Roadside Goodness

Thank you, thank you, thank you to my good friend Deanne! She called me the other day to let me know there was a house in my neighborhood that had a bunch of junk treasures sitting out by the curb. I was on my way out the door anyway so I was able to go right over.

And this is what I found!

A pile of old frames...with lots of detail. Oh the possibilities!!!

An old piano bench is what I'm guessing this is. I may use if for a cute little side table. One can never have too many of those.

Look at those legs. I wish my legs looked that good!

I have to tell you I'm soooo excited about tomorrow morning. A small town close by is having their annual 4th of July town-wide garage sales. It usually is just on the 4th but this year everyone is starting early and so am I. My friend Guyla and I are coming!!! Watch out!!!!

I hope to have a bunch a great stuff to show you! If I don't get a chance to post again before the holiday...Have a fun, safe 4th of July everyone!!!

To Name or Not to Name?

This table and chairs have to be one of my favorite makeovers thus far. The table is the perfect size for so many places. It can go in a small kitchen, one your front porch or even in the entryway of your home.

When I first got the set everything was painted a bright gloss white...thank you Annie Sloan. I used the chalk paint again and saved myself a ton of time sanding.

I also thought it might be a good idea to paint the chairs a different color. I don't really know why. It just felt right.

One thing I can tell you is that I'm loving going to the fabric store and digging in the remnants bin. I do this for two reasons. One is to save a bit of cash on the fabric and two because whenever I go into a fabric store my heart starts to race and I see stars in my eyes. I get so overwhelmed. So many choices, so many possibilities. I don't want to have a full blown panic attack in the store so I stick to one section...the cheap bin :-)

Anyway, I chose several pieces of fabric so later I could decide what would work best. I liked this one because I thought it felt "good" with the set, kinda shabby, kinda vintage, kinda fun.

I've noticed some furniture bloggers name their pieces. What do you think? Should I start naming my pieces? I think I'd name this one "Jenny". That's my grandma's nickname and this piece reminds me of her. Let me know what you think!

I'll be posting this in my "Items for Sale" section. Check it out and have a great day!

I've linked up to Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Feature Friday...head on over to see what others are doing. You will surely find a ton of ideas!

"Dis, Dhat and the Other Ting"

Funny title I know. You see, my sweet, sweet mother-in-law was a war-bride from Belgium. And even after all her years in the U.S., she never really lost her dutch-inspired accent. So..."This That and the other Thing" (an expression she used often) was always "Dis, Dhat and the other Ting."

She passed away several years ago but left a permanent smile stamped on my heart. And since this post is about several pieces..."Dis, dhat and the other ting," comes to mind.

This lamp was soooo FUN to do! I found it on another one of my road trips; sitting all alone and ugly in the back of this dank, dark store. But I love floor lamps, mostly because they are so versitile. You can move them around from room to room, they don't take up much space and no table is required :-)

For once I have a before pic! Yippee me!!!

Yucky...right? So I chose a red spray paint and got to work. I really like red for a pop of color in a room. Red is one of those colors that goes with most decors. It looks great against blue, yellow, white, green and many more colors.

Can you see the sea serpent? How cool is that?

To finish it off I just bought a lamp shade and hot glued some red ribbon around the bottom. Clean, crisp, bright and done!


This post really has some color in it!

Another reason I believe I've been thinking of my mother-in-law lately is because she loved shelves, chotskies, and pictures of her family all over her walls.

The whole time I was painting this little shelf I kept thinking of how she would have loved this on her wall...probably filled with collectible pigs!

This shelf was the usual boring brown wood. I love, love, love green. And just so happened to have some left over from my side table project so I got to work. For some fun I added scrapbook paper to the back and gave it even more life! I distressed the shelf a bit, added some wax for protection and it's ready for a second life!

And finally, "the other Ting"

A cream colored wall shelf.

I'm quickly learning that cream and white are pretty hard to photograph. It's tough to get a good detail shot. I have a lot to learn but I love to take pics so I'll just keep going :-)

Once again, this was originally brown. I really think by painting it cream helps the scallops along the shelf edges pop. And there are so many possibilities for this shelf. Think of it in your bathroom, girls room, kitchen or bedroom.

This has grown to be a pretty long post. Thanks for taking the time to read it. Have a great day!

All of these pieces will be added to my "Items for Sale" page so check it out if your are interested.

Chevron Coffee Table

WOW! Have I had a hard time getting into the swing of summer. The kids and I have been having a ton of fun but the work sure isn't getting done very fast. I've had several projects in the works for a few weeks, so now that they are complete I'm planning on posting a bit more regularly.

Here's my latest project.

Once again, no before pic. I promise one of these days you'll get a peek at what something looks like before I touch it! I painted this coffee table using the Annie Sloan chalk paint that I LOVE!!! My first thought was to paint it cream and be done. I mean the legs were cute all on their own and those scallops...be still my heart!

But then I started thinking (insert "uh oh"). That top is pretty plain, soooo... I added more to it! I've seen this chevron pattern on several pieces of furniture in blogland and love it. I liked the idea of having the opposing angular and straight pattern on the top of this cute, sweet-sided coffee table. I didn't want it to be overpowering so I painted it using another Annie Sloan paint called Paris Grey, not too dark, not too light. I then distressed the gray on the top letting the cream color show through. I really like the way the distressing turned out.

I must admit that distressing anything is hard for me. I've always liked the sharp clean look of a newly painted piece. But I'm trying to branch out a bit :-)

And then I've also done a bit of distressing on the scallops, legs and corners. As a finishing touch I waxed and buffed the whole piece for protection.

One last side note: I used FrogTape painter's tape for the first time on the chevron pattern. It's kinda pricey but totally worth the cost. And available at most home improvement centers. I bought mine at Noonan True Value Hardware in Springfield, IL (read: small plug for the family business). I've never been a fan of painter's tape. It's never worked for me. It seems like I still always had some seepage under the tape, so it was just easier to do freehand. But this pattern I knew had to be more precise. FrogTape is WONDERFUL and worked like a charm. Not one seep on the whole top.

This coffee table is for sale so take a peek on my ITEMS FOR SALE page. Thanks!

I'll be linking up to Metamorphosis Monday at: Between Naps on the Porch
Check it out. It's a lot of fun to see what others are doing.

I love my friends!!!

So once again a friend has come through for me. My GREAT friend Brenda found some awesome chandeliers hanging out on the side of the road and thought of me!!! I'm so blessed with the people in my life. It's also so amazing how supportive everyone has been with my new adventure.

Don't you just love hanging crystals? The way they shimmer in the sunlight and send rainbows dancing across the room.

I'm not sure what I want to do with them yet but I love pretty hanging things :-)

I've had an interesting week thus far. First, I've had to move my workshop. The house we own next to us...my workshop/girl hangout...was rented out to a great couple for a few months. So my work space is now in our basement/husbands workshop. See, the hubby has always had this room as "his." It's where he stores all of his tools, signs and whatnots. It hadn't been cleaned in at least 10 years but over the last few weeks he's made room for me. He has been a trooper. I did, however, come with a lot of stuff. I think I'm finally all set-up and ready to start working again. Thanks Bussy!

Secondly, yesterday was one of those days you really don't want to repeat. As usual I got up, made my coffee and set out to check my e-mail. My main computer was running a bit slow so I thought I would just restart it. MISTAKE...HUGE MISTAKE!!! The hard drive crashed! Once again...who do I call...my techie BFF Tom. The man is an angel but not a miracle worker. In other words, he couldn't get it to work. The next question everyone keeps asking..."is your stuff backed-up?" and my answer is "NO!" Does anyone really do that? Well, now I know I should have! All of my freelance work is on that hard drive. Every project I've ever done. I'm still trying not to panic!

And lastly, I believe that at least 3 pieces of pottery have been broken in two days as well as my favorite pair of sunglasses. Perhaps I should take the rest of the week off and just chill. Don't touch anything!

Crazy, funny week but we are all healthy and happy. So...on we go!

My first road side pick-up!

So my friend Melanie and I were driving around town the other night and we found this great table sitting on the side of the road. Who would dump this beauty? Some people just can't see the possibilities!!! Lucky me...I can! And I love free furniture. What a great night!

hummmmm....what color shall she be? Stay tuned to find out!