Molly Tables

These tables are so Pretty in Pink I named them the Molly tables.

A matching set finished in gorgeous ballet slipper pink with cream tops, then distressed and rubbed all over with Dark Walnut stain; which completely and totally made the tables what they are today.  Thank you, Dark Walnut.  I am not a photographer and I never really think my pictures do the furniture justice.  The colors here are rich rich rich.  And of course they're topped off with polycrylic to ensure protection and no yellowing. 

Beautiful curvy lines and details.

 The before.  When I picked these up, I believe that they had been refinished already in a seafoam green with blue peeking through.  Cute enough, but the paint job was, in my humble opinion, sub-par and I don't think they were sanded or primed first, although I guess I'll never really know.  I immediately had visions

of rich pink and cream. 

If Zoe's room wasn't tiny and shared with a certain boy, they would definitely be living there.  Just in case you didn't catch it in my last post, I would go all out, over the top girly if I could while she is little and sweet and has no opinion on pretty rooms and such matters.  Alas, I can't do that to poor Ash, making my loss your gain.

The matching set of Molly tables is now for sell in my shop.  Check it out for all the details.

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His & Hers: A Start

Our house has six potential bedrooms.  And three actual bedrooms.   Chalk another one up to someday when the basement is finished...  So for now we (happily) make our actual-in-reality bedrooms work,  two of which can accurately be described with words such as small and/or tiny.  After doing the math, you may have come to the conclusion that the four children split the two smallest rooms.  And after perhaps a little more math, you conclude that one of the three boys- the smallest- shares with the one and only girl. Whew.  That's a lot of math.

When my little Zoe was born, I had visions of over-the-top girly with pink, ruffles, dripping chandeliers, the works. Hmm, how to make that work with Asher and his Batman obsession.  I decided to keep things reaaallly neutral and try to work with stuff I already had.  Keep in mind that this is, as everything, a work in progress that has just begun.

Zozo's zone. Not much, but again, this room is pretty small.  There's space for either a bed and dresser, or two beds and a dresser in the closet, which is the configuration we're going with at the moment.

I found this frame at a flea market a few years ago and had the mirror installed.  I'm constantly hemming and hawing about painting it a brighter color.  But I also really like the original vintage chippy paint.  For now its sealed with poly.  And a muslin wreath inspired by this linen wreath from Emily at Jone's Design Company-hers is way better.  That's ok. Of course sporting the flat-ironed ribbon.

 After looking around and not finding anything like I was picturing in my brain, I decided to recover the crib set that all three of my boys used.  Alert! I am not a seamstress.  I can sort of sew, and I'm not that much of a perfectionist when I'm doing stuff for myself.  Considering those high expectations, I'm pretty happy with the results.

I sewed flat ruffles, or really just flaps of fabric (drop cloth-what else is there?) right over the old crib skirt.

I like the flat flaps because I think they give a layered, slightly flouncy look without being too poufy for this shared room.

 Then I sewed more of my handy-dandy canvas drop cloth right over the old bumper, after covering the piping with a gorgeous floral scrap.  I'm in love with that floral.  I ran out of it when I was making the ties, so some are flowery and some are an awesome neutral leopard from another scrap piece. The pink afghan was made by Tyler's mom and is the perfect piece of pink. It is.

One more touch of pink for the girl.  The corsage blanket chest from here. Love it.  Have always loved it. I love a lot of things. That's also ok. Centered at the end of the crib to store blankies.

 Now whatever to do for Mr. Ash that will sort of work with all that.

Here's what. Paint one half of the bunk beds black to tie in with the crib.  Flip over the old bedspread from navy plaid and use the more neutral stripy side.  Stick with the red under-bed bins we've had forever.

Add some navy ticking stripe pillow cases and sacrifice my beloved seed sack pillows, made from this estate auction steal.

Create a super-sophisticated wall of preschool art-of which Asher is SO proud- and throw in the white board where its easy for 4-year-olds to reach. 'Cuz we really like the white board.

I also hung some curtains that I made for the kitchen in our last house.  Linen-esque (cheaper) tie tops with a white cotton band on the bottom.

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There you have it.  His and Hers. It's a little plain, could totally use some more color, and there is a lot of blank wall to fill, but I'm hoping its a respectable start :)

Thanks!

Exciting Times

My super exciting news for today is that the beautiful and talented (and so very, very nice) Cassie of Primitive and Proper asked me to guest post!  I'll be there on Monday, May 16 and  I'm so excited, so please head over and check it out!  And while you're there, take a sec to look around at some of Cassie's awesome work, she's great! 

And now, a beauty: 

 A pretty little vintage four drawer dresser with details that almost make me want to lay down and die. Finished in my new favorite soft, subtle gray with slight distressing and no glaze or stain.  I wanted to keep this piece really light and I love how this gray is just a nice take on a typical white or cream.  Still so versatile. Topped off with paste wax for protection and beautiful luster. All new glass hardware.  Killer in an entry, as a buffet in a dining room, extra storage in a bath, or beautiful in a bedroom.

Of course there must always be a shocking before.  I had to admit to my husband that yes, I did pay actual money for this.  And not really just a little, either  But look at that top!  Those legs!  Those adorable, fantastic keyholes!  It took at lot of sanding, repairing and sanding some more.  But the after made all the effort so completely worth it.

 The keyholes had me at hello.

And the gorgeous moulding on the top.

 Beautiful turned legs.

 This beauty is now in my shop!   Check it out for all the details.

And I just couldn't resist a little sneak peak at my Primitive and Proper guest post!  Its a fun one!

Sharing my furniture:

  

And by the way, as I was perusing some linky party participants at the Feathered Nest Friday party, I came across The Shanty Girl. Do any of you wear aprons? I am sooo an apron girl and she makes absolutely gorgeous ones! Like, as in pretty sure I couldn't bring myself to wear to to do housework or cook dinner. She's having a givaway here. You should check it out!

Thanks for stopping by!

Another Essential Tool

Oh how I love my flatiron.  For many of us it is, indeed, an essential tool for pretty, smooth hair.  Or in my case, it is essential to at least look as though I made an attempt at pretty, smooth hair, whether that's the  actual outcome or not.

 Now here's my secret confession:  Sometimes I use it to iron things other than my hair.  Really.  My mom is an awesome ironer. She taught us all well.  You should see my brother in ironing action.  Me, I'm lazier about it. I only do the deed when completely necessary, and not always then.  Plus, ironing wrinkles with my flatiron saves me some steps. I believe it's called multi-tasking, people. When standing in front of the mirror doing my hair, I have been known to use my flatiron to straighten bunched up ruffles on a shirt that is already on my body or de-curl the neck of Tyler's polo as he is wearing it. See?  Timesaver.  It's pretty awesome.  I'm sure I'm not the first and only person to do this, but I may be the first person to ever blog about it.  Plus,  I feel pretty smart for figuring it out for myself.

 

Why am I blabbing about this ridiculous topic, you ask? Because it slightly pertains here. A couple days ago as I was working on a project I realized I was again flaunting my lazy.  A recycled ribbon that I already had attached to the wall was crinkled and creased. It looked yucky. Obviously, I didn't want to take it down it AND iron it AND re-hang it. Way too many steps. Enter the fabulous flatiron.

See that? A beautiful, crisp ribbon in no time flat.

And we all know that a pretty, wrinkle-free ribbon is way better than a creased one.  Our moms said so.

Stay tuned in the next few to see the rest of the project.  I hope it lives up.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

 Believe it or not, this desk is the bottom half of the duo from my last post.  I think there may have been a little Frankenstein match-up going on, because when I got the desk and hutch home I realized there was no way they were originally supposed to live together.  The angles were way off.  And it looked really top-heavy and leggy.  Which might be a good thing for a girl, but not so much for furniture.  So off with the hutch.  It is patiently waiting for just the right project.

 The pretty desk part got a complete overhaul: I filled cracks, sturdied the legs, and sanded, sanded, sanded.  The top was refinished in a Dark Walnut stain and the apron and legs got the most amazing gray paint I've ever found.  Spartacus by True Value. Its just barely, barely gray, almost a white but with nice cool undertones.  I love it with the Dark Walnut.  I know, my walls make it a hard to see the gray.  But its awesome.  Promise.  Then I rubbed the whole thing with the same stain and distressed just a little.

 The top got coated with polyurethane and the body got polycrylic so there will be no yellowing.

I'm excited that this will be for sale in my shop!  Check it out for all the details of the piece.  I've had a break in client projects and am finally getting time to fill it back up.  I've got a few other things in the works, the first of which should arrive in the shop by Tuesday, fingers crossed. 


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