Little Chair

Finito! 

Last project, complete!  I'm sailing away to my island summer vacation.... Sunday:) 

Who doesn't want to be there?!  Oh, I can't wait to be one with the hippies:)  And of course, rummage through the dump. lol

A week or two ago, I sold this pretty white and walnut waterfall desk, along with a mirror. 

The client sent me a lovely message a couple days later, along with a picture of it all prettied up in his daughter's room:)

  

They asked me to find them a chair to go with it, and I originally found this one. 

But, sadly, I was obviously not thorough with my inspection and there was a crack in the leg:(  Lesson to be learned...  

I tried to repair it, by gluing and clamping it but this attempt was not successful.  And that my friends, is money down the drain.

So, I called upon a neighbor who I just picked up a table from the other day, and had some odds and sods in her garage that I was eyeballing. 

She was nice enough to let me come shop at 930pm. lol. Sweet, especially since VV closes at 9pm, and by the time I had finished up my work for the day, and put the kidlets to bed and my husband made it home, it was 930pm!

Everything worked out in the end, minus a useless purchased chair.

And the transformation is complete.

I used a creamy white damask fabric I had on hand, that the client agreed would be a perfect fit. 

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I think this "little chair" is going to be, just right.

And that's all for this week folks!

Enjoy the last week of summer!!!

Mid Century to Modern Day

I spent my last week working on these mid century pieces for a client, along with a few other custom pieces.

I've put in a few long days, had a few bumps in the road, but it's always satisfying once the project is finally done! 

Three trips to Home Depot in three days, and we finally decided on the hardware:)

I think the knobs compliment these once outdated pieces and give them a fresh new modern day look.

What do you think?  

Two down, one more to go.  I'll be finishing up a chair for a client this evening, and then I'm off for the rest of the month, on HOLIDAYS!!! 

Custom Bathroom Vanity

SOLD

Remember that blue dresser I posted on facebook a couple weeks ago that I was working on? 

This is a custom piece for a dear friend of mine, who will actually be converting it into a bathroom vanity!  I've always wanted to do one of these pieces, but envisioned it for myself. lol.  

After nearly 2 hours of sanding and chipping away at this ancient blue paint, here's what I was left with.  

  I even broke out my big girl belt sander for this one and my "serious face mask."  TWO hours people!  Sometimes you get lucky, and sometimes paint on these old pieces can be stuck on like tar cement!

Great selfie right? 

I will admit, I was cursing in my mask.  (Don't worry D, I still love you:) She did not want the blue to show through the distressing, so I had to make sure I removed enough of it from at least the edges to prevent it from peaking through.  

Sounds easy enough right?  Nope. 

But, after all this prep work of sanding and patching, it is finally done and I have to say, it's yummy and I'm loving it.

Hope she does too! 

I stole all the items in our powder room downstairs to stage this one.  All vintage finds, minus the awesome soap dispenser I fell in love with at Home Sense a couple weeks ago. 

I also did some research on how to sealing the top of this, as I didn't think my go to wax would suffice. 

I ended up choosing this product, as another that was recommended was no longer available.

I was a little nervous trying out a new product, and also after having a few bad experiences with varnishes in the past, but I would definitely recommend this one. 

I used a foam brush, and did at least 6 coats.  It went on really easy, no streaking and didn't try too fast while applying it.  And best of all, it didn't leave that thick clear coat look! 

I'll make sure to post some more pics of this vanity once it is actually installed and the sink is in:)

And on a totally different side note, I tried changing my template the other day for my blog and I messed it all up and don't know how to fix it! lol.  I find this kind of thing completely frustrating and spent hours trying to fix it the other day, and then finally gave up.  Who has countless hours to waste in front of a computer?  Not me!  

I'll have to tackle that some day soon....  Until then, you will just have to put up with the weird spacing and such:) 

xo

Grateful

Picture via Pinterest

Well not just today, but it's a beautiful sunny Saturday and I'm feeling like I want to share my feelings of gratitude with you!

I slept in this morning.  Well, if you want to call 8am sleeping in.  Waking up to a bossy 4 year old who wants to watch TV downstairs, who is basically yelling at you to get out of bed, and their father is not good enough. lol.  And you have a wee bit of a headache post some wine that you shared with one your besties the evening before.  8am is sleeping in compared to my regular 5am wake ups that I've been doing for the last few months so I can fit my workout in before the household is up and at em.

And then I received a surprise text from my mother.  My mom, who said she would never get an iphone. Who had a flip phone until a month ago.  Who barely knew how to work that. (sorry mom, I know you read my posts. lol) Who is now texting me!  Texting me to see if I want to go to a garage sale with her.

I spent a dollar and came home with these.

A little bit of my dutch heritage:)

Yep, that's a good Saturday morning.

This week, this beautiful sofa table found a new home. 

And so did my old school teachers desk.

It's always great to sell my furniture obviously.  But, it's not just for the moola:)

Being a stay at home mom is my full time job and an important job.  But, let's be real, it's not always the most rewarding job.

Picture via Pinterest

Having an outlet for me is so important.  And painting furniture, decorating and making things is pretty fun and awesome.

It's even better though when someone else actually likes it! 

Having a little validation that I am good at something is an amazing feeling.  It can make the most unrewarding difficult days of raising little beings into good days. 

Not not all my days are unrewarding, BTW.

And I wouldn't change this path.  

I love these pictures my soon to be 9 year old has been leaving me randomly this week on my desk.

So this week when I sold 2 pieces of my work, it was not only great cause I could buy some shoes, but it was great cause I met some lovely people, and these lovely people like my stuff!

I definitely miss the social aspect of working out of the house.  And the moments I get to interact with people and share my work are moments I'm extremely grateful for.

So thank you to all those who follow me and like me "stuff."

:)

White and Walnut Desk / Vanity

FOR SALE

I've had this beautiful antique vanity or desk in my garage for quite a few months and started working on it, but then stopped.  I could not decide for the life of me what color I wanted to paint it!  Sometimes I get so stuck with my vision.  That's when a break is a good thing. 

It's hard to see in these pictures, but the desk had been stripped and the wood was so beautiful that I could not bring myself to paint it:)  

I contemplated different color combinations but finally this one sung to me. 

A walnut stain was used for the top and the drawers, and left over latex paint for the body from some bookshelves I just painted.

I finished the piece with a couple coats of wax.  I used minwax on the top and drawers for the first coat, which created a slight whitening which gives the top an almost faint white wash look, that ties in the two colors nicely.

It measures 18"d x 30"h x 42" w.

Custom French Art

SOLD

Oh, I love summer:)  

The kids are on break, the weather is warm and our schedule is a little more flexible.  Which means, more time for me to work!  

I suppose I could be painting early morning in the cooler months, but it's just not as enjoyable.  In fact, it's not enjoyable at all when it's minus degrees out and your hands are numb while painting.  And for some reason, my husband (who leaves his dirty clothes anywhere and everywhere after removing them, his dirty dishes and let's just say he's not so tidy:)) seems to not appreciate me painting in our dining room. lol

So, yesterday morning I had already done my workout, had a shower and was drinking coffee and painting at 8am in a tank top outside:)  

Yes, I love summer. 

So I've been working a lot the last couple weeks, taking advantage of this time, weather and trying to tackle all of my projects that have been sitting for quite some time. 

I made one of these custom french art pieces for myself last year for our powder room downstairs.  It turned out just how I envisioned and was inspired to make more.  It just took me nearly a year to do so. lol. 

But, better late then never!

This piece measures 17" x 38", and includes hooks for hanging.  

White French Provincial Coffee Table

SOLD

Shabby Chic anyone? This french provincial coffee table is up for grabs.  

It needed a lot of sanding, stripping, patching and priming, as it was well loved.

And after all the prep was done, it was painted with ASCP Pure White, distressed and finished with several coats of clear wax. 

It measures  23.5" W x 50" L x 15.5" H