Before and Afters Archives | Page 47 of 51

Before and Afters

Dresser Makeover & New Signs

Oh, I have so much to share, I’m about to burst!! We had the glitter letter workshop today, I have an exciting event with The Graphics Fairy coming up, I have been using every spare minute to make Christmas ornaments and decor to sell, and I scored some awesome furniture on Thursday. I’ll share it all soon, but tonight, I’m tired, so I’m just going to show my dresser makeover and the two new signs I made for the shop. Do you remember this dresser? I bought it at a yard sale a few weeks ago. It was in great structural condition and someone had even sanded it down for me! That might be a minus for some people, but it was a huge plus for me. I painted it with a brush (the old fashioned way), sanded it heavily, and followed it with a rub of dark walnut stain.

October 23, 2010 49 Comments

A Fall Day and A Before & After

Today is a wonderfully brisk fall day here in south central Pennsylvania. I love fall. It’s time to pull out the sweatshirts and football jerseys, the dutch ovens and the soup recipes, and the excitement of the holidays is just around the corner. Today, I’m just going to hang out with my boys and watch the Redskins lose to the Eagles…probably, but I’ll still have fun doing it. I may even bake some cookies. Since it’s a lazy day for me, I’m going to share the before and after of the table I showed yesterday. Here’s what it looked like before. As I said, it’s a pretty table, but something about it looked a little stuffy and dated. Is it just me? Can I not leave well enough alone sometimes? Well, distressed paint is all the “thing” right now, so that’s what I went with. I wanted this piece to look really rough to contrast

October 3, 2010 31 Comments

DIY Club Tutorial & a Tea Tin Makeover

I am honored to be a guest blogger today over at the DIY Club! I was challenged with using some of their sponsored products to come up with a DIY project and this is the result. Would you like to know how to turn a dated burlap shade and a “scratch and dent” Goodwill lamp into something unique and chic? Check out my full tutorial over at the DIY Club. On another note, I mentioned that Leslie brought me a bunch of goodies to makeover when she visited me at the grand opening of Wild Rose and Co. Marketplace. One thing I spotted in the box was a vintage tea tin. I didn’t take a before picture of it, but you know what I’m talking about. I decided to give it a new life by painting over the label with chalkboard paint. I love how versatile and updated it is, now. This would

September 27, 2010 17 Comments

Winners and a Before & After

I have been flying through makeovers and have not stopped to take pictures of some of them…stupid, stupid, so I made sure I snapped a before picture of this stool. This before picture is horrible! It was late at night and I couldn’t get the white balance right, but it makes the after look even better, right? The stool was filthy, so I gave it a good scrub and allowed it to dry. I then stained the top with dark walnut and painted the base in Sea Salt by Sherwin Williams. I used a resist technique, so the paint would sand off and look “chippy.” A final coat of dark walnut stain rubbed over the paint furthered the weathered look. I brushed on a polycrylic to finish it off. Ahhh…much better. And now you actually notice the very cool wiring underneath. This is going in my new booth space. The

September 21, 2010 28 Comments

Dresser Transformation

What do you do with a dresser that has drawers beyond repair? You take them out and replace them with a couple of shelves, of course…or at least you have your husband do that and then you paint it. The construction of these drawers were ok, but the veneer was in terrible condition. It was either put new fronts on or take them out. I opted to take them out. My husband built two plywood shelves and trimmed them in the original trim that separated the drawers. Isn’t he clever? I painted the dresser in Creamy by Sherwin Williams and the interior in a pretty blue. (I will get the exact color of this piece and the dresser I posted about yesterday for everyone who asked about it.) I found a galvanized box that was the perfect size for one of the cubbies. It’s for sale separately, but hopefully whoever

August 14, 2010 64 Comments

A Happy Marriage?

Can a chair from the 1900’s and a quilt from the 1800’s come together in a happy union? This chair was almost naked when it was purchased for almost nothing from an auction. No finish and stripped down to it’s springs. This quilt fit under an unfortunate label…a cutter quilt. Although they were from different centuries, they seemed to want to be together. So, I did what only seemed right. I married them. Happily ever after? I also made two more Gasthaus signs and sent them off to new homes. I sold the one right off my wall, so I need to make a third for myself! Anyone else “need” one? I found some awesome things for Lucketts while I was out at yard sales today, but I have not had the chance to have a photo session with them. I’ll share them soon.

August 7, 2010 23 Comments

Zinc Frame…or is it?

Zinc is a hot “thing” right now. You’re seeing zinc furniture, zinc letters, and all things zinc in home decor. It looks so cool, but it’s expensive. Now, I’m going to say that as much as I love paint, I am not a fan of faux. Mainly, because it looks….well, faux. My friend, Jami from Freckled Laundry, recently painted a “zinc” dresser and did a great job, I might add. When we were e-mailing about her technique, she mentioned the possibility of using tin foil to achieve the look of zinc. I had no plans to test it out, but then, I started working on this frame. It was part particle board, part metal…it was ugly and paint just wasn’t going to fix it. I needed to decoupage something over the frame to hide the imperfections. I was a little tired of craft paper and sheet music, so I went

August 6, 2010 43 Comments

Before and Afters

Oil & Vinegar | homemade cleaner for wood furniture

A few weeks ago, I found a wonderful tip about using oil and vinegar to revive and clean old wood. This is one of those tips that sound really cool, but I was pretty skeptical. It may be the kind of thing that makes a piece look good long enough to snap a picture and then, when it dries, it looks like crap again. Well, this oil and vinegar solution to clean wood furniture is the real deal…and I used it on just about every piece of wood within walking distance to test it out. Check out the before and after on these croquet mallets. I purchased them at an auction and used ONLY oil and vinegar on them to clean them up and bring out the patina of the wood. Obviously, the one on the left is the before, right is the after. I purchased this gorgeous dresser at

June 16, 2010 106 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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