according to emily, the woman behind this amazing guitar makeover, one of the best things about living in nyc is the awesome trash finds. i have never lived in new york, but from the projects i see coming into my inbox, it does seem like new yorkers score some of the greatest free stuff. getting stuff for free is so great because it releases inhibitions: it didn’t cost me anything, why not paint it/cut it/rebuild it/cover it with fabric and see how it looks? i think this project is proof that sometimes you have to take something free and go crazy. emily’s husband found this broken 80′s dana alvarez guitar sitting in the trash. being a musician himself, he could not resist its awesomeness. emily reworked it with paint, vintage fabric scraps, and mod podge. ‘dana’ looks so pretty in her new colors and is perfectly suited to her future purpose: hanging on the wall of their baby girl’s room. great job, emily! -kate
[have a before & after you'd like to share? just shoot me an email with your images right here! (low res, under 500k per image, please)]
CLICK HERE for cassie’s son’s bedroom makeover after the jump!
this amazing boy’s room makeover from
cassie brings back memories of growing up and wanting my room to reflect my new maturity. i vividly remember feeling very grown up when my parents repainted my room the color of my choosing and gave me a four poster bed. i can’t imagine how excited cassie’s nine year old son was to enter this room for the first time! even though she felt she had painted her son’s nursery only yesterday, cassie decided to surprise him by transforming his room while he was on vacation. she managed to keep the project low budget by using her frugal skills: the furniture is his existing set repainted, the curtains that add height to the room are ten dollar drop cloths, and the biggest statement in the room, the striped wall, is the result of a few cans of paint, tape, and hard work. according to cassie, her son loves his new room so much, he now makes the bed everyday. you can read more about the project
here. amazing job, cassie!
{note: cassie was kind enough to provide some of the paint she used: swan white by behr, obstinate orange by sherwin williams, and a leftover dark brown (custom color)}
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20 Comments
sadly, bedbugs are making NYers trash finds less and less safe…
I am not a guitar player, but I sure would love to just hold this guitar and look like I play! It is unbelievable how beautiful it turned out!
so cute!
I hope she does herself a favor and procures an actual functional guitar for when the kid asks to play it. Raising someone with rocker influence and then admitting “sorry, what might have been an educational tool for you was ruined when I permanently soiled the humbucker pick-up with green paint,” is going to suck!
Hmm, I think my “little brother rage” made me merge the dual-purpose post into one. I now recognize that the stories were unrelated.
I love the guitar but I think I love your plaid dress even more! Details?
sorry to say, sometimes the things are right. this guitar looks like a flowerpot.
yeah… unfortunately the guitar is not very functional anymore… hoping it at least has dots on the side of the neck since you painted over the fret markers.
if played, the paint will get scraped off the frets. (and the fretboard). the paint on the saddles, probably the same story.
and i’m certain the pick-ups won’t work with a layer of paint over them.
it is a good idea… i would probably have taken off the hardware, rattle-canned the body, and reassembled it.
I think my head just exploded! I was pouring over D*S (like I do everyday!) and almost passed right over my own post!!?? How amazingly flattering to be included on your fab blog…thanks so much!
Can’t wait to read the feedback on my son’s room.
xoxo, cassie
Cassie! Great, great, great room! so happy – well, happy that he likes it, clearly he has good taste – happy to see such a stylish kid’s room!
For those who are worried about the guitar being ruined, it says it was already broken in the post :)
The Dana Guitar looks great! They usually get tossed because to operate, they require a battery that’s hidden beneath an access plate with lots of screws. Now you have a custom Dana Scoop that’s probably worth $500.
Check out more from the designer’s website http://danamusic.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=777
Enjoy!
seriously thrilled to be on d*s – what a true honor! thanks for being so inspiring to us all!!!
cassie – great job on your son’s room, what a sweet surprise! you are a good mom :)
The room is really great! I love the idea to use drop cloths for curtains… Where’d you buy them? And where did you find the “Do what you love” print?
That guitar was far, far cooler before.
Wow! Such very good work…
I really love to those idea…Thanks for sharing it….
Where is the pretty plaid dress from?
cute guitar idea.. very 70′s
great jobs, the both of you (grrreat guitar)
the guitar looks lovely before AND after!
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