Little Boy Blue

Little boy blue,

Come blow your horn,

The sheep's in the meadow,

The cow's in the corn.

But where is the boy

Who looks after the sheep?

He's under a haystack,

Fast asleep.

 

 

This is the final product of a flip of a builders grade side table. Painted in dry brush technic in a metallic blue paint. Then applied a fun little paper airplane patterned  scrapbook paper. Enjoy!

Jewelry Armoire

 

“ I never worry about diets. The only carrots that interest me are the number of carats in a diamond.” Mae West

I have been on a bit of a girlie kick lately. Probably because I am not that girlie. I have a jewelry box and it has my favorite estate jewelry that I received from my lovely grand-mothers. I am more of a costume jewelry kind of gal. I think it makes the final statement to the piece of clothing.

Here is an auction find that is a pretty common piece. It was a little beat up but nothing like a coat of paint and distressing to make it feel fresh.

Before:

After:

Enjoy!

Stop the Vanity

" Vanity is my favorite sin." Al Pacino

 

 

Before:

 
This picture is the best before picture anyone could ask for in a transformation. Veneer peels and broken scroll work. What I noticed was dark wood and those legs...Oh the legs!
 
Give a little history on dark wood. The wood on this piece is probably not all that dark but the custom was every summer you would put a few pieces on the back porch to shellac them. This was customary in the 1920's and 1930's. After many layers of shellac and the piece became darker and darker.

 

Process picture. This is after sanding, and gluing and repairing. This is the prime coat of off white chalk paint. The drawers are lined with paper that says "I Love You".

 

Knobs...Enough said.

Final coat and ready for mirror. Here are the detail shots.

 

This is a new woman. Ready for a new life.

Blue Headboard

I bought a rustic panel from a restaurant liquidator a few years ago. I cut it in half and mounted it to a couple 1x4's. I never liked the unfinished edge on the top so I used a 1x4 and some other miscellaneous trim to create a top. Nothing matched the top was new wood and the bottom was a lovely patina of restaurant use and old stain. I took a bit of metallic blue paint and dry brushed the panels. I then put a full coat of blue on the top to crown it off. I was hoping for some unity but what I got was a lovely piece that looked like it was finally meant to be together.

The finished look:

 

 

Now I just need to paint that hideous maroon red wall in our bedroom. Ugh. another project.

 

Laundry Humor

Marriage is about the most expensive way for the average man to get laundry done." Burt Reynolds

 

 

My laundry room is a random jumble of storage, misaligned equipment and poorly arranged configuration. It will require more work than I have a budget for right now so this has to be the stopgap until the budget eases a bit. Vintage brass frame with slightly distressed teal chalk style paint.

Little Red Rocker

"Little red Corvette
Baby you're much too fast
Little red Corvette
You need a love that's gonna last" Prince Little Red Corvette

After

 

 

This is a cute little rocker that we have had since Tyler was a bitty. Tyler was never really a baby, he was too big for that. We spent many nights in this rocker finding peace and sleep. So the decision was that it needed a rockin' finish and new owner to fall in love with it.

 



Step one: Degrease and sand.
Step two: Spray Primer on white.
Step three: Bright red enamel applied with a foam brush. This is the key to good solid finish without brush marks. High Gloss Enamel is a finicky paint, you can use flotrol but sometimes that can take the gloss down. So thin coats and lots of patience is what we used here.

So a few coats of red enamel later this is the finished product. with a little pillow I sewed to give it a little punch.

waterfall

"Don't go chasin' waterfalls

Please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you're used to

I know that you're gonna have it your way or nothing at all

But I think you're moving too fast." Waterfalls by TLC.

Cleaning out a space can be a pretty rewarding endeavor for everyone involved. A dear friend of mine decided it was time to find her two car garage. Or at least find one car space in the two car garage. So she asked me to help her clean it out. We found a few treasure this is the story of the waterfall dresser.

The before picture. Look @ those knobs.

 

2 scorch marks. I don't judge, but those candles were really Haaaaht! Just another reason to use protection. Get a coaster man!

 

Step One: Strip! Citrastrip is your friend. 

Hydrogen peroxide on a towel on the scorched area. Leave it on until you get the color you want. Also keep the stain to a minimum.

Then condition your wood always condition your wood! If there is one rule of staining wood conditioner is it.

 
 

First coat of poly is always do or die moment. 

 

Now back to those knobs...

Top: existing

Middle: cleaned

Bottom; rub n buff
 

The "plastic" on the knobs were in perfect condition which is rare. However the metal has seen too many winters in the garage and they were seriously rusted. Enters miracle product, Rub n Buff by AMACO. This stuff is amazing forget spray paining your hardware. This will actually last so much longer and feel better to touch. 

The final reveal:

 

 

I love adding little details like wallpaper as a drawer liner. It just unifies all the drawers and adds that little special touch only the owner knows.

Kitchen Pantry is for growing boys

Our new pantry has become the heart of our home. I have a teenage boy that lives and dies by the pantry. So the worst thing I have heard is there is nothing in the pantry. I then go open the door and immediately understand why. Teenage boys have a depth of field in their vision that extends only so far and their patience to move objects is an undocumented phenomenon. 

It was not exactly shall we say move in ready when we started.

What we couldn't figure out was whether we could fit a full half of an elephant on that top shelf. Then we unstuck the the bottom shelf. Voila!

One last step label everything.

So that it can be identified. Once my son confused pancake mix for powdered sugar. It wasn't pretty.

Hideous Things

“Hideous things, I think it’s important to have a few really hideous things, otherwise it looks like too much ghastly good taste.”  Sir John Richardson

Sometimes we perceive things in our life we see as hideous but yet they are sincerely undervalued simply because it has been used past its perceived deadline. So with this thought I have embarked on a bit of an adventure. My dear friend and sister in law showed me this fact. We would go thrifting and tag sale shopping about a year ago today. It was in the little treasures we found that afternoon that we giggled about and just found simple joy. It was almost a year after this first adventure that she left us unexpectedly. Less than a week after standing in a thrift shop after countless hours of crying. I was reminded of that joy. It was like lightning. I decided to start a small business flipping furniture. So like that Nancy House you are with me and bringing that little bit of joy into my life again.  I love you and miss you daily.

So life's Little Gray Areas has a new meaning. It's a business name.

Change of Direction

"If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading."

Lao Tzu

 

 

Our world changed so much on April 22nd this year. Just a day after celebrating birthdays. We sold our home in Waldo/Brookside and moved to the Burbs. It wasn't without its fair share of roller coaster thrills as all change seems to be.

 

Old House of 14 wonderful years.

 

 

New House in the burbs.

 

 

This all started about 2 years ago when we threw in the towel or trowel and finished up the work on our little Tudor. She was full of so many memories.

 

Good ones

Our little baby boy Tyler was born while we were living here. Needless to say he was never "little".

 

Bad ones

The time the incredibly inconsiderate neighbors had there downspouts relocated and pointing directly into the shared driveway. Which in turn flooded our side of the driveway and collapsed our side of the "landing strips". So we re-poured it higher. So the water sits now on there side of the strips.

The ice storm that took out power for most of the week when our son was about 6 months old. Whoopie!

 

After all the reno was complete our baby girl Jane decided that she needed to fall off the wagon and chew up a door frame. We thought she had passed the puppy phase. That cutie pie face how can you hate?

So we are on to New adventures!