Today we’re excited to feature and introduce Serena Appiah of Thrift Diving. Serena is a full-time working mom to three beautiful sons, ages 5 and under, who believes that outfitting your home and life shouldn’t be financial suicide. With a little bit of money and creativity, the most awesome thrift shops, and more DIY (do-it-yourself) man-hours than you could even COUNT, this is how she turns other people’s “cast-offs” into awesome treasures!
“Since I was a teenager, I’ve been fascinated with thrift stores: secondhand clothing, books, you name it. Now that I’m an adult with a house to furnish, kids to cloth and entertain, etc., it’s only natural that I hone in on my thrift store prowess to outfit my home and life with my thrift store scores! I have no decorating style that I gravitate towards–it’s whatever catches my eye, is inexpensive, and makes me lose my breath. If I can’t walk away from it, my rule is that I HAVE to buy it.”
PROJECT A: One project I really love is this $10 lamp from the thrift store. Solid, heavy base, but bland color and shade. I spray painted it canary yellow, and about a month later, found the awesome lampshade for a measly $2.00! Total cost = $12.00. This lamp is sitting on top of my “dumpster desk” (see PROJECT E below), in my reading room.
See the Complete Lamp Makeover Project – Click Here
PRJOECT B: Who finds a solid wood dining room table for $12.00?! Unheard of! But I’m proud to admit I did, at the thrift store. I sanded it down, stained it, applied polyurethane, and now we’ve got this beauty in our dining room, all for about $50, including supplies.
Check out the complete project here!
PROJECT C. I’d spotted some great card catalogs on Pinterest, but after doing some research, found they were too expensive. So to find this amazing deal at the thrif store, with tons of drawers for my crafting supplies in my crafting room, I was pretty excited! It was a steal at $18. And with supplies, it only cost about $46!
Check out the complete project here!
PROJECT D. I spotted this little kid’s desk only milliseconds before another thrift diver wondered upon it! For $5.00, it was a no-brainer that this baby was coming home with me! I knew I wanted to make it an activity desk for my toddler to sit and draw and learn his ABCs. With about $3.00 in supplies, it’s a great deal for about $8.00! The best thing about it is that it’s small enough to move from room to room–anywhere my toddler needs to be with me, and kept busy!
PROJECT E: This “dumpster desk” is one of my favorite projects! It’s the highlight of my reading room, and reminds me of something that could be featured in BHG. I scored it next to our community dumpster, and it sat in storage for well over a year, just waiting for me to slather on some paint. The biggest expense was the Anthropologie knobs (on sale) for about $18, and I used half a can of chalk paint. Total was about $38!
Check out the complete project here!
Be sure to check out all of Serena’s amazing projects on her website, www.ThriftDiving.com