A great set!

Do you ever have one of those Craigslist finds that really just seem to be too good to be true?  Well, this was mine. 

I had just gotten to work and while I was checking messages and returning calls I decided to browse Craigslist.  Then, I saw them.  The ad simply was titled "china hutch and buffet" but the price was low enough so I opened up the ad.  I immediately sent an email to the seller inquiring about them 100% certain that he would tell me, so sorry, already sold.  But, he answered right away.  They were still available.  He had someone coming at 3:00 that afternoon to look, but if I wanted and could come before then, I could!  So, like any furniture addict who is at her full time job and dressed in a suit and heels, I took an early lunch hour and RAN.  Now, before everyone yells at me about safety issues, the guy told me they were already sitting outside in his driveway.  I figured I could do a "drive by" to asses the situation.  They were outside and he lived in a busy neighborhood, so out of the truck I hopped!  I made my quick purchase, he loaded my pick up truck and back to work I went. 

This is what I looked like parked in the parking deck.  I seriously just prayed nobody would steal them in the few hours I had left!

I'm pretty sure most people have given up on me!

Here is what I got:

AND!

First, don't get excited about the wheels, they didn't go with the pieces.  The original wooden ones had broken and the man just replaced them with up to date ones that totally didn't match, so I took them off. 

My biggest regret is that my pictures of this whole redo suck!  They sold so lightening fast that I didn't get good ones.  Boo.

I stripped and sanded the top of the sideboard and restained it a lovely dark walnut.  I painted the rest Old White, distressed heavily, then topped with clear wax.  Seriously, I loved this.  I should have kept it.  But, I didn't and now I'll have to pine away for her the rest of my life.  Or, maybe not.  Can you believe after looking for one of these for over a year, the same day this sold I found another one for a steal! 

Then, I took the doors off the china cabinet, painted the inside Louis Blue, the outside Old White, again heavily distressed it, topped with clear wax.  I cleaned the glass real good reattached the door.  Sigh, I will be pining for her.  Pine.  Pine.  Pine. 

And, the sideboard:

Okay, maybe I will still pine away.  Sigh.  I love this. 

If you are anything like me and were never able to form a meaningful relationship with poly, dark wax on top of a stained wood top is pure heaven.  Smmmmoooootttttthhhhhhhhh!  It just adds an additional richness to the color and I'll probably never use poly again.

The good news in all my pining is that the same lady bought both pieces and they will go in her dining room.  She lives in an old farmhouse that is in the middle of a renovation and she is trying hard to keep the reno as true to the style of the house as she can.  They will be so happy there!

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Primitive and Proper and Miss Mustard Seed

A few small projects

I recently had an unexpected day when Enma woke up with a gloopy, sloppy case of pink eye.  I knew she wasn't feeling too hot, so this was the perfect excuse to not push ourselves.  It was especially awesome because it was pouring all day, which was another perfect excuse to not have to do anything.  Not do anything?  Hmmmmm.  I used to be able to do nothing.  What happened to me?

So, I spent the day finishing a few small projects.  And, when Scooby Doo was no longer entertaining (yes, don't ask me why, but my 4 year old has an uncanny obsession with Scooby Doo) Emma joined in the craft making!  She was very intent on her work:

I had some extra slabs of wood leftover from a name sign I did and from some pallets, so we just started painting.  Emma made this all by herself.  The ONLY thing I did was outline the flower in pencil because I had originally planned on using this.  But, she filled it in on her own.  Oh, I did tell her how to spell Mommy, but she knows all her letters and wrote it on her own.  This sign is now proudly hanging on my office wall and I know it's one of those things I will own FOREVER.

And, for anyone familiar with ASCP, yes this is that.  That beautiful pink is Emperor's Silk mixed with Pure White and the minty light green is Antibes Green mixed with Pure White.  I'm not sure what Emma enjoyed most, making the colors or actually painting!

Next, I finished up a chair that I had painted a few weeks ago, then it just sat because I just didn't know what to do with it.  A friend of mine had given me this kids chair a while ago.  It came from her grandparent's home.  They were sadly clearing out thier house and before the yard sale, she snatched up this chair.  She gave it to me thinking I could do whatever I wanted with it.  So, after reading Winnie the Pooh's 'Giving is the Best Gift' about 50 nights in a row, I decided to practice what I preach.  I knew this had been a hard time for my friend, and having lost my Grandmother last year, I know how nice it is to have some sentimental things.  My friend has a 6 year old daughter, so this was perfect for her.  I knew the color was right, she loves this color! 

 I have to say, I had SO much fun doing this.  This was the relaxing, fun, creative part of painting furniture that I had kind of lost.  It has become more and more of a job to me and it was nice to do something creative, that nobody was expecting or waiting for and there was no pressure at all.  I've never been an artist and you don't have to be to paint furniture, just have some sort of vision.  But, as I was doing this chair, I felt more artistic and became very brave and daring when I added the flowers...all free hand!  Here it is:

The best part of sanding and distressing something after you paint is that it doesn't have to be perfect and precise.  The flowers aren't measured or perfectly placed, I just eyed it.  My friend was very happy (and suprised!) to have such a cute chair that will remind her of her grandparents when she looks at it.  And, best of all, Abbie loves it!

I don't have any before pictures, but it was just your basic, run of the mill, plain wood chair.

We had such a nice day, I was kind of hoping the pink eye would stick around or perhaps travel to me, but alas, no such luck.  Back to work the next day...



Another use for pallets!

Through Pinterest, I've developed a fascination with pallets.  The best thing is, you can find them a lot of places, plus it's reusing old wood that would probably be sent to the dump or burnpile.  My first project was this pallet turned shelf/wall hanging:

This filled a space in my kitchen by my table that I have racked my brain trying to fill.  I love it because it's so unique and houses all my pictures in a great way.  Every person that walks into my house remarks how cool it is.

Then, we made this outside pallet table for our patio redo:

It's perfect because it's on wheels and we can just roll it everywhere!  Plus, it matches our great Adirondak chairs.

This weekend I was making a pallet shelf for someone who just loved mine and we had to do some fancy cutting to make it work.  I saw the beginnings of another great project!  All I had to do was attach a board across the front to hold in the bottles and voila (!) a pallet wine shelf to hang on the wall.

I really liked the color of this wood and didn't really want to stain it.  But, it needed something.  So, I grabbed my Paris Blue ASCP and watered it down.  I then lightly painted around it to give it that perfect beachy look.  I was going to paint the whole thing but as I was painting decided to leave the back part the original wood.  It just looks so beachy rustic.  Is that a design style?

So, here it is:

I didn't hang it.  I actually have no wall space for this, but couldn't resist making it!  Surely, I will find someone who loves it!

It's pretty large, could probably handle about 8 bottles of wine.  This is so cool...I need to go find some wall space, NOW!

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Primitive and Proper and Miss Mustard Seed

What's a table without chairs??

Right?  When I first found and redid this table it really didn't occur to me that selling it would be a problem without chairs.  I mean, who doesn't like to scour second hand stores looking for chairs?  Well, suprisingly, some people don't.  They like sets.  So, a set is what I decided to give them.

So, I scoured second hand stores, Craigslist, and yard sales.  I found these on Craigslist, but they were a bit too expensive for my taste.  So, in true form, I emailed the seller and offered a crazy low price with the promise of picking them up that day.  I would say this works maybe a fraction of the time, but if you don't ask, you never know.  Luckily, it worked in this case.  The seller just wanted them gone and wanted to make a bit o' cash.  They don't exactly match that gorgeous dark walnut top and Pure White body, huh?

But, look at them, classic style and solid wood.  Perfect.  The first thing I did was strip and sand the seat of the chairs so they could be restained that beautiful dark walnut color.

I think everyone in my neighborhood is probably getting sick of hearing my sander!

So, I stained and painted, stained and painted, well you get the gist.  Looks like a seemingly small job, not a lot of painting to do.  Wrong.  Chairs are a total pain.  I will probably not do anymore for a while unless I can spray them because they are TIME CONSUMING!

But, it was definately worth it.  After some distressing and waxing, they turned out so beautiful and updated.

And, talk about a set.  This set looks like it was made together.  Remember the table from before??

Now, it's a beautiful dining set.  Hmmm, would I be a horder if I had two different table sets in my kitchen?  Is that how it begins??

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Primitive and Proper and Miss Mustard Seed