The Park Ridge Project

There are times in your life when everything aligns.  This was one of those times.  I'm going to tell you about "The Park Ridge Project".  Meet Zach...

Zach is my very handsome oldest son.  He recently moved to Park Ridge.  This move necessitated an SOS call to me.  "Mom!  I need better furniture.  HELP!"  He felt that the hand-me-down furniture didn't suit his upgrade of new digs.  I was in charge of putting it all together.  On a budget of practically nothin'.  

The only requests he had was that it had to match the color scheme of cream walls and wood floors.  Easily done!  What doesn't match that color scheme!?  Am I right?  

I was alerted via text that there was a hitchhiking coffee table across town.  I hopped in the SUV and took off to rescue it.  Once I spotted it, there was no place close by to park.  Well, it turns out that was the least of my worries because this thing weighed a ton.  I had to drag it to my SUV and then somehow summon the strength to get it into the back.  Not an easy task.  See those scrapes on the side of it?  ALL ME BABY!!  

I started looking for colors to paint this when I came across a similar table on Ballard Designs.  Theirs costs $399.99 more than mine did.  Hehehe.  Here's theirs.

Here's ours after a good cleaning, sanding, painting and polyurethaning. 

I'll be honest with you.  I like ours better.  Look at the cute silver feet.  Those hammered silver candlesticks on it?  I paid $4 for them at my favorite second hand store, H & H Mercantile.  They were destined for Park Ridge, too.

I went for a walk one afternoon when two doors down I found ANOTHER hitchhiker...You bet I carried that baby right home!

 

Did the same treatment on him that I did on the coffee table.  I also painted his hardware silver to match the feet on the other table.

I stumbled across a bed on a local website for sale.  They were asking $30.  It needed some repair work but I knew it was nothing my handsome handy husband couldn't handle.  Here's the bed before...

A couple of the panels were damaged.  We replaced them, sanded, painted and poly'ed this as well.  

Look at how this sleigh bed went from sad to super expensive looking...

We had offers to purchase that bed but Zach wouldn't go for it.  Don't judge my pictures.  I'm not known for my picture taking skills.  That would be my neighbor Flo of Flotography.  She's the photographer.  I'm the furniture flipper.  

I stopped by our Salvation Army Store where for the very low price of a buck, I picked up this lamp.  

I went to a local garage sale where I found this chair.  The ladies manning the sale gave it to me.  FOR FREE.  (You have to say FOR FREE in a high-low sing-songy voice, that's how I typed it and meant for it to be read.  Try it.  FOR FREE.)

It is a solidly built chair.  I sanded and stained it.  Then my husband and I tag-teamed it when it came to recovering it.  The total cost to flip this chair was $9 for the fabric.  I used stain I already had on hand.  

Here's how the chair looks after...

 










Let's take a look at the whole Furniture Flippin' caboodle for this project all packed up and ready to be delivered...

Now, keep in mind that was just what was leaving our house.  It had another stop to make at his old apartment where that truck was completely filled.  

Zach was lucky to score a free couch from a friend that matched very well.   Here is a peek at his living room... 

We're not house stagers - I snapped that pic on a recent visit.  You are lucky there aren't four people in the photo.  We'll save that pic for a Craigslist ad if ever he decides to sell any of the furniture.  Don't you love those Craigslist pics?  ("Uh, does the guy wearing what appears to be a sweater in summer come with the couch? - Oh, that's NOT a sweater?  What do you mean he's not even wearing a shirt?  Nevermind.  I'll pass.")

Let's do a tally of costs for this project.  Paint, stain, and polyurethane all came from our stash.  We spent $1 for lamp, $9 for fabric, $30 for the bed, and $4 for candle holders.  $44.00* is what it took to pull off this Park Ridge Project.  Can you believe that?!?  $44.00.  Just like I said.  The stars aligned and I doubt that we would ever be able to pull that off again.  That being said, we'd be up for the challenge if someone asked.  (*Obviously I am NOT counting the cost of labor when figuring out what this flip cost us.  In this case, it was a labor of love much like the 23 hours of labor it took to bring that young person into the world.  I didn't get paid for those hours, so why would I put a price on this labor?)

The true test that we did well on this project was after we had it all finished and the furniture was set up in our garage.  A little five year old boy we know walked in and replied, "This is a nice house!".  

Oh, one last thing.  I wonder if Zach ever noticed that Triple H painted our initials underneath the end table?  It's there.  

Dear readers, we've reached the part where I would normally direct you to our featured flipper's website or contact information and encourage you to encourage them.  Since today I am the featured flipper, you can feel free to direct any comments you have here if you feel so obliged. 

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Are you a furniture flipper?  Would you like to be featured on Furniture Flippin'?  We'd love to show off your stuff, too!  Email us your before/after pictures and all of the details to furnitureflippin@yahoo.com .  The more info the better or I'll just make stuff up about you.  That could be fun, too!  It's totally your call.  Don't forget to visit us on our Furniture Flippin' Facebook page, too! 

Stephanie