Mistake #1, Your Imaginations, Mistake #2 & a House Showing

Hi Y'all - I'm baaack - It's Paula!

Well, I've been so excited to show you my projects!  I just couldn't wait for you to see that I have been using an electric saw and sander and painting with the Annie Sloan Louis Blue Chalk Paint.

MISTAKE #1

Apparently, when a person uses their Pentax SR and sees only black & white through the view finder, the photos turn out to be black and white too!  So, all of my photos are black & white.  Ugh, Grrrrr, and all of those nasty (Noble says, "Natny"!) things ya just wanna say!  My words aren't "swear" words - they are crud, and shoot and stuff like that, which is bad enough.  And Noble is picking up on all of those, so I must stop my brain from sending those words to my mouth!

YOUR IMAGINATIONS

OK.  So indulge me here and let's play "Pretend".  OK?  OK.  Hoping that you remember how.  Pretend that these before photos are in color.  And pretend that you can see that the drop leaf table is red with a stained wooden top - which I did 7 years ago, by the way!  Who knew I was ahead of the curve?!?   I will take new after photos tomorrow, I am just too tired to do it now.  Wait!  I might be able to photograph the drop leaf table from where I am, which is propped up in bed typing to y'all!  LOL!  I'll try it and see what happens!  =)

MISTAKE #2

This mistake was a big one - but who knew? Here is the drop leaf table. Pretend time! Remember that the bottom part is deep cherry red with a stained top.

Oh Yikes!  Not only is this  B&W, which is insulting enough, but my shadow is in the corner.  Ugh. Drat...

The original plan was to put the chalk paint directly over the red.  I'm so glad that I didn't.  You'll see why in a bit.  Instead, I decided to spray paint with Heirloom White and then put the chalk paint over that so that I could distress it a bit and have some white showing through.  After using 3.5 cans of paint, there was little bubble on the side of the table.  I reached down to rub it away, thinking it was the white, but no!  It was the red.  The paint was peeling - in huge sheets.  Just peeling right off of that table.  A good cry came to mind, but instead, I found my handy dandy scraper and began scraping it all off...  And that brings us to pretend photo #2.

Yes sirree, all of big dark blobs are red paint with a nice coat of Heirloom White!

More blobs of paint, but she's coming pretty clean.  Sanding is next!

After sanding, getting ready for a hose bath.  I know - but it was the best way.

This little project was only supposed to take me about 30 minutes and then I was movin' on to something else.  Well, this "little" project turned out to be a huge three day project - and it's not over yet!  The top is no longer my favorite feature like it was before all of this began.  It should have been stripped.  My instincts told me, but I ignored myself and the stain went on unevenly.  Next week, I'll bite the bullet and strip and re-stain the tops of the leaves. 

See how uneven the top is?  Shoulda known better.  Trying to skip a step never, ever works!

I can take a  photo from the bed!  Hahahahaha!  Here is the drop leaf table.  The colors aren't quite true.  But I'll do a "real after" tomorrow in the daylight.  The table was waxed twice - once with Minwax dark and the second with Minwax natural and buffed between waxes.  I love the chalk blue and how the dark wax got into the nicks and crannies of the layers of paint.  Can't wait for you to see that.  There is no way that I wanted to strip the whole thing, I wanted the unevenness to be there on the bottom part.  This table had/has about 5 different colors on it.  Amazing!  I am learning a lot about re-doing furniture.  The more you do, the more you learn. 

HOUSE SHOWING TODAY

Jennifer and I worked so hard to prepare for this showing.  Cleaned the garage.  Trimmed roses on the East side of the house.  We cleared the West side yesterday and it was a jungle of tangled, growing, overtaking rose bushes, I tell you!  Mowed and "blew" the front yard and sidewalks.  Cleaned the inside - you know, all of those things we should do regularly, say we are going to, but don't. 

We have three skylights in our home and one is in the master bath.  The finish on the wall part was peeling and looked awful.  I decided that we'd paint it.  Jennifer scraped away all of the peely pieces.  I'm so silly.  It never dawned on me that I'd have to do something about the missing finish.  Out to the garage to find the drywall compound.  There is a brush that has been flattened that was used to put the finish on most of our walls - it's a 1980's thing in Texas I guess, since I've never seen it anywhere else.  Well, I didn't have the brush - it's in Little Rock is storage!  (Isn't everything?!?)  So I mixed up the compound, put it in a paper plate, climbed up on the ladder and used my fingers and patted them all over the wall space in the skylight.  We put a box fan on top of the ladder flat on it's back to dry the compound and then painted it with ceiling paint!  Good as new!  Why we hadn't done that a year ago, I don't know. 

Don't know if the lookers liked our home.  But the house is clean, the ceiling is fixed and tomorrow is a new day! 

Y'all be good and let me know what you've been working on!  I'm certain that your photos were NOT in black & white!  =)  Who knew there was an app for that? 

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!

Too Pooped to Pop

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?  =)

 

Do It Yourself Chic

Paula, found a new website & we've been drooling over all of their items.  

Do It Yourself Chic

Just by the pictures I chose, I lean towards the architectural, but

this site caters to all tastes & carries the more shabby items.

Applique Rosettes

Four Applique Corners

Applique Shield

Applique Cherub - - How adorable would this be on the corner of your dresser?

(I'd put this on my kitchen cabinets!!)

The glass knobs from Do It Yourself Chic are amazingly priced!!

Rose Knobs...Incredible

They have architectural & floral appliques, amazing knobs, decorative trims,

baskets, bows, drops, roses, swags, & wreaths. (the applique kind)

Mercy, you could make your own tremeau!

It is all about the details. 

The details are what makes design special & sets it apart from all the rest.

I call accessories, whether tabletop or on furniture, CANDY.

The details are the icing on the cake!

Jennifer Lynette



Before & After

I have 2 new blogs I want to share. 

Some of you may already know about them,

but I wanted to share some of their DIY projects. 

Looking at their before & afters have made me look at furniture differently. 

It also taught me what to look for while searching CL.

In The Fun Lane

**Photos below are by Holly & Sean from Life In The Fun Lane**

**Check out her Country Cabinet, I love how she placed those books - - with the pages facing out**

Holly's headboard before

After

I now know to look for scroll legs, scalloped bottom, & sweet detail on the drawers.

Harp Chair

I love how Holly made this Sheet Music skirt for this dresser. 

Click Here for a tutorial on how to make it.

My favorite is this China Cabinet.

This China cabinet has scroll legs, scalloped bottom, & sweet detailing.

The next new favorite blog to read is Stories Of A House

I am definitely looking for this dresser! I love the color blue she used in this.

Dresser Before

Dresser After

(When you go to her blog, you can see wonderful details of this beautiful dresser)

Stories Of A House

After reading these 2 blogs, I went out & found a dresser with details.  I can't wait to show it.
I've been begging to keep it & sell my dresser ... mom says no!

It's so hard because you find what you love, but you can't keep it. 

C'est La Vie!

P.S. Have  you ever wondered how Anthropologie creates those amazing window displays??  Get The Scoop Here

Jennifer Lynette

No Bon-bons and Mani/Pedi's for us!

Hi Y'all - This is Paula -

We are busy girls - sanding, painting, sanding, glazing and stepping back to critique our work.  No time for girly things!  Although a bon-bon would taste really good.

Where has the week gone? Today begins a brand new week with new possibilities.

By now I had hoped to share photos of what we found last weekend followed by photos of what we had done with each item. But that isn't going to happen. Our house is on the market and we've had two showings this week. Lots of scurrying to clean and tidy and then be away from home. On top of that our washer overflowed. Doesn't that sound

like fun? The floors in the laundry room and office area have been washed and rinsed

and Mr. Rooter is very nice!

I will show you what we have found and the progress we have made so far.  The CL pickins have been very slim this week. Maybe next week will pick up a bit. Round Top is bearing down on us and we have much to finish. We are having such fun though, even if we are a bit overwhelmed at times. =)

Pretty frame with eggdrop trim

This little eggdrop frame will be painted and glazed.



Tremeau found on CL



The tremeau was painted antique white and turquoise.

(Always forget those "before" photos.) 

We sprayed it with Heirloom White and will add some glazing

and a touch of distressing.



Top of hutch before
It has curves galore & spindles on the sides.



Bottom of hutch before.

Love the curvy top, bottom and legs.  How girlie is this?

Lots of sanding for this one, it had been well loved.  So far both the top and the bottom have gotten two coats of primer.  The back of the top unit will be painted Ice Cube Silver by Benjamin Moore.  It's one of my favorite light blues.

More to come!

What are you working on?

How are you going to make it your own?

What are you looking for?

My heart is yearning for a huge china cabinet or hutch to redo.  The search continues!

MMS & FJD's Copy Me Challenge

The Girls of Lulu's Designs are entering the Copy Me Challenge!  

When Miss Mustard Seed & Funky Junk Donna posted the Copy Me Challenge,

we knew immediately which project we wanted to tackle.

Here is Miss Mustard Seed's Project.  Look at that color.  Look at those curves.  Look at that stuff!

The first thing on our list was to find a dresser to use. 

After searching for several days, this dresser was purchased from a Craig's List seller. 

Dresser with Squeaker-Bud cat sauntering by on the left!

Because of below freezing temps, we were forced to do our painting in the house. 

That meant no paint spraying from a can or a sprayer.  

We were sad because we love to use the paint sprayer! 

The dresser required a light sanding and then good wipe-down. 

Because the dresser had a coat of varnish or something like that that made it super shiny, we decided to use a primer.  We had a gallon of Kilz on hand, so we painted on two coats and let it dry overnight.

Time for paint! 

We wanted a contrast between the color of the aged sheet music, so we decided to use white paint from Behr.  For ages purchasing Floetrol has been on our to-get-list.  When we saw it on the shelf at Home Depot we couldn't wait to get it in our cart!  It was great.  The brush strokes after drying were minimal.  However, there were some dripping problems which meant sanding and repainting a few areas.  That was ok, it was a learning process.  Next time we'll know better how to control that. 

Good stuff!

Here is our version of the sheet music dresser all gussied up and ready for her close up! 

Isn't she gorgeous?

Couldn't you just eat her up?!? 

Look at that old music!  Can you see "Lucille" on the drawer right there? 

As close to Lulu's as we could get!  We love the different shades of the music.  All of those oldie colors show up just fine.  We wondered who touched this music before us.  Who played the piano and sang?  Who heard it and smiled?  Old things with such great history touch us and we fall in love.

We used glass drawer pulls that we had on hand. 

Clear on the top and bottom drawers and larger pink ones on the middle drawer.

More yummy shades of color on the top.  Mmmmm.

The music wreath is a special order that we made. 

Dyed coffee filters, some pink tulle and a lace flower top it off. 

And of course, what vignette for a MMS challenge would be complete without some German glass glitter letters?  These happen to spell "LOVE" just in time for Valentine's Day. 

After all, MMS is THE German glass glitter queen! 

We added a concrete yard angel.  She actually lives indoors though. 

Isn't she sweet?  She wanted bling and we provided it for her. 

Doesn't every MMS follower love bling?  I mean bling and simple just go together, don't they?

A little silver bowl filled with shredded sheet music and pastel eggs provide

a reminder of  Springtime to come and new beginnings.

We love the white ironstone pitcher with lavender and it smells yummy. Look at that handle.  Wow!

The starfish reminds us of time spent at the beach and warm sunny days playing

in the sand and listening to the waves crash on the shore.

In the little silver bowl is antique German lace and it was probably all handmade.

Just think of the hours that went into that. 

And we thought dealing with bubbles while doing decoupage was difficult!

Oh yes, we even copied MMS's shabby lampshade and little stack of books.  

We are shameless, aren't we?  =)

The photos on the lampshade are family.  

The photo of the young girl on the right of the lampshade is our grandma and great-grandma Ocie. 

 The photo on the left of the lampshade is our mom and mamoo. 

She looks a bit mischievous, doesn't she?  She probably was since she had eight brothers and sisters!She's now 81 and has dementia.  She's just a happy little girl in this photo!  We like that.

Hanging from the shabby lampshade is a vintage French Chateau key hung with pink seam binding.
 It's our bit of rust as a tribute to Funky Junk Donna.  We wanted to do rusty and enter with
you too Donna, but who knew that decoupage would take so stinking long? 
We love your style and tip our hats to you!
We adore the child's glass pink butter pat. Hmmm, can we sell it?

A beautiful Christening gown that we found on Etsy and picked up in a city near us to have it in time.

Yes, MMS, we went to great lengths to copy you and your style!

A close up of the pink German glass glitter letters.  Oh so shiny and beautiful.  They twinkle.  We likie!

 MMS has given us a new appreciate of all things beautiful. 

And all things are beautiful, even if they are worn and old and smell funny -

you know like mothballs, or old houses. 

That's what the sheet music smelled like. 

We learned to love that smell because it took us back in time while we were Modge-Podging.

When we finished photographing our vignette, we wondered why our home doesn't

look like this one little dresser with all of these things that we love. 

We think we are headed in a new direction! 

Thanks Miss Mustard Seed for showing us the way! 

It's been fun and we look forward to what's ahead! 

Now where's that paintbrush, paint, sandpaper and piece of

brown furniture that we've decided to redo?

Come on y'all, leave a comment.  Make our day!  Just say Hi!

Jennifer and Paula
The Girls of Lulu's Designs &