Madam Blueberry

Some people name their furniture, I sing to mine.  Anyone recognize an old Veggie Tales song?  It's weird, I know, sorry.

Anyway, I scored a great deal on Monday at Goodwill with my friend Kirstin.  Shhhh...she took me to her super secret special Goodwill.  It was a crazy good day and good for lots of laughs too!  Thanks Kirstin.  At any rate I found a chair, FINALLY, that looked like something I could reupholster for myself.  The guy said "The wheel falls off, you want it?"  Um, yep, I can work with that.  Off I go with my shopping cart full of my kind of goodies towing a 3 wheeled chair behind me.  And you want to know what I paid for my slightly gimpy chair?  $1.97.  How cool is that?!  I almost forgot to take a before photo, but my wanna-be photographer middle daughter reminded me 1/2 way through a 1st coat.  So here she is minus all her wheels for now!

This first coat is a special mix of Versailles chalk paint with a tiny dab or duck egg thrown in to brighten it up a bit that I had left over from another project, which by the way I did not sing to.  And if you wonder why I called her Madam Blueberry, it's because my Aubusson chalk paint arrived yesterday and was immediately opened up and applied as a 2nd coat over the versailles mix.  I know, layering paints, it's not something I've done much of on a big project before. It works well though and I may just do a lot more of it!  Here she is

Madam Blueberry....I'm so blue ue ue ue ue ue.....

Some parts were distressed down to bare wood, some down just enough to show the versaille underneath.  I actually had a more traditional fabric I was leaning toward, but that crazy photo shooting child of mine convinced me to go with the "fun" light fabric, and I actually did what she suggested.  Which she would tell you almost NEVER happens.  I love it.  Madam Blueberry is going to live with us I believe.  She may or may not get new wheels. 

Hope you enjoyed seeing this piece, and will come back to see many more of my projects, most of which are looking for new homes!  I'm linking up to Miss Mustard Seed's Friday Furniture Features.  I may or may not be able to grab her button to show that, but you can find her link on my blog list so please do visit her.  She does marvelous things!

http://missmustardseed.blogspot.com/2011/06/furniture-feature-friday-favoritse-link.html

and  Perfectly Imperfect, one of my other very, very favorites for all things furniture!http://www.perfectlyimperfectblog.com/2011/06/all-things-furniture-features-linky-party-2.html

Happy 4th everyone!

Deb

Where Has Summer Gone!

It's almost July!  Good Golly Miss Molly, where has Summer gone??  I have really good intentions of doing fun things with my kids, getting tons of stuff painted, fluffed, repurposed, sewn, hooked, finishing up some rooms of the house, taking a few nice relaxing vacations.  In reality we are spending a lot of time running one kid here or there for a lesson, activity, some friend time, trying desperately to keep up with the laundry, looking at a messy house and trying to get in the mood to fix a meal or two!  I sure remember a lot more down time when I was young, though my Mother would probably beg to differ.

Does that excuse my lack of posts this week?  Probably not, just a lot of whining.  I'll get over it.  Lest you think I'm totally slacking off I do have a couple of almost finishes that I hope to post tomorrow sometime.  In the meantime I thought I'd show you some of the smaller projects that I worked on.

Nice giant wooden bowl I scored this week, full of used softballs I also scored!  I love it when a plan comes together.

A few of the many chalk boards I've worked on.  Seriously, I have a problem stopping with these.  Hopefully lots of people will feel the need to organize their lives by the time we have our show!

Isn't he cute?  Look for more finishes tomorrow!

Stay cool!
Deb

Whistle while you work

Isn't that just about the corniest title you've ever heard?!  Sorry, just having some brain freezing moments today and couldn't do any better than that.  But, if I do say so myself, this desk would quite possibly be worth a whistle or two. 

She has nice legs after all. 

Storage possibilities...

and more storage possibilities.

A gorgeous newly stained top on a beautiful vintage meets new desk! 

Sorry for the poorly staged, well really not staged at all photos.  I've been sick and I ran out of room inside to get a great staged shot.  I'll have to work on that.  The desk is painted in Duck Egg Chalk paint, then dry brushed with Old White.  It's been distressed and waxed and buffed to create a lovely effect.  The top has two coats of poly for some added protection. 

Hope you like it.  I think it turned out well and will serve as a beautiful work station for some lucky person.  It is for sale in the greater Omaha area.  Contact me if you are interested!

I'm going to attempt to link this up a Miss Mustard Seed's Friday Furniture Party!

Have a great weekend!

Deb

****My Post below, "Yee Haw" was featured on Primitive & Proper!!  Wow, I am so honored!  Thanks Cassie!  Cassie does some amazing work, and is kind enough to host a weekly link party that is chuck full of inspiration.

http://primitiveandproper.blogspot.com/2011/06/poww-faves-and-shabby-apple-giveaway.html

Yee Haw!

In the beginning there was this lovely, substantial, curvy dresser full of possibilities.  One drawer had fallen apart and the bottom was a bit warped so she needed work.  Which is why she didn't sell at her owner's garage sale and became such a sweet deal on CL!  Thank heaven's for a handy Mr. Twice Nice who is more than willing to put nice dovetailed drawers back together and cut out a nice new bottom for it.
Due to her shorter stature we also found some nice wooden casters to place her on because she was really quite, ahem, heavy to move around.  This dresser is truly a solid piece of art!  While cleaning her up we even found a date written on one of the drawers, "Winter, 3/17/1938".  We assume that might be when it was built or purchased.  I'm calling her "Cowgirl", because, well with the Provence chalk paint and the beautiful wood we left alone it gives the appearance of some fine western apparel.  I'm a little uncertain if I totally love the combination, but I had a truly difficult time even thinking about painting over the wood that was in good condition.  The chipped veneers were another story.  Thus the two-tone effect that is still bothering me a bit.  So, look and tell me what you think!

Look at those curves?!  Wavy on the bottom, bow front top drawers, I should name her "Dolly"!

The 2 side doors open up for a bit of vertical storage.  Interesting, since I can't imagine what they would have been originally intended for.

I love this color, Provence.  Is the wood just too distracting though?  It's just so very lovely and it would be a shame to cover.  These drawers will hold a ton of clothing!

Well, tell me what you think!  Should I leave her alone and hope someone loves her as much as I do, or make her a more uniform, conforming dresser.  

I'm linking up to Primitive & Proper's Wednesday furniture party.
Have a great week!
Deb

Sweet Caroline...

Every time I see a picture of this dresser that song runs through my mind, "Sweet Caroline, buh buh buh, good times never looked so good".  At least I think those are the right words!  I haven't actually named every piece of furniture that I've worked on, but I think Caroline would be perfect if I were to name her.  This Art Deco Chest on Chest dresser was a Craig's List find.  The gentleman selling her knew exactly what he had and was firm, but fair on the price.  She needed some very slight repair to make her sound and there were a lot of water marks and chips out of her veneer.  Sorry for the poor quality photograph, totally bad lighting in the workshop. 

Here is an "after" photo.



I painted her with 2 coats of "Old White" chalk paint, lightly distressed, and reused her original hardware.  All dove tailed drawers that work easily.  This dresser has a lot of great storage, and would be a beautiful piece in a little girls room.  Here are some more pictures.

So lovely and sweet (Caroline, buh, buh, buh....).  She's for sale! 

Hoping the rains hold off so as not to add to all of my flooded neighbors woes!  We're praying for all of you along the Missouri River!

Deb

P.S.  I linked up to Miss Mustard Seed's Friday Furniture Features.  She's my HERO!

A Little Sweet

Some great things come in small packages.  This sweet little nightstand/end table is not old, but it was very well constructed and a wonderful size for any room in the house.  I also really, really needed something to try my Old White Chalk Paint on.  Here is the before picture.

Not a single thing really wrong with it.  Pretty, hefty hardware, nice solid oak, 3 working felt lined drawers. Here she is after 2 coats of Old White, a bit of distressing, and a coat of clear wax.  

Here's the close up view.

I think what I love the most about chalk paint is the way it feels after sanding between coats and distressing. It's just like BUTTA baby!  So soft and velvety  to the touch.  A good wax will protect her from the normal uses and traumas of everyday life.  I would love to keep this one, sigh, I really do have an issue with becoming too attached.  However, she will be looking for her new home .  If you live near Omaha shoot me an email and I'll be happy to send you all the particulars on this piece or any of the above posted pieces.  Thanks for visiting today and have a super fun weekend!

Deb