Depression-Era Hutch Makeover

I scored this sweet depression-era hutch recently and gave it a fabulous makeover! Check out this photo-heavy post:

BEFORE: She was so dark and brown, not bad, but scratched up. I just knew a coat of white paint and a little distressing would really bring out her curvy details!

AFTER! This hutch is lighter, brighter and full of chippy charm!

Before & After!

 

Autumn At My House 2014

Here's a look at how I decorate for autumn in my own house! I hope you are inspired! Enjoy!

The space above my computer printer cabinet is all prettied up for fall! I found an old drawer and painted it white, then used it like a shelf to hold pumpkins, apples and my homemade chalkboard.

This cabinet was a $5 find at our church fundraiser sale. It was brown and dirty, but a few appliques, a coat of paint and a couple of pendant pulls transformed it! I simply added a small bunch of autumn leaves to my sewing drawers to "autumn-up" this space.

Old thrift store bottles and jars make great "potions". A few dollar store cobwebs (and raven) and some mini apples make my candlesticks and vintage tea set look a whole lot spookier!

This vintage suitcase was another thrift store find. Only $3!!! It looks great all dressed up for fall atop my cabinet.

Here's a close up of this paper pumpkin made from the pages of an old song book.

This hutch was a $30 Craigslist find! I removed the doors (and by "I" I mean Hubby removed the doors). Then I painted it white and distressed it. It makes a beautiful TV hutch! A sprinkle of fall leaves and a pinecone and pumpkin add the
autumn look.

This was another thrift store find. This bookshelf was painted in green camouflage. A coat of simple white transformed it into the perfect backdrop for my lanterns and other knick knacks. A few pumpkins, gourds, pinecones and apples jazz it up for fall.

The "Love Grows" sign was hand-painted by me. The wood was from the barn on my dad's farm. On the back, I've written the names of our family members and will pass it on to my children. Some red and a white pumpkin add a touch of autumn here.

Our staircase paneling is beautiful, but so dark! I lightened it up with my handmade Fruit of the Spirit sign and a rag garland, dressed up for fall with some apples and twigs.

Our cat, Pudge, stalks birds from the window above this handmade "Nevermore" sign.

This shelf makes a great display area on my porch! Two-tone baskets, fall leaves and an apple garland add texture and color for fall!



Summer still lingers here with my pink impatiens.

Vanity Makeover (and a fall rag garland)

I found this amazing antique vanity at a thrift store. The price was great. And then I found out they were having a furniture sale... everything HALF OFF! I picked it up and tried to walk it right up to the cash register myself. About three feet into this endeavor, my purse slipping off my shoulder and customers staring at me like I was insane... I decided to accept a man's offer to take it to the back door for me. But I watched him. CLOSELY.

It was already a visually interesting piece, but I knew I could coax out all the details with a few layers of white paint, so I got to work. Originally, I wanted to pain the inside drawers with a pop of blue or maybe red, but I decided not to last-minute. I left them natural wood.

It turned out GORGEOUS. It even came with an awesomely huge mirror. I wanted to keep it for myself, but alas--we junk-junkies already have antiques coming out of our ears and can't keep every huge piece of vintage furniture we find. So, I sold it. Sadly.

And, of course, I only thought to take photos of it at a sale out in the sun covered in junk, so you're not really getting the full effect, but trust me. It was beautiful. Sigh.

 





















Side note: I have been very into rag garlands lately and decided to make one that is fall-themed. Be inspired!

Time Flies When You're Faux-ing Clocks!

I have always been fascinated with clocks. There is something sort of mysterious about trying to measure time, and clocks themselves are just amazing... the tiny pieces all working together, the timeworn faces, the metal and glass and gears. Clocks are beautiful!*

*Unless they are plastic and some kind of funky color like turquoise or mauve and have faux embroidered birds printed on them. Then they're just ugly. But don't these clocks deserve to be beautiful, too? I think YES!

Step 1: Find Ugly Clocks & Tear Apart
So, I found two aesthetically-challenged clocks at the thrift store and vowed to make them look GOOD. I began by disassembling these lovely ladies. I thought it would involve a screwdriver. It did. But not in the way I imagined. You see there were no screws holding this clock together... just plastic tabs. So, I used my flathead screwdriver to pop the plastic tabs out of their sockets and thus was able to remove the clock faces. Next, I pulled off the clock hands, careful not to break them as they were made of the finest plastic!

Step 2: Spray Paint
After that, I spray-painted the outside black. In hindsight, I probably could have left well enough alone. After all, black is classy! But I thought, "Ooooh, wouldn't an old rusty clock be SO cool?" So, I decided to faux-rust these babies. It was a long process, and didn't turn out as completely awesome as I'd hoped, but I still like it okay, and from a distance it kinda, sorta looks rusty, right?
 
Step 3: Rustify!
To rust-up my clocks, I sponged on a layer of brown acrylic, then another layer, only this time I used the sponge brush to pull at the paint and create a kind of rust-like texture. When they were dry, I used a combination of colors and brushes (see photo) to create more rust "texture" with orange-browns, coppers, and a hint of blue and white. If you tackle a similar project and love the idea of rust, I say go for it! You can always spray paint it black again if it doesn't look right.

 
Step 4: Facetime
Next, I needed some new faces for my clocks. Nothing says vintage like Roman numerals! I found a coolio clock face online and used Photoshop to make it the size I wanted (measuring the plastic clock face covers as my template). You could potentially do this in other programs, probably even Word. We don't have a color printer, and I didn't really want to go with black and white for my faces, so I decided to use some old scrapbook paper as a background for my clock faces. I think they look adorable!

Step 5: In Which I Glue Fake Paper Hands Onto My Clock
Now it was assembly time! I glued the clock faces over the old ones, then put the little hands back on. Of course, one set of hands were way too modern and ugly, so I glued some faux ends to my clock hands (yes, they're made of paper, what of it?).

I reassembled my clocks and am pretty happy with the results! They are much improved and for three bucks (total for both!) I'm feeling like this makeover was totally worth the... time. :)

Baby Girl Rag Garland

I'm so excited for my cousin Mary's upcoming baby shower. She's having the first girl in her family (she and her brother both have all boys). I decided to throw a baby shower with the theme simply being PINK.

My mind has been brimming with ideas for decorations, gifts and food. I decided to begin with this sweet baby-girl rag garland, which could also double as a gift to hang up in Baby Amelia's room.

I went to a thrift store today, and lucky for me it was our town's "Ridiculous Days" event, so everything in the store was half off. (I also stocked up on onesies, baby socks and shoes!) I bought lace curtains in white, palest pink sheer curtains, and patterned curtains in pink and white... but I really wanted some more pop. I couldn't find anything suitable in a dark pink until I was in the sleepwear section and THERE it was! A flowy pink nightgown with a sheer over-layer. It worked perfectly! The fabric was so light and flowy, but also a nice, darker pink. Perfect for POP!

I cut all my fabric into long strips and proceeded to tie it onto a long rope (sort of slip knot style, more about that HERE) which I had stretched across my bedroom from my armoire to my dressing mirror. I think the result is beautiful! Just right for a baby girl.

I hope you love it as much as I do!

Sofa Table Makeover

I recently got my hands on this cutie-patootie sofa table! A client told me her daughter was on the lookout for just such a table, and when I saw this pretty thing, I just had to pick it up!

Unfortunately, it didn't work for my client's daughter. However, I LOVE the way it turned out. This is another one of those pieces that I would have kept for myself if only I had the space!

Alas, it was not meant to be. I had a LOT of interest in this pretty gal, and she is going home with someone else tonight. <wistful sigh> Ah well... I guess it means I get to fall in love with something new now. :)

 

 

Shabby Breadbox Makeover

Have you ever had an epiphany? One of those ah-ha! moments? That was me a few days ago. I have been thinking long and hard about selling our house. This has led me to evaluate every room, trying to understand my design style and weeding out anything that doesn't go with that style so if/when we move, I won't take a bunch of unwanted junk with us.

I'm transitioning from a traditional style (dark woods & fabrics) to a more vintage/shabby/French Farmhouse style (shades of white and gray, worn & weathered woods). So, in my quest to weed out the uglies, I found myself in the kitchen cleaning out a corner cabinet. When I was finished, the cabinet was organized, and the counter that had once held cleaning supplies, a toaster, a blender, a mixer, a fruit basket, a bread box, and two knife blocks now had one knife block, a bread basket, and cleaning supplies. I felt SO cool.

But then I took another look. Eeek! That breadbasket is a blonde wood. I hate blonde wood. And Eeek! again! That knife block is covered in 18 years of grossness dripping down the sides. What to do? If only they were a shabby, distressed white with some cute little gray graphics on them.

Enter EPIPHANY! I can paint ginormous hutches and dining tables. Why not paint the most basic wood items in my kitchen, too?

So, I did. 

I love, love, love how they turned out. I just did a coat of Zinsser primer (no sanding! yay!). Then a coat of satin country white Walmart brand interior paint. After they were dry, I sanded here and there for a lovely distressed look. Then I found a graphic I wanted for the breadbox. (I just free-handed the graphic on the knife block.) I sized the graphic and printed it, colored on the back with willow charcoal (Walmart art supply section) and then traced it onto the breadbox using a dull pencil. Finally, I filled it in with gray paint and when it was dry, sanded the words for a shabby look.

Now my breadbox and knife block match my style. I guess they can come along to the new house. Unless my style changes again between now and the move. :)