Repurposed & Redone: Thrift Diving

Serena Appiah is a blogger and owner of Thrift Diving, a blog about thrift stores, DIY, home improvement, and turning what is "expensive" into the "affordable." She's a mom of 3 young boys (ages 6, 3 and 15 months), and has been blogging for 7 years. For the past year, she has been finding the best thrift store scores and turning them into beautiful, functional pieces for her home. You can find her on Google+ and Facebook.





So what do you do when you want an amazing craft room, but there's no way in heck you can afford to buy retail furniture?? Shop THRIFT stores, that's what! And that's exactly what I did. I've been working on my craft room so diligently lately, and I'm making progress! I haven't had a lot of time, because I've been with writing articles for my other blog, Get Your Life Straight, so, yeah, I've been busy! The amazing thing is that 90% (if not more) of everything in this crafting room (slash "office" since hubby and I need to share) has come from a thrift store or is second-hand. It's true. But that's what so cool--being able to put a cozy room together on a shoestring budget! Now, let's have a quick look, shall we? Here's the BEFORE of what the room looked like for the first year that we lived here: cold, bare, and poo-poo brown. ICK!    

  Here's the run-down...

   

This $30 vintage Anco Bilt drafting table that I found from the thrift store (which I later found out was really worth over $300!) feels right at home perpendicular to the wall. And thank GOD I didn't paint it before researching it! Anyhow, I love the vintage, rustic look.   Now, for that shelf hanging above the table. I am so excited about it! It was only $5.00 at the thrift store! It's perfect for storing my paints, die cutters, and stamps. I've been collecting tin cans, actually, which fit perfectly, and plan to jazz those up a little bit, for FREE :)

I painted the shelf with Annie Sloan Old White chalk paint, and then waxed and distressed. Next, I added contact paper from Target, which was super cheap--about $5.00 for a big roll. Much cheaper than crafting paper or wall paper!

  And this beauty here.....this is my sewing cabinet that I found at the thrift store for a mere $40.

 

Sitting on the desk, I have this cool vintage shoe shine wooden kit box. Loved it! Thrift store, about $6.00. I just store scissors or note pads in there.

These beautiful butterfly prints were cut out from the packaging of the computer paper that my company was using temporarily. I wish I could find out which brand of computer paper it was, because I want more of these glossy prints! What a pretty logo! :) See--I never let a great idea pass me by. So.....the super "UNPRETTY" part of the room is the ghetto shower curtain that I have hanging at the window. I have on my agenda to make curtains. I even have the beautiful fabric (hiding under that brown box, which HAPPENS to be the new Silhouette Cameo that I haven't yet unpacked because there's no safe place to store it out of the hands of prying children). So, yeah, I'm working on it! And I am planning to change out the curtain rod to BLACK. And the cream wool rug came from Home Goods. It was a steal for $80 (5x7). 'Cause if you've been following this blog for any length of time, you know I don't buy rugs from thrift stores, right? ;-) I love cream-colored ru And last but not least, my pretty little DIY card catalog has been moved over near the door. I like that it helps to create a little walk-way when you come into the room.

Here's the AFTER:

And there you have it, folks-- my "in progress" craft room! If you like my craft room, be sure to check out other fun ideas over at my blog, Thrift Diving! I love to hear from you silent, lurking readers ;) Plus, any suggestions for you have for the room! :)   Pin It Now!