Shabby chic basket makeover

I have become a thrift store addict, for several reasons.    

  As my kids moved out on their own, some furniture from home went with them. Years ago, when my son turned 19, he and his three childhood friends decided to get an apartment together.    Between the four of them, they managed to scrape together one sofa, a PlayStation and a huge screen tv.   Three brought their own beds from home.   The poor fourth guy only had a sleeping bag.  But these boys were in heaven experiencing their first taste of new found freedom.   Until the rent, utilities, and cable bills starting coming in...not to mention buying groceries.  Four guys eat a LOT.   All these expenses must have been quite a wake up call.   Home must have never looked so good before.   Still, they were determined to make a go of it, so we moms donated dressers, coffee tables, lamps, a vacuum (which was probably never touched) from our homes so they could at least live like civilized human beings.   

My kids are educated, hard working and I am enormously proud of them, but starting out is expensive.  And to be honest, as a-soon-to-be-empty-nester, how much stuff did I really need?  I was tossing things at them faster then they could catch them.   Pictures, lamps, knick knacks etc.  Goodbye to stuff.

 My life felt clutter free.  Less things to dust.  I was a true minimalist for nearly a year.

But when my brother came for Christmas and casually asked   "What happened to all your furniture?"  I had to admit things were looking pretty bare.

Ok. Time to buy some stuff 

But keeping in mind that downsizing is in the not too distant future, I wasn't about to run to RC Willey and spend a small fortune.  So thrift store shopping was the answer for me.

And more importantly is that I get a chance to get really creative, to make something over that is personal to me. To think outside the box.    And honestly, it's waaaay more fun.

 

So here is a picture of my latest haul.   Except the basket that I want to show you is not in the photo..I had already started to paint it.

 Its some kind of fake wood but I'm okay with that .  And it only $2.00.     Here is a picture of the bottom with the original color. 

Not wanting to sand, I grabbed my Martha Stewart chalk paint.   This time I used Ivory.   

Here it is after one coat of paint.  Sorry for the bad pictures.

And here's the second coat.

 

I lightly ran the sanding block around the edges for a distressed look.  The  brown color peeking through gives it a nice contrast.

I attached a hanger on back because I was going to place it on a wall.  

I picked up some silk flowers that were 40% off at Michaels this week,   The flowers were going to hang upside down inside the basket.   I placed the flowers down on the basket to measure their length.   Too long.  I had to trim the stems a few inches so they would fit inside.    And with these wimpy clippers, it wasn't easy. 

    The bottom of the stems were tied together with 8" strips torn up from an old cotton pillowcase.    To hang the flowers, I used the tiniest little metal hook I had.  Silk flowers are super light, so I'm sure a thumbtack would work just as well.

 

I really like how this looks on my wall and for a total cost of $6.00, that makes it even better.