Sexy legs and a stylin' formica redo

Hello everybody!  I have been really busy with too many open projects and too few hours, but here is one that has been completed and that I am entirely pleased with.  Pleased because it looks great and it cost me about $250 of fresh cash! I had a few bits and pieces already so I don't count them in because either they were free or I purchased them more than a year ago.

Ignore me in the background!

My daughter's bathroom was a bit sorry looking.  Kinda unfortunate because I hadn't allocated any money or time to upgrading her bathroom as other items seemed to demand priority.  Well that bit me in the old cheeks when I went into her sink cabinet to get some nail polish remover (my toes were looking really sad too, ah the end of summer - but I digress!). I discovered that the metal pipes were so corroded I could push my finger through them.  I didn't  push my finger in - but I did adjust my priority listing.  Here is her bathroom... note the faux marble formica  top and the  'used to be trendy' clear plastic faucet covers.  What you don't see is the rusted shower curtain pole and dated light fixture above sink.  Hey - we all have to make sacrifices :)

My original thinking was to only replace the pipe -- but that came with problems.  I ended up having to remove the taps and the sink to get to everything.  So by the time the pipes and the cabinet were off the wall and the sink in pieces I had to concede that it was a perfect opportunity to surprise her with a  stylin', but  budget conscious upgrade.  I went to look at new vanities ( $600+ ouch!).  Truth is a new vanity would stand out like a sore thumb and hers was a custom size (41inches), so a standard top wasn't going to fit either.  Can you hear cha ching???

A friend came over while I was in the pipe replacement mode and together we nodded our heads on the escalation of the project into 'operation bathroom redo'!   New taps, new light fixture (already had one), new shower curtain rod, new counter top (still formica, but the updated version!)   I chose a brushed gun metal finish.  The oracle was consulted, how do you replace formica?   Don't you just love YouTube university!?!  Yup, not hard but requires a special tool -- a router --  so we borrowed one.  The bonus add in -- to up the styling quotient --was the cast iron bath tub feet added to the cabinet instead of ordinary legs!  I had purchased a set of 4 about 18 months ago on a trip to Nova Scotia at a place called renovators-resource. I just had to have them-- I knew they would come in handy - yaaaay!

Ok, so we used a screwdriver, my drill, a special cutting blade to cut the formica along with my jig saw,  the specialised laminate glue and silicone to water proof the top where it met the walls.  The plumbing required wrenches, plumbers tape and putty and of course
 new PVC pipes.   The router was used to smooth the edges of the
formica so that you didn't get uneven rough seams.

Replacing the taps was pretty easy.  Off with the old and on with the new + a bit of plumbers putty  (It's like plasticine or playdoh you roll little snakes and flatten them out and press in place.)  Connecting the drain - once the instructions were followed worked well.  We used the existing hole in the plywood surface to trace and cut (jig saw) the sink hole in the formica and carefully measured the actual size of the rectangular cabinet top.  The jig saw cut was rough but it didn't matter because that bit would be under the sink.  On the straight edges we used the specialised tool to score and snap it apart.

The legs!  Well, the feet were actually taller than the existing legs and caused us to have to make adjustments.   Nothing is without consequences! Like lengthening the piping (pipe extension needed) and the tubing that connects the water to the taps and drilling new holes (masonary drill bit)  in the tile wall to attach the sink cabinet to.  But hey it was worth it!

Admittedly I didn't work with the electricals -- those bits scare me somewhat.  It did involve buying a white circular cover to hide the hole left by the other light fixture.  Fortunately that's a common problem and they have an application for that!

With the addition of the new shower rod we were done!  I added some silver decor items to glam it up and Dom dum dum dum!   Ok, I can't sing but who cares, you get the picture!

silver spray job

Moral of the story... don't let old pipes prevent you from revealing your sexy legs!

TD

Rough and ready -- chair envy

It's rained for weeks - mud city!

So the other day a pair of free chairs came my way. (Thanks Lynn!)  They were wrought iron swivel type bar height stools.  Rusty and with almost no seat cushions left.  I was in love!  I imagined them sanded down with new seats placed next to my iron maiden and my ottoman.

The trouble was, I didn't have any fabby fabric to set them up with.  Who wants to pay 50$ a yard for fabric? -- I wanted a free solution to materialise :)  after all free stuff shouldn't cost you money!!!! I had to think fast, I was too eager to get started on them so had to take extreme care not to go near a fabric store.  Then the idea came...   Burlap, I love the look of it-- it is rough and yummy all at the same time, AND I knew where it was free (favourite word again!)  for the asking!!!  My neighbourhood - roast their own - coffee shop.  Thank you Rock Island Coffee!

I snagged 2 empty coffee bags just for the asking.  One said Guatemala, one just had the weight and type of bean on the front.  They were perfect!  I decided to not use the printed side - cause they didn't match :(   But first things first.  I sanded the chairs down using my sanding block, so much easier than using paper.  Soon they were smooth and ready.

I dismantled the seats, turns out the pressed fibre board was in shreds, had to be thrown out.  No matter, I had some ends of 1/2 inch or so plywood and traced the shape and took my jig saw and cut out the bottoms.  The foam was in reasonable shape so I kept that.  Because there was no fabric cover to trace, I had to make my own pattern.

technical stuff!

I took the board, placed it on the burlap and took the next handiest measuring tool I had -- a nail file -- and used it to make the pattern. (Hey, I didn't go to school for this stuff, I make it up and use what I have!)  I made a mark on the nail file and measured out from the edge of the wood and traced a shape about 4 inches bigger than the stool.   Then just to be extra sure I cut  the burlap an inch bigger than my pattern.  The little voice in my head said you can work with too big, but who can tolerate too small!  Turns out it was a good call.  I needed the extra.  Science sm-ience ha!

I put them together, it worked.  I took extra care to get the corners tight -- that's the difference between an amateur job and a snazzy one!  BUT ... OH NO...  I loaned my industrial staple gun to a friend who had just gone away and would be gone for 2 weeks.  Who has time for that!! I needed my gun.  In my fervor I used push pins (readily available)  I just needed to see them together.  The corners slackened. But I got the gist.  On a practical level I added some stick-on pads to the bottom of the stool legs, I hate the sound of metal scraping the floor.  Now to add the wow factor... 

In my craft / junk/ floral  workroom I have a bin of fabric samples.  Last Christmas I made a tree of floral rosettes using some tweedy fabric samples.  Perfect!  I stripped the tree and re-purposed the rosettes.  Yes!  the wow factor I was looking for.

Love!

Even though they aren't finished  'cause my friend won't return for at least another week,  I assembled them for a picture to show you.  I can't wait on stuff like that.  I'm the type of girl that forces people to open their  Christmas gifts early - so to tame the urge, I shop on Christmas eve. Oh well, we all have our faults.

A friend commented on the chairs "do you think they'll be itchy??" My response?  Hell yes, keep your pants on!   Sometimes beauty comes at a cost!

TD