Long Time No See!!!

Whew! Sorry about my absence! Between a wicked cold and the Thanksgiving holiday I have been completely out of blog mode :( I have been busy cranking out projects though and have some fun things to share with you! Today I am going to show you a wash stand that I got from Craig's list a few weeks ago.  It was in pretty good shape overall and had some amazing detail, but it was just missing some fabulousness :)  Here is the before picture.

Very nice and sturdy, but the wood finish was not in great shape. I opted to paint rather than refinish :)

Look at that amazing detail work! I love it! Can you believe that something so cute was once used to store a chamber pot when not in use?! Well I guess maybe they were thinking that by making it pretty it helped disguise what its real purpose was......enough of that! I can assure you it is a lovely piece and no one would even think about using it for that now :)

I sanded and painted and distressed and waxed it to perfection!  I chose ASCP in provence for a beautiful antique french look. It just seemed like the thing to do.

The hardware was already off in the before picture, but it is original and it is beautiful!

I didn't have to do anything other than give it a good scrubbing. I clearly should have gotten a closer picture but you get the idea.

Love how the color made the detail work stand out!

Look  how amazing this color looks next to the orange pumpkins! So very pretty!!!  This great little piece has gone to Market Antiques in Ottawa to wait to be adopted :)

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I love the Holiday season and am so looking forward to Christmas and all the festivities coming in the next month!  See you soon!   ~Christy

Super Cute Upholstered Chairs!

I recently finished a pair of upholstered chairs that I love!! One I picked up at the Goodwill store and the other I found next to the dumpster at our local storage facility. I got before pics of both chairs this time! I have been bad about that lately :) Let us just say they were in need of major TLC! This is what I started with.

Goodwill chair

Trash chair

See how similar they are?! I knew that I had to pair them up.  Here is what was under the slipcover on the Goodwill chair. I couldn't wait to get that gaudy fabric and fringe off!!

Look at those lovely arms! So pretty!  The trash chair was even more amazing!! Beautiful arms and CLAW FEET!!! Who throws something like that away?! Don't get me wrong, I am glad they did. I just don't understand how!

First order of business was to strip the old upholstery. No huge surprises were waiting so that was good. Next everything was sanded and painted in ASCP Paris Gray. Such a lovely soft color :) Then came the fun part.....fabric!  I chose floral fabric with grays, yellows, and creams. So lovely, so feminine, so fabulous.

After of the Goodwill chair

I chose a companion fabric for the trash chair. It was the same color family, similar pattern, but not too matchy, matchy.                                                                                                                                

After of the trash chair

Super cute legs!

They have both gone to Antiques on The Prairie in Baldwin City.  Stop in and check them out! They would make some lucky person an awesome Christmas present :)
See you soon!  ~Christy

Happy Novenber 1st!

Whew!! It has been a whirlwind of life happenings around here lately! Some good and some not so good! Good things include an awesome Maple Leaf weekend, some awesome projects completed, some beautiful furniture finds, wonderful fall weather, and a fun Halloween with lots of trick-or-treaters at my door! Not so good is the fact that sometimes I forget that I am over 40 and try to do the things I did in my 20's and even 30's and end up with my back and neck completely out of alignment :( Can I just say that I am not good with limitations! I have promised my husband that I will be more careful and ask for help with moving big pieces around. Did I mention how I don't like being limited?! :)

On to an awesome old stereo cabinet turned bar that would be the perfect Holiday party piece for someones home! Here is how it started out.....

 I have such fond memories of the stereo cabinet my Aunt Pat and Uncle Bob had when I was a child. It was so amazing to me that you could start the record upstairs and then run down to the basement family room and hear it! I bet we played the soundtrack to Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs 100s of times over the years :)  The overall cabinet was in great shape and had such a pretty look to it. The radio worked fine, but the turntable was not operational any longer. I was a little torn over leaving it intact, but decided it needed a new life.

I removed all the inner workings and the fabric that was on the sides and front covering the speakers.

Then it was time for sanding and paint. I thought that a nice black distressed finish would be beautiful with the chrome bar accents that I found.  It was lightly distressed and waxed and the existing hardware was sprayed in metallic silver.

I built a custom sized wine rack for the bottom area on one side and hung a wine glass rack on the other side.

In the area where the turntable was I cut a hole for an ice bucket, and the area where albums would have been stored makes a perfect place for liquor bottles.

I think it turned out fabulous! I love the fact that something like this old cabinet that was once the piece of honor for a family can once again have that title as the star of parties as well as quiet evenings around home :)

Hope you all have a wonderful day!  See you soon!   ~Christy