Month

October 2016

Sofa table refinished with Annie Sloan Old White

I love any piece of furniture that has claw feet. I found a beautiful claw foot sofa table and put it behind my couch. I wasn’t sure I would keep it but it sat there for a while before I painted it. I was hoping to refinish the top but was afraid if I starts sanding it down I would go right through the wood inlay and get to particle board. I could see the particle board under the table. But I figured it was worth a try and started hand sanding a small area. The stain came off and I wasn’t going through the inlay.

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But the wood was really hard and hand sanding wasn’t going to do the trick so I got out the electric hand sander. I was still worried so I started with a fine sandpaper and wasn’t getting through. I went with a course sandpaper and was able to get the stain and clear coat off and expose the amazing wood inlay. This actually took a while because the wood was so hard. ย I used a wood conditioner before staining it to get a more even coverage and then used Minwax Early American stain. I sealed it with several coats of Minwax oil based clear coat.

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I was so excited that it turned out so beautifuly. The wood inlay is truely amazing and I’m so glad I didn’t have to paint over this. I did paint the legs of this table. I wasn’t going to try to sand all small detailed areas. I painted itย Annie Sloan Old White with minimal distressing and a coat of clear wax.

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She’s a beauty. Love the curves and the detail on the legs! And the contrast of the stained wood and white paint.

I love this table but I didn’t feel like it fit with the look I was going for in my family room/kitchen. So this lovely table is for sale in my booth. And here’s the table I replaced it with.

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I wanted something with a little more of a farmhouse look that matched the kitchen table I recently finished. I will do a post about that later. (I’m in love with my refinished kitchen table) This cute rustic table was made and stained by someone else. I found it on a Facebook yard sale site. A cute talented couple makes them and I love it.

Simple but pretty and with 2 levels I had fun decorating it!

Please leave a comment and let me know what you think of both Sofa Tables. I would love to hear from you.

As always thanks for taking a look!

Cindy

Ahh Antoinette!

I have been looking for something to paint pink because…..pink! ๐Ÿ˜‰ I painted a small project Antoinette pink and bought a big can so I would have to find something else to paint pink. Can’t waist a good can of paint, right! It didn’t take long to find an old dresser and end tables that would be pretty in pink.

They were not a matching set but both were old and needed a make over.ย I bought an old waterfall vanity that had seen better days. It was sort of put together when I bought it, but barely.

There was a middle part that made up the vanity as well as a mirror. The mirror didn’t have the parts to connect it to the back and had lots of dark spots throughout. It wasย a pretty plain vanity mirror so I wasn’t sad about not using it. The middle part was nailed and screwed in – randomly. It was going to take a lot to put the vanity back together and I wasn’t feeling comfortable that it would be sturdy, so I turned it into 2 end tables instead. Lots of wood putty and a good cleaning were required before this was ready to be painted. And as you can see there was no saving the plastic drawer pulls.

This old dresser was probably darling in its day but it had several layers of paint, that were pealing, as well as some damage to the finish that required more wood putty. One of the drawers was pretty warped on the inside and the hardware was missing. But both the dresser and the end tables were sturdy and really just needed some love. I painted both Annie Sloan Antoinette and decided to paint the insides of the drawers Paris Grey. Yes I painted the inside of each and every drawer and yes it took a lot of time. A lot! I also used a cute little bird and heart stencil to add a little extra fun when you open the drawers.

I picked out some cute simple white drawer pulls to match the birds and distressed it just a little. I white waxed everything including the Paris Grey drawers. I did not buy these to put in my home but I REALLY wanted to keep them. The Antoinette and white wax were made for each other. So pretty!! I am absolutely smitten with all 3 pieces. They will end up in someone else’s home for them to love but I have the pictures to remember them! ๐Ÿ˜‰ haha

I am now on a quest to find something else to paint pink, because….pink! ๐Ÿ˜‰ Tell me what you think. What project pieces would you like to paint pink or already have painted pink? I would love to hear your ideas and see your projects.

Thanks so much for stopping by to take a look. I really appreciate it!

Cindy

Adventures in decorating!

I’ve lived in my home for 12 1/2 years and for 12 1/2 years this wall has been empty.

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When it was time to paint I hired painters to paint this area because I didn’t want to even think about how to get up that high to tape and paint this wall. It’s 2 stories high and above the stairs. Not easily accessible. But once the walls and staircase were painted I started brainstorming what I would like to see hanging here. I found 2 cute old double storage doors that look like barn doors and my vision for that wall started coming together. I needed something else to go between the doors to finish the look I wanted. I do a lot of “window shopping” on the Facebook Yardsale sites and I spotted a post by a local seller who makes signs and I knew one of them would be perfect between the 2 doors. I bought it and had it shipped to my home and loved it. It still took me a few weeks to get the nerve to tackle this project, and talk my handy hubby into helping me! ๐Ÿ˜‰ We dragged my oldest son into this venture as well. I won’t go into all the hairy details of what it took to get these mounted on the wall but after it was over I was grateful we didn’t end up in the ER! Haha ๐Ÿ˜‚ย 2 ladders, 3 people, power tools and heavy barn doors = danger!

 

My husband loves it when I say “I have a project for you and it involves a ladder”! (Yes that was sarcasm ๐Ÿ˜‹) But I would not have dared tackle this project without him. It took some engineering (good thing he’s an engineer), and a lot of planning to get this project done. Also some courage and muscle!

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It was scary but TOTALLY WORTH IT! It may never ever come down but I’m ok with that. I love the handmade sign. It’s the first thing we see when we all come out of our bedrooms.

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Alese sells these cute signs on her website www.handmadeutah.com and you can also see her work on her instagram page @2crafty4myskirt. You will love all the darling signs she makes.

Let me know what you think and tell me about your decorating adventures. I’m always looking for new ideas for my home and would love to hear from you.

Thanks for taking a look ๐Ÿ˜Š

Cindy

White wash it

Today it’s all about White!! Last week I painted 4 items, all of them Annie Sloan Pure White. On Monday I helped a friend paint her fireplace mantle. They recently changed out the tile around the fireplace and felt the dark wood needed to be changed as well. She chose Pure White and it looks great with her pretty glass tile.

So Pure White became the color of the week and I painted an entry table, a milk can and picture window mirrors white as well.

Color is a lot of fun but sometimes it just needs a white wash. I love how Pure White brightens up a room, and coat of clear wax leaves a lovely satin finish.

Thanks for checking out my post! ๐Ÿ˜ƒ

Cindy