Before and Afters Archives | Page 46 of 51

Before and Afters

Desk & Ottoman Transformations

I’m always ramping up for something, aren’t I? What was a “down” retail time for me last year is craziness this year. Every February, The Old Lucketts Store holds their biggest sale of the year…The Ground Hog Day Sale. Brilliant, isn’t it? So, instead of taking a little time out, R and R, and work a little on my own home, I finished four pieces of furniture in the last two days. Whew! This desk and slipcovered ottoman are the latest projects. I just dropped them off this evening in the room I share with Karen. This desk was black, beatup and missing a drawer. The ottoman was…well…ugly. I stripped the paint off the desk top to reveal a beautiful wood grain. It was then finished with dark walnut stain and a coat of paste wax for protection and luster. My husband made a new drawer and I added vintage style glass knobs

February 3, 2011 53 Comments

French Chair Reveal, Glaze Mix, & Simple Upholstery

There’s a lot of good information and inspiration in this post, so get ready! First of all, the beauty shot. Now, the before shot. I’m so happy with how these turned out. I’m taking the pair of arm chairs (only one is pictured in the before shot) to the Ground Hog Day Sale at Lucketts (Feb 4-6). If you’d like to read about the paint technique I used on these chair frames, click here. And, as promised, here is my “secret” glaze formula. It’s Ralph Lauren’s Faux Effects Glaze tinted in Espresso Beans by Behr. It gives a soft, aged finish that’s perfectly brown. I have found most “mocha” or “antique” glazes look really orange. Orange like a bad bronzer or self-tanning spray, so I have one custom mixed. Click on the picture to enlarge. I use a lot of different antiquing techniques, but this one is good for a worn look. It’s also easy to

January 21, 2011 77 Comments

Union Jack Dresser

Well, some of you are so smart and you guessed right away what I was up to in my post yesterday. Yes. I painted a Union Jack dresser. The concept came about a few weeks ago when I was moving some furniture into Lucketts. Karen carries a wonderful line of British themed wrapping paper and suggested painting a union jack sign. That idea transformed into the thought of making a Union Jack dresser. I started hunting for a good candidate and found this one on Craig’s List. It was perfect. It was handy that this antique dresser was already painted blue, but it needed a fresh coat, anyway. I stripped the top to reveal the gorgeous (and very heavy) solid wood underneath. I almost always change out the hardware on furniture, but when I noticed a plastic bag with the original hardware in it, I removed the modern nickle hardware in

January 16, 2011 90 Comments

My House – Before & Afters of 2010

While everyone else is organizing and freshening their homes for the remainder of the winter, I’m still in the thick of decorating for Christmas. I have to work a year ahead in my freelance writing and I have to do it while the fresh tree is still alive and the Christmas stuff is out. I’m making a final push to finish all of my projects, so the tree can come down and I can move on! Since the only stuff I have to share is soooo last month, I thought I would share the big changes I made in my home this year, all gathered together in one post. I’m surprised at how much my home has changed in a year. All of the before pictures were taken around January of last year. Here we go! The dining room before… …and now. The living room before… …and now. The guest room

January 5, 2011 57 Comments

Chalkboard Cabinet

There’s no rest for me these days…even with the Christmas holiday. I looked at my husband this afternoon and declared, “OK, I officially cannot say yes to one more thing.” We’ll see if I stick to that. If someone asks to photograph one of my rooms for a magazine or…say…someone wanted to publish my book…I’d say yes to stuff like that. So, I guess I need to make it clear to him that I will only say yes to a few things. Today, I shampooed the carpets to clean up after the post Christmas mess, which has become known as “The Christmas Bomb” in my house. The slipcovers are washed, the floors have been vacuumed and I hauled my plastic tree to the thrift store, as promised. (Sorry, Nutbird.) I am sold on live trees from this point forward. In addition to my projects for Christmas 2011, I’m making a final

December 29, 2010 30 Comments

The Living Room – Before, During & Now

If you’ve been following along over the past couple of weeks, you’ve seen what my living room looks like currently. Let’s now take a look at the progression, shall we? Oh my. This was a photo taken when we first looked at the house. This room was a mess. The carpet covering the hard wood floors was stained and stinky. The walls hadn’t been painted in years…maybe since the house was built in the 1940’s. The dark pine trim and dusty curtains only added to the gloominess. We ripped out the carpet, refinished the floors, painted the walls a peacock blue, painted the trim white and threw a bunch of furniture in there. The desk, curio and piano are still in the room, but I have sold the rest of the pieces. I made valances out of clearance fabric, which totaled $10 for the whole room, but I knew I eventually

December 27, 2010 46 Comments

Trumeau Mirror Transformation

Wood lovers…look away. I found this trumeau mirror at a yard sale in September and immediately fell in love with the shape. I wasn’t too in love with the 1980’s speckled finish, though. It looked fine from a distance, but it looked dated when you leaned it. It was also a little heavy visually for the room. I asked some opinions about painting it and received many pleas asking me not to. Well, I gave it a lot of thought and then I saw this picture… Photo Source (Thank you, Judy, for letting me know this picture is of the beautiful home of Desarae Crafts of Peeking thru the Sunflowers.) I love the colors of this mirror and knew I wanted to paint mine, so I did… …and I love it!. The finished turned out perfect and the color compliments the other blues in the room, but it’s not too matchy-matchy.

December 17, 2010 63 Comments

Simple Before & Afters

I have been busy getting some new things priced and ready for the next barn sale at Chartreuse and for a ladies shopping night at Wild Rose this Thursday evening. I finally got around to giving a few things I bought at the Raleigh Flea Market a makeover, so I could add them to the growing pile I’m assuming these wooden numbers were once house numbers. They somehow ended up in a flea market and I really loved the shape. The finish…not so much. A coat of red acrylic paint calmed down with burnt umber brightened them up. I finished them with a rub of asphaltum glaze by Valspar. I was really wishing I had a “2” and a “5” to use on my Christmas mantle, but this was all they had. I did buy papier mache numbers at Hobby Lobby today, though, to use for that purpose. The pair of

December 4, 2010 21 Comments

I’m Marian, a painter, writer, and lover of all things creative. From art and antiques to home projects and everyday life, I share my journey in hopes of inspiring you to embrace your own creativity and make beauty in the spaces you live.

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