Secretarial Desk

I just finished this Beautiful Desk!  

I sanded the top down and stained it with Dark Walnut and sealed it up with a poly.  

I love how rich it makes the wood and desk look!

I added oil rubbed bronze hardware to help bring the dark rich color down!

The Desk is painted in Gray Moire By Pratt and Lambert and I accented the moldings with White Dove By Benjamin Moore.  I love how the White Dove really accents the moldings!

You know how they say you are always learning?  That was defiantly the case with this desk!

I got it all sanded down, sprayed the primer on and this is what it looked like...AHHHH the wood is bleeding through the primer.  I usually use a Latex Primer because I like the way it goes on and the clean up is much better.  But, when something, whether is is paint, wood, lettering etc bleeds an oil primer is needed.  (If you use an Oil Based Primer it is still bleeding try using a shellac Primer.)

After I used an Oil based primer this desk painted beautifully!  I couldn't be happier with how it turned out.

This Desk is for sale and is a bit smaller than I have in my Living Room, but I would work great to float in the middle a a room!

It is that time of YEAR!!

For furniture done and ready to go check out my Furniture for Sale tab at the top of the page!!!

Painted Floors

I have always loved the look of painted floors.  However I didn't love cleaning my white painted floor, it seemed like as soon as I finished scrubbing the floor someone came to the door and tracked dirt in.

  So, I added some camouflage!

It was super easy to paint too, granted it is a small space which makes it much easier!  When I first pulled off the tape, I was worried...

I got my sander out and really antiqued them!  After I got them sanded down to where I wanted them I put a poly over to protect the floor!

It did just what I wanted it to do...hide the dirt!!!!

TTFN

Brooke

Pretty in Pink

Half of the BEFORE!!!

 After I finished my baby's Dresser, my other daughter really wanted a dresser with a mirror too!  When I found this dresser I knew it was fit for a Princess!!

She even picked her colors in her words, "Mom, I want it pink, dark white, and then should we wax it?"  LOL she is a mini me in training!

I love all the fun craftsmanship of this dresser.  I painted all the details a different color to really show off the craftsmanship!

 

I glazed all the cracks to really bring out the fun lines.  For my glaze I used Martha Stewart's Metallic glaze from Home Depot.  I had never used this glaze before, but I really liked it.  I used a brush and applied it to the specific area I wanted to stand out, like this leg.  Once I brushed the glaze on I wiped the excess off with a baby wipe, leaving the glaze only in the cracks!

Once everything was dry I sealed it all up with a Polyacrylic.  It is a more durable product, hopefully it can withstand my daughter who thinks all of our furniture is a jungle jim!

TTFN

Brooke

Mirror Turned Chalkboard

So, here is an almost before picture!  LOL, Why do I always forget to take before pictures?  Oh yeah, because I get so excited to PAINT!!

This mirror sat in my garage for a long time because I didn't know what to do with it.  

I wanted to really show off the fun designs as well as update and make it a focal point to any home!

And then the mirror spoke to me, "why not make me a chalkboard!"

I had originally planned on selling this chalkboard.  I got it decorated and staged real cute for pictures.  When my husband came home he said, "I really like that chalk board."  I replied, "don't get too attached I am selling it."  He doesn't ever say much about the furniture and items that go in and out of the house but he gave me that look, I knew he really liked it so it will stay, for now!  I actually really love this chalkboard so I am glad it is staying!

Want to convert your old mirror to a chalk board?  It is EASY!

All you need is Primer and Chalkboard paint!!
Prime your mirror once dry paint with chalkboard paint!
And of course ENJOY!!!

TTFN

Brooke

Refinished Queen Headboard

A few weeks ago my daughter and I found this beautiful bed at a garage sale!  So of course I forgot to take before pics, so I will describe it.  The frame was all wood, and the upholstery was pleather.  It wasn't in bad shape is just needed some personality! 

I love how the details pop when they are a different color.  The bed frame is painted in a gray/blue with white underneath so when I sanded the Gray/Blue the white showed through.  The designs are painted in White Dove by Benjamin Moore.  I don't have a name for the gray, it was a mistake paint at Ace!

To paint this bed I used the dry brushing technique (tutorial here). 

I re upholstered this bed and I love how it gives the bed the perfect Vintage feel!

This bed is for sale if you are interested please check my "Furniture for Sale" tab at the top of the page.

TTFN

Brooke

Antique, Vintage or Used Furniture...

Last night my husband and I were looking through the classifieds and couldn't help but notice the words "Antique and/or Vintage" in at least half of the listings titles.  It seemed if one of these words were in the title the price was much higher.  We found ourselves wondering,  "what truly makes a piece Antique and/or Vintage and why am I paying more money for it?"

I got online today to check it out.  I had an idea in my mind but I wanted to make sure what I was thinking was indeed accurate.

Let's start with the easy one, Antiques.

I am sure when most of you, like myself, hear the word antique we automatically assume it is old!  Which is correct, but the question is how old does it have to be??  100 years old!
I hope I am never that old, but if I am I think earned the title of Antique, I would be valuable then right? (in the money valuable way)
There is a little catch though, antiques should be in their original form and in no way altered.   If something is truly an Antique it can be more expensive.

Now for Vintage (it is a little tricky)

The actually definition of Vintage Furniture is furniture that is characterized by maturity, excellence, and enduring appeal.  Most websites agreed vintage furniture is at least 25 years old.  However there did seem to be a board view of what Vintage really is.  

I found an awesome website, The Finer Times.  If you like antiques and collectibles you need to check it out.  I believe they gave the best definition, "The word “vintage” is properly defined as something of high quality that demonstrates styles of the past." 
Just because something is "Vintage" does not always warrant a higher price tag.

As for Used Furniture

If it doesn't fit into one of the following 2 categories then yes, it is JUST used furniture.  That isn't a bad thing though.  A lot of my furniture I refinish falls in to this category, mainly because it is in great shape and it doesn't have a large price tag.  For someone like me I am more interested in fun lines, how it functions, restoring and resell.  I am not a collector so the higher price tag scares me away.  

There you have my take on Antique, Vintage, and Used Furniture.  
I hope this helps you in your search /selling of furniture. 

Sorry there are no pictures....what is a blog post with out pictures right???

TTFN

Brooke

Painted Suitcase

I could start this post out with I LOVE OLD SUITCASES, but I seem to start every post out like that so we will just skip that part tonight.  But you can assume the statement is true! :)

Here and there I run across some awesome suitcases that I would never want to paint over, however there are a few that defiantly need a face lift.  That is where I come in!

This suitcase is pretty blah right...well we can fix that!!!

How about with a little Duck Egg Blue!!  Oh the power of paint!!!

This little table was needing a pop of color and I believe this suitcase did just that!

I can't leave out the silver 1847 tea set from Lost and Found in Bountiful!  I have always wanted one and when I saw it I do believe my mouth started watering!  Isn't she a beauty.

So if you want your own suitcase to paint here is a few tips...

Hard suitcases are best

I used Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint so I didn't have to prime 

Consider using 2 colors to accent some of the suitcases natural lines

HAVE FUN!!!

TTFN

Brooke

PS I have had A LOT of questions lately, which I enjoy, it makes me feel important!  However most of them come from NO REPLY BLOGGERS!!  If you don't know if you are a no reply blogger or not please leave your email address so I can answer your question.  If I haven't answered your previous question it is probably because I can't :(

TV Cabinet Transformed

Before:

I was in Salt Lake on my way to a store when I saw signs for an Estate Sale.  I didn't have kids with me so I decided to follow the signs.  

After I found the sale I started looking around when one of the gentlemen in charge started talking to me.  I told him I was looking for furniture to refinish, when he heard that he started showing me all of these different pieces and then we came to this beauty.   I loved the lines and all the details.  His grandmother love this piece and had taken amazing care of it!  I don't think there was a scratch on the thing!  I was a little hesitant to buy this piece as I had never taken anything on like this before.  After much deliberation I decide "What the Heck!"  I paid for the piece and we loaded it into my truck.

To take this piece apart took more than I anticipated.  It amazes me how well furniture was built!  My brother came over and helped me get all the gadgets out!  After it was all hollowed out the fun began, actually taking it apart was lots of fun too!!

Now for the AFTERS!!!!

This is a very versatile piece, it could be so many things:

Buffet

TV Stand

Dresser

Laundry room organizer....Let me explain!

Where the record player and tuner used to be are now big deep bins which could be used for anything, blankets, dishes, DIRTY CLOTHES, games etc

This piece is for sale, if you are interested please see my "Furniture for Sale" Page!

TTFN

Brooke

Old Door Turned Coffee Table!!

I really have an old door addiction!  Can a girl have too many doors?  (well my husband believes so!!)

I just finished this Old Door Coffee table!  This is a REAL old door, probably an old storage door or something similar.  Since this door is smaller than our average door it makes the perfect top to a coffee table!

The door still has all of it's original hardware on it!  

I built the base for this table it is nice and sturdy!!  I painted the base a creamy color, distressed it and went over it with stain to help age the look of the base.  

 I lightly sanded down the door so the yellow would show through, I didn't want to ruin the character of this door too much so I left much of it original!  I did wax it to help preserve the look! 

This table is for sale!  If you interested please click on my "Furniture for Sale" page on the top of the page

TTFN

Brooke