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Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint

Furniture Makeovers

Thank you, Wisconsin

Trips are a funny thing for me.  I am such a homebody and I dread the whole “experience” of flying somewhere, but once I arrive, I enjoy it immensely.  I love meeting new people, seeing a place I’ve never been before, eating at recommended restaurants…  And I must admit that book signings and workshops and TV appearances are fun, too. Going to Wisconsin was the same way.  Laura from the Ironstone Nest had been asking me for years to come visit her store and I kept pushing it back.  I was just thinking about the whole leaving home and flying on a plane part and wasn’t looking ahead to the fun stuff.  Another retailer in Wisconsin, Brenda from Harvest Home, asked if I would come as well and that nudged me into saying yes. And I’m so, so glad.  It was such a full, wonderful, inspiring trip and they truly

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Before and Afters

corner cabinets in shutter gray

While I was finishing up the slipcovers I shared yesterday, Kriste worked on giving a few pieces in my dining room a fresh coat of paint. (She was standing in front of the sink, mixing paint, and the light was so pretty, so I had to snap a picture.) I wanted to give the corner cabinets and buffet in the dining room a little makeover. The first time I ever used a tinted wax was on these corner cabinets and it got away from me a bit.  Well maybe more than a bit.  The end result looked streaky and I’ve wanted to fix them for a while, but again, there was always something more important to do. The interior was painted a cream, but the original reddish stain on the cabinet had bled through, so it had a pink tinge in a few places.  Again, something I wanted to fix, but not enough to

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Before and Afters

Lucketts Eve 2015

Today is about resting up for the three day marathon that is the Lucketts Spring Market.  I lingered in bed, took a long soak in a hot bath with lavender epsom salts and had a nice breakfast.  I’m getting my post done early, so I can get a full night’s sleep before the big day tomorrow.  We do have to pack up the van with the final things to take down to the market, but that’s pretty much all that needs to be done.  I can honestly say that I have never worked so hard and so focused on a specific event.  Now, all I can do is watch how it all unfolds over the next three days.  The weather, the crowds, how things sell…  I’ll keep you posted. Before I go, I realized I had one more piece of furniture to share.  It’s this sweet little wash stand… Here’s how

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All Things Home

pedestal table & balloon back chairs

The Lucketts Spring Market is just days away and I still have things to show you!  I’m going to share more details about the sale, answer your questions and share pictures of everything all set up over the next few days.  Until then, here are a few more things that are coming to the sale… When I purchased this table a few weeks ago, it looked so sad.  With missing veneer, water damage, a wobbly base and a thick layer of dirt, it was hard to see potential, but the shape of that pedestal was irresistible! Here’s how it looked before…   I tightened down the top, so it was sturdy, and cleaned it up, but I left the other dents and dings alone.  The top was missing all of its veneer, but no one would ever notice that once I painted it. I applied a coat of MMSMP in a mix

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Before and Afters

boxwood highboy

When I bought this piece, I honestly didn’t think too much of it.  My parents went to pick up a few pieces from a seller on Craig’s List and they sent me a picture of this one that was for sale, but hadn’t been listed. Sure.  Throw it in the truck.  I’ll do something with it. This is what it looked like when I got it… I really did hit the jackpot on this Craig’s List listing.  A man had a bunch of furniture he was planning to refinish, but got partway into a few pieces, like this highboy, and realized it wasn’t for him.  So, he sold them off at a good price.  I love it when I can get five pieces from the same place!  One stop shopping.  That day, anyway. I sanded down this piece and then painted it in two coats of MMSMP Boxwood (I’ve been

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Before and Afters

And there’s more…

We’ve done so much stuff for Lucketts that it’s been hard to even show it all!  So, I have a bunch of pieces to share in this post. One of the first things I bought for Lucketts was this set of chairs.  They are so sweet and the design on the backs, to me, looked almost German. We removed the rubber covers on the feet and painted them in MMSMP French Enamel, finished with Hemp Oil.  The shutters in the back are painted in Lucketts Green and those will be for sale at Lucketts as well.  ($75 for the pair.) The backs of these chairs did a really cool crackle thing all on their own.  The set of chairs is $120. I styled the chairs with a washtub stand that was the perfect size, although a little impractical to actually use as a table!  It would definitely need a piece

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Before and Afters

the dresser with the tree…

Just a quick reminder/clarification before I get into the post.  The Friday event of the Lucketts Spring Market is a ticketed event, so you have to have a ticket to attend and tickets will not be sold at the gate AND the tickets are sold out.  So, if you don’t have a ticket for Friday, Saturday morning at 8:00 am is the earliest you can show up.  For details, visit the Old Lucketts Store website. Surprise, surprise.  I have another furniture makeover for you today!  And, believe it or not, there is still a lot more.  Jeff walked in the other day, took a look around the studio and said, “I’m going to call U-Haul to get a bigger truck.” This piece is one that took me a while to figure out.  I don’t mean this in a nutty kind of way, but I try to work with the piece of furniture when

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Before and Afters

Mustard Seed Yellow Buffet

It may (or may not) surprise you to know that one of my favorite pieces of furniture ever was the piece I painted to introduce the Mustard Seed Yellow color in my milk paint line. The way the piece chipped, the original amber knobs, the dark wood top, the hand painting…  it just all came together perfectly. When I brought this buffet into the studio, I immediately thought of that piece and decided to make this one over in a similar style. It’s a really old, pretty buffet made of oak, but the finish on it was almost black.  I stripped off the top and finished that with two coats of Hemp Oil.  The base of the cabinet was sanded and painted with three coats of Mustard Seed Yellow (a group effort by me, my mom and Megan.)  I then added some decorative painting in Ironstone, distressed it and finished it

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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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