Before and Afters Archives | Page 17 of 51

Before and Afters

painted primitive cabinet

Does this cabinet look at all familiar? How about now…? I bought it to sell at the Market on Chapel Hill and I originally didn’t paint it, because it had a pretty patina. But it didn’t sell and it felt like a bit of a black hole, so I decided to lighten it up with paint. The outside is painted in MMS Milk Paint Farmhouse White and the interior is Shutter Gray. (Can you tell which colors are my favorite these days?) I think this piece was once the top of a hutch, but it’s all on its own, now. I put it on top of the counter-height farm table I found for a great deal a couple of weeks ago and the pairing seems to work. I liked it unpainted, but I love it so much more painted. You can really see the character of the boards and the wearing

December 11, 2015 10 Comments

All Things Home

trading horses again

Remember my rocking horse? The one I bought from Restoration Hardware and then painted with MMS Milk Paint to make it look chippy and old? Well, in typical Marian fashion, I sold it. I wasn’t planning to, but a client asked if I could custom paint the same horse for her. I agreed to the job and we tried to schedule a time for her to drop her horse off at the studio. As we tried to schedule and reschedule, it occurred to me that it would save her a trip if I just gave her my painted horse, since she wanted hers to look exactly the same, and I could take the unpainted one and paint it again. Are you tracking with me? So, when I was in Virginia for the Holiday Expo, we met and traded horses. An interesting thing… I really don’t mind buying and selling pieces, but

December 3, 2015 55 Comments

All Things Home

the $125 farm table

I needed to pick up some supplies for the glitter workshop last week and I could hardly be out and about for the day without stealing a few minutes in an antique store! So, I meandered through one of my local haunts, hitting some of my favorite vendor’s booths, picking up a few small things. I wasn’t looking for furniture, but, of course, a piece of furniture found me. I spotted this great counter-height farm table for $125. I knew it had to come home with me. It was worth the total pain of taking out one of my van seats and unloading it by myself at the studio. Oh, the sacrifices. I also bought this great basket for only $25. I was trolling eBay just the day before for a large French laundry basket, but they were in the $200 range, which was more than I wanted to pay.

November 25, 2015 27 Comments

Artistic Endeavors

Farmhouse White Cupboard

A few months ago, Jeff and I made a cupboard around a pair of reclaimed doors I bought at an antique market for $40. They hung in my dining room for a few years, but I always thought they would be perfect in a custom-built cabinet. The full tutorial will be available on HGTV.com at some point and I will link to it when it is. I must admit, this cabinet gave me the “building bug” and now I’m ready to do a lot more designing and building. You know…with all of my free time. Anyway, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to paint the doors initially, so I didn’t. I figured I would leave them alone and live with them unpainted for a while. After just a couple of weeks, I knew I wanted to paint them. The cupboard didn’t feel cohesive to me and I felt like the finish looked

November 23, 2015 42 Comments

Before and Afters

bring your own furniture | makeovers

Today, Kriste and I shared the studio with some lovely ladies who came for the BYOF (bring your own furniture) workshop. It’s always so fun to introduce people to milk paint and watch them transform their own pieces with just a little guidance and instruction. Here are the transformations… Then: A magazine rack saved from the side of the road. Now: Painted in a custom-mixed green, distressed and finished with Hemp Oil. Before: A stool made by the owner’s father in shop class when he was a boy. Now: Painted in Tricycle layered over Mustard Seed Yellow with a Hemp Oil resist between the two. Distressed and finished with Hemp Oil. Before: A sweet table painted in a blue the owner didn’t really like. Now: Lucketts Green layered over Boxwood with a Hemp Oil resist between the two. Distressed and finished with Hemp Oil. I love how you can still see bits

October 31, 2015 37 Comments

All Things Home

book page dresser tutorial

Remember the dresser that was being a total jerk? Well, he has improved upon acquaintance. He’s a bit of a Mr. Darcy and I dare say that he is now dashing and (almost) ready to sweep someone off their feet. This dresser is sort of like that… Here’s a simple video tutorial on how I did it… The dresser is painted in MMS Milk Paint in Marzipan. The top was stripped to the bare wood and finished with Hemp Oil to hydrate the wood and protect it. The hardware was so pretty, but it was a little fussy for what I envisioned, so I removed the backplate and just used the clapper pulls. This allows the book pages to be the real star. This book was from the 1870’s and the patina on the pages is so pretty. It was a pretty tattered book and I bought it for just

October 26, 2015 14 Comments

All Things Home

the file cabinet coffee table

First of all, I want to announce the winners of the giveaways I held last week. Drum roll, please… The winner of the Antique Farmhouse giveaway is Becky Yaddis! And the winner of the Miss Mustard Seed in a Box giveaway is Melanie Milburn! As I was making the major push to get ready for Lucketts earlier this year, I found a very cool part of an old, oak file cabinet at one of my favorite antique shops. It was a good price ($65), because it was only one piece of a larger unit. It was missing a top and had awkward strips on top of it, so another unit could be stacked on top. Well, I found a random old top for $10 and Kriste found some great wheels ($12, I think) and bingo… …it becomes a coffee table. Kriste’s coffee table to be more specific. She snaked it

October 21, 2015 37 Comments

Before and Afters

farmhouse white table

It was one of those days when I went to the studio, put my music on, and painted. I love days like that. I worked on a couple of pieces for the next MMS Milk Paint look book, but I was also playing around with a new milk paint color we’ll be adding to the line, soon (early 2016)…Farmhouse White. It’ll get a proper “say hello to…” post closer to the release day, but I just couldn’t wait that long to share. I tripped upon this color as I was getting ready for the market and wanted a white that covered better than Ironstone. I loved it so much that I immediately sent an e-mail to my manufacturer, telling them we needed to add this new white to the line. I had some mixed for some metal bins I’m painting, so I decided to brush it onto a table that’s been on

October 16, 2015 25 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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