Going Up with Charm!

I have a very small office off of the back of my kitchen.  The actual surface space of the desk/counter top was getting very crowded.  I knew that I needed to add some type of shelving or cabinets in order to add more surface space.  One thing that I've learned is to just keep a design idea or concept tucked in my mind so that when I run across the right thing I can just adapt it a little and it works!

I was in a thrift shop on a "just in case" trip.  You know, just in case there's something there that you can transform!  And then I saw it - a maple hutch.  It was probably from the top of a dresser or desk.  It is very sturdy!  That's what I love about finding older furniture and redesigning it.  It's usually inexpensive but it is made really well!!!   That was the case with this hutch.  It had the lines that I love and knew that it would step up the vintage vibe and add a little charm to my little office. The best thing was that it was $15 but on sale for $9.  I had to get it!

I took it home and just to be honest it sat in the garage for a little while like many of my found treasures do before they go through the redesign process. 

Finally, I brought it in and began the process of painting.

 The before!  Well I almost forgot to snap the before pic as you can see I had started to paint when I grabbed my phone to snap these pics!

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The best thing about Annie Sloan chalk paint is that there isn't a lot of prep work. So I cleaned it up and put the first coat on, Chinese Red!  I loved this look and will use it alone on another project, but the idea for this one was to have the beautiful Chinese Red be the base coat with the red peeking through. I also love the bead-board back.  It just adds to the vintage look!

The next coat was Annie Sloan Graphite - a very dark gray.  

I wanted the red to show through just a little bit.  So I distressed it a bit by sanding it with 200 grit sandpaper on the edges slightly. 
 

 Then to give it that bit of an aged look, I gave it a healthy slathering of Annie Sloan dark soft wax.  I wiped off the excess and let it set over night.

 

The next day I buffed it to give the wax a finished look.  

I love it - a place to get some items up off of my desk and add a little charm to my little office!

Sweet Compliments in the Master Suite!

We moved in to our home five years ago.  It was built in the late 90's but seemed to have finishes from the 80's.  We began changing out light fixtures, faucets, switch plates and door knobs throughout the house.  As for the master suite, we painted but really never did anything with it. I couldn't decide what to do!  When we moved in we did buy a new mattress set with a frame. We also bought the comforter set with matching curtains and that was it.  We had two little tables that we used as nightstands and got a couple of small lamps. A temporary fix.  It was a little unexciting!  How many times do we put the master bedroom on the back burner!  We began working on the rest of the house first. 

  

Then it was time!  I was finally inspired by this beautiful chest and it's sentimental value. We picked it up at a family member's estate sale. It's a little ornate, but very vintage and a little glam. I decided it would be the perfect nightstand for our Vintage Glam Master Suite.  Ok, the creative forces were turning!  I was inspired!  

 We sat the new, old chest next to the bed - PERFECT!!!  However, that was only half done.  The hunt began for a matching piece for the other side.  I began to search. It was on that list in my head.  I searched and searched to no avail.  I saw a few things but nothing that "matched" .  I had the perfect piece in my head and am usually relentless until I find it.  

 

However, this time I finally decided that when I found this little chest at a pop up vintage flea market that it was the one - mostly! I thought  - Ok, it's not so much of a match, but could it compliment my beautiful chest sitting next to the bed at home?  It was only $75 and was very sturdy, well built and from years gone by.  I took it home and sat it on the other side of the bed AND I DIDN'T LIKE IT.  The white was too white and the robin egg blue was, well. too robin egg blue.  My vintage glam was a more muted gray blue.  The upholstered headboard that I had in my head was a light cream linen (alright - polyester linen look) material.  It didn't fit in!  Someone had gone to the trouble of finding this little gem of a chest and painted it two tone with chalk paint.  All the right and trendy vintage market things that you should do - but I was going to have to put my own twist on it! I would need to transform it from clashing to complimentary!

A different view of the chest. 

My mission was to paint it out so that it complimented my estate sale vintage glam chest on the other side of the bed.  I didn't want it to be a matchy-matchy piece - that is so yesterday, but not in a good vintage kind of yesterday.  So the project was born!  I chose Annie Sloan chalk paint in French Gray.  The first paint strokes highlight the contrast between the white and the gray.  I knew that I had made the right choice. 

 

I first removed the drawers to paint the chest.  Then painted each drawer.  I painted two coats and decided to paint right over the hardware which is a common practice when redoing vintage with paint. 

Hardware & drawer fronts before and after.

Trying to decide exactly how to place the stencil.

Next, I was going to have to decide how to get the great detail in gold on the top of the chest.  I found a stencil and used gold metallic paint.  I stenciled it on top first. 

I then taped off the border on top - painting it gold all the way around. 

The final look!  

I then finished it off by giving it a little age with a coat of Annie Sloan dark wax.

It's done!  I love the gold border.  I went ahead and wrapped it down underneath the top. 

The wax is heavier on and around the hardware to give the affect of lots of years of use. 

Stencil work from the top.  The wax toned the gold paint down to give it a patina look.

How sweet it is!  Success!   The nightstands now compliment each other!  Now on to the next project in the master suite.

Coming soon!  More on the master suite in another blog!!!

HGTV Design Star!

YES!  This is the first weekend of the month and that could only mean one thing!!!  The WEST BOTTOMS in Kansas City.  It is now a destination location!  I love to go for "research" and for searching for just the perfect item for my redesign!  I even overheard a lady making arrangements for a pick up because she drove 215 miles.  Another time I overhead a lady saying that she wanted to buy a larger item, but she had come with a group on a bus.  Gourmet food trucks are on hand and today was bustling with many people looking for that perfect item!  It was the place to be in KC today!

So what is it??? I was introduced to it by my daughter!  She told me about this place that takes old items and upcycles them.  She's a local TV reporter and ended up doing a story on the place after it had been in business for about a year. So after her story aired, we went that next weekend.  The place that started it all five years ago -  Good Ju Ju!  Now there are more than a dozen buildings.  One building is a four story warehouse!  Lovely old wood floors and brick with old architecture filled with treasures that have been brought back to life, appreciated in their original condition or to be used in a new way - repurposed! Fantastic fun! 

The West Bottoms is a historic warehouse district, raw beautiful vintage at its best.  Inside these warehouses, there are many different booths where you can find many treasures.  Tucked in here and there is a little place to have coffee or a bakery or even a sandwich shop.  Everything you can imagine.  Some people call it the Antique district, but I think that's just because they don't really know what to call it.  Yeah, there are antiques here and there, but it's so much more than that!  It's what is better described as vintage style. Fixtures with Edison light bulbs and burlap with deconstructed originals. You can find an old metal desk from the '50s painted  a high gloss white.   Then there is the painted furniture that once was sitting on the curb or for sale at a garage sale for $25. Now it's been brought back to life with some chalk paint and a coat of wax, and for sale at a reasonable price, like $125.

We picked up this set a couple of months ago.  It is a Drexler and is so sturdy.  My son's former middle school art teach has a booth at Good JuJu and found this table and chairs at an estate sale.  She did her magic to it and the whole set was only $315.   Believe it or not these are the most comfortable chairs.

In fact, some of this furniture starts out at a thrift store and  is redesigned by those folks like me who love to do this and then displayed for sale at their booth. .  In the last couple of years the price of sturdy vintage furniture at the thrift stores has gone up, supply and demand!
 
Today my husband was with me.  In fact, there were a lot of guys there today.  We had been to the four story warehouse when we decided to go in to the next shop.  I have a regular routine that I follow!  So as we walked in to the next shop, we ran in to a friend.  She told us that, Jennifer Bertrand - HGTV Design Star Season Three Winner, was in the building.  She was actually demonstrating her painting skills.  She was painting a floral design on a  table top using one of my favorites, Annie Sloane chalk paint.

Jennifer was so gracious when I asked if I could take a picture with her.  You can see she's holding her paint brush.  In fact she said, "Thank you for asking and oh, here let me hold my paintbrush up!".  She's very animated and personable.  We were talking about how there were a lot of guys there today.  She mentioned that there are booths that have "mantiques".  Funny, because Will and I noticed that very thing earlier. There are booths that have old tools and vintage pictures of planes, etc.  Definately, something for everyone.  Jennifer is from the KC area and has a new radio show starting.  You can find her on facebook, too.

I keep a list of things I'm looking for in my head, but I'm going to figure out a better way of doing this...Hmmm, saw on-line that they are casting for the next Design Star.  Very interesting! 
Oh and uh, it looks like I'm right in style with my glasses!  :)

Little Project = Big Satisfaction! GARAGE DOOR!

I'll start with this small but very important project!  I am so excited for warm weather so that I can complete my garage overhaul... stay tuned for that in a later post!  However, I had to start with the door that leads from the house to the garage.  This is a great idea I saw on line.  I wanted to use it, but it wouldn't work on my front door.  SO, how about the door to the garage! I was in the process of painting all of my entrance/exit doors and pantry door black.  I often use black in a room to give it some weight or balance.  I've been known to say that black is my favorite color.  The door was a plain ole white, we painted it black on the house side and on the garage side.  I then ordered a vinyl cut-out off of etsy with our house number for the garage side.  It adds a little vintage look.  However, you'll see that my style is more on the transitional side.  AND my garage plan, the plan in my head (refer to my first post) is a little on the modern/contemporary side.  Well, there you are  - my first project post!  It's a small one, but has added so much charm to my door and I love seeing it as I open the garage door everyday when I return home. 

Thanks for visiting my blog.  Love to share my ideas, but I'm not a pro!  It's my hobby!  A creative outlet is great therapy!  Look forward to your next visit.  

 This is the door before. 

 Door from garage side before.

 Add some black paint!

 Add the vinyl cut-out and YES!  That's what I had in my head! 

(I'll get better with the photography!)

The finished project!  Love seeing this when I drive in after work! 

Tip:  Make sure you break big projects (Garage Overhaul) into little projects.  

Little projects = Big Satisfaction!