j u s t   a   l i t t l e   n o t e

I am taking a bit of a break from working and the blog for the next week or so to spend some time with my family and friends.

{hanging out at my Grandma's}

Be back soon! I have SO many projects to share with you.

Alison

 

m y    w o r k    p i l e,  a   c o n  f e s s i o n,   a n d  s o m e   q u e s t i o n s

This week for me has been about taking back control of my home and work space. I have had little time this summer keeping up on my housework and I haven't had much time to devote to my furniture painting. I am working on getting a permit to sell by appointment only, out of my detached garage in the fall. Wish me luck with this, I hope it works out because I don't want to have a retail space right now. I really want to keep my overhead low and I would rather meet clients in my studio turned store front rather than my home. I have a very large basement that I turned into another studio for smaller dressers, desks, and tables. The basement is not a walkout so the larger pieces will have to be in the garage studio.

But my garage right now is UGLY, at least it is pretty clean now though. I plan to curtain off the front portion of my garage {with the door}, paint the floor and walls white, and add white bead board to the ceiling. It will be rustic but it should be a clean background for colorful furniture. My deadline to finish this is the middle of September, do you think I can do this? Do you think I am crazy to try to make my garage look nice and sell out of? 

 Since I am showing you my garage, I might as well show you my work pile. I have a ton of projects I     am ready and excited to work on.

{More in the basement studio.}

My confession is.... I hate painting chairs, can you tell? I have them all lined up and stacked, ready to be worked on and I can't bring myself to do it. I think the reason is, I don't have a sprayer.  It is on my wish list, but right now I don't want to spend the money on a sprayer, I would rather buy more furniture.
 Also, I actually really love the process of hand painting pieces. But painting chairs by hand is a huge pain, I am not a fan. Is this weird? I love, I mean really love, painting tables, dressers {my favorite}, and buffets but I hate painting chairs.

Glad I got that off my chest!

c o w b o y     b o o t  s

Ok I haven't been doing many projects around here this week to share with you all but I have been shopping! I bought two more desks and a dresser, ready for paint and then to go into the fall shop!

I thought it would be fun to show you my score today.

{they need a bit of cleaning up}

I live in the NW, so cute thrifted cowboy boots are REALLY hard to find. I scored with these for $5! The pumpkin color is not my first choice but will be cute for fall.

Oh, and I have to confess these are my first pair of cowboy boots, I think they are darling.

Won't they be cute with jeans, leggings and a sweater?

Like this?

{all images taken from pinterest.com}

I leave for vacation in 3 day so hopefully I will finish at least one project to share with you all before I leave.

m y   v e r s i o n   o f   a   n a u t i c a l   d r e s s e r

{before}

I have had my eye on this dresser for sale for a while, and I picked it up Thursday. I love the stacked look of the piece, and the wood was pretty too. I have been wanting to use the Benjamin Moore, Blue Danube paint I purchased last week, and thought it would be lovely on this piece.

I didn't prime this piece, I almost wanted a dry brush look. I did give it a very very good sanding though. Three coats of paint, with a sanding between the first and second coat. Then lightly distressed, glazed with a dark walnut stain, and finished with a wax.

I primed the knobs with a white spray primer and roughed up the edges so you could see the pretty wood through. I waxed the knobs and put them back on the piece.

I love how it turned out.

This will go in the shop in the fall, email me now if you are interested in purchasing it and I will give you dimensions and a price.

linked up.
http://primitiveandproper.blogspot.com/
http://boogieboardcottage.blogspot.com/
http://abowlfulloflemons.blogspot.com/
http://restoreinteriors.blogspot.com/
http://www.perfectlyimperfectblog.com/
http://missmustardseed.blogspot.com/
http://chiconashoestringdecorating.blogspot.com/

f a v o r i t e    h o u s e   f r i d a y

{one day early}

I thought I would do a fhf since tomorrow I have plans on painting all day. Kids will be at VBS in the morning and at a friends house in the afternoon. This will be a quick one. I had to make the decision just now...shower before I pick the kids up or do a post? Doing a post won. Lucky for you, not me, I look pretty icky.

Anyway here is a beautiful house in Seattle.

http://www.johnlscott.com/propertydetail.aspx?GroupID=252548295&ListingID=300971305&CMID=-1&Sort=0

I love everything about this home. The only thing I keep wanting to do is add a rug to every room. Either a natural jute rug or a striped Dash and Albert.

Ok, back the home. Here are my favorite rooms.

Off to pick up the kids!

i   a m   k e e p i n g    it

{now I need your help, paint or keep wood?}

I had the antique dresser in my entryway the last few days waiting for me to get started repairing holes and then sanding. I know this piece looks rough right now, but there is something about the lines of this piece that I really love. This dresser cost me $19, so it is ok that I am not going to sell it, right?!? 

I am picking up three more pieces this morning for the shop, so I can keep this one, please?

I want to keep this dresser and put it on my stairway landing near my front door. I need storage. Specifically for shoes, gloves, socks, and kids sports stuff. I don't have a hall closet, I need storage.

Now that I have decided to keep it, should I paint it white? Maybe white and the knobs black? It might look good with my black and white stairs? I do like the rustic brown but it seems more country than cottage to keep it the natural wood. Hmm decisions, help me!

Oh, and my favorite dresser that was on the stairway? This will go in kitchen by the backdoor, to hold more shoes, gloves, socks, and kids sports stuff. 

One more thing....I totally dumpster dived yesterday. Really, for the first time I went into an open dumpster {at church, picking the kids up from VBS} and pulled out three old oak school house chairs, they are fabulous. I did ask permission to take them, and to be honest there was nothing else really in the dumpster so it wasn't gross. I am in the process of making these chairs over, pictures to come soon!

t h r i f t i n g

I had a fab morning while the kids were at VBS. It was weird to go to the store by myself since they have been home for almost a month from school. I wasn't sure what I should do with myself. Should I clean, shop, or paint? I did a bit of all three.

As I was entering the Goodwill today there was another furniture buyer there. I could just tell, she was picking up a lot of items and had started a pile. Man, this stressed me out! I immediately scanned the place and laid claim on my dresser and chair. I wouldn't say I was aggressive, yikes! I was just calm and walked over to "my" dresser and stayed there until someone came to help me. It is actually kind of funny, I would like to think I am a very polite person, but darn it, there were some good things at the GW today and I wanted them!

I bought a lot of brown items. Some will stay brown, some will be painted.

{sorry for the fuzzy picture, darn camera!}

I am not sure what I am going to do with the chair yet but it is wonderful, I might keep it the natural wood.

The dresser on the other had is going to need a ton of work. I will need to buy some more putty and wood glue tomorrow. Sorry the picture doesn't do this piece justice. It might be my most favorite thrifted item in all of my thriting years. Someone will love it.

I bought some paint tonight for it. 

Benjamin Moore, Blue Danube

{The color is actually a lot lot darker than the picture show, almost a nautical, midnight  blue.}

{it is the color of the wall in this photo, I snagged it from http://www.younghouselove.com/}

I will keep the knobs wood, and do a dark glaze over the piece and distress. 

I also bought an antique doll bed. Should I keep this brown? It is hanging out in my office and holding my files.

The peacock blue desk is happy here for now. Not sure if I want someone to buy him. The green desk that was in here is sad to be replaced, but he will go to a good home.

{things are not as crowded in person as they look in this picture}

I hope to get started on the new dresser tomorrow. Actually, I can't wait to get started on it.

a l i s o n   g e t s   h e r   g r o o v e   b a c k

Yes! My second post in two days and two projects done. My husband has been great helping me with the kids this weekend so I can get some work done. I had been feeling pretty bummed last week and I figured out why...I need to paint.  It is more than my creative outlet , it is part of who I am, and I haven't had much time to do it lately.

I just finished this peacock blue desk today. I know the brand is Behr Ultra, in satin, but there is no color on the can and I forgot to get the chip. I need to be better about organizing my paint chips.

{seriously ugly before}

I have had this desk for a while. It was in my room, then the garage waiting for a transformation. It was a dull, boring black. I think the desk needed to get it's groove back too.

I sanded the piece lightly, went right over the black paint with three coats of blue, distressed, did a glaze {3 parts glaze to 1 part black, water based craft paint}. I sponged the glaze over the piece, and then wiped it down. I then added cute knobs from a local craft store and  2 coats of wax over the entire desk.

It will go into my office until someone buys it!

linked up.
http://primitiveandproper.blogspot.com/
http://www.domestically-speaking.com/
http://boogieboardcottage.blogspot.com/
http://www.diybydesign.blogspot.com/
http://www.theshabbychiccottage.net/
http://www.thirtysixthavenue.com/
http://abowlfulloflemons.blogspot.com/
http://www.runwithglitter.blogspot.com/
http://www.thetrendytreehouse.blogspot.com/
http://missmustardseed.blogspot.com/
http://www.mysimplehomelife.com/
http://chiconashoestringdecorating.blogspot.com/
http://www.perfectlyimperfectblog.com

o l d   w o r l d   p e t i t e   d r e s s e r

I am so glad to get this cutie done. I think it is more old world than cottage, but it is very sweet indeed.

I originally planned on refinishing it but as I sanded the piece I really couldn't get the water marks off the top. So it made the decision to paint easier. 

{I prefer to paint than refinish anyway}

I sanded, sprayed KILZ Clean Start {took one can}. I then lightly sanded again {the texture was a big rough after the spray primer}. I painted on two coats of Dutch Boy, Willows Gold {this is the same color as the walls in my family room and living room. It is a very good base color if you want to do a tuscan type of finish. 

I then distressed the edges and roughed up the paint a bit with a sand block. I went over the whole piece with a medium stain and then wiped down with a sock getting most of the stain off. 

One of my tricks for waxes and glazing is using a very old and soft sock over my hand. It helps me have control over how much stain I want to keep on or off the piece.

Other furniture painters might think this is weird but it works for me!

I went over the whole piece with a clear wax and painted the hardware with a black satin.

This piece is going to my nephew, for his room and will be placed between two antique twin beds.
linked up to.
http://tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com/2011/07/weekend-wrap-up-party-and-little-miss.html
http://funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/
http://www.iheartnaptime.net/

f r o m   d e s k   t o   t a b l e 

{a solution to too much brown}

I think I might have solved the solution to too much brown in my family room. If you remember from a few posts back I used to have this table in the room as a game table. I kept it there for a while because the table really is a nice piece. The "too much brown" was driving me crazy. Brown tv console, brown leather couches, and a brown table in the middle of the room just wasn't me. I needed to lighten it up.

I have my little green desk {which will eventually be for sale} in my office now. I moved my big black desk into the family room and swapped out the chunky legs for another pair of table legs already cut down to coffee table height {my garage is full of these things}. The chunky legs are going on another table that I hope to finish this month.

After the new legs were on. I sanded the table, gave it four coats of BM, Simply White, in  Aura {sanding lightly in between the second and third coat} distressed {you can see the original black} and finished it off with two coats of clear wax.

I am still looking for two industrial looking kids chairs to fit right under.

{This was linked up to}
http://primitiveandproper.blogspot.com/
http://mommahenscoop.com/
http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com/
http://restoreinteriors.blogspot.com/
http://www.domestically-speaking.com/
http://www.perfectlyimperfectblog.com
http://missmustardseed.blogspot.com/
http://www.mysimplehomelife.com/
http://chiconashoestringdecorating.blogspot.com/
http://shabbynest.blogspot.com/
http://funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/
http://www.iheartnaptime.net/

n e w    p i l l o w s

I bought a shower curtain a few months ago at TJ Max and the fabric was wrong, out of the package it was too shiny. I have had it sitting in my desk drawer and I almost forgot about it. I opened my drawer, saw the curtain,  and I quickly drove over to TJ Max. I was in the mood to buy something new, and since I was returning the curtain I knew I wasn't going to have to spend any money.

I was in luck and found four large striped pillows, $9.99 each! Ok, so after I returned the curtain my total was $10 but that isn't bad for four pillows!

{the other two are in my bedroom}

The blue is a perfect match. They were meant for me.

If feels so fresh in my living room right now. 

Also, it is literally the only clean room in my house at the moment.
After my cleaning frenzy on Saturday I haven't cleaned a darn thing, maybe tomorrow.

I am working on a solution to the "too much brown" going on in my family room. It involves white paint and I am on the hunt for two child chairs like this.

{Joyatri, Etsy}

Or this.

 

{dirtybirdiesvintage, Etsy}

I am going to hunt for some similar chairs this weekend, I would like to spend no more than $20 each.

Wish me luck!