READY FOR FALL

Anyone who knows me knows that I love, love, love summer.  I love the slower pace, my gardens, the lake, eating outside and the warmth of the sun.  So, anyone who knows me might be surprised to hear that as the nights start getting cooler and the days shorter I am actually looking forward to the change in seasons.  I painted a new piece of furniture for the living room with fall colors and got out all my fall decorations. Bring on Fall!  Just don't expect this type of enthusiasm for winter!

DIL Lucy and I bought this piece from a lovely lady who was downsizing.  No before picture.  Why can't I remember to take a before picture?  Anyway, it was brown.  You know, brown and brown and all brown.  I started by painting the entire piece ASCP Barcelona Orange so it could peak through when I distressed back.  Then I painted over with Chateau Grey (I think, I painted it a couple of weeks ago so you can't really expect me to remember details that long ago) and then dry brushed several colors.  I think I used Coco, French Linen, Paris Grey - you get the picture.  I clear waxed then dark waxed and lightly distressed.  I love the orange coming through and it looks fabulous with the fall decor.

See what I mean about it coordinating with the fall colors?

The orange really makes the details pop!

Barcelona Orange, Chateau Grey

COUNTING DOWN THE HOURS OF SUMMER

Only 12 more hours left of summer vacation.  Tomorrow, it's up at the crack of dawn and off to school.  This will be year number 33- hard to believe.  It has been a fabulous summer filled with boating, eating and drinking, friends, eating and drinking, painting, eating and drinking, shopping, eating and drinking.  Did I mention eating and drinking?   Wonder what I'll wear the first day of school.  I'll check and see if I still have the muu muu from Hawaii.  

Last week, Kim (designer and friend) and I did a room intervention for our friend Robbie.  As you know from my previous blog, Robbie was diagnosed with breast cancer this spring and just moved into a new house.  I painted her the red dresser but as she says, "My house looks like I've moved into an apartment."  She hasn't had the energy to decorate.  Kim and I decided she needed one room that felt finished.  We went over in the morning, made a plan, bought paint and furniture and accessories came back, painted the room installed curtain rod and curtains, installed a chandelier and hung pictures.  I'm happy to say that Kim did not suffer any permanent injuries when the chandelier fell on her head while I was wiring it.  Robbie loves her room and we had so much fun doing it.  As a matter of fact, we had so much fun we've decided to start a business.  We had our first business meeting Sunday night on the boat.  We boated, ate and drank, bbq'd, ate and drank, and came up with our business plan.  More about our business in my next blog.  Be looking for the introduction of:

                             PROJECT ROOM THERAPY                                      

Here are a couple of pictures of Robbie's bedroom.  We painted the walls Benjamin Moore Buttered Popcorn from the best paint store in the world www.wahlpaintcenter.com/

In the meantime, I've been working on some furniture.  One day last week my good friend Annie came over to paint.  No, not THE Annie.  She painted a darling coffee table, a little chair and a bench.  Silly me, I didn't take pictures.  We had tons of fun.  So much fun, I forgot to feed her lunch.  It's really not like me to forget to eat! I painted this little desk I got at Goodwill.  No before picture - sorry.  I stripped the paint off the top and stained and sealed it.  I painted with ASCP Versaille and dry brushed with Old White then clear and dark waxed.  I found the cute new nobs at Hobby Lobby.

I bought this little nightstand/commode a million years ago.  The last time I painted it I used a metallic gold and it's been in the guest room.  Out with the gold, in with the new.  I painted it with ASCP French Linen on the doors and drawers and Chateau Grey on the body.  I dry brushed with graphite, old white and maybe something else then clear and dark waxed and distressed.

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Nightstand

Another Goodwill find.  This little chest was in the back when I dropped off a donation.  Can you believe I took a before picture????

This sticker is inside the drawer.  It says it's from a furniture store in England.  Wonder if it really is or if someone just stuck it there.

I love the handles and the scroll work. I painted it with ASCP Emperor's Silk and clear and dark waxed it and slightly distressed it.

Our neighborhood has an annual garage sale in June.  This year it was pouring down rain so we drove by the houses and peered into the garages to see if there was any furniture or golf clubs (son Alex was looking for a driver)  I spotted this oak chest that I think had been used for a toy chest.  The top was painted a bright blue enamel.  My plan was to strip the top and paint the body, but there was no getting that blue enamel out of the oak. 

PLAN B - THE UNION JACK

I couldn't have done this project without my sweet, wonderful, patient, talented and smart husband.  Isn't he cute? Here he is doing his own painting project.  I found an image on Google and he enlarged it to fit the top of the chest.  Then, after I was making a huge mess of it, trying to measure, he came to the rescue and helped me pencil in the lines.  I masked and painted and masked and painted and finally waxed. I used ASCP Old White, Emperor's Silk and Graphite. I was worried that when I waxed, the red paint would bleed into the white so I called my ASCP stockist, Robin at www.artworksspokane.com/   She convinced me that it wouldn't bleed over if I had let it dry sufficiently.  I was skeptical, but she was right.  

ALL HAIL TO THE QUEEN

Hot, Hot, Hot

Charlotte and I are going on a diet next week!

I am NOT complaining.  It's hot outside.  It reached almost 100 today.  Too hot to garden and too hot to paint.  DIL came over and cleaned the house.  Yipee!  Hubby and Charlotte are napping so I poured myself a glass of wine and organized my photo albums on the computer.  I found some pics of some past pro-jects.

I love this dresser/buffet.  I can't remember if I found it at Teen Challenge or Goodwill. I painted it Arles and Lucy and Sean put it in their dining room for a few weeks.  (Only until I painted another fab dresser that they loved even more.)  So I brought it back over and put it in my guest room/dressing room. 

 This was one of the first pieces I painted.  I found it at Teen Challenge. It's part of a two piece desk/dresser/luggage stand from a hotel I think.  I used Versaille and graphite.  Since it's outside I didn't use any wax, but buffed it with steel wool.      I imagined having fabulous dinner parties on the deck this summer and using this piece as a buffet.  

Robbie's Dresser

This spring my best friend was diagnosed with breast cancer.  I was at work one day and she called and asked if I could meet her to get a mammogram. We've been friends for 30 years, but we don't normally accompany each other for our annual exams.  She said she had a lump.  I said, "Of course I'll meet you." I'm glad I was there when the doctor gave her the news. After it was confirmed that she had an aggressive form of cancer and she would have to undergo four months of chemo, a mastectomy and radiation, I decided we needed a Thelma and Louise weekend without the tragic ending.  We took a road trip to Seattle and stayed with a friend who cooked a big pot of fresh steamer clams and Alaskan salmon for us.  On our way down to the Public Market we passed the Goodwill Outlet Store.  Who knew Goodwill had an Outlet store????  The furniture was at the back of the store and the sign on the wall said "All Furniture $1.99."  When I saw this dresser I went to the front of the store to ask how much it was.  The clerk looked at me like I was an idiot.  "All furniture is  $1.99 he said."  We loaded it up and brought it home.  I painted it for Robbie's new house. It is the first piece I panted with ASCP. I used Emporor's Silk with  Clear and Dark wax and it's living in her bedroom. 

Mr. and Mrs. Versaille

A couple of months ago I painted Mrs. Versaille  for Sean and Lucy.  But it needed a partner.  

Mr. Versaille had been patiently waiting his turn until it cooled down a little (see previous post) and until I remembered to buy another quart of ASCP Versaille.  It all came together last week. Here's the poor guy before I dressed him up.

I used Versaille for the base and Old White for the drawers and trim followed by clear and dark wax.  Pretty quick and easy.  I hope they're happy together.

Aubusson Blue and Arles Hutch

It's been a great summer but a little too hot to paint.  It finally cooled down to the low eighties last week so I took advantage of it and painted a few things that were in the line-up.

I found this darling little china hutch at Goodwill.  They knew what they had and charged a pretty penny for it but it's hard to find a hutch that isn't the size of the Titanic.

Here's the before picture that I remembered to take after I started painting. I used Annie's Aubusson Blue for the base.  Then, I dry brushed with Old White and Clear and Dark Waxed it.  On the inside, I mixed Arles with a little Old White.  I wish I had a place for her in my house.  Alas, it might be another piece for Sean and Lucy.  At least I can enjoy it at their house.  

Miss Ruby

Hubby and I are up at beautiful Priest Lake for some R and R but before we left I finished this great desk. I know you're looking at it and thinking, "Why would you name a brown desk Miss Ruby?" I was calling her a lot of names while I was painting her and many of them would be innapropriate for a blog. I found this cutie at my favorite thrift store, Teen Challenge. I spotted her from the parking lot in the pouring rain. I knew I had to save her. When I went to pay, Eddy told me she was from the old schoolhouse down the road. I could just imagine the stories she could tell. She sat in the garage for a week until I came up with a plan. I decided to strip and refinish the top and paint the body but I forgot my plan when I started working. I painted the top and the body -two coats before I remembered my plan. Back to stripping the top.....that's when little miss Ruby showed her true colors. Anyone who has tried to strip a dyed red mahogany piece can tell you the rest of the story. It's impossible. It's also impossible to cover with paint without red bleeding through. Hello Miss Ruby. The only solution is to prime it with a shellac based primer. After another two coats of ASCP Coco and Old White I'd like to introduce you to Miss Ruby!

Beauty and the Beast Dresser

Bethany, my fabulous intern last year, and her mom came over and painted a dresser for her new apartment. Not only does it look like something from Beauty and the Beast, it was a beast to paint.  We used ASCP Pure White and mixed dark wax with mineral spirits to make a glaze.

Here is the fabulous beast finished.  Isn't she beautiful?  It was fun to spend time outside of work with Bethany and meet her sweet mom.

Tiffany Blue Desk

Last night I tried to figure out how to personalize my blog.  Where's DIL Lucy when I need her?  Today I finished a desk.  I don't have a before picture but you can imagine what it looked like - light colored paint with gold trim.  You've seen this desk a million times.  If you were lucky you had one when you were younger.  I bought it from a lady who had it when she was growing up.  I didn't have the heart to tell her I would be painting over it. I'll let her believe that her "beautiful" bedroom set is living out it's days untouched in my bedroom.

Anyway,  I used ASCP Provence and Old White with clear wax.  Somewhere in blogland, I read about Buff and Rub.  I used silver on the trim (it's hard to see in the photos)  and the hardware.  It was fun and easy and it comes in several colors.