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Title: My DIY total home makeover
Name: Jasmine
Time: 1 1/2 Weeks
Cost: about $2200

This is one hell of a "small project." Follow Jasmine as she tells you how a lot of elbow grease and a lot of creative re-use allowed her to transform her home in quick time! Click above for the pics and head below for all the instructions...


BEFORE

TOOLS:

Sanding machine, spray paint, paint, natural wood, recycled wood, and a lot of Craigslist and thrift stores.

STEPS:

1. Created a window bench from a raw slab of wood. The sanding took a long time but I just finished it off with wood wax and it looks great. The hairpin legs are ordered from the internet, as there's only one guy in Ohio that makes them like this.

2. Designed my own sofa. The base is an old solid wood door from the recycle store. The pillows are all from a foam place, fabric from the fabric discounter and the brackets are from the same guy as the hairpin legs. I cant sew so I brought the pillows to an upholsterer.

3. Found a rusty old seventies foot stool. It was only $12 at the recycle center. I got the pink fabric from the fabric discounter ($7 a yard) and had the rusted chrome sanded off by a professional sandblaster. I left the steel unfinished for an extra modern look.

4. Both the chrome coffee tables and the mid-modern chair are craigslist finds. The pink side table was original just wood, but I decided to spray paint it in a high gloss pink.

5. Created a slatted wood room divider to close off the living room from the open hallway. I thought it would be cozier that way, but I still wanted to keep that open feel. I called the lumber place and ordered 240 pieces of 12" x 1" x 1" and two pieces of 80" x 1.5" x 1.5" that are the side supports. I went over to my friend's wood shop where I drilled holes with a drill press and was able to 'tread' the slats on a threaded rod. This way it is movable, so it works like a harmonica.

6. Added a bamboo forest photo wall in the dining room. I hung a wall shelf (this was a scrap piece of wood from the wood slab guy). All the art in the frames are just printed on my ink jet printer

7. In the kitchen, I took away an old ugly fan (that was too noisy to use) and I hung this fantastic chandelier. The chandelier was white to start with (another $75 craigslist find) and it took me two cans of spray paint to get it all even. I also painted my two wood bar stools to match the chandelier. To decorate the walls, I took a bunch of second hand miss match photo frames, spray painted them all one color, and clustered them all on one wall to create organized chaos.

8. The bathroom was filled with ugly cabinets from IKEA. I took these out and created so much space. I painted the sink cabinet white, and painted the walls the same color as the living room. I removed the old hardware that kept coming out of the wall and hung the funky hand hooks. I made my own pebble bath mat from some garden pebbles and a cheap doormat. I screwed cheap u-hooks into the wall to display my jewelry. I designed a graphic on the computer and cut it out of a piece of cardboard to create a stencil. I used 4 different colors to spray paint it on the wall in this floral design.

9. I made these cute little planter boxes by pouring concrete in a greased shape that had another shape inside of it. Changed all my pots in the house to an universal concrete, so it looks similar but they all have different shapes.

RESOURCES:

Hair pin legs & brackets for sofa: http://www.ianmaclean.com

Hand hooks by Harry Ellen: http://www.unicahome.com/p22116/areaware/hand-hooks-by-harry-allen.html

Lumber for room divider: http://www.ashbylumber.com/

Most of the furniture and the recycled door: http://urbanore.ypguides.net/

Sandblasting: http://pacificmediablasting.com/

Originally published on 2009-02-11 as part of theFebruary Jumpstart 2009 - CB