In My Backyard: Repurposing My Home and D.C. Businesses

I was watching DVRed Nate Berkus show episodes when Nate shared some great ideas for how people could add beauty to their homes and at the same time, boost local businesses.  Essentially, his idea entailed giving existing businesses new kinds of work that involved repurposing what you have at home.   I ended up getting some great tips for my home that also supported D.C. business.


Makeover Metal Furniture 

I had been looking to paint my old filing cabinet a new color to add some cohesive looking decor to my home office.  My cabinet was rusted in part. And I'm not detail oriented enough to prep and paint - a fact I learned after having painted my living room.  According to Nate, Maaco will strip your metal furniture of its paint and then paint it a color of your choosing.  For smaller pieces, it costed about $50.  He said that if Maaco wouldn't do it, then to check around for local auto body shops to see if another local shop would.  Right then, I emailed the nearest Maaco to my house. It is at 1913 Bladensburg Road NE, Washington D.C.  It turns out they, in fact, paint metal cabinetry. They had just done someone's lockers for $200.    


The next day, I took this green filing cabinet to Maaco.  I checked with this Maaco about what the painting service included.  I confirmed that Maaco could remove most of the rust and add in some material to bring back the service if it was too rusted.

For $75, here's the "after" picture.

Previously, I had this cabinet hidden away in my office closet but no more.  It really made a difference in my home office as a fun accent piece.  I recommend the Bladensburg branch of Maaco. They were professional, thorough, and offered a great price.


To learn more about what Nate recommends for revitalizing metal furniture in your home, you can see the NB video here: http://www.thenateshow.com/videos/detail/1957/metal-table-transformation

Repurpose Traditional Garb into Couch Pillows

I received a very large Nigerian dress that I never wore because I've seen catamaran sails in a smaller size.  Wearing it was not a good use but the fabric and colors were beautiful.  I didn't like the idea of throwing the dress away or not putting it to some meaningful use.  So it stayed folded away in a closet.  While watching the same episode of the Nate Berkus show, he had another great idea for putting old cloth or remnants to a new use.  

Nate said to take old cloth remnants such as drapes and make them into pillows.  He said if you can't sew, then take them to your local dry cleaners and have them make the pillows for you.  He said the cost was about $50.  I immediately had my second "aha" moment.  

The service didn't include stuffing.  So, 

I bought 2 standard pillows at Target for about $5.00 

to cheaply fill the pillows.

I took the dress to a local family owned cleaners and explained to the perplexed seamstress what I wanted. She told me for $60 that she could do 4 pillows out of the dress and add a zipper to each one.  Here's the final product. I have great new loungey pillows for a couch or bed.

I've paid a comparable amount of money for couch pillows at the Home Goods store, but these pillows have the added benefit of a zipper, which most couch pillows don't have.  The stuffing can be removed so the pillows can be washed as necessary.  

My brother,  a contractor, prefers earth tone colors. But after he saw the embroidered pillows, he took them for his entertainment room in his Henson Ridge home in Washington, D.C.

To learn more about this tip on how to have pillows made, check out the NB video here: http://www.thenateshow.com/videos/detail/1961/table-runner-turned-pillow-cover/