50 Dollar Fix: Buffet Tables

     

       So in the midst of planning for our lovely potluck, Lotti and I realized we need somewhere to set all the delicious food, like Hank. We wanted to use our normal dining table for people to sit at and our kitchen is too tiny for doing the buffet there. My first thought was to rent a table, because a 8ft table will normally only cost 6 dollars to rent, which isn’t too bad on the bottom line and normally you get to keep it for three days. I called a party rental store near us but they only had an 8ft by 30 inches, which was way too deep for a buffet. We wanted it to be tall and skinny (about 20 inches wide we estimated), like a traditional buffet. Quandary.  Well, as I was anxiously looking around the apartment for some piece of furniture that could double as a buffet (none found), I stumbled upon some relegated wood, Lily and I had bought two summers ago in the a Home Depot frenzy. Relegated wood, as we refer to it, is wood that is leftover from bigger pieces Home Depot cuts for people. And normally its SUPER CHEAP. It’s great for little projects, like these frames.They were just about the right depth, so now the question was how to make them a table. I went and sat in my living room to ponder while watching Martha Stewart. By the way, love the new layout of the show,  its seems so modern! While there, I saw my bookshelves I built this summer. PRESTO! Idea!

I could stack two of the crates on top of each other and form a tall structure for the wood to sit on! So now we had one 4ft table figured out, but we wanted a second one, hmmmmm… As I went into our third room (Lotti’s study, my craft room), I saw Lotti’s keyboard. ON A STAND.

The perfect sized stand to balance another piece of wood. Buffet table born! After craftily covering it with a table cloth, no one was the wiser.

All and all this buffet table cost me nothing, but I bet if you were to do it on your own it wouldn’t cost you more than 50 either. Most people have some odd furniture that could double as the base of a table so all you really need a piece of wood and just look at the reclaimed wood section at your home improvement store for that! Have you ever had to be ingenious with your furniture to get it to meet your needs?

50 Dollar Fix: Bedside tables

     
       If you haven’t noticed by now, I love tables and shelves. I love anything that gives me more room to put stuff because as my roommate has so kindly informed me, I kind of have a lot of stuff. A lot. More than normal. My bedroom is kind of small and I already had put in a number of dressers (three to be exact) to hold my stuff, so the bed would only fit against this one wall. Which is totally fine but leaves very little room for a bedside table.

Problem: I wear glasses and need somewhere to set them at night. I had to have somewhere to put them but I did not have more than 12 inches on either side.

     I thought a bit and came up with a great idea: Sconces! I was wondering through Home Goods one day and found the perfect pair! They were about $12 dollars each, which totally works my budget (or lack there of).

     They can hold a glass where I put my important stuff: pens, highlighters, glasses and pepper spray (my mother insisted, there are three of them in my apartment) PLUS hold a book! I tend to read for school in bed, so I needed somewhere for that stuff!

   

And they are quite sparkly too, which I love.  Have you ever had to get creative with bedside tables? Or do you just forgo that and stick your stuff other places?

50 Dollar Fix: Side bookshelf

 

       As you can see, the area next to my couch is nothing pretty to look at. I am an avid book collector, and have several funny reads I like to keep in the living room. But, I was running out of room for them, and my cookbooks were crowding the kitchen. Plus it did not have a good transition from the breakfast nook to the living room. So with the help of several Michael's coupons, I managed to come up with hopefully a good shelving system that looks pretty good in my opinion. I still need some better ideas as how to organize or if I should remove some of the objects. Anyways, I just used 4 wooden crates from Michael's at $9.99 each (minus 40% off each ) plus one small crate at under $5. One can of black gloss spray paint and the project still came in way under 50 dollars. In fact, only 35 dollars. Here's a few photos, directions seem pointless. 

Materials:

Spray Paint

4 large Crates

1 small crate

50 Dollar fix: Bathroom Additions

Here are some simple ways I have spruced up my tiny bathroom for fewer than fifty dollars. Sometimes it is the little things that make a difference in a room. These additions really make my bathroom sparkle!

Pretty shower curtain and rings from Target. Who doesn't love a little sparkle?

I took these plain wood trays from Michael's for 2 dollars each and modpodge some pretty scrap book paper on them. Instant art for my walls, and it doesn't matter if humidity gets to it.

Took the same scrapbook paper and covered a jar for my brushes.

I found this odd shelf thingy at a vintage store for 5 dollars. It was just plain wood. I brought it home and added a coat of pink paint. Hung it on my wall and Voila!

50 Dollar Fix: Fabric Frames

    
     So remember how I filled that blank space behind my couch, I had another blank wall to conquer in my apartment. This time it was behind my tv and quite expansive. Yet again, I'd show you a picture but it was a large blank white wall behind a tv, surely you don't need a photo, you can imagine it on your own. Anyways, I decided to try that whole framing a piece of fabric. It was quite inexpensive and I think it looks pretty plus it fills up space. Goal achieved. Here's my how to:

Materials:
Paint
Fabric
Modpodge
Hot Glue
Penny Nails
Decorative Molding cut to size
Thin Wood (for back of frames)

Directions:
1) Determine the size of the frames and have decorative molding cut at the store (most do it for free, see if they can cut the edges at angles to make it look prettier) Paint boards and all the sides!

2) Modpodge fabric to board and smooth out all wrinkles. I used modpodge because it allows for corrections.

3) Hot glue the baords down to frame the fabric the use penny nails to nail the board to the wall and secure the baords. I used hot glue to secure the boards in place until I placed the frames on the wall and then used the nails to actually secure the boards.

50 Dollar Fix: Curtained Closet

I love walk-in closets but sadly, my undergraduate budget does not allow for such luxuries. And my current closet had those awful bi-fold doors, which take up so much space! When folded, they made it nearly impossible to get to the right side of my closet. So I removed them, it seemed like the perfect solution till I noticed it looked like I just had a hole in my wall. With the clever use of some curtains and a tension rod, I achieved the look of an pretty closet that can be closed when it's a mess (which is never is, mom I swear).

 

To recreate this look, you need:

2 long curtains (normally 82 inches will work)

1 short curtain or whatever you want to use as a balance

1 tension rod

2 penny nails

2 safety pins

Directions:

1. Measure the width of the closet. Twist tension rod to that length and hand up the two longer curtains.
   
2. Then fold your short curtain in half, center the width measurement on the curtain, marking each end.
   
3. Carefully scrunch the curtain through each mark using the safety pin to hold the folds on each side.
   
4. About two inches above the opening on each side of the closet, nail a penny nail.
   
5. Use the heads of the nail to place the safety pin through.

50 dollar fix: Kitchen Hallway

      My breakfast nook is small. My kitchen is tiny. I like cooking stuff, thus I have an organizational nightmare trying to get all my dishes and stuff to fit without it looking like a hodgepodge mess. I needed something to hold extra bowls, cups and a few odds and ends. Plus I needed some way to spruce the place without painting.

    
     First I found this DVD case, which sleek black shape worked perfectly in the narrow space. It's just deep enough to hold bowls but shallow enough that it doesn't impede the walkway. The shelves adjust so that I could have more room on the bottom to place taller things. The doors keep it looking neat and clean even when I am in a rush to clean for company and just shove things in there.

    
       Second thing is this vintage English World War Two propaganda poster in a vibrant pink color. I could have ordered it online and paid a fortune for it. Instead, I found the image online and took it to my local print shop. They were able to print it out on glossy poster paper (about 18 by 24) for fewer than 20 dollars. Next, I went to Target and picked up a poster frame for about 5 dollars (it was on sale).

Voila! Another 50 dollar fix!

50 Dollar Fix: Couch

    Whenever fall semester rolls around again, I always start to patrol the sidewalks of my neighborhood because people are moving out. They have graduated (hopefully) and are ready to get on with their lives and often part of that means leaving stuff behind. Stuff I wouldn't mind…


     Take my couch for instance; it was a neighbor's who didn't want to move it. Now it wasn't very pretty, but it was free and I knew that with a little love and some sparkle, I could make it work out just fine.

    So with a light cleaning and a few accessories, it became one of my 50 Dollar Fixes.

     The two necklace pillows were half off, costing me a total of $24 dollars. The other two pillows were stolen from a different couch that had too many. And the fur blanket can be found at any Marshalls or TJ Maxx for about $25. Though another cheap fix would have been a slipcover (those stripes are awful), the couch was too odd shaped for that, sadly. Though one day, I may re-stuff the bottom pads.