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

Maple Leaf Is Almost Here!!

It is absolutely my favorite time of year and one of my favorite weekends is almost upon us! Maple Leaf Festival happens the third full weekend in October in beautiful downtown Baldwin City. If you have never been you are definitely missing out! If you are a repeat patron you know what I am talking about :) Parade, booths, food, carnival, family fall fun!!!!!!! I love it! The trees are beautiful this year :) It is such a wonderful surprise after the drought we had this summer! In preparation for the thousands of people that will descend upon this quiet little town the crews have been working feverishly to get everything looking picture perfect. We always have a beautiful town, but it really shines now :)
I also had to get my booth in tip top shape. I want to share a couple of recent projects with you :) The first is a sweet glass front cabinet that just needed a little TLC to turn it into a wonderful addition to any ones home.

This is one SOLID little cabinet! It is nice and shallow, but not too shallow. Would be perfect it a bath or kitchen.  I panted it out in Old Ochre ASCP, added new hardware, and a cute little wooden door catch. Such a difference!

See what I mean? Fabulous!!

The next piece is a nice set of sliding shutter door cabinets. They were really rough and one of those items that my husband says "Why?" to. But I knew they could be great.

After a good sanding they were painted out in Duck Egg ASCP. I knew I wanted to go with a time worn look of layers of paint. So next came Paris Gray in ASCP. Still not quite right so a third and final coat of Old White mixed with Cream for the outside. Distressing brought out some of each layer in a wonderful way that looks very worn and well loved. And I do, love it that is :) Wax and some cute handles finished it off perfectly!

Fabulous! This would be so awesome for bathroom storage. Both of these items are at Antiques on The Prairie awaiting the Maple Leaf crowd. Hope you can make it down to check out all the fun this weekend!
See you soon ~Christy

Fall Is In The Air!

Oh my goodness it is a beautiful fall day in Kansas!! Frost on the grass this morning, trees turning beautiful shades of red and orange, and some lucky person was enjoying a fire this morning. I could smell that delicious smell when I walked out the door. Hmmmmmm I LOVE FALL!!! It is even influencing my color choices in paint lately. I happened across these cute little end table/night stands at a garage sale a couple of weeks ago. They were super cute, but in definite need of some TLC.

I loved the shape of them and the cute little drawer fronts and they were very solid!

It is hard to tell in the picture, but the top of one of they had some bubbling and water damage. I just put a new piece of 1/4 in finish grade plywood on top and stained it to match the rest of the table.
After sanding it was time for a beautiful new color and I was certain mustard would be great. ASCP in Arles is a perfect fall yellow, mustard color. I love it!

So cute!!!! I was able to use the original hardware because it was in great shape and it was cute! I just gave it a nice coat of oil rubbed bronze spray paint and it was perfect!

These guys have gone to Market Antiques in Ottawa to await their adoption! They are just the perfect size for a bedroom or flanking a sofa. Go on down and check them out!
See you soon!  ~Christy

Wonderful Gift From A Wonderful Friend!

Hello! I am so excited to share a beautiful dresser that I just finished. It was a gift to me from my friend Donna. It's her birthday today so I thought it would be appropriate to post about it today as well :)  This is the dresser before it was brought back to life:

 Such a great shape to it! Lovely legs and sturdy solid oak frame.

 The veneer on the sides was bubbled and peeling off.

 The drawer fronts were scuffed and scratched.

This side was in worse shape than the other.

A couple of the drawers were missing the bottom.
Oh my goodness I was in love though! I couldn't wait to scrape, sand, glue, and paint this baby back to life!
The first order of business was to remove the peeling veneer from the sides. I thought about just putting new veneer on, but wanted to give it a little something special. Bead board!! I love bead board! It would be perfect!

See? Perfect! I trimmed it out with screen door molding just to give it a finished look.

Next step sand and paint out the sides in brown paint to match the wood tone of the dresser. This step is important so that it all looks the same under the finish color when I distress :)

Once it is painted you will never know that it wasn't always there.
I even used some of the bead board to repair the bottom of the drawers! Next step color. I wanted feminine. I wanted sophistication. I wanted Provence ASCP with glass knobs!

 
Sigh......she is lovely isn't she?! It is like a giant Tiffany jewelry box with diamonds on it! I love it!
So Donna, Happy Happy Birthday my dear friend! Thank you for the wonderful dresser that I had a ball refurbishing!! We will go have dinner to celebrate age, wisdom, friendship, Tiffany boxes with jewels, and a night away from husbands and kiddos :)  BTW this beauty is at Antiques on The Prairie for anyone who might be interested in making it your own!
See You Soon~ Christy