It's All About The Right Lighting!

   You might think this post is going to be about photography, but you would be wrong! I make no bones about it-I am NOT a photographer. Maybe someday, but right now I am more concerned with having an awesome booth :) Part of that awesomeness is having super cute light fixtures. I sold most of mine over the last couple of weeks so I was on the lookout for some replacements. Thank you Salvation Army Thrift Store, Habitat Restore, and Goodwill for having a great variety for me to choose from! I love nothing more than taking a cast off that no one wanted anymore and making it something anyone would love to have. These are such great heavy fixtures that you just can't find now without spending some big money. Unless of course you are buying them from me! I took four up lamps today and hope to have two hanging fixtures there by Thursday at the latest. Come on up and have a look if you get a chance! Here are some updated booth pictures.  Hope you enjoy!

Happy Accident

    I just love it when you have one thing in mind and a happy accident happens to change your plans for the better! That is what happened to me today. I pulled a small dining table out of my downstairs family room that my children have been using as an art table, a nail polishing table, and an all around anything messy table. This is where I made them go when I didn't want the mess on my "good" table. We purchased this table in 1993. It was our very first table when it was just the two of us. It started out life as a butcher block table with white legs. I think we all had one in the 90's. Over the next few years the legs were painted hunter green and then a light country blue. I finally painted the whole thing black about 10 years ago. My plan was to sand the heck out of it, repaint it, wax it, and take it to the booth. The table had other ideas in store. As I sanded the glue, glitter, nail polish, etc. off the top a wonderful thing happened. It began to look like a rustic farm table- probably my favorite style. I quickly wiped it down and got some provincial stain on top. Beautiful! I then moved on to the legs, still planning to sand and repaint. One again, change of plans. The layers of color showing through were awesome. There was a little white, some green, quite a bit of blue, and lots of black. Again, beautiful! After a nice layer of dark wax, voila! FABULOUS!

Love the distressed top!

Look at all those great colors peeking through!

I will take it to the booth tomorrow and pair it with some mismatched chairs I have up there :) Will take a picture of them together to share. See you soon!

A Little Something Different

I thought I would do something a little different today and share some pictures of my master bedroom from a recent photo shoot for my portfolio. I hope you enjoy!  My photography is still very much a work in progress!

The view when you walk in the door

The next view panning left

Continuing around the room

 I love the simplicity of our room. It is very comfortable and easy to live in and not fussy at all! The color pallet is very neutral with a few pops of red. The style is a mash-up of country, cottage, and traditional. I guess that's how you would describe my style philosophy too. Mix things that you love together and voila, fabulous!

Pillows, pillows and more pillows

Gee, can you tell what I have been working on today?!  I love cute little pillows and today I churned out 5 and have plans for more of the same tomorrow. Today I made 3 black with mustard stars pillows and two black check pillows with piping.

So cute and just the right size to put anywhere!



 They go very nicely with the grouping I took to the booth yesterday.  Love the magazine rack! I painted that in cream ASCP. I did the lantern in the same color, but you can't see the cute little candle inside. The awesome old mirror came from my basement. I had used it in my girls' room when they were little. Just love finding great stuff that I forgot I had :) Those pillows were made from some curtain valances that used to hang on my widows and now have a new life.

Vignette that went to booth yesterday

I have another table and chairs that are next on the agenda. We have some warm weather coming our way next week so I hope to take full advantage it.  See you soon!

Latest happenings 'round here

     It has been a flurry of activity these past few days! I completed a big project that I am so excited about! I painted an oak pedestal table and paired it with 6 of the cutest little windsor chairs. I am even more excited that it already has a new home waiting for it.



So cute!

 I absolutely love this table :) The two black chairs were found at the local Habitat restore and were in need of a facelift. The other four are solid maple Ethan Allen chairs found on Craig's list, and all they needed was a nice polishing. The table was also a Craig's list find. I normally wouldn't paint a solid oak table, but it was in need of a complete makeover and I LOVE the finished product!

Another view
(look at my silly cat in the background)

I also finshed a magazine holder, lantern, a great old mirror, and some pillows. More pics tomorrow! Stop in and check them out if you get a chance!

Why I am always in need of a manicure!

     I have several projects currently in process and will have pics hopefully in the next couple of days :) I spent the day today painting and working on a couple of sewing projects. It was quite mild and I was able to throw open the garage door, roll up my sleeves, and get to work!
      I took a break to go and visit my cousin's grandaughter. That was the most beautiful little baby! It made me nostalgic for the time when I had little babies. Sigh....... what a fleeting time in our lives. I remember at the time thinking that they would never sleep through the night, that I would never be able to take more than a ten minute shower, or that I would ever have any time to myself.  Oh how things have changed. My 15 and 13 yr old daughters are certain that they don't need my help, they would sleep until noon if I would let them, and I find myself with way too much free time where they are concerned. Thank goodness I have a 7 yr old son who tells me that I am his best friend, loves to curl up with me on the couch, and still needs me(atleast to fix his meals).  :) There was a point in sharing all that. The point being that I found myself needing something in my life. Something that wasn't about being a mom. Something that was just for me. Enter furniture refubishing. I never knew how much I would love it. The whole process, from the hunt for the treasure, to looking for its hidden potential, and finally making it Fabulous!
     Stop by my booth if you get a chance and see what I've been working on. Then you'll know why I am always in need of a manicure!

Picnic basket, game board, and vase that went to the booth Saturday

 

Keeping it all in perspective :)

     There were about 50 different projects that I wanted to do today. 49 of them needed to be done in my shop(aka my husband's former mancave, aka our garage). It was cold in Kansas today. My shop is not heated. 49 of my projects didn't get done. I am ready for warm weather! While a lot of cleaning and laundry got done around my house today, and two really cute chairs did get waxed, I still found myself fretting over all that could have been done in my shop! What I need is a little reality check. We really haven't even had a winter this year. Less than an inch of snow and mild temperatures so far. Not the case last year......

View from my deck

View from my front porch

Snow on my front porch!

Ok. I have nothing to complain about. I am going to set back and enjoy my clean house and hope for warmer weather this weekend. See ya soon!    

Booth shots

I thought I would share some photos of my booth space today. My space is in Antiques on the Prairie in beautiful Baldwin City, KS.  If you are in the area you should stop in and check it out!


Cute stuff, huh? Maybe I am a little biased



Crazy Kansas Weather

    It is an incredibly mild winter in Kansas this year. I for one am not disappointed :) I am not a big fan of snow and cold so I have been in hog heaven! I have been busy in the garage (aka workshop) sanding away today. I will hopefully be painting tomorrow if the weather holds.
    I am so excited for my friend Sarah in North Carolina. We used to share a booth space before she moved, and tomorrow she is making her debut in her new space there. She has a great eye for picking the right pieces and is super talented at refurbing too. Sarah shared pictures with me today of her booth and it looks awesome! Her blog is OutCreatingDesigns.com. Check it out :)
    I thought I would share a couple of before and after pictures before I go. Hope you enjoy!



cute little windsor chair from local Habitat store



finished product in my booth space

     Black paint, some distressing, and some paste wax and voila!  Fabulous!  Talk to you soon :)

Pictures at last!

 This is the before picture of a cane arm chair that I purchased from a thrift store. I was able to get a set of four which was so awesome! They were not pretty, but I saw great potential :)

Here is the after picture....was I right or what?  So cute!  All they needed was a fresh coat of paint, some distressing, waxing, and some beautiful new upholstery.  I did two in a soft french blue and two in an antique white.  I made them "his and hers" by using coordinating fabrics, one floral and one stripe.

Here is the blue set

                                                                

...and the antique white set

                                                         
Sorry the last picture is a little dark.  Will work on that :)  Off to the garage I go. Another project awaits!

Working through a few projects

Well I still am not up and running with pictures, but I am full speed ahead working on a few pieces.  I just completed four fabulous winsor chairs. They are black, distressed, and beautiful! I also finished a great end table in Annie Sloan Chalk paint in Old White. I distressed it and waxed it and it is to die for! I have started sanding a really cool oak pedestal table. I am not sure which direction I am headed on this one yet :)  I also have a bench, two ladder back chairs, a china cabinent, and a humpback trunk to get finished. Pictures will be coming soon I promise!!

Here goes nothing!

I am not sure how to go about the process of blogging. Oh sure I get the basics: type, post, wait for followers and comments.... I just don't know if I am ready to take the leap into Blogworld. Oh well, I am not getting any younger so here I go!
I have a booth in our local antique store and will be sharing pictures of different pieces that I am currently working on. I hope to inspire other aspiring decorating enthusiasts to get their hands dirty and turn something ugly into something fabulous. It feels so great to find a diamond in the rough and really make it shine :)  I am not a savvy photographer so bear with me while I figure out the right lighting and angles to use. I will have pictures up and running hopefully by tomorrow. I will definitely have to hit up hubby or one of the kiddos to help me get them started.
Ok, I did it! I made my first official post! Woo Hoo! I am so excited!