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).

Moving my family of 4 and 2 dogs

Hello there...

Well we are in the first leg of our journey.  We are moving!  

Renting a home is always a risk that someone else is for the most part in control of certain aspects of your life.  We have loved renting the adobe brick home that we have called home for the last 2 years...but the owners have decided to put it on the market for sale.  To make a long story short, we made the decision to move as soon as we discovered that they were exploring this option.  We have ran into a couple issues and just plain bad luck with some homes that fit our needs!

So...we have decided rather than rush into a home that would be a temporary situation...we are moving our belongings into a storage unit.  Not only do we have a 3 bedroom home to move, but also my inventory of furniture (which fills our 1 car garage currently and a work shop full of my tools & supplies).  The "His" of H&H Restoration has been working 60+ hours a week...so I am doing most of the packing.  We have moved quite a bit in our marriage, so this is nothing new to us.

This time, I am being completely organized and have been purging our "stuff" for the last couple months and am continuing to do so.

Here are a few tips that I am finding helpful that I thought might come in use for you:

Vintage Buffet - Old Ochre & Duck Egg Blue

I bought this huge Buffet/Side Board from Craigslist a few months ago.  I roped my son and a friend in to help me go get it one evening and it sat for a couple months on my back patio.  I just had to wait for it to talk to me!!  :) Well I really like what this buffet had to say!!  hahaha no seriously...I am in love with this color combination.  I used ASCP Duck Egg Blue & Old Ochre with some distressing and light and dark wax to bring out the details.  I replaced the original hardware with some I picked up at Hobby Lobby.

Here's the before (please excuse the mess on my back patio)

This piece is in the shop waiting for a new home!  If it doesn't sell soon, it will be coming back home with me to use in my craft room!!  It has tons of storage inside it!

  Your comments really make my day!  Let me know you were here.

First time using Maison Blanche Chalk Paint~ honest review!

I love trying new brands of chalk paint.  I have been making my own for about a year now using the Plaster of Paris recipe and I am very happy with it.  I buy all sorts of paint brands including mis-tints at Lowes and Home Depot.  Recently, I have also been using Sherwin Williams sample pots.

Oak Pedestal Table Make-Over (for a client)

I was bringing a new dresser into the shop last week, and a customer was interested in one of my tables that had already sold.

Here's my Oak Pedestal Table that everyone seems to love!  I have about 5 different people that have wanted to buy the table, but only if I painted chairs to match it.  I was just too busy with other projects to get to the chairs, so I just put the table in the shop without the chairs.  Just last week, I agreed to paint 4 chairs to match it for a client and it is sold.  Note to self, "always paint chairs to match the table, never just a table".  Everyone wants chairs with the table.  I hadn't really thought that one through, all the way.

She was telling me that she has a pedestal table and 4 chairs that she'd like to have painted...one thing let to another and here it is all finished.

I got ahead of myself and did not get a before picture...but here is one that I have in the shop that is very similar.

Her table is a 48" with a leaf and 4 pressed back chairs.  It was in good shape, she just wanted to have the base and all but the seats of the 4 chairs painted white and then distressed lightly and antiqued (Annie Sloan's Dark Wax).

I have to say, this was only my 3rd custom job so far and it is becoming my favorite part of my business!  Working with my clients so far has been amazing in more ways than just the business aspect of it.  I have got to meet some awesome women so far and it's exciting to see their vision come to light with my art!  I am really looking forward to growing that part of my business!

Garden Dresser ~ Potting Bench

Hello There,

It's mid June and hot here in Northern California!  The kids are out of school and driving me nuts!  haha :) just kidding...I really love it.  But, it is more difficult to get things done with them home.  I have been working on quite a bit lately, but haven't blogged in a couple months.  Shame on me!!  I am working on finding balance, with my blog, new business, and with some side work I am doing.  So...here it goes.

Storage Locker Auctions ~ we bought 5 storage lockers last month!

Hello There!  Yes, you read that right.  We bought 5 storage lockers last month, at auction.  I am still not quite sure how that happened!  

Duck egg blue dresser

Hello there. I have been having lots of fun painting new pieces. I am stocking up for the street fair this Sunday. This is my first year being upstairs in Secondhand Rose during the Street Fair. Last October I was a new vendor with a space downstairs in the basement. I can't wait to see how this event turns out. I will be there all day, talking and helping customers.

Here's a picture of my most recent piece. It was so sad, with lots of veneer issues that the "veneer whisperer" removed! I really love the contrast of the dark stained top and the light painted colors. The details were distressed and lightly dark waxed to add dimension and character.

It was very hard not to keep this one!

Fabulous Blue French Dresser - Custom Chalk Paint

I finally finished the matching dresser for the girls desk that I did a couple weeks ago.  You can see that post here.  The dresser seemed to be sloping in the middle so I added some bracing to the middle section and it's perfect!

The desk just sold last Saturday...

Here she is all finished and in the shop!

and...my crazy work space.

before hardware...

and all done.

Beautiful 2 toned Dresser with Custom Chalk Paint

Here is a piece that I am in love with!  I was so excited to paint it that I completely forgot to get a before and after picture.  

Secondhand Rose now carries Chalk Paint!

Secondhand Rose now carries American Paint Company Chalk Paint...woohoo!

Grey & White Chalk painted dresser

Happy Tuesday!  I hope you all are doing great!  I have been having lots of fun and painting away!  I have some great pieces in the works, I can't wait to share!

New pieces headed to the shop...

Hello there...Happy Sunday.

I got so excited with the furniture that I picked up this week...that I forgot to take before pictures.  So, please forgive me.  Here's what I've been working on.  :)

This is a little Drexel Heritage Nightstand and Mirror, that I picked up at an estate sale in Sacramento last week.  It was that white with yellow trim, and had some painted floral decor on it.  I am sure in it's time, it was fashionable that way...but I just love how it is now.  I used a light minty green on the drawers and mirror, and used old white for the nightstand base and original hardware update.  This piece is just wating for a new home!

it's hard to see, but this little table actually has light baby pink stripes on top.  The rest of the table has a light coating of Old White and was heavily distressed.  I really love this little antique table, the details on the sides are so charming!

I just love this one too...another dainty antique table...it was so sad in it's before state!  I might actually have the before of this one, I'll add it later.  :) I used a blue and white stripe on the top...and lightly dry brushed all the details over the blue on the base of the table.

Have a great week!  I have a garage full of furniture to paint before the street fair...so please forgive me for the next month...my posts will be more consistent come mid May!  :)

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.  

Luckets Green Shelf

Just wanted to show you this little shelf I picked up at a garage sale last Saturday.  She got the MMS Milk Paint in Luckets Green (with the bonding agent), some antiquing glaze, and light distressing.  She's in the shop and ready for a new home.  All my "green" pieces have been selling right away, so I will have more to come if you miss this one.

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!

Sneak Peek at where the magic happens!

Haha...well the creative magic anywhooo.

I always wonder how other people create their vintage decor/furniture.  Like, are you organized and logical with a plan on what Antique or vintage piece of furniture you will paint and whether you'll use Annie Sloan Chalk Paint or Miss Mustard Milk Paint?  or are you like me and completely random and make split second decisions in complete chaos.  I do not make decisions on paint until I have a brush in my hand and am staring at my choice of colors!  Creating for me always starts with a plan...but I rarely follow it.

I use lots of different paint brands, Valspar, Sherwin Williams, Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint and soon to be American Paint Company!!  I also use many different mediums to seal the finish.

I have a garage full of furniture that I am working on.  I am preparing for the Lodi Ca Street Fair.

I am always on the look out for a good deal on vintage/antique furniture.  I rent a space at Secondhand Rose, Lodi Ca and it's not very big...so when a large piece sells it usually leaves a gaping whole.  So my plan is to have 3-4 pieces finished and ready to go in the shop at all times.

I have only been selling my His & Her Restoration furniture since October of  2012 at Secondhand Rose, so I am very much in the midst of a huge learning curve.

If you have any tips you would like to share or have pictures of your work space...I'd love to see them.

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.

Bedroom Make~Over...this may take a while

Nightstand deconstructed from an Antique Vanity ~ Teaser

Happy Easter to you and your family, whatever your beliefs and how you spend the day...I hope it's a wonderful one.

Here's some after pictures of a deconstructed antique vanity...that I made a nightstand out of. I will have a step by step tutorial next week posted...but couldn't wait to share some of the after pics!

Hope you enjoy...and be sure to check back this week to see what she looked like before...it was not pretty!

Thank you for reading,

Char

Old World Meets Fabulous (Chandelier) Secretaries Desk

I have had this Secretaries Desk for over a year...i used it to store my scrapbook supplies...then i got a piece i wanted to switch out, so this one has to go.  I had it painted a plane jane white,