The Upcycle

Hello Lovelies!
As promised I'm back this week, feeling energized, crafty and ready to get back into my blog.
As mentioned in my last post, Dennis came home yesterday! I've been counting down the days until his return and couldn't believe he was waiting when I returned home from work yesterday afternoon. It took me a good half an hour to shake the feeling that I was dreaming and that he was really back. An odd sensation that I can't really describe. I'm VERY VERY happy he's home though!

So Dennis is back and I'm back also!!!
I have a rather pleasing project to share with you, one that I've been working on over the past week.
Early last week when cycling home from work, I passed a mound of rubbish that had been left out on the street to be taken away by the dustbin men the following morning. As I passed I glimpsed a dirty, dusty old chest of drawers amongst the bric a brac. I continued on my way home.
Once at home I kept thinking about the drawers. "Maybe I could do something with them?", "Oh no, where would I put them? "."There's no point collecting more rubbish!". I couldn't drop the idea that maybe I could make them beautiful and functional once again, just like I did with this chair.  Later that evening (probably way past midnight) I decided to go back down the road and have a look at them.
Once back at the mound of rubbish I knew that I had to give the used and battered drawers a chance of a second life. I picked them up and carried them back home. 

The next morning I had a good look at the drawers:

They were in a bad state. One of the legs had fallen off and the other legs were severely wobbly. Covered in dust and cobwebs, they appeared to be the graveyard of dozens of long deceased spiders. 

The insides of the drawers were also dusty. The linings of the drawers were torn and in need of some love and the drawers had no handles, just a metal keyhole to one of the larger drawers.

The plus side of the drawers was that they were made of solid wood and other than the legs, the main body of the drawers seemed extremely sturdy. 

 

I removed the metal key hole, and got to work sanding down the old and damaged drawers. Cleaning away the dust and cobwebs and getting rid of the weathered varnish. 

Already after sanding them down they were looking a little brighter.

All they needed now was a lick of paint:

I chose a rather soft and calming blue.  It wasn't quite a baby blue, a little deeper than that. A rather gorgeous colour I must say! 

I painted the exterior and all of the drawers. I was most happy with the results!!

Once the paint had dried, I gently sanded down some of the edges to add a weathered, distressed effect. 

Then I got to work fixing the legs, they seemed to be all different lengths. I trimmed them down with my saw, making sure the drawers stood sturdy and level. I added a generous helping of glue to each of the four legs to secure them in place.

Varnishing time! I varnished everything, making it that extra bit resistant to the wear and tear of daily use.

Finally I added the keyhole that I had removed, along with a new key and some knobs to open the drawers. 

It was pretty much finished!!! Quite a transformation, I must say!

From something that was way past its used by date, destined for the rubbish dump, to a rather happy and new looking piece of furniture. 

Not bad for under 30 euros, the most expensive part was the new knobs for the drawers. The paint cost me a mere 4 euros and the sand paper and varnish I already had down in the cellar. Not too bad, eh?!!!!

So the drawers were done and I absolutely adored them! I just wasn't sure where I was going to put them. I moved them into the apartment and tried them in the living room, but the living room felt a little cluttered with an extra piece of furniture. I tried them in the bedroom and it was a similar situation. 

So I decided I would put them down in the cellar and keep my tool and bits 'n bobs in them. A pretty sad fate for such gorgeous drawers, as nobody would really get to see them. 

Later that day I showed the drawers to a friend of mine, he thought they looked great! "Why not keep the on the balcony?". Not such a bad idea, as the blue looked lovely against the vibrant greens and dashes of colour that the flowers had to offer. 

So thats what I did....I left the drawers on my balcony. They will be the perfect place to store some tools (so that I don't always have to go down to the cellar to find them). Also, I can keep my gardening equipment in them, so that I don't keep cluttering up the balcony! 

So that was sorted! They're staying on my balcony!! With that in mind, I decided to add some extra nobs onto the side of the drawers so that I could hang a few extra things from them. 

I rearranged my plants so that the drawers could sit against the wall:

I must say..... I'm pretty chuffed with them!! They add a lovely spot of contrast to the other furniture I have on the balcony.

Sure they look nice they,  but I'm  most happy that  I could give them a new lease of life!

Hope you are all having a fantabulous weekend?!
Until next time....

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