What a Year!

Well my one year blog anniversary came & went without being noticed. I knew it was fast approaching but didn't realize I had let it slip by without mention. I thought I had started my blog in Jan. 2012, but I actually wrote my first post in the middle of Dec. 2011. So without further ado....

It has been one year (actually 1 yr. + 3 weeks) since I started this little blog. As I am looking back at the years projects I am amazed at the number of pieces we were able to do. Prepare to look at a lot of pictures! I'll begin with your favorites

MOST VIEWED:

# 1 Most viewed was Butter Yellow with a Hint of Chocolate.
What's so funny is that this post was the most viewed yet, I had to finally repaint the base of this piece (in cocoa) before it finally sold two months ago.

#2 Most viewed was Little French Vanity . This also happens to be one of my favorite graphics, I can't tell you how many times I've had to duplicate this look. 

#3 Most viewed was Re purposed Window.  This post was also the Most Featured.

 

#4 Most viewed was So Much Potential .  This table took me back to my artists painting days. Hard to believe this table still hasn't sold.

Most Featured:

 

#1 Most Featured was Re purposed Window.

 I had a lot of fun creating these windows & wrote a tutorial so you could create your own. Fun stuff!

#2 Most Featured was Color of the Week Duck Egg Blue.
The cabinet with the chicken wire was by far the most challenging of the year. When we bought it, it looked like a puzzle.

 
 #3 Most Featured was Corner Table Roadside Treasure.
This table was one of my favorites to paint. 

My Favorites:

  # 1 All time Favorite of mine is the Charming Chiffarobe.
I loved this piece even before I painted it. This one was so hard to part with but in the end I had to let her go before she was damaged beyond repair. 

#2 All time Favorite of mine is My Clock Face Obsession.
If you follow my blog you know about this little obsession of mine. I seem to repeatedly paint clock faces on table tops. 

  
 #3 All time Favorite of mine is Queen Anne Nesting Tables.
I love how these came out. These are also still available.

#4 All time Favorite of mine is Americana Bench
I purchased seven of these benches. Two were painted Americana style & five of them were painted French Country:

  

Best of all though was when I happened to catch a glimpse of my bench on TV during the "Sunday Morning" program.
 

 

Yep! That's my bench you see over Kid Rock's shoulder. 

You can read about that here.

I thought it would be fun to show you some "Never before seen" pieces that I never had a chance to post about thru the year. So here we go:

Never Before Seen:

Wow, as I'm scrolling down thru these pictures I realize just how busy we really were this past year. I would like to thank my Mom & my family for all their help, love & support. I truly would not be able to accomplish all this without them. I would also like to thank all the wonderful people who follow me & the people who leave such encouraging comments. It really helps to keep me focused & motivated.

I hope you have enjoyed a look at my year. I hope to keep up the pace & be able to share with you more posts of our work. As always, thanks for visiting & have a great week!  Dee

Shabby Dressing Table

It's been crazy busy around here this week. I've been getting the kids ready for back to school & maintaining our painting routine. Wish I could squeeze a few more hours into a day. Better yet, I wish I could clone myself, then I would at least get the laundry & housework done along with the painting.

Enough of my whining....

As I mentioned in my last post, we are introducing some new warmer colors into our palette.  This week we worked with Old Ochre & Coco. I just love this color combination!  We have been on this vanity/dressing table phase lately. A couple of weeks ago I found a buffet on Craig's List, when we went to look at it we decided to pass due to the poor condition. The lady also had a vanity for sale & that's what we came home with. Of course I do not have a before picture. I am really trying to do better about that...

Anyway, the paint on the whole piece was cracked & chipping off. We decided to just strip the top & see if it was in good enough condition to stain. So after lots of sanding & two coats of Dark Walnut stain, this is what it looks like:

I love this look.  I gave the top several coats of Minwax Wipe On Poly. Love this product by the way, so easy to use. Then we painted the body Old Ochre with the highlights in Coco. The hardware & detail on the front is in Modern Masters English Brown Metallic Paint.

We sanded & distressed then gave it a coat each of clear & dark waxes.

Did I mention there is a chair that goes with this beautiful Dressing table?

Front & Back 

Here is a close up of the fancy seat cushion:

Here is the finished set:

Sigh..........

I feel like we need to call this a "Dressing Table" & NOT a 'Vanity" because it is so elegant looking. There is the original mirror on the inside. The lady we bought this from said she remembers when her grandmother bought this, so she is guessing it was at least 45 years old. The pictures just don't do these pieces justice. 

Look for us to be doing more of these warm beautiful colors in the near future.  Are you giving some new colors a try? I'd love to hear about it.

If you are interested in this beautiful set it's for sale at Sassy Fabrics (V Trading) in Grand Blanc, MI.  If you live in my area & have an old piece of furniture that you want painted, shoot me an email & we can talk about it.

Have a great & safe Holiday weekend. Thanks for visiting,  Dee

Color of the week: Duck Egg Blue

Lately it seems like every week we are painting several pieces at a time in one color. Three weeks ago it was black, two weeks ago it was white & last week it was my all time favorite Duck Egg Blue.

We painted three large pieces in this beautiful color. Let me start with the one that was most challenging:

This was the sneak peek I teased you with last week. Here is what it looked like when I bought it off Craig's List:

This little cutie was in pieces, the man I bought it from had started to restore it & then stopped. So I got it for a song but had to figure it out like a puzzle. The drawer needed a new bottom & new drawer glides. The glass was original but very discolored & we only had about half of the cool wood appliques. Here is the puzzle all put together:

Sold

We painted the body DIY Chalk paint in Duck Egg Blue, the shelves are in Paris Grey & the appliques are in Old White. We used this beautiful toile contact paper on the inside & in the drawer & polished up the original hardware. I wanted to do something different with the door since the glass was in rough shape. We decided to try the chicken wire, I sprayed it black & nailed it in place of the glass. After two coats of ASCP clear wax it was complete. On to the next piece:

This is what I teased you with last week. Here is how this darling vanity looked before:

My mom found it at a garage sale & it was the score of the week! Here is my little assistant giving me a hand. All this vanity needed was a new chain for the mirror. Here is how it looked after:

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I swear this color would make anything look better....

Once again I used one of my favorite graphics from The Graphics Fairy.  We lined the inside with the same toile contact paper & used the original hardware. Gave it two coats a ASCP clear wax & buffed to perfection!

Now last but not least: last weeks teaser:

Here is the before:

This waterfall vanity was a roadside treasure! It was given to me by my new favorite person, Paul.  Thank you Paul!  It was missing the mirror & all the hardware. Not perfect but still had potential. We added some trim on the back to fill the void where the mirror went & filled the holes on the drawers.

Here is the after:

Super cute with the new color & some fancy new bling.....

You would never even know there used to be a mirror there. My Mom had a stool that matched perfectly, it also got a face lift. Here is the graphic I chose for it. Guess where from? You got it The Graphics Fairy.

Sigh...... Can you believe what people throw out?

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Here they are together. A perfect pair.

Fortunately we are not the only ones that like Duck Egg Blue, we took these three pieces to Karen at Sassy Fabrics (V Trading) in Grand Blanc, Mi & the chicken wire cabinet & the water fall vanity set sold right away.  

Next week I think we'll try something different, maybe red. Thanks for visiting & have a great week!  Dee



Little French Vanity

A couple of months ago I found the cutest little oak table. It was the perfect size for an entry way table or a vanity table. I am confessing right now, I do not have before pictures of this cute little set.  I'm not sure how that keeps happening, but I promise to do better in the future. That being said, here is what I did with it:

I must also apologize for the poor photography.  I was on a tight schedule to deliver these. But here it is.  I love the curvy legs & petite size. I painted it DIY chalk paint in Duck Egg Blue.  Then I used one of my favorite graphics from The Graphics Fairy . Gave it a couple coats of wax & buffed it to perfection. 

When it was all done I thought "This needs a chair."  Every vanity needs a chair, right? So, luckily I was able to find one at the Flea Market & painted it the same color:

Once again I used a Graphics Fairy graphic on the drop cloth seat cushion. Here they are together:

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I really like the way they look together. The post card graphic is so fun to do & it is always a good seller. Especially when it is on a Duck Egg Blue piece. It's one of my favorite combinations. This set is available at V Trading in Grand Blanc, MI.  

Do you have a favorite paint color & graphic combination? I'd love to hear about it.  Thanks for visiting & have a great day!  Dee