My Non-Linear Approach To Work (Translation: "I can't remember what I was just doing.")

Hello readers..........Today I figured it out I think.............I've had a love/hate relationship with blogging lately, and it dawned on me.........the reason is..........I think....I'm putting so much pressure on myself to get a new piece done every time I blog that, well,  I'm not!
My work isn't linear, so why should my blogs be? "To thine own self be true" and all that.......
To do a "before and after" for every post, well, it just doesn't happen that way sometimes. So, starting now, I'm not gonna beat myself up when it doesn't!


My normal day consists of something like this:
I take a walk in the morning, usually dragging something home I found in an alley...
Make coffee. (This is an absolute MUST.)
Check emails, start researching a project or work on a quote or get into someone's blog or.........?????????!!!!!!
Then I realize it's 10 AM!!!!!!!!! I run downstairs and start sewing the trim that I'm pleating to add to the ottoman I'm trying to finish to put in my antique booth........Then I think, "Oh, you need to topcoat that piece outside before it gets too hot." So I go outside and set up my "outdoor painting station," sand and paint a piece of furniture. Then I remember something I need, so I run inside to get it, but I forget what it is once I get in, so I decide to design some new tags for my furniture pieces and print them off, then I remember the piece that I bought at a thrift shop yesterday.......
Do you see where I'm going here??


Here's what I did today......whether it's finished or not!!!!!!!!


I decided to tackle this piece that's been sitting in my living room for two weeks. It's a piano bench that my friend, Kim, gave me from her Dad's estate...............These are great for extra table seating, or at the foot of a bed....it also has storage!!!!!!

The top needed serious work, which I think was why I put off dealing with this for so long......but then it occurred to me: Don't paint it! Recover it! So I did!

 I finally used this piece of indoor outdoor fabric in a brown and white animal print........It was the perfect piece!!!!!!!!!

 I upholstered the top, and then I added these wonderful oversize pewter nailheads that I just got in from UFab.

 I love how this turned out......Plus, it opens for storage. I left the paint finish on the legs "as is."

Next up, this piece i bought at Fantastic Thrift yesterday afternoon.  I know, I know, I can't help it..........Salvage calls to me............Anyway, this piece had a mirror, two panels with some less than stellar artwork, and a little shelf, and nailholes where some hooks used to be........score for $2.98!

 Ewww, the artwork had to go, so I painted the outside panels in Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint in "Graphite."  It makes the perfect chalkboard!

 I'm working for a client who wants to redecorate her granddaughter's bedroom with bees, so I thought this would be a perfect addition.  I added these great cast iron bee hooks on either side......

 In the center, I added a drawer knob that looks like a sunflower.  Perfect!

A little "bee happy" message in chalk, and it's totally ready to be added to Ayda's bedroom!

Next up........remember this piece? A two tiered coffee table with serious veneer issues, but awesome legs!!!!!!

 


I primed and then base coated it in a Valspar paint sample.

These legs are going to be AMAZING when I add stain.......It will get in all the little grooves and add so much character to this piece.........I think I have the perfect home for this. (Donna, do you hear me??)

Next, my client, Sharon, was looking for some porch furniture. I spray painted these pieces that have been in my garage since last year when a neighbor moved out..

Went shopping to find some fabric for cushions......Yep, where else, UFab of course!  I found three fabrics that I like...............This one is very "arts and crafts"..........reminds me of Wm. Morris...

 Wonderful whimsical print with flowers, birds and leaves.............but a little pricey at $26.99/yard..

 and this one, which I've been dying to use.........I don't know, something about this just CALLS to me.......so graphic with the vertical stalks and leaves............love love.........

 (Anyone out there have an opinion??)
I might have to check out Target and Homegoods for some shower curtains/tablecloths.  Sometimes they have great graphic prints, and cost per yard ends up being very reasonable.

Next, I moved on to this piece: A jelly cabinet I purchased awhile back from another antique vendor.......I have never liked these little faux tin inserts........and I'm dying to paint this piece.......



So, step one, I pulled off the trim and the panels.........yay!!!!!! I'm thinking perhaps chicken wire????? Maybe painting in a bold blue or green???? Maybe a turquoise distressed finish and wallpaper lined interior???????????? More on this at a later date....At least I'm starting the process, folks!

 Oh, and THEN the highlight of my day.........Good friends Jenny and Garry took me out for a belated birthday dinner. ( Hey, I'm milking this birthday thing as long as I can, folks!!!!)  We went to the new Stella's that just opened on Lafayette.  OMG, made me realize how much I had missed saganaki and Stella's spanakopita since she closed her Main Street restaurant a couple years ago.  All I can say...is....she's  B A A A A C K!!!!!!!!!! And I have L E F T O V E R S!!!!!!!!!!

So do we look sated??????????

Thanks, Jen and Garry.  It was K I L L E R!!!!!!!!!!!

 And that's what I did today.  

Tomorrow I'll be heading back to Charlottesville to check in on the patient, my sister.
Signing off for now! Goodnight from Miss Garlic Breath!
And thanks for reading!!!!!!!