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When we bought our first home, my parents gave us their kitchen table, a dark-wood, colonial type.I grew up with that table, just like my kids are – hours of homework, family meals,arts and craft projects, telephone chats with my girlfriends, coffee conversations with my nana and aunties – it even saw my mother’s friends enjoy their smokes. (It was 1

A pot of Annie Sloan paint in “Pure White”.

Natural Elements Meets Industrial Design

If you’re Linda Beck of South Orange NJ, you’re at home in natural environs where the simplest of scavenger hunts can turn up the most wondrous of objects. Like endless searches for skeletal treasures, find remnants of a wild life lived in Virginia’s foothills. Or when frequent visits to the local duck pond at Flood’s Hill seal a lifelong friendship with the ancient snapping turtle who holds court there.

GOAL: Makeover a rusty mid-century modern three-tiered shelving unit on two wheels into an elegant outdoor bar cart for my stone patio.

On our last moving run from our South Orange house house to our Maplewood house, we thought we finally got everything. We were wrong – my husband forgot my grandmother’s mid-century modern metal bar cart. And it’s not like you can go back after closing and say,

GOAL: Create a large chalkboard wall to display the loads of artwork created by my three kids – all at the same time.

Admittedly, this is gonna be a difficult and somewhat time-consuming project. It will take at least an entire weekend. If you’re like us, you have pile of artwork created by your kids and no place to hang it. Well, actually I have come up with other ways to showcase their works (i.e.

GOAL: To paint a bistro set that is peeling and chipping and turn it into a fun and colorful addition to my kid’s outdoor play area.

My kids love playing outdoors and feeding them where they play in the great doors makes clean up 10X easier! Who cares about crumbs?!? I found a metal bistro set for eight dollars at a local estate sale.

Contrary to popular belief, designing for small spaces doesn’t mean you can’t go big, bold, and deep. So pick a wall and consider one of the following ideas.

Hang a large, oversized mirror as a focal point – it instantly makes the room look larger and because it reflects light and makes the room brighter, warmer.

Adhere wallpaper on one wall. This doesn’t need to be expensive – try self-adhesive wallpaper,