Living Room Re-Do Custom Order

I'm tired and hungry so this is going to be a quick and dirty update.  We delivered a batch of our custom furniture back to it's home tonight and I can't wait to show it off!  The pieces were unrecognizable (in a good way!) to the owners which is always exciting to hear.

First up: Lamps & Mirror, Before & After

The clients currently owned these these pieces and liked them, but they needed an updated look to complement their recently re-painted and re-decorated living room.  So we painted them silver.

These pieces now have an updated look that is sleek and works great in their newly decorated space!

Next Up: Accent Table, Before & After

This cute little table was originally in the client's living room, but like the lamps and mirror it didn't go with the room's new look.  It's a great, sturdy little accent table so we picked a contrasting, accent color that would work in the space and provide a fun pop of color.  The new color gave this table a whole new look and helped showcase the detail in the legs that got lost in the faux-wood finish that was on the table previously.

Lastly:  Sideboard, Before & After

I can't take credit for this piece, it was all Terry, but this piece came to life as we refinished it and it was a pleasure to witness.  With the new wall color, the original, natural finish of the piece got washed out and the piece tended to blend into the space.  And this piece deserves to stand out and be noticed!  In it's new espresso finish this sideboard now contrasts wonderfully and commands your attention the minute you walk into the room.  It's gorgeous!  The gloss poly finish allows the piece to take on a more modern appearance that is absolutely perfect for the space.  All of these details were based off the existing pieces in the room.  The armchairs in the living room have espresso stained arms with a high-gloss finish, the sideboard was refinished to tie in with that detail.    

The best part about all of these pieces is that they already belonged to the clients.  Since we re-purposed them, these pieces are once again loved.  When we dropped them off tonight, the client told me that she had planned to get rid of almost all of them because they didn't work in the space anymore and she had nowhere else for them to go.  And then she met us and we gave them a new life!  That's the most awesome part of refinishing someone else's pieces.  Not only do these pieces have a home to go back to, but we (hopefully) make someone happy with their own furniture again! 

And we must not have done too bad a job, because after tonight we're painting two more mirrors for this client.  We love repeat business! 

"There's More Pizza Left Besides What's in My Mouth."

Yup, just another Sunday night in our house.  We I had a long day of gardening, so it's a pizza and sofa kind of night.

How cute is this little guy??

  

I picked him up today while plant shopping with the bestie.  Let's just take a moment to reflect that said bestie and I used to spend hours wandering the mall shopping for boys and fake nose rings (don't lie Kara, we totally did), and now we spend hours shopping for plants and updating one another obsessively about the grass seed we recently put down.  Talk about an evolving friendship.

I digress.  Suffice it to say - we did some damage today.

For the record, only one of those are mine. 

PLANTS!  Seriously, I have a problem.  We have a problem.  I'm pretty sure this isn't how normal people shop for plants.  

What was only supposed to take an hour, two tops, took all day.  But it's not like I could get a lot of work done on furniture anyway.  Instead of my dogs ate my homework, my dogs wouldn't get off my drop-cloth.

Tail wags!   

We said goodbye to some furniture friends this weekend too.

On Friday, this handsome fellow went to his new home.

And today these guys were scooped up!

We had two more custom orders come in too so today will be the last day I get to spend in my garden for a while.   It's probably for the best, I'm running out of room and I'm sore.  But my butt's never looked better!

Sunflower Babies & Custom Orders

Here they come - my sunflower babies!  These guys literally came up over night about a week ago and I'm so excited for them.  I love sunflowers; they're such a great Summer to Fall flower and it's scientifically proven (no it's not) that you can't be sad around sunflowers.  I put some seeds down in our side yard as well; grow babies grow!

Tonight, Jackson went to his new home:

Similar to what happened with the Woodie table, the client wants to use the table as nightstands.  She asked the magic question: if I had another table similar in style that would work as a nightstand with Jackson.  Remember a couple weeks ago when I snuck one of my little tables upstairs for us to use in the living room?  Well, it's identical to this little guy so we're going to give him the same treatment we gave Jackson.  Voila - nightstands! 

And alas, I'm once again in need of a little table of my own.

You see, when I bring tables home it's very rare there's ever a matching pair.  If I see two of something that I like, I try to snag them because having a pair of anything in our house is a rare treat.  With that said, we sometimes have two of the same type of table.  Not exactly the same, and certainly not a set, but that's ok.  Two tables of similar styles still work great together.  They complement each other without being matchy-matchy.  When pieced together, furniture becomes more fun and natural, at least in my mind.  

Speaking of matchy-matchy, I have a set of twins in our studio right now that I've had for far too long that I've done nothing with.

Those are my Dixie Nightstands, and I'm embarrassed to say they've been sitting there since January.  Not because I don't love them - I adore them!  But because other furniture continues to get placed in front of them.  These are some big nightstands coming in at 30" wide, 30" tall and 17" long.  But they're gorgeous, and check out the storage!  These guys would go for $160 for the pair and this would be a great set to customize.  They would have to be painted, so imagine the possibilities!

We also received another custom order from another client who reads my blog.  She's interested in this lady:

After seeing what I'd done to this table last night, she asked if I'd be willing to stain it to her specifications.  I'm happy to do it!  I knew I wasn't happy with that table the way it was.  My instinct was right, and it's paid off.  Lesson learned, go with your gut the first time so you don't have to undo only to redo.  

That should be on a t-shirt, or a motivational coffee mug.

I Had The Time Of My Life Fighting Dragons With You

This table has been bugging me.

I was dragging my feet on waxing her, and I knew there was a reason why.  It's because I'm not content with her.  Don't get me wrong, she's a great little table.  But I'm not pleased with her end result; it doesn't wow me.  When I initially started working on her, I planned to leave her top unpainted.  For whatever reason, I didn't go with my gut.  And now I've broken my golden rule of re-doing a completed project.  But I can totally get away on a technicality because one could argue since she wasn't waxed she wasn't complete.  

So tonight I stripped her top.

Stripper applied and working it's stripper magic.
 

Scraping it off - I hate this part because it's super messy.  Also, I'm thinking about considering a career as a hand model.
 

Finally stripped, and wiped down with mineral spirits.  I like the wood as it is now, but I don't like it with the paint color I chose.  So do I re-stain the wood top, or do I re-paint the rest of the table to have it complement the wood finish as is?  

This is why I shouldn't mess with completed projects.  Once I do it's like falling down the rabbit hole.  I have a couple days to think about it because this lady needs to dry out before I can do anything else with her. 

On another note today was a rough day at work.  It was my assistant's last day with us before leaving to go to grad school.  So we sobbed like we'd never see her again and watching her pack up her little desk was bittersweet.  You see, this girl was more than just my assistant.  She was a ray of sunshine and snark all rolled into one.  She was my furniture cheerleader, and she loved my boys.  When she started we both took a chance on each other, and it worked blissfully well for over two years.  Through that time we saw each other at our worst and kept coming back.

She gave me a very sweet gift today, which I won't share here because it's chock full of expletives but it made me cry.  And in her card to me she said kind things about how I was an inspiration to her and that this wasn't goodbye, it was see you soon.  But then she ended with "See you soon... very soon."  And that sounded kinda like a creepy threat so I stopped crying. 

So to my Swappy Joe: I know for the past week people have been telling you all the things that you shouldn't do while you're at grad school so I'm going to give you a list of things that you should do:

• Rock Philly like any good Redskins fan would (we won't talk about baseball...)
• Find the library and GO TO STUDENT ORIENTATION 
• Continue to smile and laugh, no matter who tells you to be quiet
• Wear your retainer (oh wait... it's permanent)
• Get a better case for your phone
• Remember if you ever go to the Starbucks at the Somerset rest-stop on the PA Turnpike, they don't fill your drink all the way to the top
•  Listen to Taylor Swift - she will teach you life lessons
• Find the Roti closes to your new apartment, and then walk to the one that's the farthest away
• And most importantly always and forever: be great, do you, and keep it moving     

It's not goodbye, it's see you soon.  

And I'm sorry I messed with your computer screen that one time.

Farm Chair

This cutie patootie went to her new forever home tonight:

This provided me the perfect excuse to pull out my salvaged farm chair, and do a better job showcasing it.  It hasn't gotten the attention it deserves!

Technically I salvaged it from a cottage, so maybe it's a salvaged cottage chair?  This chair, just like the little table above, was such a fun piece to work on.  Due the raw, rustic nature of the wood there is no "perfect" finish which helps take the pressure off.  This chair has history and a story to tell.  All I've done to it is allow it to tell it's story. 

I mean, how awesome is that?!

A huge thank you to our mailman who patiently waited for me to finish taking this picture before delivering our mail!  I promise I'm not weird.  Well, not that weird.   

The Trend Continues

Hey girl - nice pants!

http://imnotobsessed.com/2013/08/16/britney-spears-cool-casual-dance-practice/

Alright y'all brace yourselves, but I love me some Britney Jean Spears, and this just solidified it.  For the record, if she wants to rock some crusty, paint splattered Uggs she totally can because I'm pretty sure at some point she already has.

I loved this girl with a shaved head, a snake, questionable lifestyle choices (more than once), questionable fashion choices (matching denim outfits with Justin), and questionable mental health.  This is my GIRL.  And I will love her in paint splattered sweats.  

Thanks Brit, you're making me cool.     

Vogue

Y'all.  Omg.  I get ready to log in to blogger to post an update and what greets me but this:

"Stars don same paint splattered look"

The one on the right is actually kinda cute, but that's not the point.

 

Are you kidding me?! 

Clearly the 4 pairs of yoga pants I own that look like this were the inspiration.

I knew people thought I looked cool when I wore them to the grocery store.  Now, if water-stained, paint-splattered Uggs with holes in them start being trendy, somebody is getting sued.  

Karl Lagerfeld - call me!  Let's get Chanel the exclusive on these NOW! 

So remember the stain samples I put together the other night that resulted in me looking like a dalmatian?  Well, SOMEBODY (it was totally Terry) moved the sample cans before I had a chance to write down which stain went with which sample board, so we had to create a new one.  Luckily, Kenny was there to advise and oversee the process.

See how neat and organized it looks?  Yea.  Mine looked like that too.

Here's the finished product.  Traditional Cherry is the stain of choice, which is the 5th sample in on the board.

So for the better part of the week people have asked me what's wrong with my feet, and it was all for nothing.  I'm looking forward to wearing sandals again.

In more exciting news besides what's wrong with my feet, June went to her new forever home today.  But as one table leaves, another one comes in, and one more is ready to hit the road.  Jackson's been waxed, and is looking for his forever home!

Also, I'm pleased to report that all my hard work in the garden has started to pay off.  

My first bunch of cut hydrangeas from my very own garden; I didn't buy them, or borrow them from someone else's garden.  I'm excited for next spring when I can take advantage of all my new flowers, pending I don't kill them.  I love them; what I don't love is the cricket that came inside with them. 

Accidental Jackson

It's hard to have a bad day when you arrive home to this:

Check out those colors!  No Instagram filters needed for this lady, she's gorgeous all on her own.

So I finally decided I couldn't stand it anymore.  I dragged out one of my tables in progress.  My intent was to sand him down and stick him back in his corner until I could give him the room he needed to be worked on properly.  But when I finished sanding, something happened.

I fell in love - meet Jackson.

I normally don't distress pieces this heavily. 

And truth be told, this was accidental distressing since my initial plan was to give him another coat.

But why mess with a good thing when you look this handsome?  Some of his previous white painted finish is peeking through in spots.  Some of his wood finish is peeking through in others.  But it all highlights his beautiful detail.  And since he's an older piece, he has the natural wear and tear of a well loved piece of furniture.  But he's a sturdy little table that now showcases his age handsomely.  Kind of like George Clooney.  Or Clint Eastwood, like 20 years ago. 

Even Terry gave him the Seal of Approval, and Terry normally doesn't like my distressed pieces because he thinks they look unfinished.  I'll wipe him down real well tonight and wax him tomorrow (the table, not Terry).  For now you can find him listed in the Items for Sale section.

In other news, Frito went for a walk again tonight, this time with just me and Kenny!  We didn't go as far as we went the other night because I was afraid he'd freeze up on me and I'd have to carry him home but we got a good solid 20 minutes in.  All thanks to my little chicken who took a break from world domination long enough to walk with his brother.

    

Fleurs Deuxième Partie

My tangential post about flowers the other day really did have a point.  A point beyond incessant rambling about stuff I'm attempting to grow.  You see, I'm not being a complete sloth while working on custom projects; I was able to complete a project of my own!

I snagged these guys a couple weeks ago.  

My mom had been lamenting the loss of a Lily of the Valley print we didn't buy in one of our weekend thrifting trips.  I'm happy to have passed it up if it meant getting these guys instead.

I'm not sure if they qualify as vintage seed art since they don't look like the typical seed art that I've come across in the past in antique stores, but they say Burpee.  

They're happy little vintage prints that are matted and framed and ready to hang!  The frames have been painted and distressed.  I could have tried to incorporate a color into the frames to pick up one of the colors in the prints but I didn't want to take anything away from the pictures themselves.

I guess if my gardening skills aren't up to snuff I can always have my pictures of flowers.  But in the meantime, these guys are listed in the Items For Sale section.

Now if you'll excuse me, I just noticed that my toes are covered in a stain splotches from the stain samples I was working on.  Such is the hazard of staining in flip flops.  I look like a Dalmatian of the Red Oak, American Chestnut, Cherry variety.  This is why I'm reluctant to get pedicures - time for a shower!