SIDEWALK SCORE OF THE WEEK

Find: Small wood dining dining table

Location: My apartment

This week my “score” was basically handed to me. It had been left in the apartment I was renting by the previous tenant and was just begging for some DIY. It is the perfect size for the space we are in and I was drawn to the detail of the table (and you can’t beat free). I kicked around a couple different ideas and in the end I went with a fresh paint job to brighten up the whole room!

Table in original state

I kind of love the idea of painting the entire table set the same color. Painting the table, bench and chair the same color the same great shade of green does such a great job of brightening up that space and giving a fairly rustic dining set a little edge.

Farm Table seen on Remodelista

Painting the table with a lace pattern is something I’ve always wanted to do and never had the chance. I decided against doing it on a dining table due to the current state of the table top as well as the wear and tear it will get currently being our only table in that room! This DIY is super simple and I will definitely be tucking this idea for future end tables etc.

Lace painted table at A Beautiful Mess

If the wood on this table were a little better I could have done a nice sand and stain to keep it simple. It would have need a LOT more sanding then I would have felt comfortable doing indoors. With the type of legs the table has, sanding and staining evenly would have been really difficult and I imagine I wouldn’t have been as thrilled with my final result. This is a good DIY for those looking to keep it simple.

Wood staining DIY at familyhandyman.com

I am obsessed with the table now that it has a bright, BRIGHT turquoise paint job, with metallic bronze details no less.  After throwing a bright pink linen table runner on it for protection I loved it even more, which is kind of weird. I love how it injects some color into the living room/kitchen area and it has since given me a ton of inspiration for ways to build around it!

Final Product!

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SIDEWALK SCORE OF THE WEEK

Find: Shipping Pallets

Location: Construction Site on 11^th street.

There is a house down the street from me that has been doing some sort of remodel for at least 3 months.  There is constantly a crew bringing materials in and out of the house and I have been keeping an eye on the dumpster at the curb, hoping some interesting finds make there way out there for me to snag! A few months ago I came across a DIY post (featured below) that used shipping pallets as paneling for an accent wall. The end result was so warm and interesting I made a mental note to incorporate that into my home one day. While out and about the other day I came across a lone pallet inside the fence of the construction site.  I love the bright yellow strip of color on the pallet and it has the perfect about of distressing. I’m hoping that it makes its way into the dumpster soon and I can make myself something fun! In the meantime, here are some options for those lucky ones with shipping pallets lying around.

This DIY is a dream project for me! I love the perfect weathering of the wood they have and the way the wood adds warmth and texture to their bedroom. They do a great job of explaining the process step-by-step, with care to explain any obstacles you might come across. I love the imperfections and character the wall has and cannot wait to try a project similar to this one.

from Justagirlblog.com

I love how this winery re-purposed their shipping materials and wine casks to make shelving in their tasting room. Stacked pallets, with a little stabilization, would make a great counter space and shelving unit.  If you do not have/want a counter the depth of the pallet, there is always the option to cut down the pallet to the size you want and continue on as planned with the DIY. With a little creative woodworking and crafting you would be able to turn this into a great little bar/wine shelf!

creative winery shelving

This is what I am hoping to do with my pallet. I love the idea of a rustic coffee table, especially with wheels! The natural wood would look great in my living room and the bright yellow stripe on the one I want (or added to any pallet) would make a great pop of color.

outdoor pallet table from Joy Ever After

Now that I live in a city, I am drawn to any and all urban gardening DIY’s. This would be a great project to add some green to any apartment patio!

urban gardening ideas from life on the balcony

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SIDEWALK SCORE OF THE WEEK

Find: Bunk Bed Ladder

Location: 11^th Ave

I happened to find this ladder on the sidewalk deep in the middle of my Ladder Bookshelf obsession, that or it spawned my obsession…chicken,egg.  When I convinced the boyfriend to help me bring a completely useless ladder home late one night, I was still pretty unsure what exactly it would turn into. Not wanting to let on and risk losing the manpower, I rattled off some vague bookshelf project and started brainstorming in my head.  This ladder belonged to a standard issue set of bunk beds, therefore the wood was a bright laminated pine, with the feet cut at angles to best warrant leaning and climbing. While perfectly reasonable for a bunk bed ladder, it made it almost impossible to keep the ladder upright. After a few trips to Loews wandering around, doing my best not to look like the clueless girl among contractor men, I decided that building some sort of square base would take the pressure off the angled feet and keep it from sliding. In the end I made a very basic square base and will probably add the pads that are on the bottom of chairs to curb any sliding. Bracketing into the wall is also a good way to secure the ladder, but being a renter I don’t really want to go there!

There are a couple different ways to do this project, all involving some manner of the same additions. Below are some ideas for turning this ladder into a functioning piece in your house!

Amazing use for a ladder! While my ladder is more “little boys room” than “beautiful design showroom in Norway”, the concept is beautiful and would be a great take on a traditional wall mounted shelf. With the right paint color and items on display it could be a really fun piece in any room.

from Mias Interior

In a perfect world I would have a massive sunny house, with hundreds of built in bookshelves and cabinets and would NEED a traditional library ladder. While I am a lifetime away from that, the idea of a library ladder has always been so attractive. Even with a standard tall bookshelf, if given the right base, the ladder could be simply propped up against the bookshelf to mimic the idea of a library ladder!

Ladders from NIBS blog

Another slightly more advanced project would be to create a pot rack from an old ladder. If the wood of the ladder sturdy enough, it could easily be mounted and hung from the ceiling to add some charm to a usually standard pot rack. Pot racks in the right kitchen as a fun way to display all your pots and pans and any variation on the traditional style would be great!

DIY Pot Rack from Apartment Therapy

I decided to go with a bookshelf/craft “closet”/office organizer. I added a few squares of craft wood to the bottom two rungs to create larger shelves, added a backboard to one for even more shelving and created a square base on the bottom. I painted with the grey paint I had from last weeks table project and went crazy with about 100 ft. of sisal twine to create some texture and add a rustic element. I am SO excited with the end result.  By turning this into shelving, it can be used in ANY room in the house; bathroom storage for towels, bedside table with a funky clip on lamp, bookshelves anywhere, office supplies…the uses are endless!

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SIDEWALK SCORE OF THE WEEK

Welcome to Sidewalk Score, where our writer Fran finds junk on the street and turns it into something special.

Find: Vintage Dining Room Table

Location: 10^th Avenue, Brooklyn NY

This is one of the coolest tables I have ever seen! Found on the street, covered in dust, with a “FREE, TAKE ME HOME” sticky on it, I knew this table was something special (aka worth carrying up 2 very narrow flights of stairs to my apartment).  It has an all-metal top, including two hidden leaves. The entire expansion system works on a system of springs that lifts the table top up, pulls out and locks the two leaves into place to make a tight, flat surface.  The legs of this table had been painted half off-white, half black and had seen better days. They needed to be fixed up a bit to really bring this table back to life!

Here are some examples of methods to jazz it up…

Hot pink would really be a great way to give this table some punch. You pretty much can’t go wrong with hot pink and B&W but almost any bright color would work in this situation.

Table from Steph and Phil’s Reimagined Victorian

Metallic! Gold or Silver legs on this table would really take it up a notch. Again, with the top of the table being very versatile you could do a nice warm gold or a brushed silver paint on the base; I would avoid a chrome finish or anything that is too shiny, it would look out of place.

Night Stand with Curved Legs

Feeling lucky? Adding detail to the legs would be a great DIY fix too, like this fun bright pattern painted on ordinary sofa legs!

DIY painted legs

And here is what I did. Spent the better part of my Saturday cleaning, sanding, priming and painting it this nice glossy grey. I had originally planned on a hot pink or watermelon red but in the end went with a nice clean grey.  The ladder in the photo is another street find and will most likely be my next project!

Until then, Happy Hunting!

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