The Interior DIYer
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January Instagram roundup + Oxfam news!

Before I dive into my exciting Oxfam news, can I take a little moment and say my monthly Instagram roundup is becoming a blog post lined with panic. Wait, it’s the end of another month already? January was busy. Full of ups and downs and for the most part it kept me from Instagramming and writing here as much as I usually do. NOT COMPLAINING, because I’ve learned a lot and accomplished some neat stuff {that sometimes make me think too much and panic. I’m a worrier}.
One of the highlights of January was when I was approached by Oxfam Ireland about working on a piece for an upcoming project* – they’d like me to upcycle / revamp a piece of secondhand furniture, display it in one of their stores for the month of March, and to finish, it will be auctioned off at the end of the month. Um, woah.

To say I’m excited would be the understatement of the month. I’m heading to Belfast tomorrow and I’ll be dropping into their Belfast Home branch to see what gems they have up there for upcycling for the project. Up to my eyes in second hand furniture? I’ll be in my element. They may need to use force to escort me from the premises. You have been warned, Belfast. xx A
If you’d like to follow along with my road trip tomorrow {and exciting cat photos any other day of the week}, you can check out my Instagram feed. 
*More details on this project laters.
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Raising the bar

On my way home from work two weeks ago, as I cycled into the underground car park, what did my peripheral vision see – only the lonliest of bar stools, dumped in a bin. My heart jumped. It was lovely, but clearly in need of some TLC. It was filthy and the seat was cracked in two. I took a quick photo {below}, and in one fowl swoop, stool came upstairs and I made him a cup of hot chocolate. 
Stool sat in the hallway that Friday night and on Saturday morning, I woke up nice and early to clean it. However, in the light of day, I saw just how truly filthy it was; the stool was black and very tacky to the touch – I assume from years of being in an old, greasy pub. Black. You see the picture above and don’t think much of it, but in no way could you see wood. I put on my rubber gloves and got to work. As I began to scrub, I was quite surprised to find under all that sticky blackness, some really lovely wood. I annihilated 2 brillo pads in the process, but 2 hours later, stool was spotless. I followed up by sanding it and scraping it with a pallet knife to give it a smooth finish. 

My next question was what to actually do with it – paint the legs? Paint the seat? Varnish or paint the whole thing? Gold? Black? White? I didn’t want to rush into a bad decision, so I let some ideas ferment. 

I really loved the shade of wood it was, so I decided to keep some of it natural. I wanted to paint one aspect of it, and since the seat was broken in two and needed to be repaired, it became obvious to paint the seat. “Don’t worry stool“, I whispered. “We all have a crack in our seat“. 

Inspiration struck one day when I was doing the dishes and in particular, cleaning the new cheese board my parents got husband for his birthday. I really liked its clean lines, natural wood finish and black handle. Hey, perfect combination! I’m always amazed when inspiration strikes, and what causes it. Sometimes it’s the silliest things that have almost no connection. 

Since my dad has a work bench, he kindly volunteered to glue the seat, clamp it for 24 hours as well as add two connector / mending plates to keep the seat together {as seen on the underside of the seat below}. I sanded it down until it was smooth and painted the seat with Shock Black spray paint from Montana.

Not a huge transformation, I know, but the pictures really don’t do justice to how lovely the wood is. At the moment it’s au naturale and doesn’t have a stain on it. I might add a stain at a later date. Nonetheless, it’s a lovely little addition to our living room. It might move, but I can’t be sure where to just yet. I’m not going to loose sleep over it though. 
Welcome home, little stool. xx A

UPDATE: you can check out bar stool’s new look here! 

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Dublin charity shop tour – part 2

Back in October, Emily of From China Village shared one of my favourite and well worn charity shop routes in the Dublin city centre over on her blog. Since that was way back in October, I thought it was high time I share another one of my favourite routes, but this time on the south side. 

I start by taking any of the buses that go down George’s / Camden Street, and get out at the stop just after Age Action nearish to The Bleeding Horse. Then I get down to business. Starting at Dublin’s Simon Community, I work my way north back towards the city centre …

1. Dublin’s Simon Community – a great place to check out for clothes. You won’t find much brick-a-brack here, but the abundance of clothes {both adult and kids} more than makes up for it. 
2. Age Action – if you’re on the lookout for furniture, you have got to check out Age Action. They have serious retro pieces in the windows and throughout the shop. I’ve found many amazing pieces in this place – my vintage vases, the lamp I revamped and my coral to name a few. They also have a serious vintage clothing selection.
3. Enable Ireland – a good selection of everything but they always seem to strike gold when it comes to bed linens. Don’t be afraid to buy second hand linen – you’ve slept in a hotel before, right? Well I’m afraid it’s the same thing. Just wash them before you use them. 
4. Irish Cancer Society – this place is perfect for nick-knacks. However, this charity shop can be overpriced. For example, there was a lovely teapot on display but it was marked €45. It wasn’t a fancy label, so I inquired about the price and the manager wouldn’t budge. I’ve found other items overpriced, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still find amazing bargains. I’ve gotten beautiful vases for my mom in here.
5. Debra – a serious gold mine. Not only are the staff incredibly friendly and helpful {they remembered me from years ago buying teapots and cups for our wedding! I didn’t even remember that}, but there are real gems and jewels in here. For instance, I picked up my bar cart here. Winning. 

After Debra charity shop it’s a 10 or 15 minute walk to Vincent’s on Aungier Street so sometimes I hop on the next bus because if I’m not cycling, I use my unlimited bus ticket and I usually milk it for all it’s worth. Otherwise it’s not too long of a walk to the next shop … 

6. Vincent’s – this is a real gem when it comes to odds and ends. It’s a small shop, but what it lacks in size, it makes up in volume of interesting and unusual pieces. Vases, paintings and collectors items fill this place to the top as well as clothes. 
7. All Sorts – I’ve heard this place being referred to as the TK Maxx of charity shops. It has a good mix of odds-and-ends and a good clothes selection. I find it very good for accessories as I’ve picked up a couple of belts and bangles in here now and again. 
If you wanted, again, you can take the bus a couple stops to George’s Street as there’s a bit of a walk between these shops. But it’s not too far. You can do it. 
8. Enable Ireland – all Enable Ireland’s have a really good mix of everything. This one in particular has very posh clothes. Again, as with the Enable Ireland on Camden Street, make sure you check out their window display and take note of when it goes on sale as there are some serious gems in there. 
9. Vincent’s – the newest charity shop on George’s Street and already I’ve scored some hits there. Lots of really swish clothes downstairs, and if collectibles and records are your thing, then head upstairs. 
10. Oxfam – this Oxfam is quite fancy and always has a really good selection of next-to-new clothes, books, handbags and accessories. Especially check out their vintage scarf selection if that’s your kind of thing.

And if that route doesn’t satisfy your charity shop craving in the Dublin city centre, than I srsly don’t know what will.

This is my favourite route because with a whopping 10 shops, you’re guaranteed to find something that makes you scream inside. If you’d like to check out my original charity shop route for the north side, click on over here to my post on Emily’s post!