BEFORE & AFTER: CABINET

Back when I was working on CBC TV doing a regular segment called Deb on a Dime, I was always looking for inexpensive furniture. I'd often go by Value Village and check out the second hand furniture, and this is where I found this cabinet. I wanted to show this makeover because you really can decorate on any budget. Sometimes it means you'll have to get your hands dirty and Do-It-Yourself but you can find some great treasures. The things I always look for are the size and shape of a piece of furniture, everything else can be changed. For this project I needed a narrow cabinet and this one fit the bill. It also provided a pretty good amount of storage inside the unit. I picked it up for $9.99, here it is before:

It definitely wasn't pretty but I could see the potential. I spray painted it white and I covered the glass doors with frosted vinyl. It didn't take a lot of time, or cost much in materials, to totally transform the cabinet. Here it is after:

DIY: lamp for $9.99

This lamp underwent a dramatic transformation and cost less than $10. Back when I was doing a segment on CBC TV called, "Deb on a Dime", I was always looking for affordable and stylish DIY ideas. You can create some great looking lighting if you think outside the box and are willing to get your hands dirty. I picked up a pair of these lamps at a second hand store for $4.99 each. I liked them right away because of the shape and size. I used white primer spray paint to cover the colour and pattern, this gave them a perfect matte white finish. Here I am getting ready to spray:

Then I was able to pick up two shades in an 'as is' section of a big box store; each shade was $5.00, for a grand total of $9.99 for each lamp. I think they look pretty good considering the price tag.

Here's how the second lamp looked on the other end of the room.