Friday, October 22, 2010

Real and Imagined Projects

Recently, I haven't had time/energy/resources to complete as many real projects as I would like, but that doesn't mean I haven't been completing many imaginary projects!
Sometimes I browse craigslist looking for gems that can be had for next to nothing (or free) which can be easily transformed into something priceless. Often I do this at home while watching Grey's Anatomy or something on HGTV, but sometimes I do it while eating lunch at work (shh, don't tell my boss!). My latest session of trolling craigslist provided me with several projects I'd love to tackle in real life.

First, I found this little guy for $30:
 Which I think with some bright paint could look a lot like this guy from Ikea:
Trollsta side table from Ikea, $79.99
Which runs you about $80. So for $30 plus a small amount of paint  you can have a Trollsta-style side table of any color you'd like! And then you still have some money left over for a new pair of shoes.


The second gem I found was this storage ottoman/bench:

This guy is also listed for $30. I think with some reupholstering (and maybe some tufting on top... I love it), it could be an awesome alternative for these:
Kivik footstool from Ikea. Listed for $129-$179

Tangerine Storage Bench from Target, $179
My wild guess is that 2-3 yards of fabric would be enough to cover this baby, and stores like Hobby Lobby and Joann's have decent selections of appropriate fabrics in all different colors and patterns. And you can always find a 40% off coupon for those stores. Say you pick a fabric that is $20 a yard, and you need three yards, your total for this item is still only $90 ($30 for the stool and $60 for the fabric)--you're still saving $80 over these options I've shown above. 

This is really just the tip of the craigslist-iceburg. In my next life, instead of spending my days as a biostatistician researching kidney disease, I will be rehabbing craigslist finds and selling them in my shop.



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