Home. Isn’t it a beautiful word? Well, it’s really more of what the word brings to mind. Maybe it’s memories of the place you grew up, or where you currently wake up in the morning; but to me and probably so many others, home is much more than just a roof over our heads. Home the place where life unfolds, where friendships are formed, discipleship happens, and love grows. In my opinion, home is one of the greatest places for ministry that we will ever have. I want my home to be a place where others want to be. I want it to be a beautiful, loving, and peaceful place for me, my husband and others to relax and enjoy. But let’s face it, making a home beautiful can be expensive, right? Yes, it definitely can, but the wonderful thing is that it doesn’t have to be!
One thing I have found that I really enjoy is redoing used furniture. This can be a great way to beautify your home without spending an arm and leg! I like used furniture for several reasons:
Price. If you look at garage sales, secondhand stores or online websites you can snag some really great deals for a fraction of the cost of what you would find in a new furniture store.
Quality. Have you ever compared the quality of an older piece of furniture (that is not falling apart of course) to some of the new kinds that come in a box and you put together yourself? The difference may shock you!
Character. You may disagree with me on this point if you are a fan of modern style, but I tend to like my furniture with some character, some curved lines or intricate carving can bring such interest to a room.
Customizable. I like to customize my furniture sometimes and it doesn’t seem like a crazy idea when I didn’t pay very much for the piece of furniture and it’s not new off the showroom floor!
The other day I was having “one of those times” in quarantine and a thought came to mind about painting that coffee table that my Mom found at a rummage sale several years ago. It was a pretty little table, with lots of potential, so later I picked up some chalky finish paint at the store and Mom and I soon went to work painting this cute little gem!
We began by putting a little bit of petroleum jelly here and there on the wood where we were going to paint. We did this because after it dried I was planning to sand off some of the paint to make the piece look weathered. The petroleum jelly would help the paint come off easier in those sections. Next we went to town painting the table one of my favorite colors...ivory! After two coats were dry we begin to sand. That beautiful weathered paint look begin to emerge! After we were satisfied with the sanding job, clear wax went on over the paint, we waited for it to dry and there it was, a redone coffee table!
So if you are having “one of those times” in quarantine too, why not look around and see what you can transform!
