Baby Steps and Little Stuff:

Rough couple of weeks...

letting go of my little munchkin..

I'll try to be more consistent with my blogs...

Just need some more time to heal.

Babysteps, babysteps..

Working on some personal projects, 

like my own office and bedroom,

which I'll hopefully finish soon and be able to share!

(It helps to change things up around the house...)

And little things here and there....

such as....

 ....this wooden shield from a thrift shop.........

...becomes a  fun coat rack with a nice bovine twist.

(It's important to keep your sense of humor, folks!!)

I'm trying!!

 Remember this china hutch I transformed a few weeks back...from this...

to this?

 I took the door with window panes.........

 ...painted it in Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White......

 Did a little distressing, waxing, 

and then added these wonderful old numbered railroad nails 

that I've been saving for just the perfect project.

Then I sprayed the back of the glass with Krylon Looking Glass Spray.  

(First I squirted it with a little Windex so that the paint wouldn't adhere everywhere...

This gives it a litte age.)

And hung it on the wall above this little bench 

that I paiinted with a whimsical distressed harlequin pattern.

This makes the perfect little mudroom entrance!

Okay, what else is in my bag of tricks.....

Oh, yes, this little jewelry box.

 This was a client's, and it held sentimental value, 

but she was tired of the glossy cherry and traditional brass hardware.

 First I painted it in two coats of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Emperor's Silk.

Then I added layers and layers of dry brushed graphite, blacks...

Then used steel wooled to pull out the red undercoat.

Next I brushed on/wiped off a deep Jacobean stain.

THEN I decided to change out the hardware, 

so I had to putty the holes, 

drill a new one, 

and essentially redo the top....

Afterwards I added this chunky old gothic ring pull.

It was worth all the work.

Isn't this a gorgeous room?

it's a client's front parlor.

She had a little console up against the wall...

that needed a leg attached and a makeover...

 I suggested painting it in a navy, 

and losing the traditional hardware.

So home it came with me.

 After priming, I painted two coats in Behr "Starless Night" in a satin finish.

 I found new blue and white ceramic knobs at Hobby Lobby 

that blend perfectly with the four blue and white patterned chairs.

Here it is back in it's place.

Just like it's always been there;)

 Next up.....

Another thriftstore find........

Old colonial styled letter holder...

maple wood finish....

(I grew up with one of these....

It's still on my mother's wall!)

 I gave it a different spin......

Painted each panel in a poppy chalk paint color..

 Then I stamped type on each in a turquoise.....

and added little black dots around the letters....

Yep, you play, you pay, and then you pray.

Makes sense to me!

Okay, 

so what else can I leave you with?

Just my heart.

GREEN Makeovers

Maybe it's because it's late February....

when you start seeing those little tender green leaves 

shooting up amongst all the brown dead ones...

and you know it's coming soon.............

S P R I N G.  

Green!!!!!!!!

Maybe that's why I've had this thing for green lately.

Here are some of my latest "green" makeovers.

 A client wanted this awesome buffet reinvented in a spring green.

I first base coated it in Annie Sloan Arles Chalk Paint.

(Annie Sloan, you should be paying me!)

 Next, I painted with two coats of Antibes Green.

After painting, I distress sand....

Antibes Green is one of my favorite ASCP colors........

It's a little vivid, but wait and see....

I tone it down with dark waxes and stains.

 After sanding, I wax the entire piece and add dark wax and stains in all the details.

See all the fun stuff???

I moved the hardware over to the circular medallions.

 I love how the Arles peeks through after sanding.

And here it is back in it's home. 

Perfectly springy!!!!

 I picked up this old chair from Diversity Thrift.

 I sanded down to beautiful quarter sawn oak...

added some Howard's Restore-a-finish and

recovered the seat in this botanical print.

I paired it with this antique oak desk I had previously painted in Antibes Green and Old White.

These are at my booth at Greenwood Antiques & Uniques.

 Here's an old Goodwill rattan chair on casters.

 Eewww....nasty stained fabric.

 I polished up the wood and recovered the seat and back with this fern fabric.

Along the back seam, I added square chrome nailheads.

This will be going in my office.......

Which is presently getting painted...............GREEN.

(Sherwin Williams Hearts of Palm to be exact.)

More on the office in another post. 

Lots of work still to come!

Botanical Headboards

I picked up these two ugly brown twin headboards at a Goodwill...

Not much to look at.

But just wait..............

  A little paint........French Linen chalk paint by Annie Sloan..............

 Then I added layers of batting and stapled around the edges...

Then topped with this botanical fabric I've had for some time........

waiting for just the right project...

I purchased this from Williams and Sherrill.

 Here's the second one..

 I added nailhead trim along the perimeter to cover the staples......

 Use as twins, or put together for a kingsize headboard.

Going in the booth.  $300 for the pair or $150 each

Knowing when to quit?? Tramp Art Makeover

Sometimes it's hard to know when to stop working on a piece..........

Sometimes it takes looking at a photograph...vs. real life.

I'm not sure why that is, 

except maybe it just feels like a more objective eye than your own, 

even though you are the one taking the photo!

Case in point..

I picked up this funky side table at Cold Harbour Antique Mall this past weekend.

Isn't it fun?

It reminds me of tramp art........

how that backsplash thingy was added..

in a totally different wood....

(And what IS it anyway??)

 

It just reminded me of a carnival!

So I got fun with it.

I started by painting each of the drawer faces in a poppy

Annie Sloan chalk paint color:

Antibes Green

Greek Blue

Emperor's Silk

 Then I decided to add turquoise to the main piece...

 And I finished off with a dry brushing of Old White.

Then I took these photos. 

I HATED it.

 So I got the old sanding sponges out and went to town.

 I sanded off all the white drybrushing........I much prefer seeing the beautiful

wooden handles......and the exposed wood on the body of the piece.

 Ahhh, much better.

 Here's the backsplash after sanding down the turquoise so that some of the 

woodtone comes through.  

Stains were added to everything to give it an aged patina.

And here is the finished product.

Now the paint looks timeworn.

What do you think? 

Did I go too far?

In retrospect, I think perhaps painting just the drawer fronts 

would have been sufficient...

But oh, I DO like turquoise;)

This piece will be heading to one of my booths this week,

unless someone out there wants to buy it.

$150.

I can bet you'll never find another one like it!