Do you ever feel like you don't "fit"? Is it OK?

I thought really hard about writing this post, but finally decided I just might get some great advice from those out there in blog world or other places that kind of "get" where I'm coming from.

 

I could make this reeeaaalllyyy long, but seriously, this isn't a diary, so I'll just start from now.  I've evolved my furniture painting hobby into a business, where I now have a space in a store with a lot of great other vendors/decorators.  I also have cruised the blog world and seen many different styles.  Through this process, I've always kind of been waiting for those in this business to discover I really have no idea what I'm doing.  I mean, I know what I'm doing when it comes to painting, I think I've learned TONS over the years but I'll just have to finally admit and say, my style is way different.  You see, I don't like stuff.  You know, lots o' stuff that sits on tables and up high on cabinetry or hogging all the clean space on my kitchen counter tops.  Don't get me wrong, I see other spaces and really admire them for the ability to accesorize like that.  But, I finally realized, it's not that I don't have the ability, I just don't care for it in my space.  Here are a few examples:

 

 

My living room.  I've decorated frugally, the coffee table, two end tables, my TV dresser (which you can't see in this pic) are all salvages that I have redone.  The mirror is a Goodwill find which I painted to add some color.  The bannisters were all painted a bright white by me to spruce it up.  I had every intention of making curtains from some great fabric I found, but found these for a steal and couldn't resist. 

 

 

The view from my living room into my kitchen.  Except for the few Halloween decorations Emma just put there, just one candle and a picture frame.

 

 

The view of the kitchen.  This is in the process of being redone.  The walls will be the same gray as the living room.  I just painted the island black and distressed it.  I just bought the stools second hand and am trying to decide what color to paint them.  (any thoughts?)  The cabinets will be painted Old White.  And, there is just enough left in the budget for new counter tops.  (any thoughts on color?!)  But, besides my Keurig, paper towels and some bananas (and my purse I just spotted sitting there!) nothing on the counters.  I normally don't even have those hand towels hanging from the stove, but my husband did that.

 

 

My bedroom.  I don't even have anything on my night table besides a lamp, my husband at least has a clock.  The two pictures hanging there are 2 of 3 in the whole room.  I do, however, have a nice stack of laundry I just noticed on the bench at the end of my bed!!

 

 

See that big open wall, yup, nothing there.

 

 

The entrance to the bathroom.  Oh, I did forget about those crazy candle holders that have been there for 8 years.  (reminder....gotta replace those with something else!)  The other picture, I just have to show you a close up because it's my favorite:

 

 

This is one of our wedding pictures, the first kiss at the altar.  Anyway, back to business...

 

My point is that I've been stressing myself out for over a month trying to find, make, figure out how to fill my space with small stuff. 

 

I worked at the store this weekend and after just walking around in there, around and around and around and around, I finally realized, it's just not me to have an eye for "stuff".  But, most importantly, it's not because I'm lacking or don't know what I'm doing, it's because I don't decorate that way.  And, that's OK.  That's MY style.  Don't get me wrong, I LOOOOOOVE all of the things I've seen, I'm not sure why it didn't all sell in one day, all of it!!  I appreciate the different styles I see, but I need to have confidence that just because mine is very different, it's still good. 

 

It's weird because I love all things vintage, shabby, redone, etc...but find the choices I make for my own home are more modern that I think I am.  I, of course, didn't show you all the pictures.  I have redone pallets hanging on my walls, a wooden apple crate at my door to catch shoes, an old picket fence hung on my wall with photographs, it's not all bare, but it's not small stuff, you know?

 

And, most importantly, will someone PLEASE tell me what color to paint those stools???  I want to paint them ASCP Louis Blue to pop off the black, my husband...notsomuch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stripping, it's not for the weak!

What can I say about stripping?  How about...I'd actually rather strip my clothes off in a room full of strangers than to strip paint from furniture.

 

I bought this great dresser with beautiful lines and my plan was to strip the entire thing.  What the heck was I thinking?  Do you know how many hours and hours and hours and hours something like that takes?  It also takes patience and a keen attention to detail.  Yeah right.  It also assumes that you will find pristine wood underneath, right?

 

 

Well, as you can see, the paint was just peeling off the top already.  I thought it would be easy peasy.  Famous last words.  I even thought it was going well as I saw the bubbling of the paint after I applied my Citristrip:

 

 

It really didn't just strip off like I'm used to.  It took about 3 applications of this stuff.  Did I mention hours and hours and hours and hours of work?  I get the top almost all stripped off and what do I realize?

 

 

Yup, you see it right.  That's some sort of putty fixing the broken veneer.  Not that big of a deal, I've used wood filler when fixing spots and painting over it, but this wasn't wood colored filler, it was like automotive putty.  Strong and durable?  Yes.  Could I stain over it?  NO.  So, I had just spent hours and hours and hours and hours stripping the top and the drawers and now I realize the top had to be painted.  Seriously.  Oh, pretty dresser, I really hate you.

 

I decide to trudge through and apply stain to the drawers just to see how they look.  Hmmmmm, looks really pretty.  So, I painted the body of the dresser in ASCP Paris Blue, then topped it with Old White so some of the blue would come through when I sand.  I used the same pulls, which I love.  Done.  Finally.  Did I mention it took hours and hours and hours and hours and hours of work?  Hopefully, you think it was worth it:

 

 

I'm taking her to Ginger and Spice tomorrow.  I'll be there all day working if any of my peeps would like to stop by and visit--21 W. Pennsylvanina Ave, Walkersville, MD.

 

Thought I'd update the dresser in my space.  I think my handmade burlap wreath looks great hung on the knobs, don't you?!

 

 

 

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Primitive and Proper and Miss Mustard Seed and Kammys Korner

 

 

 



A giveaway win, some crafts and FOOD!

I know I promised a more detailed post on how I painted my kitchen island along with my review of the new paint I used....and it's coming.  Soon.  I'm just soooooo busy.  To top it all off my husband is working crazy hours this week and has been going to bed at 6:00 p.m. so all night duties involving my 4 year old go to me.  I'm still trying to decide how to word my paint review, kinda one of those...not loving it while using it, yet like the end result...

 

Instead I thought I just give you a bit of what I've been doing instead of a furniture before and after.  I was on THIS great blog, Kammy's Korner.  On the cuff, I entered a giveaway.  I never usually do, cause I'm a big loser.  But, this time I did and won, woo hoo!  I won a great hand painted salt/pepper shaker set from THIS great Etsy store, Huckleberry Vintage.

 

 

I've got some blues, corals and green in my house so far so when she asked me what color I wanted, I thought yellow would be a great addition.  Sorry, this picture sucks.  Go visit her store, she has some great stuff!

 

I also wanted to share a few crafts I've been doing.  I've posted before about my pallet projects, so I won't bore you with details, but we made another pallet wine rack for my space at Ginger & Spice, but this time I mixed it up by adding a little message on it.  Whaddya think:

 

 

I'm really lovin' doing wooden signs and think I may add a bunch to my space.

 

Along those lines, I wanted to show you the wooden signs that Emma (my 4 year old) and I made last night.  I painted each one orange and black ahead of time because for some reason I didn't think she would have the patience to wait for paint to dry!  All I did was outline a shape and she painted it in.  She also wrote her name and "daddy", I wrote Mommy and Santina (my older daughter)

 

 

She is so excited to hang them up.  It's really a cheap craft, I bought a reaaaaaaaly long piece of wood from Lowe's and had them cut it into even squares for me.  The wood cost about $8.00 and I got 8 of these squares.  Of course, I already had all the paint, but little tubes of craft paint wouldn't cost much.  I am going to sand these a bit and put a tiny bit of wax on top, but this is basically how they look!

 

Lastly, I just HAVE to share my newest crock pot receipe with you.  Chicken Fajitas!  What's not to love?  This was easy peasy.  All I did was cut up green, red, yellow and orange peppers and an onion and lay at the bottom of the crock pot.  I then cut strips of chicken breast up and layed on top.  I added about 1/2 cup of chicken broth and squeezed a lime over it.  To top it off, I sprinkled 2 packets of Fajita seasoning on top.  You know, those bigger packets like they sell in the gravy aisle??  Yea, those.  I cooked on low for about 6 hours.  It came out PERFECT!  The peppers still had a snap to them and weren't all mushy.  I bought tortillas and served them with sour cream, cheese, salsa and fresh avocado.  We had company over and it was the perfect meal because I wasn't stuck in the kitchen all night. 

 

 

 

You know you want some, right??!

 

 



Lane Cedar Chest--redone and another home improvement project!

I love cedar chests.  I have one almost like this in my living room as my coffee table, see:

 

 

It's great storage for blankets and pillows.

 

When I saw this one, I knew I had to scoop it up and redo it!

 

 

This one is considered the Princess style.  It was in great shape but most definately out of date.  The color was blah.  I stripped the top:

 

 

I stained it a dark walnut and then topped with some Annie Sloan dark wax.  I painted the body ASCP Cream.  I've never used this color, but it's really pretty.  It isn't really "cream" though, more like a light yellow.  Here is the top, I just looooooooove a dark top!

 

 

And, a front view:

 

 

I'm normally not to crazy about these types of pulls.  However, I feel like they belong on this.  I sprayed them a oil rubbed bronze and they really POP off the cream.

 

This "Princess" is currently for sale at Ginger & Spice, go see her!

 

We are also starting a redo on our kitchen.  New counter tops are at the top of our list.  But, of course, I want to paint the walls the same gray as I did in the living room, which leads to the cabinets not matching because in the living room all of the bannisters and rails were painted white.  So, the cabinets also need a paint job.  Exhausting.  I'm not normal.  One small project usually ends in a complete reno.  I decided I love the two-toned look of the cabinets a different color than the island.  I decided on a black island, distressed and an off white for the kitchen cabinets.  I used a new paint, I'll come back next time to do a review, still trying to figure out how to word it.  Here's a quick peek, I'll post the full story tomorrow!

 

 

 

 

 

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Primitive and Proper and Miss Mustard Seed 

 

 

 



A Two-Toned Table!

For the life of me I cannot find my before picture.  Ack!  The worse part is that I knew I took one!  I love the shape of this table and the metal middle part just gives it some extra charm.

 

Here is my first after picture:

 

 

I painted this in Old White and Duck Egg Blue, topped with clear wax.  Then I added some great glass like knobs on the top drawer.  As I stood back taking pictures, I realized that all I could see was the wood inside.  Fail  (did you notice my other fail?  I just noticed I only put one knob back on on the door!)

 

I painted the inside Old White to make the metal doors really pop.

 

 

Now, after another redo:

 

 

Much better, huh?

 

I also wanted to share a quick project I did.  I'm really trying to fill my new space with more decorative items now, I've got the furniture.  I found a few great tutorials on how to make burlap wreaths.  I kind of combined them to suit my tastes and ended up with a fabulous looking wreath.  This one is a beige burlap with vintage-y black writing on it.  I also bought some orange burlap and made some for fall.  I hung it around this old window I found and just touched up with some Old White and a bunch o' sanding.  I think I"ll sell it as a set, plus it'll look great in my space!

 

 

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Primitive and Proper and Miss Mustard Seed

 

 

 



My bathroom is finally done! (well, kinda!)

Whew, lots o' work goin' on around here.

 

Months and months ago I saw this picture on Pinterest:

 

 

So pretty.  Don't ask me why but I love a neutral bathroom.  Surely, I could do something like this to our Master Bath, right?  We had the standard contractor bathroom.  Oakey cabinet for the vanity, salon style lightbar and that big ole mirror held in place by glue and plastic thingys.

 

 

 

Don't even get me started on these ugly curtains I hung years ago, what was I thinking?

 

 

I also had a cabinet hung over my potty that was OK, but it's much happier in Emma's bathroom now!

 

 

The first thing we did was take the light fixture and mirror down.  This was the scariest part of all.  First, most people with mirrors like this would normally just frame it out to try and update it because ripping a mirror off the wall that seems to be held on by glue just might cause some drywall damage.  I didn't care, I wanted that mirror GONE!  (It's also loving it's new home at St. Thomas More Academy in Middletown!)  Then, we were afraid of what we would find under the light fixture, a huge hole?  We got lucky, like should have played the lottery lucky.  (well, we did, but didn't win...)  The mirror came down with only minor damage to the wall that could be fixed with some spackle.  The light fixture had one small hole where our new light fit right in.

 

 

So, we painted the vanity cabinet black and added some silver knobs.  We put up two mirrors over each sink and a new updated light fixture.  We painted the walls a light beigy/tan color.  My husband thinks it's a bit too light of a color, but again, I gotta thing with neutral bathrooms.  Those crazy curtains came down and were replaced with faux wood wide slat blinds in white.  I found a great cabinet on clearance at Lowe's for a great price, so I splurged.  It has room for baskets in the bottom which has become the new home for my makeup.  Great way to keep it off the sink! 

 

The only thing left I'd like to do is find some color, maybe something to  hang on the walls or with new rugs.  I've had my eye out for a while now, but if I'm not gaga over something, I'm not buying it. 

 

Drumroll please...................................

 

 

 

 

 

And, again, because I can't stop looking at this picture and wondering why oh why we didn't do this YEARS ago?????

 

 

 

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Primitive and Proper and Miss Mustard Seed



Some exciting news and a new dresser!

Once again, I suck at being a blogger.  It's been a week since my last post, sorry everyone!  But, I have some exciting news that will mean more projects to share!

I'm so pleased to announce that as of September 1, 2012, I will be the newest vendor at Ginger & Spice Marketplace in Walkersville, Maryland!  They are having a great fall fair and I emailed them to get some information on being a vendor and the rest is history!  I can't lie, I'm a bit concerned about being able to keep up, but I'll never know until I try.  Try my best, right?  My husband has really geared up and will be helping me as well, so this will really be a team effort.  I'm so excited! 

Because of my exciting new venture, I feel like I am on high alert for great finds now.  So, a little over a week ago my husband and I were going out for a much needed dinner sans kid.  We decided to go to Hollow Creek in Middletown.  As we are driving over the mountain at 7:00 p.m., there is this big yard sale, BIG.  I spot a dresser, so what's any normal person do?  Of course,  make my husband turn around and go back so I can check it out.  I was in sad shape and she wanted too much money for it.  After pointing out the veneer issues and asking her if she has ever had to strip veneer, she became much more reasonable in her asking price!

Here are some before pics:

the drawers:

Here is the side with the veneer damage:

The other side was worse.  So, I soaked a towel in water and layed it on the side.  I made sure the towel wasn't dripping, but definately soaked through...

We (I say we because my husband is the one who stripped it off) let the towel soak there for about 2 hours.  I was very surprised how easily the veneer peeled off.  I've had some veneer horrors so I was very pleased with the success of this method.

I stripped and restained the top.  Then, after the stain dried, I topped with dark wax.  It's so rustic looking!

The legs on this piece have so much detailing.  I decided to paint it black because there still are some imperfections and the black seems to let them fade away. 

I very lightly distressed it and waxed the whole piece in dark wax.  I left the same drawer pulls and kept them the same color, they really go well with the distressed parts and the stained top.  Here is the final outcome:

This will be put in my new space at Ginger & Spice as soon as I move in!!  WooHoo!

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Primitive and Proper and Miss Mustard Seed