Pink & White Desk

Remember the Striped Chair? 

Well here is the completed matching desk. 

 

This project has taken a long time to complete. Partly because I have just not had enough time in each day and also because it was so important to get the desk top wood just right. I wanted to modernize the desk while keeping it's aged charm. Also, it's for Lucy so it had to be perfect.

This desk was definitely used...A LOT, and the wood was worn in all the right places.

 

I chose white for the base to enhance the richness of the wood even more. 

The pink accents gives it that playful-girly side, just like Lucy.

Ok, back to the desk...

Isn't she pretty?

(Lucy & the Desk)

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Ruby Red Accent Chair

So, how's this for cute. This little chair was a mess when I found her. I loved the detail but the wood was shot and she was very weak. The bottom was marked with the name of a hotel so I figure she was part of their decor and had been used A LOT! After a lot of rehab, paint and a new seat cover she is back to her old self but better. Say hello to Ruby Red!

 

after a little lot of sanding

after a coat of primer

 

after 1st coat of red spray paint

after 2nd coat of red spray paint

after a layer of stain brushed on and wiped off

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 Update: This project was featured on Take it on Tuesday Blog Hop. Thanks to Betsy.

Arles Nightstand

One Man's Trash.....

A few months ago I found this little nightstand at the local thrift store. I was with a friend who spotted it first but kept walking because she felt it was priced to high ($10). She felt it was too beat up and even tried to barter without luck. I figured "what the heck", at the very least I can practice my ASCP skills without regrets and home we went (me, my friend and the nightstand).

I had recently purchase ASCP in Arles to refinish a little rocker for Lucy (HERE) and had a lot left over so the color choice was made. Sorry, I only took one (pretty bad) photograph before sanding and staining.

I did a very light sanding to bring the contrast between the rounded shape of the spindle legs and the more angular top and base.

I just love the color contrast too. The dark wax (AS Dark Wax) and the wood that peeked though from sanding make the color more vibrant. I also like the new handle. Gives it a more modern vibe.

  

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Oh yea......I made a deal with Chloe. I promised her that if she stayed out of the pictures I would post a picture of just her. Isn't she just the most beautiful little girl. 

March 25, 2013*************************************

 UPDATE: The little ASCP Night Stand was featured on The Vintage Barn "Motivate Me Monday - Creative Party". Thanks and Hugs to Julie! Love your blog!!!

Porch Table

Happy Friday. I have been buried in paperwork today but slipped in time to post my latest project. I found this little table two summers ago and have used it during the warm seasons for my plants. I purchased a small jar of ASCP in Emperor's Silk and wanted to try it out on more than one project so I only painted the top and bottom shelf. The color was very bright so I waxed it with AS Dark Wax which worked beautifully. Its a little too cold for my plants to be moved outside yet so I staged the table for the photograph. Can't wait to move all my green girls out there...come on Spring!!

BEFORE                                                  AFTER

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Turquoise Bench

Just a quick "Hello" on this beautiful and very sunny Saturday. 

I hope you all are enjoying whatever the day has offered. 

Below is my very first piece of furniture ever purchased from a thrift store with a redo in mind. I bought it last spring and it somehow ended up tucked under another piece that is waiting for restoration. When doing an inventory of the stuff on my "to do" list I found it all dusty, wobbly, and unloved. At this time I am working on three other pieces but just had to stop and do something with this little treasure. I also had several cans of spray paint (also from last summer) that I wanted to use and the birth of the Turquoise Bench began. After I spray painted with primer followed by the turquoise I stained with the wipe-on/wipe-off method to tone down the brightness. I had the fabric hanging around and it was a match. Not bad ay?

BEFORE:

AFTER:

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Vanity Chair

I have had this chair since the summer. I literally bought it as it was being unloaded from a woman's truck to the front of the thrift store. I was with my daughter and we were looking for a shelf for Lucy's books and from the road saw some and pulled in. The woman who donated the shelves was still unloading. I bought this chair and the matching vanity (desk) and night stand. The desk's future is still to be decided and I redid the night stand to be a plant table (photograph at the end of this post). 

On the bottom of the chair was stamped:
GEO. FENNEL 
MT. VERNON N
 Through a web search I found the furniture company from which the chair was purchased:
 George Fennell & Company, of Mount Vernon, NY established 1901.
..along with several advertisements that where published in local newspapers over the years. Check out the prices. 

  

This advertisement was published in 1907....

This one was published in 1945. The article found within the advertisement is very indicative of the times. The country was at war and the company used the idealism of the nation's state of mind to market their furniture. I found the adjective "post-war" interesting. 

Note of Interest: My father was a World War II veteran and on the date this paper was published it was his 23rd birthday and he was most likely in one of the "far-away battlefields", dreaming of peace and a joyous homecoming. He did come home and lived to the fine age of 90. 

So, on with the story of this little chair. I pondered paint versus stain. After discovering the history of the furniture company I thought maybe I should restore the wood to its original state. To help me make the decision I painted part of the chair and sat with it for awhile. I liked the chair with color so...decision made.  

To come up with a color I mixed several samples left over from other projects.  It came out a pinkish color so I went with it. I also wanted to use chalk paint so I mixed the paint with nonsanded grout as instructed on DIY-CHALK-PAINT-RECIPES from "In My Own Style"  

After the paint dried I did a little antiquing......

and staining...

...but something was just not right. 

The little chair seemed to need something that matched its already special design. 
And then it came to me...

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 I taped off stripes with painter's tape and painted them with the chalk paint.  
(sorry, I go so excited I forgot to take any pictures)

 To make sure this little chair can take the ware and tear of a child 
I finished with four coats of minwax polycrylic and..... 

Voila!

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