Sittin' Around

I finished this chair ages ago, but simply kept forgetting to take any beauty shots and share her.  Does that mean I'm really getting old?  As long as I don't get "funny" too, because I have a promise with the Mr. that we can not get old and "funny" acting both.

Look at her 'Queenly' curved back, lovely!  She's pretty with her Old White paint and indigo and off white fabric cushion.

It does not get any better than comfy and curvy both.  Love this one a lot, she makes me happy.  Just shabby enough to be interesting.  She actually looks kind of lovely in the garden.  Hello purple cone flowers. :-)  They make me happy too.

And if her curves are not enough for you, she has pretty little claw feet too.  She's for sale, just let me know if she belongs to you next!  I'm warning you though, the longer I sit and look at this piece in the workshop the more likely I am to move it into the house and find a spot.  Just sayin'.
Have a super week and enjoy these last few days of summer.  Here we go August!
Deb
Linking to:

Go Big Red!

In my neck of the woods you could be in a group anywhere and yell, "Go Big Red (dragging out each word)" and immediately someone from nearby would return the cheer.  We love our Cornhuskers out here.  It should be no surprise then that red is a favorite color in decorating.  I loved having the chance to paint something red.  It's one of my favorite colors, and this piece was perfect for it.

A customer/client that purchased the nail head buffet several months ago contacted me to see if I had anything mid-century modern in black, gray, or red.  At the time I had a couple of possible candidates in my hoard /stash.   She opted to wait and sure enough one day when I was thrifting the clouds parted, the angels sang and there was her piece just waiting for paint.

A few dings, and scuffs and what looked like a "puppy corner".  You know where that darn adorable puppy you just got insists on cutting it's puppy teeth on the corner of all your furniture.  Best of all, the inside was really clean and SMOKE FREE!  I hate it when smoke ruins (practically) a nice piece of furniture.  I did end up needing to refinish the top completely, took care of "puppy corner" and gave it the coat of paint as requested.  Look how fun this turned out!

To match her existing home hardware we resprayed the original fun, square pulls with a satin silver and gave it a silver pedi to match.

Once sanded the scratches and water rings disappeared and stain and antique oil had the finish looking and feeling fabulous again.

The paint is Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Husker Red Emperor's Silk, finished in AS Clear Wax only for a nice bright saturated finish. The stain is Minwax Jacobean, topped with Minwax Antique Oil for a satin, hand-rubbed finish.  

I think this will make a gorgeous buffet/side board/console table in her family room!  What a fun piece this was.  I just love furniture!!!

Great blessings to you all this week!

Deb

Linking to these Fabulous Parties!

Talking Chair

I have not ever had that much luck finding good chairs, until recently.  Remember these two barrel cane back chairs?  They were a great find in pretty good shape.  So often the caning is broken in the cane back chairs and that's why they are being sold.  Lately though, and I know I probably will now jinx myself, I have found some nice sturdy chairs in good shape.  I've learned not to question why the change in luck...just go with it.
Who knows what next week might bring me!

Here she is, another chair finish.  I just love her lines.

I don't think any of my photos captures the true beauty of this fabric, but it's a lovely, lovely shade of navy that I like more than a lot!

It plays nice with the Old White Chalk Paint.  It's Super comfortable too!  I should probably be bringing this back to my home shouldn't I?

As a bonus...nice legs too. I am such a sucker for turned legs on furniture.  This piece is for sale at NJ & Co.  You can find it in the window saying, "Come in, tell them to get me out, sit on me, take me home."  OK, not really, but she would if she could.

Stay warm this week!
Deb
Linking to:
http://elizabethandco.blogspot.com/2013/01/be-inspired-features-and-link-party-53.html

Racing toward the Finish Line!!!

Well you didn't think I'd left you hanging here for no good reason did you?!  In addition to nursing a sinus infection for the entire month of September, I have been diligently working in the workshop.  Like an elf, or Rumpelstiltskin, or something along those lines.  All of us have self-imposed expectations of what we wanted to have ready to go.  We'll get there, and the world will continue to spin if that last table doesn't get painted or wreath doesn't get glued up.  But I will say that, from what I have heard from the ladies, THE PRAIRIE MARKET, is going to be packed to the gills with goodies.  Do stop by!

Here are some recent finishes of mine.  Just not sure I can part with that buffet...But if I can't then there will be another one for sale instead.  There that will make someone happy!

See anything you might like?  Don't forget, October 12 & 13th.  The info. is on the side bar and up on the top buttons.

And for some more immediate fun, NJ & Co. is hosting another Ladies Night Out with food and beverages on Thursday.  They will be open until 8:00 for shopping.  I just put some new pieces in up there, and the other ladies are getting in a ton of new Fall items!  There is some seriously gorgeous stuff in the shop right now!  Tell them Debbie sent you!

Hope you all are enjoying the gorgeous Fall weather!
Deb

Some Zinc on the side

Earlier this summer I saw a piece at The Salvage Collection that very much appealed to me.  Amy is a very creative soul and I love following her blog and seeing how she transforms her pieces.  In other words, "she's a GENIOUS"!  You definitely need to hop over there for a visit if you have never been before.  In addition to being very creative, she is an extremely witty writer.  In the link above she created a "faux Zinc" technique on a pretty chest.  I fell in love with the idea of trying it out.  And with her blessing, and following her tutorial I finally found a piece to try it out on.

 

 

TA DA!

 

It is a very simple process really.  And that's what I like...simple process, big results.

I'll let you check out Amy's blog for the steps, but I will say that Annie Sloan's Graphite works beautifully for your base coat.

I just love that subtle shimmer.

 

 

My Zinc attempt is not quite as bright and light as Amy's but I am overall very pleased with the results.  I may or may not go back over it again to lighten it up.  I also love that any flaws in the finish only add to the texture of the process.

I finished my side table off with some square mercury glass knobs, which I have been dying to use on the right piece.

 

I definitely would love to make another Zinc piece like this for my home.  Thank you so much Amy for sharing your talents with us!

 

A huge Thank you to Crafty in Canada for nominating me for a "One Lovely Blog" award!!

I've been remiss in passing on the award, but know that I am truly grateful and feel blessed to have been chosen.  I can give you the 7 things about me though!

 

1.  Being married to a retired Army officer leaves me still feeling the itch to move every couple of years.

2.  I'm the oldest, I can get bossy really fast.

3.  I'm more of a "get er done" gal than a stop and ponder gal.

4.  I make up crazy songs at the drop of a hat.  It now embarrases my teenagers, and makes tasks easier for my almost 7 year old.  Either way it makes me smile more.

5.  I'm a "phase" cooker.  Sometimes I have a LOVE it phase and other times...not so much!

6.  I can not seriously remember a time in my life that I wasn't busy doing something creatively. 

7.  I am quite the "Pollyanna", always have been/always will be.  If you know what that means then you know my age.  If not, then you'll have to check Wikipedia to see what it means. 

 

Have a super week!

Deb

 

Linking to these FANTASTIC parties!:

 







http://primitiveandproper.blogspot.com/2012/09/poww-104-furniture-link-party.html

 

http://elizabethandco.blogspot.com/2012/09/be-inspired-features-and-link-party-35.html



Sit-Stay

I'm working on a project that is taking a bit longer to get the details taken care of so I thought I'd give you a fairly quick finish done a few weeks back to tide you over.
No before because I just randomly plucked this chair out and started immediately one morning.  But imagine a 1966 special order (the tag with fabric swatch was still attached on the bottom), pickled oak chair with avacado green pleather.  After a coat of AS Primer Red, a top coat of AS Old Ochre, and a coat of CeCe Caldwell's clear wax (love it) this is what you've got. 

I've had this fabric on hand for a long time, but I thought I'd give this chair a little shabby cottage look that would work in lots of rooms. 

Some distressing added.

And there you have it.  Sometimes a girl just needs a nice, quick, straightforward piece to work on!
For all the locals, I am almost finished updating the Pieces for Sale page.  You can find the button at the top of the blog and take your time browsing.  All of these items are for sale all the time, you don't have to wait for the next Prairie Market if you need it now!  Just give me a call or shoot me an email.
Thanks!  Have a great Monday!
Deb

Checkmate

Now if I were really clever, or well rested...whatever, I would have had the Queen up here when I did the photos for this post.  But I hadn't thought of the title at that point, and I didn't drag up all the pieces, and, and, and.  Gads I'm tired today!

Anyway, I bought this table at a thrift store after having been on the lookout for a small coffee table that might make a cute chess table.  This one really fit the bill.  Square, quality made, good condition, recessed top, perfectly square 24x24 recessed top.  Which makes all that math so nice and easy when you need to create a chess/checkerboard top!  Whew, what a break.  It took me forever, mostly because I hemmed and hawed about color.

I ended up using Annie Sloan's French Linen as a top coat and based it in Annie Sloan's Arles.  I knew that I wanted to distress it back and really let an unddercoat show through.  I am loving these two colors together I tell you.

They play nice.  So, lots of tape, a smidge of math, bits of sanding, and both clear and dark wax made it all come together. 

This cute fabric is lining the drawer waiting on it's chess and checker pieces.  Isn't that fun fabric?

I did bling up the wooden handle with some gold Rub n Buff to make it stand out a bit.  This piece had such clean, classic lines I think it worked perfectly for my chess table plans.  I see many a game night in it's future! 

Thanks for stopping by, more coffee table and side table finishes to come!
Have a super weekend!
Deb
Linked to:
http://missmustardseed.com/2012/02/furniture-feature-friday-a-link-party/
http://elizabethandco.blogspot.com/2012/02/features-and-be-inspired-link-party-6.html
http://primitiveandproper.blogspot.com/2012/02/piece-of-work-wednesday-furniture-link_14.html

Restored & Distracted

I'll have to make this short and sweet today and I'll tell you why.  Well, I'll show you first.

A little, bitty, 8 week old adorable tyrant named Pepper has moved in.  She wants to snuggle, she wants me to play with her like her litter mates used to, she wants to climb up me.  She makes it tough to get much accomplished, but she makes my heart happy. 

Luckily before we got Pepper I managed to work on and complete a buffet.  Remember this 1930's era buffet?

She was so, so sad.  Her top veneer was totally wrecked, well, really all of of her veneer was a total mess.  Some of her trim pieces were missing.  The drawer glides were so worn down that the drawers no longer lined up well enough to close correctly.  But what was there had such pretty detail.  I imagine this once was a stunning piece.  So, we reworked the glides, patched the veneer, sanded a lot, used Kwik Wood to replace a couple of missing swirls.  Thank you Annie Sloan for Chalk Paint!  Here she is today,

in all her Duck Egg/Old White loveliness.  We decided to celebrate her imperfections and pretty much used 1 coat of duck egg so we could distress her quite a bit.  The top was no longer stainable so it got the same treatment.  I love the contrast on the details.

Duck Egg is absolutely one of my favorite colors.  This piece will be for sale at the Prairie Pickers & Peddlers Market here in Omaha. 

I'm hoping she appeals to someone, but if not she sure is appealing to me. 

Have a super week!  I'm off to snuggle little Pepper for a bit!
Deb
Linking to:
http://missmustardseed.blogspot.com/2011/09/furniture-feature-friday-favorites-link_22.html
http://redoux.blogspot.com/2011/09/friday-redoux-link-up-party-22-and-les.html