Repurpose this from Restore Spaces

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Repurpose this from Restore Spaces

Sue Whitney of Junk Market Style gave me great advice. She said when you are looking at something turn it upside down, inside out, frontwards, backwards, etc. and then see what you can really do with it. So I wanted to share that tip with you because it is a good one.

Well, I took her advice to heart. I had the bright idea to turn this outdoor light fixture into a pencil and paintbrush holder. I simply took the light socket part out and turned the glass globe upside down so the opening was at the top. Voila, a cool new storage piece from my workbench.

This was part of my room at the Habitat Restore Spaces Event. So, with that in mind, I got some questions/comments on my other Restore Spaces Event post on Monday so I figured I would answer them here.

Restore Spaces Event FAQ

How did I hear about this event? Just stumbled upon it while shopping at the Habitat Restore last year. This was my second year. I learned a lot from my rookie year in '08. But I was hooked! My room won two awards last year. Here is an older post with some photos of the 2008 Restore Spaces Event.

Who runs the event? Our local Realtors Association runs the event along with a committee at Habitat. We get a large number of sponsors both financial and in-kind. It is a big undertaking! Ask your local Habitat Restore if they do anything like this, if not start your own. I will happy to share info. if anyone needs it! I am sure the committee would too.

Did I paint the walls or cover them with fabric? I learned last year that particle board just eats up the paint. So, I covered them with commercial grade wallpaper. Last year I painted the wallpaper, this year I found one that had flecks of grey in it so I left it as is. I then layered another style of decorative wallpaper over that for my main focal wall. Both were found at the Restore. They grey top layer was kinda cool. It looked like a pin stripe suit.

Will people buy the items in the room? Yes, it all is for sale the night of the event and beyond. We price it after it has been refinished, and mark it up from its original price. I loved work table so much that I bought it! Now to clear a space in my garage. All the money raised goes to Habitat for Humanity which helps build houses for the less fortunate in our area.

Some more event tidbits...

Each designer gets a different themed room. We had 8 designers. It is luck of the draw. I pulled #2 so I picked the craft room/workshop since it is near and dear to my heart. We can pick whatever we want as long as no one else has picked it that type of room. We had a kitchen, kids bedroom, sunroom, living room, laundry room, outdoor space and dining room. I will post pix of the other rooms later this week!

Stay tuned for more tips and transformations from the event this week.

For more creative ideas, get your craft on at Today's Creative Blog. There are a boat load of crafty ideas!