repurposeful.com

Repurposeful Reupholstering

Courtesy of my cousin Janelle, I thought these two projects were great examples of simple, DIY reupholstering. We love the powers of glue.

Crafty blogger Bura Ellen used spray adhesive to re-fashion a tacky cat wallet with pretty Amy Butler fabric. The result is fabulous, like a vintage Pucci clutch.

And Janelle shared her own project, in which she used a glue gun to neatly wrap a strip of textured fabric around some old cans. She's got great stuff on her blog including her latest obsession, hand sewn aprons. Quite ambitious, Jae!

Looking for repurposed materials for a new backsplash

It's time to upgrade the kitchen with at least some adjustments. K and I will likely focus on the walls, cabinets and the kitchen table, a weathered country pine number acquired from a boss at an early job. I'm searching for cool backsplash ideas, kind of like these aluminum tile ones found on re-nest.

A friend, Dana, recommended Sand Hill Industries who have a great color palette of 100% recycled glass tile.

This is an '09 project, but careful, repurposeful research in this economy is my friend.

Comments Needed! Why'd You Stop Wearing Something?

I recently surveyed my closet to find at least 30% of the clothing in active rotation (hanging up) was not in use. I am a nut about streamlining, so it's rare that I have 'stuff' lying around. I keep one 'purgatory basket' handy, which consists of clothes I am not ready to give up, but that I definitely haven't worn in two years. I keep these around because they are made by great designers or have some sentiment attached to them. But the 30% of stuff I haven't worn...?

Here are some specific reasons why I stopped wearing ____:
1. 8 Shirts: I don't like the way they make my upper body look. The shoulders look a little mean in them.
2. Beige Pants: I can't seem to find the right color combination
3. Cocktail Skirt: How do I seemingly have nothing black to wear with this? I have 10+ black tops?

What are some of your reasons? Please post amongst yourselves.
"Why I stopped wearing ____: {insert reason}"

Kitchen Makeover, Part 2

After:

The result of about 3 hours of strategic tossing, reorganizing and repurposing, plus a half day of the cleaning person's time.

So I've attacked the first official repurposeful project, a modest kitchen makeover.

It will be interesting to see how many of the floor folks can keep it up to snuff, but it seems people appreciate the ability to use the kitchen again. The fact that we didn't have to re-buy a bunch of stuff (glasses, bowls and silverware) was great.

Here are some photos of the before and after.

Kitchen Makeover, Part 1

Before:

A shared "floor" kitchen at our new office space, with 14 years of amassed junk from previous tenants and ongoing disregard by some current tenants for the concept of shared space.

What we did:
With the help of another tenant on the floor, this morning marks Part 1 of our kitchen makeover -- a clean sweep.

Among the finds:
- An old-ass box of Twinings tea bags with 2 tea bags inside
- A toaster from 1984
- 4 empty bottles of olive oil of varying virginity
- A brand-new wok, still in the box
- 2 bags of concrete (???)
- Piles of mismatched plates, bowls, silverware, glasses, etc...

We want to streamline the space to make it cleaner, more usable. We will purge stuff in order to maximize the usage of the good/quality stuff.

Here are some photos.

We reserved matching white, black and/or blue items and cast aside non-matching/old dishes/glasses to a 'holding box'. If no one claims this stuff, it's going to good will.

We reserved non-perishable spices/oils, pots and pans, appliances that looked like they could be use and consolidated things like teas, packaged sugars.

The cleaning lady will do a deep clean, after which we will return items back into proper designated places.

Stay tuned...