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Get The Time Worn Look With Trash To Treasure

If you love the look of Primitives and would love to add more pieces to your home, consider creating your own or visiting local flea markets for that next treasure.

Not having a lot of money to spare back then we started to decorate our home by picking up pieces at flea markets, estate sales and auctions. Most of them needed a coat of paint and a lot of sanding to create a worn look. The great thing about finding pieces at these type of venues is the low cost. I recall picking up a three shelf standing piece that had a drawer at the bottom. It was simply stained. I could see the potential to turn this piece into a more primitive looking piece. So with black and mustard colored paint in one hand and sandpaper in the other, I set out to turn back time on this charming piece.

To start I sanded the wood to scruff it up so it would take the paint better. Next I painted it black as my base color.Next came a coat of mustard colored paint. Once it was completely dry I sanded the edges all over to give it a worn look. I sanded all the way down so the black paint showed through. Any piece you sand you'll want to consentrate on any knobs, handles and edges as those are the spots that wear first when it occurs naturally. Finally I applied some wax stain over the entire piece.

You can also find some really neat architechtural pieces as well. One in peticular I recall finding and I love to this day is a large old round porch post. It is huge. Probably about 14 inches wide and 8 feet tall. I also found a large old wood birdhouse with a metal roof. The post and bird house were both painted white and the paint was peeling quite a lot on both. So they were both in what I would consider perfectly primitive condition. With my husband's help we mounted the birdhouse on top of the post and cemented it in the front yard. To this day we enjoy watching the birds making their nests in it every year.

Old wooden doors make wonderful decorating pieces. Add a horizontal shelf across the door and put it in the corner of a room, outside on a porch or cut one in half and make a really neat corner shelf unit. The corner door shelves can hold your collection of make do's or smaller antiques. Old sleds make great pieces for your porch as well. During the holiday's add a sprig of firs to it.

Other pieces you might come across is old early silverware. I love setting my porch table with old place settings. These ofcourse are just for looks but they are so charming. You can also find old rusty kitchen utensils, collandars, ladels, flour sifters and other kitchen items to use in your decor. Old rake heads make great places to hold your old rolling pins. Take several old metal rakes, the kind that curl a bit on the ends and cut them off to just the rake head. Mount them on your wall vertically and set your rolling pin on each rake.

Have fun, be creative and befor you know it you'll have found that next wonderful treasure to decorate your home with.

© 2007 Kelle Arvay. Kelle Arvay is an artist and the owner of Pattern Mart with offers customers access to thousands of craft patterns that they can purchase and download instantly. She is the co-founder and co-publisher of Creative Times, a downloadable bi-monthly craft magazine. Kelle has been working with customers for over 6 years.

http://www.PatternMart.com 
http://www.CreativeTimesMagazine.com

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