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A whole lot of painting going on...

 

Way back yonder I dragged this steal of a deal home from an antique store. It was painted a lemony yellow...not a color that will blend with my new decorating direction.

First coat of the Annie Sloan chalk paint in Old White applied...several more steps to go before she's finished. Didn't even use a drop cloth!!! Please don't tell my hubby...he's away on a business trip which is why I can get away with such antics.

He's a rule follower....big time. I know I give him headaches. A lot.

 

When he starts a project, he sticks with it until its completed.

Me? Well...here's a good example. Paint swatches randomly slapped on our walls have graced our abode for longer than I want to admit. {but on a redeeming note, i've made my decision and the paint is in the garage waiting for the painters to come. the painters i haven't hired yet, that is...}

I needed time to think about it. Plus, the wheels in my brain spin constantly. And before the ideas disappear I sort of need to mark my spot. That way I'll have a visual reminder of what I was thinking about earlier.  

Let me illustrate...midstream while painting the hutch, I wondered in my spinning brain if I should paint out the two curio cabinets in the dining room as well.

So I just slapped a little of the Old White Annie Sloan paint on one of 'em just to take my idea for a test run, so to speak.

 
Thankfully I like the way it will look with the dining room chairs I'm painting out. So what was my plan B if plan A didn't work? I don't know. My brain spinners never got that far..........LOL!

What I won't show you, is that in this same room, there is a wall filled with paint swatches in various shades of muted/frenchy/robin eggs blue...the new color direction for this room.

Some {all?} of you are horrified right now, aren't you? Don't be. It always works out. Usually. Just ask my dolly friend who lives in the curio cabinet I randomly slapped some paint on as stood idly by watching... 

And often times during this latest painting spree, I'll head up to my art room and go to class.

 
My recently cleaned up table is now back to its messy usual self. But that's okay because I am thoroughly ENJOYING Christy Tomlinson's She Art online class. Fun. Fun. Fun.

 
I adore her style...and her videos are so well done...for my first attempt, I'm using an 11x14 canvas board I just happened to have in my stash.

 
There are still lots more layers and techniques that will be applied before I'm finished with this board. I just happen to have a frame that will work perfectly for this canvas...

...and you guessed it....it needs to be painted first.

But I always put down protective covering when I'm painting frames. I mean, duh. Did you think I didn't know any better?!!

Are you a rule follower, bender, ignorer, or a hybrid mix? Pray for me, okay?!

Xo, Sue

 

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

 
I first read about this paint on Miss Mustard Seed's blog. Oh my....

No sanding, no primer, no nothing needed before you paint a piece of furniture. Seriously? Even over varnish? Even over varnish.

After watching this video on her blog about waxing versus using a poly sealer I placed my orders for a few cans of the paint, two kinds of wax and the special waxing brush you see in my photo above...on this link she talks a little more about the paint and places to order it.

 But even if you're not in the market to paint some furniture, her blog is very inspiring! You might even discover after visiting that you now NEED to paint some furniture.

 
As soon as I opened the box of paint, I could hardly wait to try it out. Right in the middle of my floor. [not recommended by anyone who knows better] Sanding the piece for distressing purposes in the middle of your house is an even worse idea. Naturally....I did this too. Just once....never again!!!!! 

 
One dining room chair down...

 
...seven more to go...not to mention several other pieces I plan to tackle. The bids to have everything refinished by a pro was going to be a lot...

 
But it was obvious something needed to be done... Let's just call this style of distressing "puppy love".... Most of our chairs look as if we raise beavers inside our house!!! Grrrrr.... But our little puppy has grown up now and no longer chews furniture....thank goodness.

 
The cream colored paint from the Annie Sloan line after adding some wax matched my corner cabinet in the kitchen just beautifully. I painted part of one chair to test it out. That's the beauty of this paint...even after waxing it {or applying poly} if you don't like it, just paint over it.

Sadly enough, puppy did a number on all of those chairs too. One puppy with sharp teeth left unattended for even three minutes can inflict unbelievable damage.

But somewhere over the course of last week in all of my decorating scheming, I decided to go another direction with the chairs.

 
I ordered these........! One meal of spaghetti with a pack of teenage boys will let me know rather quickly whether I made a huge mistake. The old chairs will find a new home and purpose in our basement.

Incidentally, you can use this paint to make chalkboards too....check out the Annie Sloan website to see all the colors available. Or mix a couple of colors for your own custom color.

Wishing you all a wonderful week of living creatively!

Choosing paint colors...

 
The dreaded task of choosing new paint colors for our interior walls has come to visit me. I've saved notes, collected paint swatches for some time but the perfect shade of a deeper, richer taupe/brown/neutral is eluding me. Either too much of a pink hue, or too much green, or not dark enough, or....

And, no! None of the colors found on the ends of my old mill spools are in the running...I just love the looks of them all gathered together as they currently sit in my art room. I'm removing the vintage trims I had wound around them because I've come up with a different storage solution for those...more on that in another post.

 
One thing's for sure though...I'm going to need to repaint! Scattered throughout the house are swatches of paint colors I've slathered on the walls in gobs of places. I'm liking this color up close (and how it appears in the photo)...but from far away (and in real life), in addition to the combo of our high ceilings and lots of windows, it gets washed out. Just doesn't add the warmth I'm looking for... 

 
As and added bonus, I was lucky enough to have the oldest son spend some time sanding down our breakfast table chairs. Or chair. Several hours later, one done, five more to go.

 Take a peek at the chewed up rung on the chair to the right. "Puppy love"...woof woof! Since Sophie {our doggie} is almost two, and has "matured" beyond the I-must-eat-only-the-good-furniture stage, I think it's now safe to repair or replace the pieces upon which she's placed her chewing signature.

  Yes indeed, time to step it up from the beaver chewed look to something more along the lines of this...

 

 The corner cabinet in the photo is a recent nab at a steal of a price from a dealer at the Scott Antique Market that comes to Atlanta once a month.

 
A shot of the top of the cabinet...isn't the detailing wonderful?

Even hubby loved the painted look and the warmth that it oozes... so much so, that he is trying to convince me to have our {GULP} cherry kitchen cabinets painted out as well... 
What a job though...not one I'd tackle myself. I would hire it out. What do you think? Would you?! On one hand, it seems horrible to paint over cherry wood...on the other hand, as my DH answered that question..."Happiness is worth a lot too..."

He's got a point. Sort of. Happiness may not be the right word. But still....I think we'll sit tight for the time being and when all is finished with the other phases of this redecorating project, we'll take another look at it. In other words....mull it over. After all, I'm an expert at that activity!

Buying time... {Mentionable Giveaways & Free Image}

...does anybody know where I can buy more time?

Oh, if only it were that easy. No doubt the line would be long and the scuffles in the store would make for some great comedy show episodes.

Well, sometimes TIME is for sale...and these are two of my most recent "time" purchases. I found them both at the Scott Antique Market this month. 

And speaking of good finds...

Look what I dragged home from an antique store. It's not antique...and it's not in any color {lemon yellow} that matches my decor...but look at all those yummy curves, details, and frenchy-style to this piece. And the best parts? It is in mint, like-new condition...a high end piece of furniture with a low end price tag on it. Pennies on the dollar for what it originally cost...my kind of deal.

Love the hardware...a creamy white distressed finish...Which is exactly the type of paint job that will eventually be given to this piece...............

I think I mentioned that we are going to "re-fluff" the nest a bit. Partly because it needs some updating and also to FINALLY repair/replace furniture that our 22 month old Lab chewed to pieces during her puppy months. GRRRRRR....

Not sure if I'll tackle this one myself or pay someone to do it. Time will tell...

And while we are on the topic of TIME, there's still time to enter these two wonderful giveaways by two darling bloggers. 

Patty at THE MAGPIE'S NEST is a Virginia cutie-pie who is celebrating having posted in excess of one thousand two hundred posts..........whew. That girl has her fingers in every sort of artful adventure known to man and has such a creative spirit! {and a sweetheart of a person to boot!} She's offering up three of her beautiful wool felted heart pendants. Click here to enter the drawing! I've thoroughly enjoyed having met Patty through blogging many months ago.

Linda at Linda Jo's Obsessions is a Texas cutie-pie who is celebrating 500 posts! As we all know, everything is bigger in Texas so she's stretching her party over five days. Each day this week she'll be showcasing yet another giveaway! So far there's a copy of Tracie Lynn Huskamp's beautiful book NATURE INSPIRED, a darling little embellished notepad and a gorgeous lace heart. I've recently become familiar with Linda Jo's blog and she has the most deeee-lightful sense of humor and has lots of artsy adventures going on as well.

Go visit both for the prizes but stay for the inspiration....

Here's a photo of my large clock face I'll share with those of you who collect old images for your artwork. Please feel free to save it to your computer for your own personal use. This girl was way too big for the scanner bed...

The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen all at once.  ~Albert Einstein {What? My life feels like living proof that it can all happen at once...I see you nodding your head in agreement!}

Xo, Sue 

 Credits: Textured onlays from Kim Klassen's collection
 

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.