home decor and garden are very famous in the world

The workshop has occupied so much time and attention this summer that I have a LOT of furniture projects waiting for me! 

I’m at the point of wondering “what to tackle next?” 

I decided to go for the biggest bang—as far as reclaiming space is concerned! 

The table was dismantled, so it wasn’t taking up much room…but I had FIVE finished chairs stacked up in my bedroom, so I decided to finish the set so I could at least have my room back!

If you’ve been with me for long, you know I have a long and glorious history with pressed-back chairs. 

I love ’em. 

One of my first major projects was this gathering table:

…and I loved it so much I later refinished a similar table in black:

Then there was my grand idea of refinishing a dining set with different pressed-back chairs for myself:

…which I didn’t end up keeping, but another friend of mine decided to run with the idea.  She bought up grundles of pressed-back chairs, and I finished them for her.  When she had multiples, though, I received some of the chairs back…in payment!

And that, dear friends, is why I had five pressed-back chairs cluttering up my bedroom!  As luck would have it, I found a sixth chair at Deseret Industries recently, and I was given this table (don’t you love the legs??)…

…what if I put them together??

Ahh…a match made in heaven!

The table top was sanded down and re-stained in Minwax Dark Walnut, which for some reason didn’t want to get very dark.  I liked it anyway.

The six chairs—all different—are painted with a Behr Color match of Sherwin-Williams “Creamy.”  They are glazed with a watered-down burnt-umber craft paint.  That is NOT my preferred form of glaze anymore—but some of these chairs were started long ago, and everything needed to match!

I like these table legs better…

I had fun dressing up the table a little bit….

…someday I’ll have a table that looks good with this doily runner; it’s my goal in life!

Anyone up for an al fresco dinner?

Domestically Speaking	Elizabeth & Co.
Primitive & Proper	The CSI Project
Friday Remodelaholic	2805
My Simple Home Life’s Simple Creations Friday	Miss Mustard Seed’s Furniture Feature Friday
Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special	The DIY Show Off
Beyond the Picket Fence	Someday Crafts
Knick of Time	My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Perfectly Imperfect	{Primp}
Common Ground	My Repurposed Life
From My Front Porch to Yours	All Star Block Party
Cowgirl Up!	{aka} design Coastal Charm

I have been working like crazy to finish projects for the Whitaker Flea Market this Saturday—I haven’t even had time to read my favorite blogs (now that’s busy)!

But I thought I’d pop in and show you one of the projects that will be going with me.  A neighbor of mine was cleaning out her garage, and would you believe she was going to take this table to Deseret Industries (that’s Utah’s Goodwill)??

OK, so I forgot to take a real “before” picture…but here’s the top, being sanded my my handy-dandy-helper-who-wants-to-earn-money-for-a-new-game…

…and here’s the base (which is actually a dark green color).

I decided to make another coffee table along the lines of the French chocolate coffee table, so I chose a graphic and pulled out my overhead projector:

…working on it…

…done!

The next day I distressed the lettering and gave the table top a coat of antique walnut stain.  I sanded back the stain in places, since I didn’t want it to look too perfect—it’s supposed to look like an old crate, after all!

I painted the base in a creamy white, and glazed it with antique walnut stain.  This table has LOTS of distressing, and the glaze makes it look “on purpose” rather than “beat up.”

This coffee table is HUGE:  40” x 50”.  Perfect for games, puzzles, or pizza!

I really enjoyed doing another graphic project like this…it has been too long!

This table has been featured at aka design.

******************************************

Linking up here:

Domestically Speaking	Elizabeth & Co.
Sisters of the Wild West	The CSI Project
Friday Remodelaholic	2805
My Simple Home Life’s Simple Creations Friday	Miss Mustard Seed’s Furniture Feature Friday
Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special	The DIY Show Off
Beyond the Picket Fence	Primitive & Proper
Knick of Time	My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Perfectly Imperfect	Thrifty Décor Chick
Simply Klassic Sundays	My Repurposed Life
From My Front Porch to Yours	It’s So Very Cheri
Cowgirl Up!	{aka} design

My friend Chelsey has had these Grandma-bookcases (literally) for quite some time now.  Probably two years ago we talked about the “how-to’s” of painting them—but this year, she finally decided to just have me do the work!

The bookcases have some really pretty details on the doors and on the crown molding.  The right one is actually more of a “secretary” with a pull-down work surface.

Chelsey thought all the brown was bringing her living room down, so we went white!

She may not know it, but the white I used is the same color that is on the trim in my house!  When you find one that works, I say, stick with it!

I will admit that this was NOT my favorite project.  Unfortunately, the main construction of these pieces is laminated particle board, and it did NOT want to be painted!  It took one coat of primer (which obviously wasn’t sufficient) and FOUR coats of paint to cover!

I used a dark-brown glaze (antique walnut stain mixed with Martha Stewart glazing medium) to bring out the pretty details.  Plus, there was lots of “natural distressing” on these pieces already—the glaze makes it look like it’s on purpose!

…and I played with PicMonkey’s “Urban” effect for the following pictures!

I miss Picnik—I felt like I was just starting to get the hang of it!  But PicMonkey is very similar, so that’s good—for me!

Anyway, I think we brought Grandma’s furniture into the new millenium!

**********************************************

This project was featured at Decorating Insanity.

***********************************************

Linking up here:

Coastal Charm’s Nifty Thrifty Tuesday	Elizabeth & Co.
Mod Vintage Life	No Minimalist Here’s Open House Thursday
Friday Remodelaholic	2805
My Simple Home Life’s Simple Creations Friday	Miss Mustard Seed’s Furniture Feature Friday
Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special	The DIY Show Off
Primitive & Proper	Thrifty Décor Chick
Decorating Insanity	My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Perfectly Imperfect	{Primp}
Simply Klassic Sundays	My Repurposed Life
From My Front Porch to Yours	It’s So Very Cheri
Common Ground	{aka} design

One of my sisters lives about 45 minutes away from me.  It’s not too far…except that it’s TOO FAR too much of the time!  We both like to watch the on-line classified ads, and the funny thing is that everything I want seems to be near her, and everything SHE wants seems to be near me!
Anyway, my sister loves cedar chests as much (if not more) than I do!  Last summer I finished this one for her:

She is an amazing seamstress, and she needed somewhere to store her vast collection of fabric.

The hunt didn’t end there…next there was this one which she wanted to have refinished for her oldest daughter.

I painted the base in a soft gray “oops” paint that I transformed into homemade chalk paint.

I used a black glaze to highlight the pretty moldings…

…and I painted the handles with oil-rubbed bronze spray paint.

I used “ebony” Minwax stain (for the first time) on the top of the chest, and I really liked it!  I think it took three coats to get the color as dark as I wanted, but I like that you can still see the wood grain through it.

The bottom drawer had originally been felt-lined, but the felt had—shall we say—“decomposed” over time!  I sanded out the fuzzy remains, and then lined the drawer with a fun pink fabric (I used Mod Podge under and over the fabric to seal it in there).  I think it is my favorite feature of the whole chest!

Just yesterday I picked up another cedar chest for my other niece…so I need to get motivated to paint some more furniture!
Linking up here:

Coastal Charm’s Nifty Thrifty Tuesday	Elizabeth & Co.
Domestically Speaking’s Power of Paint	Stylish Once Again
Thrifty Décor Chick Before & After	No Minimalist Here’s Open House Thursday
Friday Remodelaholic	2805
My Simple Home Life’s Simple Creations Friday	Miss Mustard Seed’s Furniture Feature Friday
Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special	The DIY Show Off
Primitive & Proper	I Heart Naptime
Beyond the Picket Fence’s Under $100 Party	My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Perfectly Imperfect	{Primp}
Simply Klassic Sundays	My Repurposed Life
	It’s So Very Cheri
Common Ground

Last fall I was contacted by Shelby, who was interested in having me re-do a coffee table for her. She wondered, “Had I ever seen the round table at The Painted Hive?”

Have I ever!

Kristine’s beautiful furniture makeovers are an integral part of my Pinterest “Great Furniture” folder!

Shelby brought me this lovely coffee table which she had found on KSL.com, and asked me to refinish it ala “Painted Hive,” although slightly less distressed.

The base was painted in a Behr Ultra paint color-matched to Sherwin-Williams “Creamy” paint. The top is stained with three coats of Minwax Antique Walnut stain, and then I hand-distressed and glazed the base to bring a little “age” to the piece.

I love the way the white shelf looks on the bottom!

Shelby also brought me this little pine table to get a similar makeover.

She planned on replacing the knob herself, so her it sits—knobless…

…but I think it will be a great complement to the “Painted Hive” coffee table!

*********************************

Linking up here:

Coastal Charm’s Nifty Thrifty Tuesday	Elizabeth & Co.
Domestically Speaking’s Power of Paint	Stylish Once Again
Thrifty Décor Chick	No Minimalist Here’s Open House Thursday
Friday Remodelaholic	2805
My Simple Home Life’s Simple Creations Friday	Miss Mustard Seed’s Furniture Feature Friday
Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special	The DIY Show Off
Primitive & Proper	I Heart Naptime
Beyond the Picket Fence’s Under $100 Party	My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Perfectly Imperfect	{Primp}
Simply Klassic Sundays	My Repurposed Life
	It’s So Very Cheri
Common Ground

After wanting to tackle an armoire for several months, I ended up with TWO in the course of about a week! The first one, a television armoire, I turned into a sewing cabinet here. The second one started out like this:

Yep, it’s in two pieces, and the top one looks funny because it was upside down when I took the picture of it!

This piece had really beautiful trim work, but the cloth-and-wire treatment in the front of the doors was just…weird. And grungy. Eww.

I decided that I wanted to try gray again on this piece. Remember the gray buffet? Well, I really did take in my “custom” mixed color and had Home Depot color-match a quart for me!

With some gray paint, black glaze (and oil-rubbed bronze paint for the pulls), the bottom turned out like this…

…and the top turned out like THIS!

Yep. Mirrors. This piece needed them. But let me warn you…mirrors are expensive. The two mirrors for the doors cost MORE than I paid for the whole piece to begin with!

See the reflection of the new stairs and the suitcase wall? Not to mention my legs!

But I can’t really bring myself to regret it. My friend MJ and I had a brief—and sad—experiment with cutting Walmart-purchased mirrors…and we ended up with mirror shards all over the kitchen table! (Note to self: even if you have scored the mirror…DON’T try to use a hammer to make the break.)

I had a little fun with the interior of the armoire:

You know how I love to put numbers or words on everything! I decided this piece needed to be “inspirational.” Maybe words like “dream, create, imagine” will inspire the new owner to make the most of each day’s opportunities!

Well, it can’t hurt!

******************************************************

This project was featured at Redoux and Stylish Once Again.

******************************************************

Linking up to these great parties:

Coastal Charm’s Nifty Thrifty Tuesday	Topsy Turvy Tuesdays
Domestically Speaking’s Power of Paint	Thrifty Décor Chick’s Before & After
Hookin’ Up with House of Hepworths	No Minimalist Here’s Open House Thursday
Friday Remodelaholic	2805
My Simple Home Life’s Simple Creations Friday	Miss Mustard Seed’s Furniture Feature Friday
Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special	The DIY Show Off
Primitive & Proper	I Heart Naptime
Beyond the Picket Fence’s Under $100 Party	My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Perfectly Imperfect	{Primp}
Mod Vintage Life	Redoux
Thrifty Décor Chick	Stylish Once Again

Once upon a time, there was a cabinet at the top of the stairs.

This cabinet served the Very Important Purpose of holding yarn and knitting needles (for the winter months when the furnishing-refinishing business is slow). It was a good cabinet, but it wasn’t well-liked. The fact that it was brown against a brown wall probably had something to do with it.

So one day in the dead of winter, it got painted!

…and there was much rejoicing!

Although it looked much better, and it still continued to fulfill its Very Important Purpose most admirably, the fickle owner (yes, that’s me) was not completely satisfied. I envisioned something with a little more style…a little more panache…a little more pizzazz…to fulfill the Very Important Purpose. However, besides being fickle, I also happen to be incredibly cheap <ahem>, I mean frugal. So I settled back to wait until the furniture fates would conspire to give me what I wanted.

When this little chest appeared in the classified ads, and it happened to coincide with a trip to the airport, I knew my day had arrived! The seller told me this chest used to belong to her grandmother. She sold it to me for $48!

I painted this little chest in my favorite off-white…

…distressed it lightly, and glazed it to “age” the color. There was no changing the hardware on this piece...the knobs are a carved part of the drawer fronts! There were no visible bolts or screws.

Being not only fickle and frugal, but also impatient, I hauled it up to the top of the stairs all by myself to see how it would look!

I think…I like it!

It now serves the Very Important Purpose of holding yarn and knitting needles…and looking pretty.

The former cabinet is serving some other Very Important Purpose for some Other Person now. I sold it for $160, and since I use paint and glaze I had on hand, I maintain that I made $112 on this deal!

*************************************************************

Linking up here.