had some motivation

Since we've moved in, half of our living room has held my junk. I promised my husband only one project at at time, but that was apparently a lie. And then, the projects set...and set...and set. The pile was not my happy place, coming home was starting to get irritating because its so cramped! 

Talking about irritating, I have poison ivy. The worst spots are on my right arm and they've gotten to that won't stop oozing stage, in addition to being obnoxiously itchy. Random spots on my legs and left arm are itchy as well. To top that off, pretty sure I have about twenty mosquito bites as well.


So today, to get my mind off of the poison ivy and to take back my happiness and sanity, I kicked my butt into gear to clear out that area a bit. Here's two projects that came of it...I was even able to sweep the floor after moving stuff around!

The side table was painted in Paint Couture British Grey. The dipped legs (that are actually painted on) are in French Polynesian Pink. The table was sealed with Paint Couture Flat Finish. For those that haven't heard, Paint Couture is a new acrylic paint that requires no sanding - the paint adheres to almost any surface!

The lamp was originally this awful cream colored base. I painted over that with Annie Sloan Old White and went over it with Minwax dark wax after it was dry. The piece was sealed with Paint Couture Flat Finish. The shade was originally this awful olive color. After ripping that off I tied burlap ribbon and ripped pieces of vintage ticking around the frame.

So all in all, today I was motivated to work! What motivates you to get some projects done?



Sharing at:

Miss Mustard Seed

Switchin' it up and some flowers

Have I mentioned our new house is small? We've lost about 200 square feet and on top of that our living room is an awkward long rectangle and our furniture is big.

Living room before we brought anything in....

and after testing the couches in a million different areas on both sides of the living room, we settled on a place.

and then after a close up of the large couch, we sold it in a few days. In place of it, we have this.

 

The chair was around $15 or so, a purchase from a friend. While it's old and outdated, crying loudly to be reupholstered, I'm kind of diggin' the yellow for now. So, It's definitely a project that can be held off for awhile (which is good, because I have so many to do!)

And...after setting up this little area, I updated the centerpiece on our farmhouse style table. These lovely hydrangeas were given to me by a neighbor.

 

in love with them!

Have you changed up anything in your home lately?

A Stroll Through Lifel

it's alive!!

yes, the it's is me. I'm alive. I believe back on my last post in February...yes, February, I mentioned we were moving. Well, that day is only 11 more days away! I'm just thrilled beyond words. So, our apartment is a mess and I've been dealing with that. I have more to share with you, but in the meantime, here's something I'm gushing over.

lovely, little green

Hello! So, some exciting news - we bought a truck and we are moving! I'm probably a little too excited on the moving, as we haven't even signed the lease, but it has hardwood floors and a fenced yard for the dogs!! I will be blogging more on this later!

Tonight, I have this lovely, little green thing to share with you!

I bought this piece at a yard sale this past summer. During my stripping attempt, I realized the top was plastic laminate - lame!

 

But, during my night time blog reading, I learned a great trick from Storywood Designs about painting beautiful tops on furniture. Please check out her blog to learn!

I differed a little bit from what she shares. I used a 50 cent brown oops paint from Lowe's. The color reminds me of the Hershey's Cocoa powder you can buy at the stores. Like Storywood Designs, I stained with Minwax Dark Walnut. I also did this to the inside of the drawers as they were just kind of yuck looking - crayon stains, water stains, etc.

This was also my first attempt with milk paint and I love it! Color is Miss Mustard Seed Luckett's Green. I used the bonding agent as I was not going for a chippy effect. I did prime beforehand with my brown tinted primer, but you can't really tell a difference anyway. I coated the piece with Minwax Dark Wax and sealed it with water based polycrylic. Like Storywood Designs, I'm kind of in love too!

What piece have you just finished up?

Blue Over Brown - A Wax-Distressed Sidetable

My creativity is running low tonight - I couldn't come up with a better name for this piece other than Blue Over Brown. I think it's because I'm writing my post out of order. I usually edit my pictures first, copy them into the post, and then write. That way, I can look at them and know what I'm writing about. But, my trusty eye for editing pictures is out walking the dogs.

As usual, I forgot to take a true before picture. This was your standard wooden piece, with a glossy finish. It was a bargain at goodwill, because the drawer slide wasn't attached on the front end. I'm pretty sure they would have sold it for twice as much or more, had the drawer slide been in place. All I did was tack it down with a finishing nail and it was as good as new.

So, my first before picture is the brown base coat. I mixed Valspar (a brown color and I painted over the label for some reason and I can't find my sample card, so I can't tell you the name) with Zinnser Oil Based Primer. After letting that dry for about 2 hours and sanding it, I painted back over it with just the latex paint (no primer mixed in). This helped deepen the brown color since it was mixed with white previously which made it more creamy.

Next, I grabbed a candle from the Dollar Store and sliced out the wax with a knife. I've never tried the wax distressing technique, but I've read about it so much I had to try it! Honestly, I couldn't see where the wax was on the piece since it was clear and the paint was already kind of shiny. I just went with it, though and waxed to my hearts desire.

Then, came the coat of blue. (Valspar - Beach House  WV37008).  I used the dry brush technique, as I did on the Picket Fence and 30 Minute Chair. For this, you get a small tiny tiny amount of paint on the brush (you want your brush to stay dry, not be wet with paint). Move over the piece quickly, you can repeat over areas if you need to.

Paint dries quickly using this techniques, so I was able to take a rag and wipe off the wax almost immediately. I love the wax technique, I think the distressing looks pretty natural. I may have over distressed. Also, there were a few places that definitely looked like a finger had run across it. So, to fix the places that I didn't like where brown was showing, I dry brushed the blue back over.

I wasn't done there though. I wanted to give a shot at the painted drawers too, so after debating between the same blue or white, I painted the inside and outside of the drawer white. Mistake, it looked terrible. I painted back over the outside in the Beach House Blue, left the inside white, and the look was complete.

Final step, was to coat the piece in waterbased polycrylic. 

Recap
Primer - Zinnser Oil Based mixed with Brown Latex Paint
Base Coat - The Brown Latex Paint without Primer
Top Coat - Valspar Beach House (WV37008)
Distressing Technique - Candle Wax
Protective Coat - Minwax Waterbased Polycrylic 

Sharing at:
youaretalkingtoomuch.com 
Miss Mustard Seed 
savvysouthernstyle 
 
 

Baby Blue

Well, I actually finished these Baby Blues awhile back - even before the green with envy side table. They've just been sitting on my work table in the garage. I think I'm in love with this set, I'm pretty sure its my favorite that I've done so far.

I grabbed this set at a yard sale. The wood is cherry. Have you ever sanded cherry? Well, it of course turns even more cherry. And even when you prime it, the red shows through the white. You can't hide it. I tell you what, even when you paint it, the red shows through the blue. And even when you cover the piece in dark wax, the red still shows through. But, to tell you the truth - I like it. It's me. I love red and blue, can't get enough.

The first time around, these babies look like leopards. The distressing was forced (David's words), but it did look terrible. So, I primed over those parts and repainted. I went for a lighter sanding on the table tops and heavier on the legs. Love it. Did I say that enough?

Speaking of baby blues and love, I'm also in love with this sweet song Scott Avett wrote for his daughter.

Sharing at:

The Brambleberry Cottage
Miss Mustard Seed

30 Minute Chair Makeover

I'm in love with this chair - I picked it up for $1 at a yard sale this weekend.
 

I love the waves across the top and the spindles along the back. It's old and perfect. So old, all the shine had worn off. The wood was perfect and raw, no sanding necessary. So what do you do with a lovely chair like this?

 You paint it of course. A perfect old flat white latex picked up at a yard sale for 50 cents. This chair was a a cinch to paint. I lightly dipped my brush in the paint, wiped off most of the paint on the side of the can, then painted. Since the wood was so worn, the paint brushed on heavily in some areas, and not so heavy in other areas.

It created the perfect time-worn look.So, now the chair sits on my patio with a rusty blue oil can that holds a pretty plant my husband bought me. Loving the spindles more now, actually I'm swooning over them..

 You can still see the wood grain on the chair, like the paint naturally wore away.

So, I call this my 30 minute chair redo. From getting it out of my car, to wiping away the cobwebs, to painting and letting it dry, it probably took about 30 minutes. I'm in love with this paint, and can't wait to use it on something else!

Sharing this at:

Miss Mustard Seed
Brambleberry Cottage

Green with Envy Sidetable

Well, here she is, number 7! And here's my first attempt at staging. Except that it's on my patio instead of inside - that's what only two windows in a living room will get you, along with the fast setting evening sun.

The picture below is the first "before" picture I remembered to take. The table had already been primed, I at least assume that's what was on it. But I didn't like the way it felt, it was just gross. So off it came with some 60 grit sandpaper and my orbital sander.

Getting into all the nooks and crannies without sanding too far down was a bit too hard. Still  learning here, but this is where I ended up. Next step was to tape off the top, since that was going to be stained instead of painted.

The first post I wrote was on choosing paint colors. Well, the name Katydid just caught my eye. Probably some complex with liking anything that sounds similar to me. But, Katydid did not look great on this piece of furniture. It's too bright. Is that because Fall is in the air and I'm craving dark warm colors? Maybe. But, this color just wasn't cutting it.

I stained the top in Cabot Dark Walnut wood stain, since that's what I had on hand. I think I let it sit for too long, but it ended up looking better on the end product. In this picture, it toned down the bottom color a bit, but still am not digging it at this point.

 Maybe distressing would help? I grabbed the orbital sander and stuck with the 60 grit for some heavy distressing. It just looks fake. Fake, fake, fake. This is really what my husband likes to tell me. It looks forced, like I'm trying to make it look old. Still learning.
 

 You can kind of see the primer through the distressing here.

Well in the end, I just rubbed heavy amounts of wood stain all over the side table, then rubbed some of the excess if it looked splotchy. I think it helped give it a mature, aged look. After everything dried, I went over the top with water-based polyurethane and over the bottom with Minwax clear wax. I'm happy with it!

I couldn't find the pull that came with the dresser. Did it even have one when I bought it? I don't know. None of the other pulls in the garage or house matched up to the holes. So, I had to just borrow some knobs from another piece. There they are, staring at you like headlights. The drawer and I will go to Lowe's tomorrow. I'm thinking bronze, something like the knobs.

So, below is the recap, beginning to end.

Table bottom

• Paint - Valspar Signature Colors Katydid (CI240)
• Distressing Technique - 60 grit sandpaper and Orbital Sander
• Stain - Cabot Dark Walnut 
• Wax - Minwax Clear Wax 

Table top

• Stain - Cabot Dark Walnut 
• Sealant - Rustoleum Waterbased Polyurethane

  What is your technique for changing a too bright paint color?

Sharing this on:

 Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Feature Friday! 

Furniture Sneak Peek

Just a little sneak peek at what I'm about to finish up. This is my 7th piece of furniture and I'm loving this one!

More Saturday Junkin' and Going Crazy

So, I've been a MIA this past week thanks to a mixture of dogs and headaches. I haven't crafted or painted, but I did get back in to the grind of things on Saturday with some early shopping! Up at 6am to hit some yard sales - here's what I found!

I drove 20 minutes to a yard sale to grab a table before someone else bought it. I walked down, found it at a price I was comfortable with and claimed it immediately. Well, I got home and looked at the ad again. I didn't buy the right table. This table is funky and hodgepodgy. First, the leaves of the table have nothing to hold them up, so no lifting there. Second, it looks like someone kind of through some legs together and never finished. Each side has 3 legs. I thought about ripping the middlish leg off, since it doesn't have a symmetric partner, but then there would be a big gap in the railing that connects the two outside legs. So what do you think, do you like the asymmetrical nature of these legs? I'm thinking the legs will be white with a wood top.

**Update: So, I still have a lot to learn! Apparently this is called a gate leg drop leaf table. That "middlish leg" will pull out and hold up the table leaves. Awesome!! So, this find isn't so weird and broken. Now I'm excited to paint it!

It wasn't really a successful yard sale trip, where I come home with tons of junk to shove in the garage like I'm a hoarder.  But, I did get this cool rusted out bucket and some tools.

 

See those Allen wrenches there on the left? That is such a coincidental find, because on Friday we realized we needed one. We found two in our toolbox, but unfortunately they weren't the right size. I grabbed this set for $5. Yard sales are a great place to find tools, or unused paintbrushes, or almost whole rolls of purple painters tape and cheese cloth.

I also grabbed this cute little dresser. And here is where the crazy part comes in.

You see, I paid for this dresser - and it has no top. CRAZY, RIGHT?

 

The previous owners used this ugly chipboard faux granite top. It was too big and, come on, it's ugly. 

The only reason I bought this dresser was because it didn't have a top. I've seen a lot of projects lately of people ripping off tops and creating a farm table effect with wood pieces. So, my plan was to go to Lowe's and by some boards. Lucky for me, some lady disabled her garden planters and put these out for free! Just need to be cut and stained (and beat up pretty good to look old)!

 

Did anyone else find some awesome junk on Saturday?