Lulu's Designs: March 2011

Friday, March 18, 2011

Small Antique China Hutch

This a view of the top of the antique china hutch.

Part of the trim is missing. Mom pulled it off & we just bought a different kind to replace it.

This turned out so cute. It would make an amazing cupboard (full of linens)

I'm secretely hoping no one buys this, because I love it!

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Hi Y'all! This is Paula

Who knew that preparing for Round Top would be so exhausting? Who knew that for 5 days I would be covered in paint and higher than a kite from stripping products and paint fumes? Who knew that Jennifer and I would long for a "real" paint sprayer to appear on our doorstep - immediately? Who knew that we'd have as much fun cruising the aisles of Elliott's Hardware, Home Depot & Lowes looking for paint, hardware, wood, sandpaper and ideas as much as we like shopping for clothes?!? Who knew that one could actually get a blister on a finger from using a paint brush so much? Who knew that after buying 8 of those 3m sanding blocks that they would all be used up and a return to the store for more would be necessary? Well, I didn't know! We have learned a lot this week!

Jennifer and I are so tired that we can't scratch our itches without hurting!

Here is a preview of one of the items we've been working on. Hope you like it!

First are the before photos. This is a buffet with beautiful lines, curves and details. She was in rough shape when we bought her. I must admit that the photos on CL did not show all of the problems and at first I was ready to kick her to the curb and count it as a lesson learned. But then we decided, why not? Let's see what we can do with her. Let's give her some TLC and see how she responds.

Front Center of Buffet

A little drawer surgery! Great Gorilla glue and strips of a canvas painters cloth did the trick.
The drawer at the top goes the length of the buffet. I could fill it now with vintage napkins!

Front Right Side of Buffet - look at that gorgeous knob!
And look at those legs - I think they rival Marilyn's, don't you? Yum!
Maybe she could be a pin-up girl after all!

During Reconstructive Surgery - One leg piece was in the drawer and was successfully reattached!
The other leg was like Clementine - lost and gone forever.
This little lady was "rode hard and put up wet!"
I wish she could live with me forever.
Do you fall in love with the furniture pieces you revamp?
I may cry when/if someone carts her off at Round Top!

Buffet Top - poor little neglected thing!

Now, she's ready for her close-up, thank you very much! Isn't she just beautiful!

Jennifer did a wonderful job bringing out the details on the front! I love it!

Do you care about the missing toes?

The next part will be the glazing and distressing. I'm not sure if I can bring myself to do it! When other people do that, it always looks so great, but I'm so afraid that I'll mess it up...yikes!

More to come tomorrow! Plus in a future Round Top installment - the story of the table top that I stained and stripped three times and finally gave up and moved on to my new favorite primer! Lesson learned? If the stain doesn't go on evenly the first time, or the second time, or even the third time, it is not going on evenly ever! I'm stubborn that way!

TTFN!

P.S. What thought processes do y'all go through to price your furniture to sell? =)

Friday, March 11, 2011

AWOL

Hi Y'all - this is Paula!

We haven't dropped off the face of the earth, but it certainly feels like it. The last two weeks have been a whirlwind of activity. Please don't give up on us!

Our home has been on the market since last March and showings have picked up! We are excited about that, but cleaning, tidying and preparing for them has kept us very busy. Then we vacate the premesis for sometimes as long as two hours. But, if we sell, then that's great! Rumor has it that the people who viewed today may be making us an offer, but they want us to be out by the end of March. Mercy, that would be a chore! We'll see what happens. I'm glad that God is in control and not me.

We have had little time to work on projects and we are both going stir crazy. We have so many projects that we have begun sitting around in the garage, but nothing that is complete. There are drawers all over the place, dressers and bedside tables ready to be painted after their coat of primer. We have a buffet that has sick legs and a really cute little old china hutch that is in need of some serious TLC. Tomorrow we are hoping to tackle everything!

Last Thursday I had surgery to replace and fuse two ruptured discs in my neck which had been causing me pain and grief for almost a year. I am so grateful to be pain free and on the mend. What a blessing that is! Women who have hot flashes should not have to wear these tight cervical collars! =) It's a good thing it's only attached with Velcro...

We hope that all of you are doing well and have great things to share with us. We certainly can't wait to share with you. It seems like I'm always saying that and never doing it. Our fingers are crossed that we can show you some progress shortly.

Three year old grandson had his first soccer game last Saturday. It was freezing cold and I stood on the sidelines with an old furniture wrapping quilt around me. Noble scored the first goal (no score is kept) - except it was for the other team! It didn't matter, we clapped and yelled like crazy people! It was so fun to watch them. Kudos to folks who give their time to coach three year olds! They all had a ball and so did we!

TTFN!