a dresser & a chest but not a match :)

Do you like it?!

I LOVE it!  It is funny, because before it was painted, I didn't like it all that much.  The lines seemed a little harsh to me, and that pickled/speckled faux wood finish is just hard to look past.  But a little TLC and this dresser is ready to go!

Sanded & primed... a sea of drawers.

Hardware gets a very light coat of oil rubbed bronze, then a good wipe down.

Love, love, love!!

And yes, someone already asked... that is one of the brass lamps I got from goodwill & spray painted.  Added a new shade, and better than new!

And the canvas is by the wonderful, talented, sweet & fabulous Elizabeth Smith of Libbie Wicket Photography.  We have been blessed to have her taking our family's pictures for 5 years now ~ isn't this canvas gorgeous?  It is from our session with her this summer.  Go visit her blog, you'll be glad you did!!

This beauty was a find from My Favorite Place (name of the store, but also one of my personal favs).  I liked it so much I picked it up and carried it around with me :)

Now, there is a matching chest to the dresser.  But it is not quite finished.  Allllmost.

When my neighbor/furniture deal scouter backed into the driveway yesterday, I knew something good was coming my way.  This piece needed some serious TLC and although I liked it ok before, even I was surprised at how much I love it's transformation.

Can you see what the pulls are?  From far away they look like sailboats to me, but maybe I need to get my eyes checked.

They are ACORNS!  Not only that, they are hand-carved acorns, attached to the piece with dowels & glue.  Old School.

It needed a bit of work, as I said.  I sanded it first, but really not too much since I wanted the age to show through when I started glazing.

I managed to get not one single in-process shot of this piece, probably because it was WAY past my bedtime while I was working on it (it was after 9... if you know me well, you know that I am at least in the bed with the covers pulled up by then, if not asleep!)  So, I'll tell you what I did.

I primed the whole piece.  Then I painted it a random light blue- left over from something, I'm sure.

After the blue dried, I did a light coat of RL Tobacco glaze over the whole thing, paying special attention to the detail (the acorns & the carving across the front).  I didn't sand it at all- the chippy wood gave it lots of texture without me doing any sanding.

I used a teensy bit of English Chestnut stain after the glaze.... just a bit, but you can see where the color stands out in the final pictures.

Then I used some of this.

Metallic Pearl acrylic paint.  I really only used it on the acorns.  By the way, the acorns are hollow inside, so that you can reach your fingers into the gap underneath to use the pulls to open/close the drawers.

So....

It is the silliest piece- really, it'd be perfect in a nursery or a playroom, or a whimsical house.  It doesn't really work anywhere here at my house, I don't think, but I wish it did.  Because I LOVE it!!

Thanks for coming by, I appreciate all of you & the comments & emails you send me!!
kathie

Linking to:
Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Feature Friday
Primitive & Proper's Piece of Work Wednesday
Domestically Speaking's Power of Paint Party
Funky Junk's Saturday Night Special
Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Feature Friday
Hookin Up With HOH
The Shabby Chic Cottage's Transformation Thursday
Blue Cricket Design's Show & Tell Wednesday
Domestically Speaking's Power of Paint Party
Somewhat Simple's Strut Your Stuff Thursday
A Little Knick Knack's Everything But the Kitchen Sink

A tale of two coffee tables

Today brings us... coffee tables!  I had fun with these two.  Although they function the same, I finished them completely differently.

Can you believe this top?  I found this one at the Goodwill.  When I brought it home, it looked like this...

You can't tell from the picture but there were plenty of dings & scuffs through the finish, especially on the bottom of the piece.  So I painted the bottom, stripped the top & refinished that gorgeous pattern.

This top is gorgeous even without any stain!

But it looks even better with some walnut stain & a few zillion coats of protective poly...

I am so very happy with the finished piece!

The next table was a thrift store find, spotted by my faithful scouter & neighbor.  I waited until Monday to go, as Monday is 50% off day on everything in the store.  Thankfully, it was still there, so I got a great deal.

Didn't get a good 'before', but you get the gist from these photos.

I primed the whole thing and did the top in khaki & the bottom in turquoise.  Then heavily distressed both.

I hope you enjoyed these two pieces!  Now for a peek at what is around the corner...

Good times ahead this week!

Hope you are all doing well :)
kathie

Linking to...
Debbiedoo's Before & After Party
The Shabby Chic Cottage's Transformation Thursday
Primitive & Proper's Piece of Work Wednesday
Blue Cricket Design's Show & Tell Wednesday
Domestically Speaking's Power of Paint Party

children's table & chairs

A dear friend of mine recently gave me this table & chairs (thanks, Laura!).  Her children had used them for years, but had outgrown them.  So I gave them a little sprucing up and right now they are at home in our craft room/ office.

Adorable, right?

Somehow, I didn't get too many before pictures, but managed this one of the chairs and the following one of the table after I had sanded the top down.

I painted the chairs blue, sanded & glazed with white.  I really like how they came out.

So now is as good a time as any to show you where the magic happens here at our house... in this room. All of my 'stuff' is in here, the boys do their homework in here and they have a huge dry erase board (I think it is 6' X 5', it is huge!) to play on.  As cluttered as it looks right now, it is actually pretty clean.  

This is my project table.  I was really loving the one from pottery barn a few years ago, but I was really not loving the price.  So, I sweet-talked my dad into making me one :)  Isn't it great?  And not only a fraction of the price, but also much more special.

Of course, I have a giant magnetic board in here too.  Pictures make me happy, so we have them all over our house.

 We also have some great built-in's in this room.  Funny, my dad built those too!  He's super talented like that.  He's always working on something for me or my sister- he can do just about anything.

Our sweet & fat cat sleeps in this window seat.  She likes to fluff the curtains a certain way depending on her mood, so I just don't touch them.  Sometimes I think she is stretched out in this window 90% of her life!

So, the last thing about my office that I'll share is a favorite, favorite photo and frame.  I used to teach, in my 'prior life' before I had children.  I taught at a Special Education Center for children with severe & profound intellectual & physical disabilities.  It was an amazing, miraculous, joyful, spiritual place.  I loved that place- The Heritage School.  We had a school motto and it was...

We Must All Paint Our Rainbows

With the Colors We Are Given

These sweet children did the best they could every single day with what God had given them.  I was so blessed to be a part of that place for so many years.  For a while, I would take the boys up to the school so that children with disabilities would be a part of their lives, and so they would know that even though these children were different from them, they were children of God just like the rest of us.

Sadly, Heritage closed a couple of years ago.  What a magical place.  This frame, made by my wonderful friend Judy for me, is a favorite reminder of that place.

The sweet birdie on the top is on her last leg, but she is hanging on, ruffled feathers and all!  But this little girl is the other reason this frame is so special to me.

Try to excuse the scratches on the photo covering.  Can you see the joy in her face?  This kiddo was so full of life, a total spitfire.  I think when I had her in my class she was 6, so she must be a teenager now... crazy!

Anyhow, that's all I've got tonight.  TONS of projects to share with you this week!  I have a sick child at home, and although he is sick, he is feeling ok so he's been helping me paint :)  Stay tuned!

thanks for coming by!

kathie

Linking to:

The Shabby Chic Cottage's Transformation Thursday

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Blue Cricket Design's Show & Tell Wednesday

Domestically Speaking's Power of Paint Party

Between Naps on the Porch's Metamorphosis Monday

Primitive & Proper's Piece of Work Wednesday