When it comes to paint, sometimes I just can’t help myself.  Something comes into my possession and I just know it will look better painted.  I think it’s partly because I’m a paint enthusiast, but partly because the designer in me wants to put my stamp on everything.  That can be an asset, but it can also work against me when it comes to taking on a mountain of work that one person cannot possibly move alone. Anyway, there’s my daily mini-therapy session.  Thanks for listening. So, this pie safe or, as one reader called it, “garde manger”, is a good example of me not leaving well enough alone. I had to look up “garde manger” and it means “keeper of food” in French.  That sounds more exotic (and healthier) than pie safe, so let’s go with that. This particular one is a reproduction I bought from a wholesale company.  It

I find my furniture-loving eye lately enjoying more primitive and humble pieces than I did even just a year ago.  There was a time that anything curvy and flouncy stopped me in my tracks, but now I love more simple lines and looks that are a bit more casual.  Don’t get me wrong, I still love a good turned leg and appreciate the curves of a bergere chair, but there is something about simple pieces, that can even be a bit crude in their construction, that tugs at my heartstrings. Take this little “cubby shelf”…  When it was brought to my studio, I looked at it and said, “A man clearly built that.”  Many men build beautiful things, but it was obvious to me that this was built by a man who needed a shelf, probably in his garage or workshop, and banged this one together. I can picture his

Again!  I don’t have a before picture for this piece.  I am sure now that I took before pictures of a few pieces and then deleted them in my enthusiasm to keep my camera card uncluttered.  That’s what I get for trying to be organized! So, you’ll just have to imagine the before.  It was brown and that’s about all I can say about it!  It did come with a mirror set in a large frame and I have plans for those, too.  For some reason, dresser/mirror pairings don’t sell as well as dressers on their own and mirrors on their own. The dresser was painted in two coats of MMS Milk Paint in Grain Sack.  I lightly sanded it after the paint was dry with a fine sanding sponge and allowed the paint to flake off where it wanted to flake.  I love it when pieces chip in a

There’s been a lot of white going on in the Mustard Seed Studio these days.  But, I think you do need some color to balance out whites, so I’m adding in some greens and blues in small doses. I decided to do one dresser in a bold green – MMS Milk Paint Boxwood layered over Lucketts Green. I thought I took a before picture of this piece and somewhere in all of the furniture shuffling (or perhaps picture deleting), I don’t have one.  You can see it Where’s-Waldo-style, peeking out from behind the pink wardrobe.  He’s a little photo bomber. The dresser was pretty, but it had water rings and discolorations on the top and the sides had come unglued.  Jeff shored it up and I stripped the top down to the bare wood.  Kriste painted it in Lucketts Green followed by a coat of the 100% Beeswax Finish and

Sometimes I wonder what possesses me to buy a piece of furniture!  I see it on craigslist, usually late at night, and it seems like a good idea at the time, but then my dad delivers it to the studio and I realize I was, shall we say…optimistic. Such was the case with the wardrobe that was much boxier and, well…pink, than I expected. It even came with some freebies inside like coat hangers and a pair of leather boots.  Kriste and I were laughing about the boots, but they were actually really nice and we thought they might fit her husband.  Well, wouldn’t you know it, but Dave got a new pair of free leather boots out of the pink-wardrobe-deal. We first painted the piece in a couple coats of MMS Milk Paint in Grain Sack, but it looked really boxy.  Like, just a big ‘ole white box.  So,

I tidied up the studio last week, but a weekend shopping trip, two craigslist deliveries from my dad and two deliveries from people who are “picking” for me left the studio in disarray again.  Kriste and I tackled it this morning – unpacking, pricing, scooting and arranging.  I also went around with sticky notes with instructions for each piece, so Katie and Kriste don’t have to read my mind. Once things were sorted and lined up, I declared, “No more furniture!!!” This means I’m going to have to stay off of craigslist and keep blinders on when I’m out shopping for smalls and accessories.  I’m always drawn to furniture, but we really do have enough to work on, enough to fill our tent and certainly enough to have to haul down to Lucketts. So, it’s been said and I need to stick to it! In my post about the mini-dresser makeover,

A few weeks ago, I took a trip out to one of my favorite antique stores (Beaver Creek Antiques in Hagerstown, MD) to pick up an antique pie safe I had been mulling over for a while.  It was perfect.  Chipping, creamy-white old paint, still wearing all of the original tins and she is an old girl who has lived a good life and has gotten even better with age. This post is not about that antique pie safe, though.  This post is about the one that had, shall we say, issues. But, it also had potential. And things with potential are my favorite. So, some obvious issues…the neon green curtains. Well, as Kriste put it, “Someone tried.” The other issue was that this poor antique pie safe was basically in pieces. The bottom was missing and one side had come apart.  Fortunately, the missing tins from that side were in

At some point, someone was possessed with the idea to hack the legs off of this buffet… Perhaps it was an intentional decision to make this piece more practical or perhaps one of the legs was damaged beyond repair and this was a way to save this buffet from the trash. I don’t know how it ended up without legs, but something about it in a grainy craigslist photo appealed to me.  The price was good, that was one thing, but I also think that, despite the fact that it wasn’t designed this way, it was a practical height and size and a unique piece. I love the fact that the drawers and doors were left unpainted.  The body was painted in a sort of faux wood technique, but it had obviously been wearing that paint for a long time.  I didn’t like how the faux painting competed with the natural