I have a thing for TURQUOISE!

I've been pulling examples of paint finishes for a client project...

(Donna, are you reading??)

I love rustic finishes like this....

 ...and this....The chippier, the better!

So much character....

LOVE this piece..Look at those legs!!!!!!

Here's a piece I just finished yesterday...

(more on technique another time..)

I love love love this color.

Inside....

Top shelf in my kitchen.

Bedroom chair I painted.

Mirror I painted.

Have suitcase, will travel.
(No I didn't paint this but you get the point..)

Outside....

Front of my house.

Up on the roof deck... 

This old table belonged to my grandmother.
I painted it and covered the top in plant friendly oilcloth.
Above I hung a shelf painted the same color.
Virtual turquoise potting bench!

Here I just slapped some turquoise paint on a terra-cotta pot.
Looks totally timeworn!
Beautiful!

Wicker settee and ottoman I just painted.

Things I've made to sell....

 

 ...and custom pieces for clients.

Headboard made from old door.

And another one..

Chalkboard in old oak frame...

...painted turquoise!!!!

I even painted my front doors....

...turquoise!

 Aren't they yummy?

I used several shades of paint,
then added stains to get in all the grooves.
Don't they just say, "Welcome!"

Yep, I'm definitely a turquoise fan. 

(badabing)

How to Make A Hall Tree from a Shutter and Bench

I love shutters!!!

Here's a really fun, quick and easy DIY project!

Take an old shutter...

...and a bench, piano stool, etc.

 (It's best to use one with a width close to the width of the shutter.)

 Here you go!!!!!

Paint, cover the stool, and attach 

the base to the shutter by drilling

long wood screws from the back through the legs.

Add some coat hooks.

You've got yourself a hall tree!!

Here's what I did:

First I painted the shutter and base of the stool in

ASCP Old White/Old Ochre mix.

Then I distress sanded/waxed.

I used an irish linen towel to cover the seat top, 

after I added more batting to make it cushier.

 I added some random coat hooks to the top part of the shutter.

(These were brass; I painted them as well...

that's why I LOVE ASCP!!! Instant antique!)

And I had just picked up this carved wood detail at a thrift shop recently.....

So why not a deer (or some woodsy animal) motif?  

I painted this in ASCP Aubusson Blue, 

over which I dry brushed Old Ochre, then waxed/distressed.  

I attached it to the top of the shutter. 

Here it is for sale in my booth.

Unless it's gone already!

This one's from "Going A Little Coastal" blog.

Here's one from Better Homes & Gardens where they put the shutter

on the side, and attached brackets and a shelf.

This one's just a shutter with hangers 

(from Jennifer Creviston's pinterest board.) 

Did I say I love shutters?

Unexpected reupholstery with multiple fabrics.

One of my favorite things to do when I'm reupholstering furniture
is to use different fabrics in unexpected combinations...
Who wants something that looks like what everyone else has?
Not me!
And they don't have to be over the top,
(even though I usually like over the top.)

Here are some inspiration photos:

I LOVE this lady's work.
I discovered her a couple years ago at a wonderful shop
in Cornelius, NC, Bebe Gallini's, 

Her name is Shawna Robinson and her company is called Happy Chair.

Great name.
Isn't her work fabulous?

LOVE the unexpected combinations of pattern, color and texture.

Awesome set of dining room chairs...

More Happy Chairs...

 

And then there's this lady, Kitty McBride of

The Divine Chair Company

Here are a few "scraphappy" pieces of my own.

 BEFORE: Victorian parlor chair.

AFTER: Now THIS is a parlor chair!

Love these fabrics together.......

I used a combination of four fabrics.

And here's the back.
All these fabrics were scraps left over from various projects....
not enough really to do much with
but too good to throw out.

(You should SEE my scrap bag.....

actually, I have many scrap bags.)

I'm a bag lady.

 BEFORE: Goodwill chair.

AFTER: This one I painted and then reupholstered
in different chenille bedspread scraps.

 I love the detail at the top of the chair,
which I appliquéd from another scrap.
Here it is in my booth before it sold.

BEFORE: Vintage maple chair with brown scratchy fabric. yuk.

AFTER: Painted, then covered in this fun "Flight of Fancy" fabric.

(This one's still available for sale.)

The back (no photo) is the same lime green as the piping.

And on the sides, I used a vintage fabric
with baby blue, green and white stripes.

BEFORE: Literally an alley dumpster chair.

With a big hole in the caning.

After painting, I created a fabric medallion on the front and back
to cover and stabilize the damaged caning.

And for some reason,
I felt like I had to do this one over again....??

 So here is the one that I finally sold in my booth...

 Different paint job and all.
(Sometimes I think I'm truly sick....)

BEFORE: Sad tripod chair. hee...

AFTER: I might have gone a little overboard on this one!
Certainly one of a kind...

I painted the frame, and I used a linen quilted fabric for the chair front, and a linen

fabric with sea coral images for the bottom, arms....

and a little appliqué here...

Arms with nailhead trim........

BEFORE: A pair in fruit faux needlepoint.....

AFTER: For this pair, I painted (of course),

 then covered the seats in a hemp...

..and the fronts in a similar fabric with this graphic.

This pair now lives at a B&B on the river.......

Really hated to part with these...

BEFORE: Another pair I recently bought to redo.

AFTER:  I alternated the fabrics on the fronts and seats:

 Thomas Paul Dragonfly print with a blue and white ticking...

And used pleated linen on the backs. Sold.

BEFORE: I had four of these....

 AFTER: I did the bottoms in drop cloths, 

and used a striped tobacco and indigo linen for the chair fronts.

 BEFORE: Another tired pair.

 AFTER: I covered the fronts and seats 

with a diamond patterned chenille in teal/taupe...

And used pleated linen for the backs.

See? Even traditional doesn't have to be totally expected!

Have some family pieces that you can't part with?

Keep 'em! Reinvent 'em! 

Then drool over 'em!