How to get real furniture- no laminate here!

Furnishing an apartment or home can be tricky. You want great pieces but may not have a lot of money to invest. As a result many (myself included) end up buying cheaper quality furniture that may not quite be what we want- but it gets the job. Just as in fashion, I believe in mixing high end/low end in interior design, however there is another great way to get some one of a kind quality pieces at a fraction of the cost- you just need a little elbow grease!

With a little time and effort you can end up with something great. The pieces below cost me nothing. They were leftovers from an estate sale and bound for the dumpster. My boyfriend and I like to drive around the day after a yard sale. Many times people toss what they don't sell and you can find some great stuff for free. Other times you have to invest a little, regardless you want quality wood. I recently got these two pieces. Here's what they looked like before:

Not great looking! But thats at first glance. They were very well built, had all of their hardware and were real wood (thats the important part). They had a great story to tell. They had been part of one families journey and I knew they could be part of another.

After a good cleaning with soap and water and a little light sanding it was time to paint. Valspar makes a line of chalk paint called Chalkey Finish. It is pricey at $30 a can but sooo worth it. It gives a thick coat and is very forgiving. Best of all it does not leave brush strokes. I used the shade "Kid Glove" on both of these pieces. They are vintage so there's going to be some quirks, accept that they are part of the beauty.

I knew for the interiors I wanted a pop of color so I went to the "oops table" at Lowes. Your local home store or wherever you buy paint will have one. Its essentially paint that a customer did not want or mistints. Since they can't sell it to someone else they discount it heavily. I got the green and pink paint for $1 per quart each. I used a tiny smidge of each- now I have plenty leftover for future projects.

Finally I got silver spray paint and did the hardware with it. I did replace the knobs as they needed a more updated look.. I thought it was worth it. I haven't moved them from the garage yet, but I styled them up a bit to give you an idea:

I also spray painted the stereo fabric on the bottom piece. I kind of like that you can tell what the piece used to be!

The final step is to seal or wax the pieces depending on your preference.

All in all these quality pieces took a but of effort but I live the results. I can't wait until another family gets to use them! So the next time you are looking for furniture, try driving around town or hit up some yard sales. You never know what you will find.

Here are some more pics:

What is your best furniture flip?