Wordless Wednesday: Art Supply Space

My art supply cabinet.  This was a stained dark wood piece used to house books and dvds at the old house.  I painted it, and replaced the glass doors with chicken wire.

 

The whole thing was this dark wood you see on the inside of the cabinet.

Lots of space for lots of stuff.

I added fabric to the backing.

My painting cart, where I can keep the supplies needed for the current project close at hand.

Makeover Monday: Getting back to the Blog, Plus a Small Wardrobe-Type Thingy.

I am guilty of making promises to myself that I don't keep.

To be sure, I intend to keep them.  I am a hopeless optimist that way.

But I let life get in the way of pursuing the things that set my soul to singing.

I shall try - again - to carve out time.  I can write a little in the mornings.  Right?  Less social media, more pen to paper  typed words on a screen.

And because I am undiagnosed OCD, I shall jump right back in with a schedule that satisfies my compulsions.

I'm thinking, Makeover Monday: for furniture-refinishing frivolity.
Wordless Wednesday: just for pretty pictures.  Cute stuff.  Puppies.
And to round out the alliteration fun, perhaps a "Smalls Saturday": up-cycled and re-purposed and prettified small stuff.  Mason jars.  Wine bottles.  Barnwood galore.

So with that in mind, I shall post a couple of (very poor) pictures of a wardrobe-type thingy I picked up at a yardsale.  Really cute little piece.

I didn't do much repair.  I left chipped veneer as it was for the most part.  I cleaned it up, gave it a coat of shellac (because it looked to be mahogany and I didn't want bleed-through), and painted it.  I did a custom color of Annie Sloan Antibes Green, Graphite, and Old White to get a celery-seed kind of color.  I painted the upper drawer fronts in a black chalkboard paint so that the drawers could be labelled.  I used adhesive spray to cover the interior of the doors with some burlap.  Lastly I added some new drawer pulls.  I totally cheaped out with them and got some 99 cent knobs I found at Home Depot.  They're actually really cute little black metal knobs with a simple raised pattern.  Finally, I distressed and waxed with AS clear wax.

I think it's just darling.  Very old-timey.  What do you think?

This piece is for sale at Consign-it Furniture in Kennet Square, PA.

PS: I'm linking this post up to some blog parties!  See list in my sidebar.

Makeover Monday: End Table

A couple weeks ago, my friend Theresa picked up one of those old-school two-tiered end tables for me.

It was out at the curb, and she figured I could make one of those Pinterest Lego tables with it.

Or something.

After eyeballing it for a bit, I decided I was too lazy.

I was going to just paint it, but I thought maybe that would be too boring.

I wanted to do something that would make it stand out a bit, and yet still be functional as an all-purpose end table.

I had picked up some maps from a flea market, and after looking through them, I decided to go with an interesting map of Mount Everest.  I loved all the blues and greys, and thought it would go well with the Annie Sloan Paris Grey I used to paint the table.

After decoupaging, I still thought it needed a little something.  Something for the top.

Explore!  

"Explore" with an arrow built into the word would be just the thing.  I painted that in black and was finally pleased.


The only work that remained was to distress it with my orbital sander, and then add a coat of clear wax.

All done.  I like it!

Do you...?



I'm linking this post up with a few blog hops.  See the list in my sidebar.

I Have a Problem....

This is all the stuff I've bought in the last few days.

Basically, if I see a wooden thing for cheap, I buy it.  I HAVE to.

May I justify?  That long low 70's style dresser in the front?  Ten bucks.

Yep.

The tall dark and handsome dresser?  Twenty.  You heard it here first.

Three solid chairs, $5 each.

Even that cute little petite upholstered chair was only ten dollars.

How can I resist these bargains?

Impossible.

IMPOSSIBLE, I tell you!

Now I just need to get busy.

Reallllllly busy.

Wish me luck!






(Linking up in some blog hops.  See my sidebar for a list!)

Toilet Talk. #FeelingProud.

This post has nothing to do with DIY decor, or furniture refinishing, or how to mix up your own chalk paint.

It has everything to do with feeling proud of myself and wanting to share that feeling. Especially with any others out there that have found themselves on their own and trying to learn to be more independent and self-sufficient.

The downstairs terlet has been broken for a couple of days. I finally had a chance today to go out to see if I could find a replacement part for the piece that was missing. I had no idea what I was even looking for, but was not afraid to ask for help. By the time I left the store I felt like an expert. When I got home, I found the missing piece under the "tower" (toilet lingo. Don't even worry about it) as I had been advised to lift it up to see if it had gotten stuck underneath.

I was delighted. I probably wouldn't even need to use the new piece I had bought. However, when I replaced the part, and gave it a trial flush, it popped right off again because one of the flanges was broken. So I got the new piece out of the package and figured it out. I replaced the old hose with the new one, clipped the new piece in place, waited with baited breath for the tank to fill, and gave her a flush.

Voila! The toilet flushed. The new piece held. The hose held. Everything remained in its proper place and the tank refilled again.

For $2.97, plus the confidence to talk to the plumber guy at my local hardware store and put aside my fear of looking like a moron, I was able to fix my toilet all by my lonesome.

I am woman.

Hear me flush.

Makeover Monday: Pretty Dresser

I picked up this nice little dresser for a song from my local on-line yard sale group. $30.

Very nice shape.  Nothing wrong with it.  I almost hated to paint it.

Almost.

I love painted wooden things.

LOVE.

We'll see if I feel the same way after I'm done.

So here's my tutorial.



Like I said, there was nothing at all wrong with this sweet little dresser, so I was able to go right to painting.  Since I was using good quality chalk paints (Annie Sloan Old White and Paris Grey), there was no need to do any prep like sanding or priming.

And this would be why I am such a fan of chalk paints.

I took out all the drawers and removed the top piece.  I unscrewed all the pulls and taped off along the lines of where I wanted to paint white.

I did a coat of the white, and after a little while, did a second coat and removed all the tape.  So far, looking good!

Next day I painted they grey. I had run out of painter's tape and was too lazy to go out and buy more, so I just tried to cut in with the brush.  Sometimes my brush was flawless, and other times it decided to color outside the lines, but I didn't fret about it.  Just figured I'd fix it up once the paint dried.

(Here are some of the brush mistakes that I had to touch up.  No big deal.)    

So after two coats of the grey, and after it all dried, (and after I fixed all my oops-es), I took my orbital sander to the edges to distress it, then started rubbing in all the wax.

Finally, I decided to add a little something extra, so I painted this on the side, using the same Old White paint that I used on the drawer fronts.

I think I'll add a little bit of the design on the side of that top drawer.

And I'm not done waxing.

And one more thing I'm not done with.  Did you catch it in the pictures above?
I accidentally left her barefoot.  I forgot to paint her feet!

Oops (again)!

Back to work tomorrow!



Hope you enjoyed this.  What would you have done differently?

I'm linking this post up with some blog hops this week.  See the schedule in my side bar if you'd like to join any of the parties!