Vintage Store Counter Island

Say hello to Mavis! She’s a vintage general store counter. Isn’t she beautiful!? (Thanks to my friend Jamie at @RubbishFarm she’s merchandised in the cutest way, too!)

As I created a plan for our new home, a huge kitchen island was a must for me. And me being me, I didn’t want some off-the-shelf shiny new thing, I wanted a piece with character, a statement piece. I pinned so many various islands on Pinterest and Houzz and the couple that made my heart soar were old store counters. People have done some amazing things with them and they fit right in with my industrial/French cottage/farmhouse design plan. However, they did not fit right in with my budget. These things are spendy!

Like most things I want, I knew what I wanted and knew if I was patient, I would come across the right thing, at the right time, at the right price. And viola! it happened one evening while checking FaceBook!

Jamie @RubbishFarm finds the best stuff and offers it to us (at great prices, too) during her barn sales. She posted a photo of her latest find and it was exactly what I was searching for! Within minutes of her posting it I responded I loved it and wanted it. It took a little while to secure it–and actually Mike surprised me with it for my birthday!–but, she is ours and we have big plans for her. (And I really am not in the habit of naming furniture, but Jamie thought she deserved naming and I agree.)

I’ve kicked around so many design ideas and in the end I’ve decided I do not want to hide one inch of this amazing cabinet, so rather than add a bank of cabinets to the front (paneled) side, we are going to build-out a frame, supported by two chunky posts (also a RubbishFarm find) to double the depth of the countertop. When finished she will be a whopping 9’x4′ and have seating for six.

Mavis will keep her beautiful patina and I’ll match the frame and legs to her, as well as tone down the green on the paneled side. Just a little tweaking and a couple heavy coats of matte poly to keep her, and us, safe.

One contentious issue has been the top. It has an amazing, chippy, patina, but I need a work surface and no matter how much sealer I put on it, I wouldn’t feel comfortable cutting, chopping, and rolling dough on it. Besides, trying to match the original wood to create a larger top wouldn’t be easy either. I think it’ll get a new life elsewhere where food prep contamination isn’t a concern.

It appears the back/open side once had sliding doors, but we’ve decided we like the open look and will incorporate bottom drawers something similar to these to give us easy access and organization, but keep the open look.

The upper drawers will house knives, cooking utensils, etc. so we will have a more closed look–something we can secure from eventual grandchildren–but we are considering some type of crate design like the following. These details can come once we get her in place.

We will also incorporate a small prep sink and while I found a darling galvanized one, I may continue my look for a vintage brass sink or bucket we could retrofit.

Since our primary countertops will be a marble-look, I’m probably going to use an artificial soapstone on this piece, if I can get one that is more gray than black. Other options include a thick butcher block or even concrete.

The beauty of repurposing a piece is that the options are unlimited and the end result is what works best for the user. I can’t wait until we get our hands on Mavis and start her transformation! You can bet when it happens, you’ll see it here.

Have a beautiful day!

Tina

Did You Know You Can Dye Carpet?

We recently purchased an older travel trailer and I proclaimed, “I can fix it up for $500 or less!” Mike countered with “How about $300?” I had no intention on budging off of $500, but was intrigued if I could do it for $300.

The trailer has what I believe may be the original carpet, but the vinyl had recently been replaced. I created a mid-mod plan, which included changing out the new vinyl tiles and the old carpet. Then I went shopping. The least I was going spend on carpet–if I got a remnant to work–was $150 and the new vinyl flooring would run another $100. My $300 budget? Nope, not happening, but that’s not what this post is about. I bagged the idea of replacing the flooring and decided instead to resort to an old trick I have…clean and dye the carpet.

Years and years ago, my father-in-law had a company come out and dye some rental property carpets. Of course, they had huge carpet sprayers and cleaners in a van, but I took note of the process and when I had some carpet in need of replacing I decided to try my hand at dying with common RIT Dye…I had nothing to lose since the carpet was done-for anyway.

The process I used then, and twice since then, is quite simple. It may not be the professional way, but it works. If you’re in need of a carpet refresh, this may be the trick for you. HOWEVER, please do not attempt this on a large scale without first testing it! I am not, in absolutely ANY WAY responsible, for the results you achieve or damage you cause. Just saying.

Now here’s the thing, there is no magic formula for mixing the liquid dye for this application, but here is my method: 8 oz of liquid dye to 8 cups of water (hot is preferable, but I’ve found cold works just as well). I also cannot tell you the exact coverage you should expect. I know, lame. But…I just finished dyeing 70sf and used four 8oz bottles (mixed two colors) which allowed me to dye everything then go back over with a light coat. So, a rough formulation is 2 gallons (plus the 32oz/4 bottles of dye) covered 70sf, so you can expect 2 bottles of dye plus 1 gallon of water to cover approximately 35sf.

Note: You always want to go darker than the color you currently have and if you test the above mixture and find it too dark, simply add water; if too light, add more (or darker) dye.

Before starting, you’ll need the following supplies:

• Carpet cleaner machine and carpet cleaning solution
• Spray bottle or pump-up sprayer
• RIT dye in your chosen color
• Rubber gloves
• Rags/towels

1. Begin by cleaning your carpet. This step is important because it helps minimize stains and by wetting the carpet, it helps the fibers absorb the dye.

Note: RIT now makes a dye for synthetics. I have not yet tried this and I would have loved to, but it wasn’t available in the color I chose. As most carpets are synthetic–and if you have wool, I wouldn’t dare attempt dying yourself–this may work even better!

2. Prep your space by protecting the baseboards around the perimeter. I found running tape along the bottom where the baseboard meets the carpet is generally enough, but if you prefer more you can use plastic wrap taped at the top and tucked in under the baseboard. (I wasn’t worried about this step in this particular circumstance, so I skipped it).

Note: Use rubber/latex gloves! (And wear shoes). The dye is pretty intense and hard to get off your skin and will transfer as long as the carpet remains damp!

3. When you finish prepping, it’s time to mix the dye as above. Once mixed, you’ll want to put it in a spray applicator. I’ve used a pump-up sprayer for large areas like our entire house, but for the trailer I used a spray bottle (although it had a wonky spray pattern that drove me nuts and if I hadn’t been planning to remove and replace the wallpaper too, it would have been a nightmare with the overspray. While it cleaned up nicely off vinyl wallpaper, I’d hate to imagine this on a painted wall).

4. Working while your carpet is still damp, begin applying the dye by spraying along the perimeter of the area then work inward. For best blending of one work area into another, it’s better to do a random edge than a straight edge so you don’t end up with heavy overlapping lines. Sometimes I’m able to get really good coverage with the sprayer, but most times I go back over the wet area with a gloved hand and really work it into the carpet fibers.

Note: Again, through trial and error you will figure out the right amount of spray. You’ll want your carpet thoroughly wet with dye, but over saturating could lead to, worst-case scenario, the dye seeping through the carpet and ending up on a ceiling below if you’re dyeing spaces above!

5. After you’ve finished the area, let it sit for about 15-20 minutes. This is a good time to begin clean-up. Be careful, dye will get on everything!

6. Using your steam cleaner, go over the carpet using ONLY the extraction–do not clean and/or add additional water. You want to draw out as much dye and moisture as you can.

Note: This is a messy business! I own my steam cleaner and would caution against using a rented or borrowed machine to do this, as the dye may stain the machine and if not cleaned properly it will transfer dye to the next surface cleaned!

7. If you see any areas that are obviously lighter than others, now is the time to do a light application to those areas. (Repeat the wait/extract process).

8. You are now done! Allow the carpet to dry thoroughly before use. Directing fans to blow across the carpet will help speed up the process.

Note: If your space is very humid, the dye can continue to leech onto your skin or any fabrics placed on it until completely dried.

9. Clean your steam cleaner to ensure no transfer occurs with next use.

Allow your dye to settle into the carpet fibers for a couple weeks. At that point you’ll either discover you need to do another application (perhaps not as heavily applied) or that you’re quite pleased with the results and are calling it a success. Great, but you’re not done, yet…

I highly suggest pulling your steam cleaner out and cleaning your carpets with just water. Again, be judicious with the amount of water you apply and do not over-saturate them. You will pull off some color, and that’s a good thing…it will help reduce the amount of dye transfer in the future.

I’ve dyed large areas of carpet and even when the actual carpet looked worn down, the dye was still looking good. I believe the last large-scale dye job lasted a good five years!

For now, the trailer carpets are refreshed and ready to go–maybe not another 24 years, but until I get a bump in my budget and/or we want to tackle replacement. For now, I have a few more items to do before I burn through my budget…I’ll share those, too!

Let me know if you attempt carpet dyeing or have any questions…I’ll do my best to answer them.

Tina

Orbital Sander Repair–Save $25 in 10 Minutes!

Palm sanders are the work-horses of our garage! We have several, including three orbital sanders. We love having multiples because we can load each with a different grit sandpaper and switch between rough sanding and finish sanding without replacing the sandpaper discs.

What we don’t like is we have two that use the self-adhesive discs and one that uses Velcro discs. The Makita that uses the Velcro disc has been causing trouble in the work shop–there’s always one in the crowd! The Velcro pad has worn down and discs no longer adhere properly. It’s quite common to be sanding and have the disc suddenly take flight.

Mike–with his vast garage work area–brought the sander into the kitchen to take off the sanding pad/Velcro attachment area, so I thought I’d give you a quick tutorial on taking off the sanding pad and replacing it. However, things took a little turn so, instead, we’ll talk about taking it off then converting it for stick-on discs.

Start by flipping the sander on its back, then remove the three screws holding the sanding pad in place.

Once you lift the pad off the base, you’ll notice a center hub/spacer. If it comes off, just make note of how it goes back on–or if you’re like me and afraid you won’t remember how it goes back together, take pictures of each step for reference as you reassemble.

Now, we truly intended to go purchase a new $25 sanding pad–which is ridiculous when a new sander can be had for between $60-75–so if you’re changing the pad take the steps outlined. However, if you decide to convert it to a stick-pad, I don’t think you really need to take off the sanding pad…but, that’s just a guess!

Once it was apart, Mike got to thinking: it would be so much easier to purchase and use only one type of sanding discs (stick on) and since the pad is already worn, why not try to smooth it down even more?

So, we headed to the garage and he pulled out the tabletop vertical sander and sanded the sanding pad! I should have taken video because the friction of sand paper to Velcro sanding pad caused the pad to go flying several times! Once Mike wrangled it he was able to smooth the surface enough to use it for the self-adhesive discs.

If you’re going to convert your Velcro pad to a stick-on type, and you have an additional orbital sander, maybe you can put the Velcro type one (without disc on it) against another sander with a disc and sand down the Velcro pad that way…just a thought and I’m not responsible for any damage to you, your property or sanders if it all goes south!

Anyway, once the pad was smoothed out, he reversed the process, reassembled the sander, stuck on a new disc and it works like a charm. $25 saved and a nagging inconvenience put to rest!