Thursday, June 4, 2009

Thrifty Thursday: It's Chic to Be Cheap {14}

Have you ever had something of sentimental value that you hate to part with, even though it's really a little bit ugly?

T's aunt took up painting shortly before our wedding almost 8 years ago. So, for a wedding gift, we received....you guessed it...two of her framed paintings. They're not horrendous or anything. I like the paint colors she used. I just wasn't a fan of the fake gold frame with the mat. I sort of wish we'd gotten married more recently, as her talent has much improved.

So what's a girl to do? I couldn't very well toss the paintings. Like I said, they don't make me want to claw my own eyes out, and T would probably notice their absence. Then again, I sometimes wonder if he'd notice a grizzly bear walking through the kitchen carrying one of our children.

Here's a before shot (sorry for the glare! was trying to snap it before the toddler ran into the frame):

My friend K's husband is an artist, and he kindly offered to paint the frames for me.

Here's an after:


The story doesn't end here. Perhaps you notice the broken glass in the lower corner? I have a sneaking suspicion that a certain three year old and her friend may have stepped on it (with shoes on, thank God!) during a play date. I had them resting propped up against the wall, on the floor. Poor choice on my part.

So now I really had a dilemma. I did my best to find a frame in the same size with a similar design. No luck. I think it may have been a custom frame. The closest thing I could find was going to run me around $16 with a 40% off coupon. Bummer.

In desperation, I called a local paint and glass store. Turns out, they cut custom pieces of glass all the time. (Lowe's turned me down--said their glass would be too thin.)

"Come on down!" they said.

They cut the glass for me right there, and it only cost me $8!

So don't toss that frame just because the glass is broken! Either find a new use for your frame, or consider having the glass recut. It was considerably cheaper for me in this instance!

Here's a final shot:


Now I have art I can live with. These paintings are no Rembrandts, but they mean a lot because T's aunt took the time to create them for us. To me, that's special!

I'm not sure how I feel about the mat. Any thoughts? Should I color over the gold with black paint? Leave it as is?? Your comments are greatly appreciated!

Do you have anything in your home that you've given a new life rather than toss to the curb?

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9 comments:

  1. It does look much better in that dark frame! I've had good luck with the cheap precut mats at Hobby Lobby.
    Dropped by from SITS.

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  2. Yes, love the dark frame so much more!!! It's hard to say if you should change out the inner mat...but if you don't like the gold ,I'd say go for it!

    Suzanne

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  3. Wow - what a transformation!

    Thinking about doing some furniture painting this summer... not because I can't bear to part with the ugly dresser set in the guest room - but because I'm too cheap to! :) What is it? "Necessity is the mother of invention?" Shouldn't it be "Recession is the mother of RE-invention"??? :)

    (oh and YES, my husband is a good sport - though I am sure he will be posting some kind of payback soon!)

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  4. Wow Amanda! Talk about a transformation! I LOVE LOVE LOVE black frames. What a good idea to be able to update those. They look great!

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  5. I love the black frame! The gold really looks fine. However, I think it would look really good if you colored it black too! I'm a lot of help, huh?

    I redid my end tables for Mod Podge Mania!

    I also have a big framed painting I got from my grandmother's house that I'm going to do something cool with, I just haven't decided what yet!

    Hope you're having an awesome day!

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  6. The "new" frames look great! Gotta love a black frame :)! I have given makeovers to lots of family hand-me-downs over the years. So much better than buying new!

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  7. So much better! I completely understand your delimma. My honey's grandma cross-stitched something for us for our wedding and I kept it in my closet:o Hung up of course, but everytime she came over she was looking for it and I had to make up excuses. Isn't that awful? So good for you:)

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  8. I have found that decorating with meaningful art is so much more encouraging that "stuff". I'm glad you were able to get your glass fixed, and that no toes were harmed in the process of playing on it!

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  9. What a great post. Stopping by from SITS to leave some bloggy love!

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