This low slung modern coffee table from Goodwill was stacked up in my garage for over a year — the fake wood laminate top kept throwing me for a loop. To upholster the laminate top by wrapping fabric around the solid wood edges seemed like a waste of the natural surface. Then I remembered I had a remnant of a yellow leather hide in my studio. The mellow yellow did absolutely nothing for the wood tones, but when I flipped it over to the suede side, it had the zingy contrast, texture and modern dash I was looking for.

Gingham pleads innocent until you turn it on it's side, or should I say, on the bias? Once the traditional check pattern is tilted, it's more more grown up and ready to move out of the kids' room. Next, add a set of painted chrome hourglass legs, and this little footstool is ready for its debut. An added bonus is that this little all american tuffet was made using 99% recycled materials. The red and white gingham was a fabric remnant, the base and legs came from an old end table, and the foam was a second from a local furniture store.

This is a true story. Salvation Army had a two tiered laminate topped table with beat up, yet solid and attractive, wooden legs. The table was a mess so I asked one of the attendants who was moving furniture around if I could remove the legs and leave the tabletop. He not only agreed, he removed the screw in legs, taped the four gems together and priced the the whole set at fifty cents. Here's what happened next...

When you find one of these old record cabinets, you absolutely must buy it. After a good cleaning, it's a perfectly charming piece of furniture you can use for a side table, printer stand or even to hold a vintage turntable. Once the wood is cleaned up, sanded, primed and painted, the sides are ready to cover in spotted cowhide. It's a piece of furniture that's practical, as well as chock full of personality. Occasionally, DIY projects don't turn out as well as you imagined, not so with this one, it's a keeper.

Big pillows may be readily available, but what if you long for custom accessories that won't break your bank? My mock boxed cushions stuffed with standard bed pillows are so inexpensive and easy to make, you'll never want mass produced again. Once you make one, it only takes about 30 minutes to put the next one together. This project goes so fast, you can knock out 3 or 4 before noon, clean up your apartment and be ready for guests by 7:00. This is a clever way to bring unexpected color and pattern into your room.

A sharp addition to crisp, modern bedding is a monogrammed throw pillow, or two. A monogram still looks very smart and custom, even when painted on with fabric paint. You don't want to leave the monogram hanging there in the middle of the pillow front. Add some coordinating, hi contrast trim for elegant detail.

Project: Mid Century Inspired Clock
Time: 3 hours total (not including drying time)
Cost: Approximately $30.00

Modern clocks from the mid-century typically satisfy both a practical and artistic function. They certainly serve a timekeeping purpose, but not to be overlooked is the brilliance of their simply combined colors, shapes and textures that join to form a bona fide piece of wall art. If your budget is stretched thin but you love the iconic clock designs of mid century modern designers, there are plenty of styles you can inexpensively adapt and DIY. Here's my own DIY version of the George Nelson Ball Clock just to prime the creative pump of your crafty self.

Project: Ottoman Slipcover
Time: 2 1/2 hours
Cost: $20.00 excluding extra set of legs

No question about it, the little straw ottoman is already as cute as can be. It can however, go to work for you doing double, or even triple duty with help from a slipcover and a change of legs. Once you make the basic slipcover pattern...

Project: How To Use Upholstery Spray Paint
Time: 45 minutes (doesn't include drying time)

As I mentioned in a comment here, I was given a few cans of upholstery spray paint to try out. With a little upholstered $7.99 footstool from Goodwill, I set to work. My stool had a textured square design which was badly stained on top, the perfect guinea pig for this test. After spraying the piece three times, I got the color of brown I was wanting. The smell was minimal, drippage was slight at first, and I would have liked to coat it one more time if I had another can of paint. After completely drying, the fabric is soft and pliable, not at all like the stiffness of latex paints and the result is completely different than traditional paint. I would recommend this product for anyone in need of a quick fix or tired of their dingy upholstery.

When we put up this post about the chairs from Anthroplogie being a good DIY inspiration, we had no idea that Shelly would get right on it! She pulled together this project in record time to get it in during DIY month. Check out the orignial post here and enjoy Shelly's how to below...

Project: Upholstered Folding Chairs
Time: 1 hour per chair
Cost: $20.00 each, including chair

You don't have to spend a fortune to have bohemian looking upholstered folding chairs. After an AT post last week, I scurried over to World Market and negotiated a good price for two slatted chairs from last season. For a cool $12.99 each, along with lots of colorful scrap fabric and a little foam and dacron, the hard slatted chairs turned into soft, foldup side chairs with a bit of bohemian flair. If you like the look, keep an eye out at thrift stores - I've seen wooden foldup chairs on many occasions.