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SPLASHES OF PINK

Welcome to another week of PINK SATURDAY.  Once again, I'm giving you a peek into my "a-work-in-progress" studio. Today's post will feature one of the alcoves I've been filling with little treasures and inspiration. 

Here's a quick look at the area with all its little inclusions and spashes of the color PINK.

There's still some work left to be completed, but a combination of having to travel and some "rain issues" that visited the Atlanta area, have put the project on hold for the time being.

Before I hurry away due to poor internet service, { I'm posting while traveling} I'd like to give special mention to a blog I so enjoyed visiting last week. Take a peek at Posted From Home. And for a listing of all the participants for this week's Pink Saturday, be sure and visit our hostess, Beverly at How Sweet the Sound.  

The Last Time, I HOPE!

Welcome to Pink Saturday! Thank you for taking the time to visit.  Today we are  back in my studio. Slowly, but surely, the work continues of painting furniture, unpacking boxes, organizing  supplies.  I can't wait to have it all finished so I can spend time doing what I truly enjoy...creating.

I've sanded, stripped, painted, varnished, stained, etc. this table I bought for $15 more times than I care to remember. I hope this is the last time.  Just in case you think I change its appearance every other week, I should tell you I've dragged this table with me for the past 20+ years. It was an estate sale find, made of solid oak and very sturdy.

It's newest "redo" includes the carved onlay used to cover the gap from having inserted the table leaf . After a quick sanding, the table recieved a coat of primer, three coats of paint, and a little bit of glazing. And last, I pulled out the sewing machine and turned a king size sheet into a little dressing skirt for the table. Self-sticking velcro strips were used to attach the skirt to the table. It was the perfect solution for allowing me to store supplies underneath.

Hanging just above the table is this shelving unit I made over a year ago from an old picture frame. It too received several coats of new paint. If you look closely, you may notice that I painted the beadboard backing a shy hue of pink.

There are two shelves that will eventually find their way home to this unit. Right now they are drying. So I took the liberty to "fluff" up the table and shelf unit with some pinky items still waiting for a permanent home in my studio. But for now they all agreed to pose for Pink Saturday's post.

Before it slips my mind, for those who visited last week, I meant to tell you that the Sedum Autumn Joy plant is also a wonderful drying flower. Tucked in this old Victorian boot is a sampling of some that I plucked from my garden a week or so ago.

For a complete listing of all the participants in Pink Saturday, head over to Beverly's. She's the hostess who makes this happen each week.

xo

Sue

 

PAINTING FURNITURE

Today was a new beginning of sorts. Another major change in my life. After nearly four years of working from home, today my DH drove to an office...in a big building just outside of downtown Atlanta. I knew it was coming for a long time. But still....

But he was so excited. Like a child who was waiting for his birthday to finally arrive. I felt....lonely, displaced, weird. The house all to myself --well, almost. There's still the four-legged little girl who would like to play every minute of every day.

Wanting to feel like I spent the day doing something worthwhile other than moping about having lost my best buddy to an office building, I grabbed the gallon of primer and a paint brush. With tools in hand I entered my art studio...the one that is still a work-in-progress.

 

By lunchtime, I had this little sideboard finished. It's tucked in an alcove in my new art studio and will eventually house some vintage goodies. So intent was I on keeping busy, that I was nearly half way through the primer coat when I remembered to snap a "before" photo.

Nothing like a little bit of success to spur you on to the next challenge. Hmmm...what should I tackle next? Since the furnishings in my art studio are a mish-mash of  thrift/antique store finds, hand-me-down furniture and what nots, I knew eventually I would try to bring some semblence of cohesiveness to the furnishings {hence, the room} by using paint.

How 'bout this thing? Dare I paint it out? I came up with a lot of reasons not to...but I swallowed hard, shoving those not to reasons aside and began brushing on the primer. 

After all, I reasoned, I could always wipe it off if I changed my mind, say, in the next 10 seconds or so.

That 10 second window came and went and it was soon obvious that a commitment had been made. I was going to paint it out. Time for the dolls and all the other junk sitting on the piece to be moved to safer ground.

While I'm still a little iffy about my decision, I know that once it is finished I'll be happy with it.

 Spurring on my optimism is this four-tiered, rotating utility shelf, if you will, that received a spray painting this weekend.

 My little vintage treasures display much nicer on a lighter background, don't you think? I'm trusting that this will be the case with the big desk unit as well. And come to think of it, maybe everything will work out just fine with this new change of DH working outside the home, as well. In fact, he called me midway through the day still gushing about how excited he is about this new chapter in his life.

Yes, it's been a good day. We were both able to work on something we love doing and see progress being made and a vision coming into focus. Can't ask for much more than that now, can we? Yes indeed, it's been a good day.

 

Country French

Delightful! Inspiring! Charming! And more!

What I'm referring to is the newest edition of Country French Magazine. [Fall/Winter 2009]

 

This photo was featured on the cover of the magazine. The table? A party rental table...the kind you can buy at Sam's Club or a similar retail outlet, for maybe $100+ or so.

I'm not sure where I've been as I am a bookstore junkie and have been known to peruse the magazine displays for as much time as my schedule will allow. But for the life of me, I don't recall ever having seen this magazine before this weekend.

It is loaded with beautiful photographs...lots of inspiration and visually pleasing rooms spanning a multitude of budgets and taste. Being someone who loves fabric and the warmth it adds to a room, the variety of window treatments, slipcovers, and other applications using fabric was right up my alley.

  

In this featured article, the homeowner/shop owner likes to reupholster chairs using anything from drop cloths to feedsacks. Her farmhouse kitchen table is quite delightful as well...a whitewashed, distressed, chippy trestle table with slipcovered chairs [plastic chairs, no less!].  

What I also enjoyed is that the magazine included many homes which were all of a different genre and quite unique in their interpretation of Country French. Each wonderful!  If you're like me, all too often after purchasing a magazine, I feel buyers remorse. There wasn't enough "goodies" to warrant the spend of good cash. But this was not the case with this issue of Country French.

Oh, and how I could I forget to mention this IMPORTANT detail? Save for the first few and last pages of the publication, there is no advertising!!!  What a refreshing change from the norm.  

 

I loved the faux painting in this foyer from a home located in Texas.

 

Or how about this article on a couple who restored this 16th century French house? Oh, if the walls could talk...

 Doing a quick count, there are in excess of 125 photos [144 pgs. in length] featuring different living spaces. In one article they featured a converted barn, in another a 50's home, or a cottage, or a 16th century home and everything in between.

If this is speaking your language, go grab your own copy. I've barely scratched the surface of all that is packed in this wonderful edition! It's one of those magazines [at least this issue as I've not seen previous issues] that you will keep for future reference. Despite the fact that I've paged through, slowly, at least a dozen times, something new pops out at me each time through. It's that kind of magazine. The retail price is $9.99 and worth the spend!

Guest Room Makeover

 

 

Oh baby, I'm feeling it! I'm getting excited with the "coming together" of my guest room makeover. Back in July I posted here about this amazing {to me} headboard. At the time, I wasn't sure where I would be using it, I just knew I would be!

While there's miles to go before I'll be finished {satisfied?} with the final rendition, I'm happy where it's headed. "PRICE" is of utmost concern and I'm gathering pieces I've had forever, as well as a few additions I purchased at thrift and antique stores. All for thrifty prices, of course. For instance, the chest beside the bed...it's an Ethan Allen piece from their discontinued French Country line. Not sure of its original retail price tag, although there is a used one available here that is identical to mine, save that mine is in their painted version which I much prefer for my purposes. Their price tag? $799. Plus the $160 shipping cost.

I paid $150 [in mint condition] and the cost of delivery for me was treating my son and three of his strong friends to a breakfast at I-Hop!

Like many of the things I have throughout my home, the framed print was a snag during our spring break vacation in Florida. The minute I saw it, it spoke to me. The focal point of the print is a white lab. Immediately I knew I could get away with this purchase. You see, my little white lab is the apple of my DH's eye. He loves, loves, loves that pooch. As I was checking out, another customer in the store with this beautiful British accent informed me that the artist of this print was Andrew Wyeth. The name of the print, I later learned, is called Master Bedroom.

But truly, I was initially drawn to the piece because of the gorgeous frame. I love detail and scrumptious patina...

 

To demonstrate this love for patina, take a look at these old stools I bought in Tennessee at an antique store. $35 for the pair. My DH rolled his eyes when he spotted these little treasures. I could read his mind and it was thinking, "she's not bringing these in the house, is she?"

So there you have it...the beginnings of a room makeover. As it evolves, I'll keep you posted [pun intended].