Monday, April 30, 2012

Dresser - Refinished.

The dresser is finished! Some harder than anticipated work but quite the transformation if you ask me. Originally, it was painted a creamy white and was in need of a makeover.


 Since it was going into the bedroom I've been working on, I wanted to freshen it up a bit. I gave it a coat of a deep grey paint (Debbie Travis Jet Set). While I loved the color, the paint didn't seem to want to dry. You can read about those troubles here.


After several botched attempts to save my paint job, we ultimately decided the best thing to do what to strip the paint. Right down to the bare bones. I ended up really enjoying this part. Dousing it in stripper, patiently waiting for it to bubble, then scraping off all that sticky goodness. 




Next, we shipped it off to my dad, who is the master of refinishing around these parts. We thought we had done all the prep work and just had to patiently wait for the call saying it was done. Not the case. The dresser was in fact pine, a wood my father chooses not to work with very often. In order for it to sand properly, you must scrape it well to reveal the bare wood. Stephane and I headed over one Saturday afternoon and went to work. After all, we did promise to do all the dirty work! The hardest part was stopping every five minutes to sharpen our scrapers.

In the process, we found an inscription on the bottom of a drawer by "Heath and Mildred, 1924". Kinda of fun! So we added our own names too:)


This is becoming a long post. Bear with me! Dad got to work sanding and adding the stain (Special Walnut). Here it is prior to varnish.


Here is the dresser all finished and in the room. We added glass knobs to the drawers and I love the touch of sparkle they add to the piece. 



I absolutely love painted furniture but sometimes it feel good to bring something back to it's original beauty. I'm quite happy with it! Thanks so much for your help, Dad! 

I can't wait to style it up. I'll be back with an update!

Linking up to:

Thursday, April 26, 2012

What I Love Most About My Home.


Yesterday, I was happy participate in the series {Send me a Picture} at Emily A. Clark's blog. This month's photos were of what you love most in your home. Along with five other bloggers, I shared a glimpse of my  own favorite part: the bookcase. It also reminded me that I should share some updated photos of the bookcase, since my first attempt.

Emily is an interior decorator and momma of three children, with twins on the way in a few weeks! Her home is beautiful and she continues to make it more so everyday. Here are a couple of her recent project that I adore.



You can check out the series and the rest of Emily's beautiful blog here!

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Lusting.

I will forever love whomever can find me this rug in Canada. I've been lusting over it for a while now and unfortunately Rugs USA does not ship to Canada.. boo.. Who woulda thought? Ha:)


It comes in different colorways. I adore the pink but think that perhaps it might be to much for the man in the house, even as cool as he is! The price is right, size works, and it would inject that perfect pop of color my living room is crying out for. But alas, we Canadians often suffer the disappointment of having our hopes dashed as we read the fine print in the shipping info.

Check out some inspiration rooms that have me lusting.



Upon searching, I came upon a DIY version which is quite lovely. Something to think about, I suppose.


So.. anyone have a source? Like I said, I promise to love you forever.

Not that you care, but it's the least  I can do:)

 

Monday, April 23, 2012

In Honor of Earth Day.

*** Forgot to post this yesterday so I'm a day late:)

I'm not much of a green fan when it comes to home decor. It's not that I dislike it, but I'm definitely more drawn to shades of blues and grey. In fact, once upon a time, I painted my office green and promptly painted a soft shade of blue-grey within 24 hours! Lesson learned, always look at your floors when considering paint colors... against the green paint they looked orange!

In honor of Earth day, I'm rounding up some use of green in home decor that I could definitely live with. Yes, I know that's not what going green is suppose to mean but let's just pretend.. I missed out on the St. Patty's day post. Ha!

I looove this mirror paired with the green chest of drawers.
Source: goo.gl via Rowan on Pinterest

Did someone say ombre? This is one trend I can't get enough of.



I know it's just a pop of green but just when I think I'm over chevron prints, I see this and I love it all over again. What a great mix of pattern and color!


Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Jane on Pinterest

Beautiful light, table, white space and ahhh... those green chairs can come home with me any day.

I think my Dad is going to finish up the dresser in the next couple of days so I hope to share some more shots of the bedroom makeover this week! Plus, we really need to get going on the dining room. So much to do and so little time.. isn't that always the case?

Have a great week everyone!

Friday, April 20, 2012

Happy Friday!


I'm home sick today, fighting a nasty head cold. I mostly snuggled the day away with Beaufort but did get off the couch long enough to powwow with my dad about stain colors for the dresser, play around with the aperture setting on my camera (see my attempt above) and sit outside to enjoy the warm sun.

It's fun walking around the yard every few days to see how the plants are slowly making their appearance. Things are generally slow to green up in Atlantic Canada but this year isn't too bad. I snipped a few branches from the only thing that was blooming any color and slipped them into a vase. Makes me happy:)

Have a great weekend!

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

A Fresh Reno.

For the last while, I've been doing some in-home consultations, which I am quite enjoying. The best part about it is when a client keeps me in the loop of their progress. I absolutely love getting emails with photos of new paint colors, flooring or even a new accessory they've found that works perfectly in the space.

The project I'm sharing with you today has been a fun one for me to follow. Kim invited me to her home, hoping for some help freshening up the color scheme. We chatted paint colors, window treatments, lighting, updating the existing kitchen cabinets and the biggest decision of all - taking down some walls! A few weeks later, I got an email from Kim. Taking down the walls was structurally feasible, so they went ahead and got it done! How's that for motivation?

Here are couple of photos of the space prior to the transformation. It was a separate living room, dining room and kitchen.
View of living room from the dining room.

 The wall between the kitchen and living room.

Front entry.

Before I show you the progress and after pictures, I must say that she and her husband are machines! They did all of this in a matter of a few weeks. Sometimes working into the wee hours while their two little ones were fast asleep. I wish I had that kind of energy.. this girl needs her sleep or she is a big bear! :)

Here are some of the progress shots that she sent me along the way. So exciting!




Here it is with new pot lights in the ceiling and a fresh coat of paint (Benjamin Moore ~ Gray Owl). Looking like completely different space already! I've said it before and I've said it again.. there is nothing like the power of paint!


Are here is how it's looking now. Quite the transformation, if you ask me!

New light and fresh paint in the entry.

They were able to match the flooring and carried it through the whole space. The kitchen cabinets were painted a crisp white and the knobs were replaced with silver pulls on both the drawers and doors.

Next up is a large island between the kitchen and dining room, a light fixture over the table and some window treatments. Personally, I think they should just sit, put their feet and enjoy all their hard work! They certainly deserve it!

Thanks for letting me share today Kim! I was so happy to have helped out, even just a little bit!

Monday, April 16, 2012

Beaufort's Corner.

What do you do when you spy a white ceramic wall hanging that looks just like your sweet little dog's face? You buy it, of course, and figure out what to do with if later.



This is how Beaufort's corner in the back porch was born. All the metal baskets were on clearance at Superstore, so I snagged one of the wall baskets. It hangs by the door and is perfect for leashes, toys and rags for wiping wet paws.



Such a simple little update but it works for us and it's cute.. which is most important, right? :) Have a great week!


Linking up to Serenity Now.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Mini Entry Makeover.

The stripes on the wall in the front entry was a project that was finished in the dead of winter. The little room always seemed to be bright and fresh, reminding me of sunnier days.


Over the weekend, I decided that that little room need some personality. It's not a very big space but I made two small changes. First by hanging a round white mirror on the wall. Remember that mirror? Great check yourself out on the way out and offers a pretty reflection of outside depending on how to look into it


Then for some fresh spring color. I added too pillows to the little bench. There is still I tiny but of room to sit your bum down and put your shoes on! We usually go out the back door so in this case I could make pretty win over functionality:)



Almost forgot. Last time I shot this room, I had to strategically leave out the beautiful light bulb hanging from the ceiling. This time, I can include the little light! We needed something that wouldn't interfere with the door opening. I picked this one up at an antique store for 5 bucks and Steph installed it. I love a good deal!

It took me literally less than 5 minutes to shop around my home and style that little room up. If only the rest of them were so easy!


Linking up to Serenity Now.


Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Sticky Paint Update.

Some of you have been asking for an update on the dresser I painted a couple of weeks ago. In case you missed it, here is a before photo of the dresser. It was nice, solid wood antique piece covered in a layer of creamy white paint.


After some consideration, I decided against painting it my go-to white and selected a dark moody grey with blue undertones (Jet Set ~ Debbie Travis). I loved how it turned out but there was a problem. I used paint that I found in my basement. I have so many cans, from so many projects, that I couldn't remember where it came from. The problem was that the paint didn't seem to want to dry. It remained tacky over several days of waiting. Hmmm.. what next?


I knew there could be several reasons for while this was happening (paint had gone bad, too much colorant in the paint, etc) but I narrowed it down to finding out that the particular line of paint had a history of this. Good to know! :) I turned to my friends in the blogosphere, pleading for some advice. Was there a solution without having to strip it? I was desperate.

Which led to this idea. What about putting a layer of water based varnish on top to seal the paint? Worth a try. Well, it worked, in a sense. It sealed the paint but the moisture did not allow the varnish to dry properly and I had rough white bumps all over the dresser.


I was determined. I'd just sand off the rough spots and now that it was sealed, I could just add one more coat of the paint (mixed in a good paint) and it would be perfect! Right?.. nope. Guess what happens when you sand sticky paint? It just peels right off. {Insert tears of frustration here}

That's when we ended up dragging the dresser out to the shed and doused it in stripper. This was my first experience stripping a piece of furniture and I found great satisfaction in the process. Try to tell me you don't want to get scraping that paint right off!



I think I inherited my interest from my dad. Did I ever tell you he is the master of antique refinishing? Which leads to the next part. All the paint was removed and we gave it a quick sanding all the while realizing that it would be silly to plaster paint over it all over again. So the decision to refinish was born. So much for mulling over paint colors, this dresser is going original! 


So we packed it up and headed to dad's garage. Who am I kidding? He knows what he is doing so why not leave this part to him. I am actually really excited about it. I love painted furniture but it's nice to have some pieces that are real wood. There is something grown-up about it? Plus, I still think it will go perfect in the bedroom makeover. Which is why this problem project all came to be after all!

My Dad is a busy man though and there is lots of sanding to be done before it can be stained and varnished. I'll try to be patient:)