Welcome Spring!

I've been feeling creative lately.  I don't know if it's the fresh air coming in through open windows, the amazing colors of spring popping up in our yard and all around me or just knocking the cobwebs of winter off but it feels so good.  Wanted to share just a little of what I've been up to in the painted furniture area recently.

Pretty disappointed I've somehow lost the before pictures so just a little after today on the first two projects.  Little girl's rocker is so sweet.  Started out dark wood with lots of nicks and scratches but now it's cotton candy pink.

    

Still trying to decide if this once ashtray stand is now a plant stand or large candlestick?  I like it with a glass hurricane on top.  Great farmhouse yellow color and screams Spring!

Don't let the photo fool you it stands about 3 feet high

Tried out a new method of a paint & primer together then finished by distressing and glazing with a dark stain.  Really liked how much it speed up the process because the worst part of this hobby is the wwwwaaaaiiiiiitttttting for paint to dry. 

My mom found this footstool for $2 at a garage sale (which was the ugliest before photo and of course I found this one)  Adorned the gloves to disassemble the nasty material and padding but with just a little paint and half a yard of new fresh fabric it's pretty fabulous!

I'll use any excuse not to Spring clean and these little projects have worked so far!

Another desk????

Hi my bloggy friends!  It's been awhile.  I planned to take some time over Christmas to reflect and that rolled into January and re-evaluating my priorities.  Here I am today with a new perspective on my mission as a wife and mother and how I can use my time to turn our home into a haven...that's why I started blogging right?  To keep me on task with projects and such.  That's still true I just need to make sure I always have it in the right order:

1) Quiet time developing a relationship with my Savior Jesus Christ.

2) Being a wife to my amazing hubby.

3) Always being intentional with the awesome kids God has entrusted to me.

4) Everything else.

Okay, there is a ton of "everything else" and I could probably write about that a lot more but you get the idea. 

I did do a little something besides reflecting in January.....

That's right another desk.  My mom hauled this to me from a garage sale in Salina.  It's a laminate student desk but the really cool part was the bookcase/cork board hutch that attached above it.  There's even a light above the cork board.

It had been well used and abused.  The previous owner really didn't like somebody named Sasha and used a marker to declare that all over the cork board.

Because it's laminate I put two coats of primer on it to make sure the paint would stick.

Then two coats of paint that were meant to be a soft gray.  The problem was it ended up being the same blue color of the primer!  I went round & round with the paint.  Adding black to make it more gray, paint a drawer, add more black, paint another drawer.  The desk and I played this game together for multiple coats of paint until I finally made a compromise.  Not as gray as I intended but no longer more blue than gray.  Lastly, two coats of poly because I really intend for my kids to use this for homework and play.  I also reused the hardware just spray painted them with a hammered nickel I had on hand.  Really updated their look.

I added some material to the back of the bookcase and a cut out above the hutch for character. 

 Then finally recorked the cork board.....we don't hate Sasha at our house!!  Abby likes to do homework here and even Aidan has claimed a drawer for his flash cards.

I'm blessed to have a mom who likes to "junk" as much as I do so she bought the desk for next to nothing.  I put in about $5.00 in material, $10.00 in cork board & $10.00 in paint supplies for a total of about $25.00 for this amazing desk!!

Nightstand Take 2

Remember a couple of weeks ago when I painted and used the tea cart from my Grandma as a nightstand in the guest bedroom?  Well, the other side of the bed was feeling kinda of lonely so I put together another nightstand....actually this one was started quite awhile ago but like most projects it kinda of stalled out and is getting jump started again this week.

Several months ago while shopping at Joanie's Junk (yes - that place again & I promise a full post dedicated entirely to the store and the amazing Joanie soon but not today..I know... I'm sorry)  I spied three vintage suitcases.  We stacked them on the floor and it dawned on me they could be a nightstand for the guestroom.  However, three was just too tall so I nixed one suitcase and picked up this low bench instead.

When put together they are the perfect height for a nightstand.  A coat or two of white paint and a little distressing occurred then added the suitcases.  Ta Da!!

Don't let it get past you that the trim on the bottom suitcase is the exact same color as the walls....just happened....but I just LOVE details like that!

So to finish it up I'm shopping for just a little lamp to add a modern touch.  Not sold on this lamp so it's going back to Target but threw it in for the pic.  The pillow is there to show you the accent color I'm using and hope to put some of it up behind the nightstand in wall art.  The muted orange is gorgeous and again adds some modern to contrast all the rustic I have going on here.

It's a little funky, not every one's definition of beautiful but I REALLY like it (Abby doesn't) so it will stay for awhile and when the mood strikes get taken apart and moved to new places in our haven.

Grandma's Tea Cart

Some projects hang around for a few days, a couple of weeks or even months.  This one has been with us for almost 13 years.  Not long after my Grandma Taddiken went to be with our Heavenly Father my mom brought me a tea cart.  She said that before Grandma passed she made sure my mom knew it was for me.  I was getting married in 3 months and I like to think that Grandma knew I would someday like a piece of furniture like this for my home with my future husband (who she had met and liked almost as much as I did).  Mom thinks Grandma probably got it out of her parents’ home because my great-grandfather was a woodworker and had projects like this in his shop.  Maybe he got it at an auction and had plans for it, we’ll never know for sure, but I like the fact that my Grandma wanted me to have it.

Over the past thirteen years we have moved a couple of times and rearranged storage spaces probably dozens of times.  Each of these has brought up the question of what to do with the tea cart?  Bob patiently waits while I think about it then tell him to put it back where he found it or find a new space for it even when we really didn’t have room.  I’m not the most sentimental person about belongings but I make an exception for this piece every time. 

We recently finished a guest room in the basement and the tea cart found a home.  I realized it would be a great night stand and when I need it for something else around the house it would be easy to get to.  I finally went to work on it a couple of weeks ago.  I decided to finish it in white paint then distress it since it is older.

 

Two coats of paint and some sandpaper got us to this point.  I distressed it once then lived with it for a couple of days before deciding it needed more distressing.  It’s now FINISHED and in the guestroom.

 I really like the look of mixing rustic with modern and since the guestroom is painted in a blue-gray that lends to modern it's the perfect marriage of the two especially then adding a modern lamp. (Please forgive the poor photo quality AGAIN!  The room paint really is blue/gray and not digny like it appears here! The room is in the basement, it's cloudy outside and I'm ready for a nap) 

My grandma probably wouldn’t understand why I spent a couple of hours painting the tea cart to then sand the paint off but I know she would love the fact that I love it and am using it in my home.

Miss you Grandma…

Sneak Peek

I'm keeping it short today because I get to pack for a fun weekend!  I have numerous projects going on right now but the big one hanging over my head is this AMAZING desk that Bob brought home a couple of weeks ago.  Gasp!  Yes, Bob brought it home and it doesn't have anything to do with "his" garage.  I'll give you the full story when it's done (fingers crossed) because it's pretty great.  From the little bit of research I did it was made in Chicago sometime between 1950-1970.  The most charming part is it's a dual desk which also means it's huge!  Basically two desks put together with drawers for two and everything.  It's been well loved and used but that means I am drawn to it even more.

The not so great part is how my big mouth has me freaking out a little about finishing it.  The other night Bob, one of our neighbors and I were admiring the desk which takes up the third stall of our garage.  Someone asked when are you going to have it finished?  I think my exact words were "I'll have it done and in the office by October 1st."  As I said it I was cringing inside.  Did that really just come out of my mouth???  Next week I dive into the cleaning, repairing and sanding of this beauty.  Meanwhile, what do you think about paint?  White, black or something totally different?

Have a GREAT weekend!!