From Country to Modern

I'm participating in Met Monday, Under $15, and DIY Day

Remember this great piece I received for free?  If you haven't read the story behind it, you can read about it here.

I'm still trying to find my style, but I tend to go for the more modern, clean lines.  This piece had a bit of a country feel to me, so I wanted to make a few changes to give it a more modern feel.  First, I gave it a light sand and primed it.  I like to start working on most of my pieces from the bottom up so I make sure that I don't miss anything and also so I don't kill my back.

On the first coat, I used two 98 cents cans of paint that I already had on hand to save money.  After letting it dry, I went over everything with Rustoleum's black satin semi-gloss to give it that pretty shine.

I wasn't really concerned about getting full coverage on the panels because I had other plans for that area. As you can see, I had a hard time getting to the bottom rungs of the piece.  No worries though.  I knew that I wanted to store things underneath, so I had other plans for that area too.

I measured out all the recessed paneled areas and cut out my recent wrapping paper find to fit.  I glued the paper using Zips.

I planned on using Modge Podge, but just in case down the road I want to change it out, I don't want to have to deal with ripping it all off.  Zips is a lot like a hot glue gun without dealing with the long spider webby strands that occur when you pull the gun away and hardened glue that sometimes shows through.  It sticks REALLY well.

Here's a quick breakdown of the rest of my transformation process from a complete novice at sewing (so please forgive me if I don't use the correct terms):

Cut 4 panels of fabric.

Sew together with right sides facing each other.

Iron the hem- it's helps keep a straight edge while sewing.

Press the parts that you sewed together- it will give it a crisp look.

Sew!  It helps it "flow" if you arrange it in a nice neat pile in your lap.

I made sure to keep my fabric in line with the line at 10 so that I would have a straight hem.

I learned how to make this ruffle from Britt over at A Penny Saved. See her post for great instructions. I'm all about eyeing things and not having to deal with the stress of measuring.

Measure out double the length of the sides and pin.

Pull and find the midpoint and pin and repeat.

Then fold over and pin to create your ruffles.

I forgot to take a picture, but next I pressed the ruffles and then did a zig-zag stitch on the top of the whole thing to keep it in place.

Next I stapled it up on my piece.

Once the fabric was secured, I used this glue to adhere my ribbon border.

I used this glue because I wanted my ribbon to lay flat on the fabric. See how pretty??

Here's a reminder of the BEFORE:

And here is the AFTER!

I need to finish decorating the top, but here's an idea of what it looks like with the area surrounding it:

A breakdown of costs:
Furniture             Free

Paint                    $5.75
Ribbon                $1.95
Wrapping paper  $2.25
Fabric                  $4.20
Total:                  $14.15


I'm loving the cost of this transformation!  I think it's my favorite so far. :)