I forgot about this... found it in my bookmarks... will try and update more often

Dining Area for the Coastal Cabin

Since I don't particularly want to spend too much on my holiday cabin I look for bargains to upcycle furniture. I look everywhere, Op-shops (mostly Sally's and Vinnie's), second hand furniture shops, Also I can't forget Gumtree, the free Local Classifieds from all over Australia, to Buy and Sell in your local are. I also browse the Green Shed, which is a second hand building materials outlet.

 View of the 'dining area' when I purchased the cabin








I started ... totally cleaned floors and walls, gave away or tossed out all the original furniture left there.
Pictures is with a few newly purchased/up-cycled items




Added a $29.oo white standard lamp, from Bunnings, since there is no direct lighting above the table.









 NEARLY ready, walls are still to be painted white.




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I paid $20.oo for the table and 2 high gloss finish spray paint, at.$12.oo for both.


The table is small 500 cm x 1200 cm and made from pine, I did like the turned legs.

(didn't get an original pic, of course I only remembered to take a photo once I started to up-cycle it)
      
I sanded all of the table and did a quick base job with old white paint. sanded between coats.
 (PS: the cane sofa chairs in the background are for the decking at the front of the cabin down the coast) 









I didn't paint underneath the table and love the look of the turned legs




 


My sister had some lovely cane and wicker chairs she had not used since forever. (Free)
    
I spray painted the chairs in white high gloss paint 3 coats . ($18.oo)













 
 

4 Cushions from The Reject Shop for $8 each. $32.oo.
All the table ceramics table toppers are from one and/or other op-shop. Approx $20.oo












The jute 2 m round mat I bought from K-Mart for $39.oo.








The pictures on the wall are framed water colour sketches I found at Sally's for $24.oo







The walls still need to be painted (white) maybe with some borders... but wont look at that option until it is all painted. I saw some great ideas on the site Hometalk.com. and Pinterest.com


All up the dining area cost me under $200.oo and I am pretty happy about that!! (The cost of the blue, fully lined, curtains I will add in the grand total of curtains purchased)

Staining Laminate Wood Flooring

Staining laminate wood flooring is a job you can do yourself with easy to follow step by step instructions. Staining is a rewarding job, watching the transformation from raw laminate wood to a deep, rich, color that gives definition and life to your floor. You must have an entire day to dedicate to your floor because once you start staining, you must complete it without stopping. Here is how to approach staining a laminated wood floor.


What You Will Need

    Stain
    Masking paper
    Masking tape
    Box of rags
    1 gallon paint thinner (mineral spirits)
    3 inch china bristle brush
    Degreaser (such as quality dish washing liquid)
    Floor scrubber with long handle
    Floor mop
 
Step 1-Clean Your Laminate Flooring

The most important aspect in preparing your floor for staining is to make sure your floor doesn't have oily substances on it. To clean your floor, mix degreaser in a bucket of hot water and use your scrub brush to apply, working back and forth to get it nice and clean. When you have finished a 4' X 4' area, use your floor mop with clean, hot water to rinse thoroughly. Do not leave excess water pools. If you have pools of water, use some of your rags and wipe the excess up. Repeat this process until your entire floor is clean. Allow it to dry 24 to 48 hours before applying stain. During this drying period, you may mask your baseboards off.

Step 2-Mask Off and Protect

Run a strip of masking tape along the bottom of your baseboard where it meets your flooring all the way around the perimeter of your room Try not to completely stick the top edge of your tape down. Now, you will run a single strip of masking paper around your room. Just slide your masking paper behind your tape and then press it down firmly. This is why you want to keep the top edge of your tape loose. Now, use a small piece of tape and tag it up to the wall so it doesn't fall. Do your best to go sparingly when sticking tape to your wall as to not damage your wall paint.

Step 3-Apply Stain

To apply your stain, begin in the farthest corner and work your way to the exit. Work in 4 X 4 sections. Shake your can of stain well and open it. Apply it with your china bristle paint brush beginning along the edge, first making sure you apply going with the grain pattern of the wood. Then, using a rag, wipe any excess stain off until color looks uniform. Continue working in sections until your entire floor is stained. Allow your floor to dry the amount of time according to manufacturers label instructions. 

The next step will be to sand your floor to prepare to apply a finish.
Staining laminate flooring seems like a such a big task to tackle, but anyone can do it. It doesn't require special skills to be able to do it. Just a few short and easy steps is all it takes to know how to stain a laminate floor yourself.

Recipe for Removing Water Stains and Marks from furniture:

Olive Oil
Table Salt

- Mix the olive oil and the salt in a bowl to make a thick paste.
- The salt draws out the moisture, and the olive oil feeds the wood.  And it is magical.
- Then, simply rub the paste onto the damaged area.  I made mine pretty thick, and just sat it on the areas where I had damage.  Leave sit for approximately :30 minutes, and wipe all excess paste off of furniture.

All of the stains will magically be gone!

Quick Update 4July 2016

New Ideas

I did a scale model of the lounge/dining area of the Cabin and the furniture that I have purchased and I have decided to review the layout of the furniture.

So I decided that the long 1.5 m side table that I had refurbished is too long and decided to search for something different. I found a Display cabinet on Gumtree (this is a "Free Local Classifieds Ads from all over Australia, Buy and Sell in your local area") On the ad it was called a Buffet. Besides, being a great price, as many others that looked decent were well over $100, this was only $30, this 'buffet' was a much better size. Yippee! The width of the buffet is 106cm with a depth of 42cm.

When I contacted the seller I was hoping that the top metal shelving was removable.. and ... and lucky for me it was!

I am going to most likely paint the cabinet white with chalk paint and use it as a TV cabinet, I have a small 24" HD TV.

My sister suggested I keep the wood original as I do have a couple of older pieces in a very dark wood. PS: I am not very good at guessing what kind of wood is used. I will also change the handles to make it more of the "Hampton look" style. ( I wonder what others think??)

The metal shelving I will use in the kitchen of the cabin.

It was easy to remove the metal shelving, which was a blessing for transporting the whole unit in my sister's SUV. It was very heavy.

Now it is taking up space in my living room (LOL until I can organize to transport it down the coast.

Bentwood Chairs - Up-cycled

My sister gave me 4 old Bentwood chairs, that she had purchased second hand but never got to use them. They had been sitting in her storage for a few years.



 


 

I thought they would be great for my Cabin.











AND .. they look great with my Up-cycled $10 (Op shop purchased) Table