So, You Wanna See Me Upcycle Something?

I don’t blame you. It’s like that great Elvis song: “A little less conversation/ A little more action!”

Last autumn, a good mama friend gave me her guest room bed frame to sell and add to my “Playdate 2013” fund, which took my family to Europe this April.

Through craigslist, I sold the bed to a recently transplanted San Francisco engineer, here to help build the new Tappan Zee Bridge. As usual, I talked too much when we met, but she liked my “Playdate” idea. A few days later, she gave me two more items to sell for my “Playdate” fund. (This is not the first time a craigslist sale became a friend and the source of more stuff for craigslist sales; maybe another story on another day…).

One, a mid-century "Bali Hai" dresser by Henry Link, became an instant object of lust for craigslist browsers; I sold it in 24 hours for $100. (Bali Hai usually sells online for $400-$1,900! If you’ve been wondering where the great deals on craigslist went, search for “Sleepy Hollow”—you’ll probably find me). An immaculately groomed couple, recent LA transplants, raced up from Manhattan to grab that deal.

Yet another California girl in New York, I began to wonder if my calling is as a Craigslist Yenta.

Anyway, back to the goodies….

The other item my new engineer friend gave me was a trapezoidal vanity seat with cracked beige vinyl upholstery and ragged, red-brown stained wood.

As with most of my finds, that seat spent months languishing in my basement. But I didn’t forget it.

I finally showed it to my craftiest mama friend in town. “I want to re-upholster it with teal velvet from a Coldwater Creek dress.” I showed her; it’s a gorgeous, long-sleeved, floor-length size 14 (you should buy it from me, seriously). She wisely told me to think before chopping a sellable dress for a yard of fabric. She also said, “I think that seat needs something wild.”

During my next visit to Goodwill, I spotted a stretch faux-denim jacket featuring high-volume mod print. Perfect.

Back in the early 80s, my mom took an upholstery class and stunned our household by re-upholstering the dining chairs, the sofas, and several armchairs in less than a month. (See, I am just plain lazy next to my own little mama.) Mom thought we ignored her efforts, but nine-year-old me was paying attention as I sighed and grumbled about stretching the fabric evenly this way and that while she tacked the tiny nails in.

Upholstery: it’s all about symmetry.

At our kids’ next play date, I made my crafty friend shoot the staple gun as I wrapped the jacket’s back panels over the vanity seat’s removed and cleaned-up base. The kick-back on that staple gun shocked us both. But, I trust my friend with interior design questions; I trust her with my life.

Quality shears that my mom gave me twelve years ago (and which I never once saw a use for until that day) made slicing away the jackets arms and pockets a breeze. We did good, as my dad says. I called my mom to say thanks for those long-ago lessons.

As for the vanity seat’s wooden frame, I gave it a serious preparatory sanding and two coats of decade-old oil-based Benjamin Moore paint in “Atrium White” that was tucked away in my basement. I was careful to sand between coats, which makes a glassy-smooth surface when the second coat dries.

In the end, it’s pretty cute, huh?

And it’s for sale. I’m turning Trash into Culture again. This time, I’m planning to take the family to Ireland and Sweden for “Playdate 2014.”

Interested?









Copyright 2013 Tanya Monier