My favorite transformation to date - Maple Hutch

Hello and Happy Fall,

I don't know about you, but I for one am more than excited to welcome Fall this week!  As a 40 year old woman, with the wrath of menopause coming on, fall and winter will be a wonderful change here in Northern California.

There have been many changes in the last few months, which I will save you from the boring details.  Needless to say, I have been way behind in my projects and updating this blog.  I have done my best to keep my Facebook up to date, so hopefully you have been getting those updates.

This next transformation was just finished last week.  I bought this Maple Hutch on craigslist about 3 months ago.  It is on wheels and in solid!  I used my custom chalk paint recipe (using Plaster of Paris).  The grey was a mistint I picked up at Lowe's for $5!  Gotta love that.  The white was one I used on a custom job I did a couple months ago (Valspar).

Without further ado...

Before

I took all the doors and hardware off, I wanted to spray paint the hardware black...and I think it made a huge difference with this piece.  

Here she is ready for her new home!  I put 3 coats of chalk paint on her and 3 coats of wax.  This piece will last for generations!  

Miss Mustard Seed's Tricycle Red Milk Painted Pressed Back Chair

4th of July is just around the corner...and it inspired me to do some bright colored chairs.  I used Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint in Tricycle Red and Annie Sloan's Old Ochre Chalk Paint.  I started the first one (Red & White) with the intention of getting funky and doing a few different colors.  I ended up just painting one of the chairs the 2 colors (I am still planning on adding a 3rd color, possibly blue to some of the spindles).

Fabulous Blue Girls French Provincial Desk

Here's a sweet little blue and white French Provencial dresser.  I just love all the details on this little doll!  I made the blue custom chalk paint from a mistint I purchased about a year ago...and I love this color...but, it is not consistent and has been giving me major issues.  This is when I love the consistency of using a premade chalk paint like Annie Sloan, CeCe Caldwell, or American Paint Co.  So, this set has taken for ever for me to finish, I am so discouraged.  But I will move on.  This set has a dresser, desk, chair, mirror, and I painted an antique (not French Provencial) full headboard the same color).  The desk is the only completed piece as of right now.  The dresser will be finished by Friday and in the shop, but the desk is ready for a new home!

Vintage Nightstand Black and Wine Red

Here's a quick nightstand Before and After I did last weekend.  I bought a dresser and this nightstand from craigslist.  A young couple sold it to me at a great price, it had a little bit of a veneer issue, but I was able to sand it down and it looks great.  This is another solid wood piece, made in the USA back when furniture was made to last generations.  

Vintage Buffet turned from Drab to ooooh lala Paris!

 With the recent Paris and French Country design interests that I have been seeing pinned quite a bit, I thought I'd do my interpretation with this older vintage buffet from the early 1950's.  I bought it from a wonderful lady that inheritted it from her aunt.  I also bought a chippy antique table and chairs from her...I can't wait to show you those.  But I digress, it seems like I have been working on this piece for months, but really its been a few weeks only.  I have been working on multitple pieces at a time lately...so quite a few are ready all at once.  I find it more efficient that way.  While one piece is drying, I can move on to the other, and so on.

Changing spaces and moving out of the basement

Wow...I am just feeling so grateful. This is a post with exciting news, but I feel that a backstory is due and want to share a little more about me with you, my readers! The blogging community is one that I am coming to really feel a part of. You all have been so supportive and inspiring and I am honored to be a part of it! So, I have a long post...hang in there. I hope it inspires you to follow your dream and do what you love!

Painting furniture has been a staple in my decor since I was a teenager. It is just one of the ways that I express my creativity. It is one of the ways i relax and is very therapeutic for me. Friends and family have always complimented me and made me realize, that its not something that everyone either wants to do or enjoys doing. We all have our strengths. I believe we are all capable of doing anything we put our mind to...but if its not something you love to do, why not hire someone out to do it for you? That's where my business got started! It went from a hobby to a dream and is still very much in the early stages!

The poor little Vanity that could!

This poor little vanity has been sitting in my shed waiting for me to muster up the courage and energy to tackle this project.  I bought a waterfall desk from Craigslist about 2 months ago from a lady that used to refinish furniture.  She'd had this one for a couple years and hadn't done anything with her, and when I told her what I did...she offered it to me for free in addition to the waterfall desk.

This Dewalt Sander was my best friend!

I was very hesitant to take it.  I am trying to make a living out of refinishing furniture...but it's very hard to get your labor back out of a piece that needs this much work, you see.  Not to mention my back has been out for months.  But i saw the detail in this piece and thought...i can do something, even if i only use the drawers and then use the rest of the wood for other projects...So, my son and husband loaded them both up and off we went.

My first feature! Woohoo! This Friday 3/29/13

Hello There and Happy Sunday!  I am sorry I haven't blogged in quite a few days. I have been busy buying, repairing, cleaning and painting some amazing pieces!  I did some huge markdowns at the shop and am switching up my style a little!  Don't worry...I'll still be whimsical and unique...but I will have a few more pieces that fit into the everyday home...more white, creams, grays, and blacks!  With a little splash of color here and there.

So...I checked my email this morning and got an email response from Maryann @ Domestically Speaking & Power of Paint. I submitted my Milk & Chalk Paint Buffet hoping for a feature, not ever dreaming that after a couple months of blogging...I would actually be featured on a popular blog!  But I am!!!  I love the buffet and I am very proud of it...but to be recognized by another artist/blogger is so amazing!  

So, Thank you so much...I don't think I even have any readers...but in the off chance I do...please head over to Power of Paint and check out her blog as well as my feature this Friday, March 29th, 2013!!  

Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint - 1st time!

Hello there and Happy Wednesday. So, I had the opportunity to take a 3 hour class on Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint in Fair Oaks at The Treasured Home. It was a wonderful class and the owner (Barbara) and her husband were wonderful. She gave us tons of tips

Before and After - Perfectly Purple Nightstand

I picked this nightstand up at a garage sale last Sunday. It had some issues on the top, but I could see that it was a sturdy solid wood piece. And I love the mesh doors and it has a power strip and extension cord built in to it! It was before its time! Henedron is the manufacture I believe.