*BREAKING NEWS*

My sweet baby boy Frito went for a walk tonight.

While that may not be BREAKING NEWS for most pups, anyone who knows Frito and his story knows what a big step this is for him. 

When we adopted Frito he was labeled Special Needs and we knew he wasn't your typical dog.  We'll never know what happened to him to make him as fearful as he is, but we were told that Frito would never be the dog to greet us at the door when we come home.

We've had lowered expectations for Frito since day one.  When we first brought him home, it took him a full three days to leave his crate.  He only ate when I sat on the floor and fed him pulled pork, careful not to look at him while doing so.  At the time we lived in an apartment, so walks were a necessity since we didn't have a yard.  Frito HATED walks.  He would freeze in sheer terror right outside the front door, and when he did walk he pulled with the fierce determination of returning home as quickly as possible.  He was afraid of everything:  parked cars, trash cans, even the wind if it was too gusty.  Suffice it to say we both hated walks.  

Last summer we started working on the house we currently live in.  We'd come over on the weekends and paint, clean, hang doors, etc.  These made for long days so Frito came with us.  He didn't do much but hang out in the linen closet, but our house very quickly turned into Frito's house.  On the weekend's he knew where we were going.  He could tell the minute we turned into the neighborhood.  This was great for transition when we finally moved in; he was familiar with the house and knew he was supposed to be here.  

Since moving into the house meant we had a yard, Frito's walks became less frequent.  He was more than happy to observe the outside from our big picture window without actually having to partake in being outside.

Cut to last December when we brought Kenny home.  

We knew we wanted a friend for Frito to help ease some of Frito's fears the way only dogs can, and Kenny was the perfect dog.  Frito and Kenny hit it off immediately and Frito loves having a brother.  It takes the pressure and attention off him, and helped him feel more secure.

I envisioned long walks with my two dogs, walks that would wear wall of us out.  It didn't happen.  Kenny walked happily.  Frito didn't.  He still hated it, and I didn't want to force him.  So I walk Kenny, and Frito stays behind.  I hate doing that so after I get home from walking Kenny, I take Frito for what we call a "Baby Frito Walk".  He gets very excited when I put his leash on, and he charges out the front door, and then he freezes and gets the terrified look in his eyes that breaks my heart.  We don't make it past the sidewalk.  So we turn around and go back inside, and we all clap for Frito for going on his walk which makes him all wiggles and wags.  

Tonight,  Terry suggested all four of us go on a walk.  I figured we wouldn't make it to the end of the block, and at least with Terry along he could carry Frito while I walked Kenny.

Frito walked the whole time.  A full 30 minutes through the neighborhood.  He paused once when we rounded a corner, but you could literally see him work through his fear and subsequently over come it. 

I don't expect it to happen again tomorrow, or even ever again and that's ok.  Because tonight, Frito went for a walk.

Fleurs

The other night I took the dictator for a walk and felt guilty.  Truth be told, I've been feeling guilty a lot lately.  I feel like I've been neglecting my furniture.  We're working on some custom projects for customers, and as a result I've had to tuck my own pieces away to allow us enough room to work.  And while progress is being made on the custom work, it's not necessarily something we can plow through in a couple days time especially given that completion of a couple of the pieces is somewhat dependent on the weather.  So I've inadvertently been left with some free time.  

Free time that I feel guilty enjoying.  

Maybe I burned myself out by trying to complete as many pieces as possible on my week off.  The nice part of my week off was that I was able to work on my pieces during the day, and spend time with Terry and the boys in the evening.  But now I'm back at work and it's back to our far more normal routine of me coming home and retreating to my hole in the basement.  To avoid further furniture burn-out, I'm trying to stick to the custom pieces we're working on.  It's hard to do that when you've got a basement full of unfinished furniture, which is why I feel guilty when I take my dog for a walk. 

So far this post isn't about flowers at all. 

But that's the other thing I've been doing with some of my free time.  My weekends are normally devoted to my furniture in some capacity, but spending my week off working on furniture allowed me to justify working in my yard on the weekend.  I feel like I've missed out on Summer and couldn't believe nurseries were already having their End of Season sales, so my itch to garden came at just the right time.  

I like my plants like I like my furniture: broken, pitiful looking, and most importantly half-price.

So in addition to walking my dog, I've been planting flowers.  I'm not much for Annuals because I know my limitations and I just now pulled up the dead mums in one of my beds from LAST fall.  So yeah, I'm going to stay away from Annuals.  

Except for mums because they're pretty and they make me think of fall and they look nice with pumpkins.  This year they're going in pots which I can easily move when I neglect them so I won't have to look at dead mums for a year.

Any and all plants of mine pretty much need to fend for themselves.  Oh, I'll water them.  And I'll give them some Miracle-Gro (which makes me feel like I'm cheating) and I'll prune them if they need it (none of them need it in their current state because I'm pretty sure they're clinging to life as is), but that's it.  I'm not testing ph levels, or composting fresh soil additives.  I'm lucky I get around to mulching twice a year.  

So yea, I planted some plants.  18 to be exact.

Of the 18, three of them are planted in planters.  Which means I dug 15 holes.  Which means we are never moving from this house, ever.  

With the abundance of sun we get in our backyard, it would be wrong to not take advantage of it.  All of my new plants are flowering perennials.  Four different types of Hydrangea, three different types of Lavender, Peonies, Campanula, Salvia, and Hibiscus.  And unlike rehabbing furniture, rehabbing plants is fun for the whole family! 

  

Frito totally thinks I should have gone for the Hidcote Lavender instead of the English Lavender.  And if I really want to stretch it, I could make the argument that fresh cut flowers look lovely as part of my furniture display, so planting all this wonderful flowers is technically a business investment.  

Now all they have to do is...

   

 

"You do have a blog, you know."

Yes mom, I know I have a blog.  But I've been hard at work getting some new pieces ready to share, otherwise this post would have been nothing but gratuitous pictures from my work trip to Las Vegas.  There are only so many pictures people want to see of me pointing at signs: Fried Twinkie signs, Tiffany & Co. signs (that one never gets old), Celine Dion concert signs, you get the picture.  But one quick picture that doesn't include me pointing:  

I was able to take a quick walk to the Bellagio to check out their flowers and this is what I found.  The entire lobby was covered in hydrangeas!  LOVE.
 

If you recall, when I left we'd just wrapped up our marathon furniture week.  I'd left the basement with several big holes where several big pieces once lived.  Luckily for me, those holes filled up pretty quickly in my absence; I came home to half-a-dozen little tables, and a vintage wardrobe! 

All are gorgeous, and I even managed to sneak one table upstairs since we were in need of a little table for the corner of our living room.  Terry always tells me I can't smoke my own supply (for lack of a better term) because he knows I get attached to all my pieces.  But since I didn't paint the table - all I did was dust it off and shine it up with some Old English - technically it's not my supply. 

But enough about tables I'm not showcasing, let's get on to the good stuff!  First up, this sweet little girl:

Meet Mabel - isn't she adorable!

 

She's been distressed, and would look pretty snazzy hanging out with my Farm Chair.

Up next we have a piece that I adore: 

That's Nana's Lamp Table.  Don't worry, Nana is still with us, she's just moved to Florida and no longer needs her Lamp Table.  So we updated him with a Navy Blue finish and wow, I'm in love.  

I love it when things work!  Here's a close-up to get a better idea of the color:

He's so simple and cohesive, which I love.  Speaking of simple and cohesive, here's one more little lady that I wrapped up this week.

This is the Lauren Table, and she came to us all the way from New Jersey.  She's not quite grey, and not quite blue, but somewhere in between.  I love her curves and wanted to keep her finish simple to not distract from her shape.  She's gorgeous as a soft, subtle accent piece that will easily complement any space.

I have two other guys that I hope to wrap up this weekend.  All of the above pieces are listed over in the Items for Sale section. 

And lastly - a huge thank you to all those that helped fill the gaps in our basement while I was gone!  To my dear bestie who transported Lauren and Nana's Lamp Table from New Jersey: thank you for serving as my off-site storage facility while I was across the country.  And thank you even more to her husband who didn't like the Lauren Table which is how I ended up with her!  I couldn't keep doing what I'm doing without your support and willingness to slam on the breaks to snag furniture from the side of the road.  Thank you.  

More pieces to come, stay tuned! 

Marathon Furniture Week

Greetings!  Today wraps up the end of our marathon furniture week, and I couldn't be happier with how everything wrapped up.  On to the pictures!

Friday we delivered a 5 chairs, including the Chippy Chairs and the Clairidge Chair.  Unfortunately it was a rainy day so I couldn't take a picture outside like I'd hoped, but I'm hoping I can get a picture of the chairs in their new home soon!

Saturday I only emerged from my studio (remember, it's no longer a basement!) long enough to snag these guys at an estate sale.

I love that trunk and can't wait to get my hands on it. I'm going to leave the outside as is, but inside is where we'll get to work.  It would make a great coffee table or a foyer bench (I have one in my own foyer) and who doesn't love a piece with storage.  I couldn't resist the iron piece, I think it would look so cute in a garden, or even hanging on a wall (with an anchor of course, that sucker is HEAVY).

Sunday we delivered the custom buffet we'd been working on.  This is what she looked like before:

And this is what she looks like now:

There she is in the space and this is a great example of how a painted piece can tie a room together.  It's the perfect compliment to the wood grain in the other pieces and aids in showcasing them so all the wood doesn't get lost in each other.  I'm so thrilled with how she turned out.  And I'm even happier about the extra space I have in my basement studio now that she's gone!

The same client who purchased the buffet asked if we had enough room in the truck to bring this little guy along too:

That's our antique mirrored shelf and he looks great in her bathroom! 

On Tuesday these two guys were picked up:

That's the Woodie table, and we found a friend we painted to match.  This is a great example of how two pieces of furniture can have the same basic structure (being that they're both pedestal tables) yet look completely different and still work together as a pair.  Love these guys and I'm always on the hunt for pedestal tables so hopefully I'll be able to snag some more soon!

Lastly, today we wrapped up the Quincy desk.  Here's what he looked like before:

And here's what he looks like now:

Also, remember this chest I brought home from our Pittsburgh Road Trip?

This is what it looks like now:

Both Quincy and the chest left us tonight, and are on their way to a good home.  I love the colors, I love the metallic glaze we used on the desk trim, and I especially love the sleek, sexy, hardware on both.  I can't wait to see how they look in their new home!

I'm so grateful for how busy we've been this past week and I'm sad to have to take a small break.  I'm headed to Las Vegas for the other full-time job I have, and I have a mountain of laundry to tackle before I leave.  That's the only downside to moving this much furniture in just a couple days - basic household needs like laundry get neglected.  I'm totally preoccupied with meeting deadlines and making each piece the best it can be.  So preoccupied in fact that twice I got in the shower to take a shower, and then forgot to actually take said shower.  But it's all worth it to create pieces that people love!  

Maybe I should keep the momentum going and try my luck in Vegas, see you guys when I get back!  

The Estate Sale I Didn't Go To

Quick update tonight to post some goodies I snagged from an estate sale I didn't even go to!

You see, that's the problem with the 9-5, I miss out on the first day of most estate sales.  And while the man that signs my paychecks is very supportive of my yard sale habit, there's only so far I can push the envelope.  It's one thing to be a few minutes late because I'm rescuing some awesome table legs from a curb-side trash pile, it's another thing entirely to leave for 2 hours to dig through someone's basement.

Luckily I have my mom and Terry's mom who are more than happy to shop for me!  And today, that's just what we did.  This estate sale sent out pictures in advance of some of the good stuff that would be available.  So mom called me and I walked through the estate sale via pictures online, and I was even able to find something that she had over looked!  It's this gorgeous lady:

I am so in love with this mirror.  Also?  It has feet!  I love nothing more than a good set of feet (my day job must be rubbing off on me more than I think)!

 
I try to stay away from the small stuff since it doesn't translate very well online, and only does marginally well at our shows.  But this lovely lady can hang around as long as she'd like, I don't mind enjoying her while I can!

Also picked up from the estate sale I didn't go to are quite possibly two of the cutest pitchers that have ever existed.

I kind of have a thing for pitchers (and china, and chocolate pots, and mirrors...) but I don't have the space to have a thing for anything really.  But I couldn't pass these guys up, even if I didn't see them for the first time until I already owned them.  I mean seriously, who could say no?

The blue guy is a Hall 633 Pitcher, which just makes him extra cool.  Alas, all of these awesome finds are listed in the items for sale section (maybe if I was better about listing my little stuff it would move better than I think!).  Go check 'em out!

This will be the last update for a couple days.  We've got a busy couple days ahead as we wrap up some of our bigger projects, and get them delivered and picked-up.  Tomorrow we're delivering a set of chairs (including the Chippy Chairs!), Sunday we're delivering a buffet, and Wednesday we're saying goodbye to the Quincy desk.  In between all this we have an appointment to check out some additional furniture in need of custom work, and I've got a new table to start and finish for someone by Tuesday.  All of these projects will be wrapped up by Wednesday, just in time for me to head to Vegas for a meeting.  Are you as tired as I am?    

In the midst of all this I came to realize that I'm in need of a little accent table to sit in the corner of our living room.  I wish I knew someone who painted furniture.  Maybe I'll use June until she finds her forever home!

Pictures of all of our completed projects will be posted so check back to see some awesome before/after pictures! 

Au Revior, BJ & Stevie!

Tonight we met a lovely new Furniture Friend (Hi Clare!) who just moved to the area from Ohio.  She came over to check out the BJ Table.

Well she loved BJ and took him to his new forever home, and she snagged this handsome lady as well!

So long BJ and Stevie - you guys be good!  And do you know where she's going to put BJ?  In her bathroom!  How stinking cute is THAT going to be?!  I totally love that idea and now I want to put furniture in my bathroom... 

Anyway, Clare, bless her heart, asked if she could see what I had going on in my basement.  She wanted to know if I had any other pieces.  So she got the grand tour of our work space (someone we met with yesterday referred to it as our "studio", which sounds so much cooler than "basement/laundry room").  Clare got to see first hand some of the custom pieces we're currently working on, and she got to check out not only what I've completed but pieces I haven't started on yet. 

She got to see what we do.

Sure, it's a little uncoventional for both you and me.  You don't know if I'm a serial killer (I promise you, I'm not, I don't have that kind of time).  You're coming to my home; you'll see my dogs and the coffee stains on the counter top left by Terry who is incapable of wiping them up.  But I've had more people in the past two weeks ask where my shop is located and well for now, it's down the stairs, make a right at the laundry room.  If you reach the fish tanks, you've gone too far.

Interested in checking out our studio?  Shoot me an email, let's schedule an appointment!  Don't worry, I won't make you fold laundry while you're down there.

Custom Furniture Friends

First I want to post a quick update on the Beach Chest!  I got a picture of her in her natural habitat, and she looks FANTASTIC.  Check her out!

That's her being used as a coffee table - how great does she look in that space!  She sat unused in a basement for several years, and now she has a new purpose, a new life and is a piece of furniture with meaning to the client.  I love it, and the client does too which makes the piece even better.  What pieces do you have in your basement that you could re-purpose? 

At the show today I was asked by several people about custom work.  I've received lots of requests for that lately which is awesome!  I love working on people's existing pieces because it's a fun challenge trying to take what's ultimately the client's vision and make it come to life.  This is also the very reason why custom work can be absolutely terrifying.

To start, the more input you have on the piece, the better.  This will help ensure we create the piece you're after.  Remember our Furniture Friend Kim who came over to check out the Quincy Desk?  Well she's been back over to check out paint samples, finishes, hardware, etc.  She initially wanted a coral color and based off the paint samples we tried she ultimately decided on a vintage peach color that is stunning.  

The color on the left is the new Quincy!

Once I get the painting complete, we'll look again at hardware and different finishes.  She's involved in the process and this is going to help both of us achieve her vision - even if it changes as we go.  

How we handle custom work is kind of like getting an estimate for work done on your home.  Except I'm working on your dresser not building you a new addition.  It's near impossible to give an estimate without seeing the piece so we'd come meet you and your own Furniture Friend and talk about what you want done.  As some of you know we do traditional restoration and furniture repair along with custom painting.  Once we see the piece and can determine what it needs, we'll then work up an estimate that will include pricing for time and labor, materials, and pick-up/delivery.  We then bring the piece back to our shop to work our magic.  I will send pictures of the progress and am always happy (and encourage) to have the client stop by and tell us what they think.  Remember - that's how the Beach Chest ended up with her turquoise wash, at the suggestion of the client!     

Have some furniture you'd like to update instead of replacing?  Contact me and let's take a look!

On to the show - today's show was a lot of fun, even more fun than last week because this week we actually sold stuff!  Of course, the stuff we sold was small and light-weight, and didn't make me break a sweat when I carried it, but that's ok.  Pictures below!

 Chalkboard tins fabulously arranged by my mom!

The ever popular Dylan Desk complete with gorgeous hydrangeas compliments of Terry's mom!

More hydrangeas in our Chocolate Pot set! 

Terry hangs out with some pretty girly stuff so I've got to let the man have some fun, even if it is demonstrating a tea party by drinking out of our Noritake sugar bowl.

Overall it was a great day, and we met some great people.  We're going to take the next couple weeks off from shows because I'm traveling for work.  But we'll be sure to post when our next show date will be!  I'm sad to report that we won't be back to the White Oak Farmers Market, but we plan on doing the Olney show twice a month.

And Terry just advised that we'd probably move more of our big stuff if we don't wear our sunglasses at the shows.  Ok then.  My apologies if our sunglasses have at any point offended you.