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