it into a drop-spot: a place to stash purses and backpacks, store hats and gloves, hold keys and mail, and even thrown in a phone charging station. That’s a lot of function, and all for free!

Well, after the cost of baskets it was $35.  Not a bad deal at all. And so cute. See more on her blog 100 Things 2 Do .