French Country Nightstand

There was just something about this that screamed farmhouse style from the minute I saw it. Maybe it's the cabinet door that reminded me of an old barn door. Don't ya just love when you know exactly what you're going to do with something even before the $ is flying out of your hand? And don't ya just love when you  forget to put the memory card in the camera when taking a before pic...ugh!

Well here is the after....

I almost think the door should be removed...shame to hide the red toile fabric,

But I love that barn door.

Here it is before I hinged the door back on.

Guess it could go either way. I'll put it in my Etsy shop and let the buyer decide....door or no door...that is the question.

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18th Bday Present

My son, Mike, turned 18 today....crazy! Feels like just yesterday I was telling him not to eat rocks. And in the blink of an eye suddenly he has grown up into a person I am so proud to call my son.

A few weeks back we were in Virginia. We rented a cabin that had all these inspiring quotes hanging on the walls, sitting on dressers, everywhere you looked. The kind of quotes that really make you think. My son said to me...I'll bet you love all these different quotes. Yup, sure do. I started to tell him my favorite when he chimed in and told me the one he really likes...sure enough it was my favorite too :)

I made him this for his Birthday.

And of course, the cheesy and corny Mom that I am had to inscribe the back :)

Happy Mother's Day to all my blog buddies!

Take A Seat

It's so 70's bench gets a little make over. And it sure needed one. Here it is w/ it's crushed velvet fabric.

I painted it Ben Moore Dove White and added some blue and white fabric. In the middle of recovering I ran out of staples which did not make for happy.

 Amazing what a little paint and fabric can do :)

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Don't You Forget About Me

Feels like it's been a while. Life has been busy, some things good some not so but that is life. If everything were good all of the time, we simply wouldn't appreciate the good as we should. So, I banged out a couple of small flea market finds that I'll share and that is pretty much it. I miss painting so much when I don't have the time for it. I know you can relate.

Gawdy 70's gold mirror.

My favorite blue paint.

And a little charcoal glaze.

Where I spent happy time w/ my favorite people.

Hiking!

Luray Caverns in Virginia

Yup, we tourists from Jersey pulled over and mooed at these guys!

Free for me!

Painted a pretty aqua blue and added some rose buds.

Changed out the lions head pulls for these pretty flowers....$8.00 for 6 at Home Goods...yay!

Thanks for popping in and not forgetting about me!

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Cute Cottage Chair

This chair was a $5 flea market find. It has pretty cottage lines and ya gotta just love that orange fabric. I filled in some of the dings, primed and painted it Ben Moore White Dove and recovered it in a pretty blue and white fabric. I had a new cushion made up at the flea market. How convenient is that?  There's a shop inside that cuts foam. One stop shopping...gotta love that! I really love this chair and it goes perfectly w/ my new family room set. I just wish I had space for it :(

Before

Thinking maybe I should slightly distress. My daughter says no, but I would so like my bloggy friends opinions.

After

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Take A Walk on the Wild Side

When I see French Provincial furniture, I always think feminine and painted in pretty pastel shades. Oh, contraire with this tall CL find. In walk Martin and his wife Joellen, a very nice couple that stopped by to check out some furniture. Martin fell in love w/ this tall dresser that had been waiting to be painted. My plan....pale robins egg blue w/ touches of white. Martin's plan....Platypus style, particularly the fresco finish. Translation...orange. Say it isn't so. Oh, it's so. If you've never checked out the line of Platypus furniture, you must. The finishes and colors are crazy inspirational. 

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Unfortunately, I didn't take pics through the process. I guess I was thinking this will be disastrous. I undercoated the drawer fronts w/ Rustoleum Dark Walnut spray paint because Martin liked distressing and the veneer on this wasn't going to cut it when I took sand paper to it. After the paint dried, I grabbed a white candle ans rubbed it on areas I planned to distress. This is done so you don't pull off all your "hard work"
spraying only to leave yourself w/ the original icky finish.


Next the dreaded orange was painted on the drawer fronts and I am thinking a glass of wine is not a bad idea. At this point, I'm absolutely cringing...the wine helped :) Praying glaze will come through in the end and make all better. The body of the dresser I painted a deep espresso brown...cause Martin said to, ha! Good call, Martin.


Oh how I wish I took pics so you could empathize and feel my pain. I did snap this to show the orange ugliness before glazing...
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Lovely!

After I glazed the drawer fronts in a deep brown, I was happily surprised how it turned out. Painting your own vision is one thing but trying to paint someone elses is tough. I hope Martin loves it. He is fantastic, a UPS driver, and since we met takes pics of roadside finds and emails them to me complete w/ addresses! How nice and thoughtful is that?

I lined the drawers w/ a very cool fabric and used a template made out of poster board to get those curves right.



I still have to email Martin pics and am keeping my fingers crossed that I pulled off what he envisioned.

Looks like I have to do something about that area I sanded...maybe paint 'em up like Chrissie does.

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Weathered TurquoiseTable

Sometimes instant gratification is a good thing. Kinda like this little 5 dollar table find. Oh, how I love MY flea market!!! I mixed up a little turquoise paint, painted and distressed the legs and dry brushed the top. Gotta love the simplicty of dry brushing yet the results are super cool.

Remembered the before! I really hate when I forget to take one.

Well check me out getting all creative with those starfish.

Add caption

Dry brushing is a technique where you just barely get paint on your brush and lightly stroke it on the surface. So easy and gives a time worn weathered look yet it only took you a few minutes :) Who knew?

Happy Weekend Everyone!!!!!

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