Chipped tables, an upcycled library card cabinet, tea towel lumbar pillows — The Painted Hive’s Kristine Franklin has lovingly updated her Australian cottage home by turning trash into treasure. Her philosophy? Make the most of what you’ve got!
Living room
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Franklin scored her round wood coffee table on eBay for just $25, and then gave it a new life with a coat of white paint and some heavy sanding. A library card cabinet gathering dust in a junk room was transformed into an end table with the addition of silvery casters tinted with permanent marker to resemble cast iron.
Dining room
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A bargain industrial pendant light (find a similar one at Lowe’s) illuminates a rustic farmhouse table — another eBay steal. Ho-hum dining room chairs with sagging rattan inserts were revamped with metal seat plates. See that tea towel casually draped over the handbag? It’s going to make an appearance later in the tour — as a lumbar pillow!
Master bedroom
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Neutral bedding, a distressed green table and a framed map of Paris give Franklin’s bedroom eclectic farmhouse charm.
Home office
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Franklin’s computer nook enjoys full functionality thanks to custom-built cabinetry (crafted by a friend at “mate’s rates”) that makes the most of the small space. Thrift-store frames filled with a mix of original art and free online prints comprise the gallery wall. The lumbar pillow on the office chair was made from a tea towel resembling a coffee sack and involved no sewing at all. Find instructions here.
Nursery
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White board and batten walls, a redone eBay rocking chair, funky gallery wall and chalkboard-painted closet doors give the nursery its charm. That light fixture? It’s actually a repurposed vintage zinc basket.
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