Furniture Makeovers Archives | Page 16 of 111

Furniture Makeovers

All Things Home

the French twins of Lucketts 2017

It has become a Lucketts tradition, it seems, to have a twin pair of French-style chairs at the Miss Mustard Seed booth! Well, we do not want to break that trend, now, do we? As a recap, here is the pair from 2014… …from 2015… …and from 2016… And here is the pair for 2017 (before their makeover, of course)… They are a new-ish pair, so they are in good, sturdy condition, and they sit a little higher, making them ideal for pulling them up to a table. The frames are nice as they are, but they look a little too “factory finished”, so I will most likely paint them. I’m going to wait to decide until they are stripped and I “try on” some fabric to see what I want to do. I always base the wood/paint and color decisions on the fabric I’m going to use. Now, I almost didn’t

March 19, 2017 21 Comments

Before and Afters

a million tiny drawers

Okay, so the post title is a bit of an exaggeration. These little handmade hardware cabinets have just 17 drawers between them, but it seems like a lot more than that! Do you remember what they looked like before? Here’s a refresher… Clearly, some guy (or perhaps a gal) made them for a workshop space and have gone in and out of those drawers with greasy fingers. There was something that spoke to me, though…the crude design and all of the imperfections and irregularities. They definitely needed to be freshened up, though! We painted them in two coats of Farmhouse White from the MMS Milk Paint line, lightly distressed them, letting the paint chip where it wanted, and then applied Tough Coat to finish. I like that they look fresh, but still old. Well worn and well loved. The inside of the drawers looked a little grubby, though, and I had

March 8, 2017 21 Comments

Before and Afters

farm table & hitchcock chairs

Another piece is finished and ready to wait in the wings until the Lucketts Spring Market in May! It seems so close, yet so far… Anyway, the finished piece is this antique farmhouse table… …and, though they are not 100% finished, these antique Hitchcock-style chairs I purchased last fall… For the chairs, I decided to tape off the rushing and just paint the frames in MMS Milk Paint Grain Sack. Kriste worked on applying the coats of paint over a few days, since chairs are tedious! It’s best to work on them in doses. (As an aside, a few people have asked about Kriste. Well, she is now six months pregnant and is expecting a boy! So, she is mostly doing computer work, pricing, etc. and not as much crawling around on the floor, sanding, etc. Jenn and my mom have come in a few times to help with that sort of

February 24, 2017 44 Comments

All Things Home

progress on the craigslist counter

I did some work on the craigslist counter last week and I thought I would share how it’s shaping up. Now, I’ll be honest…I was planning on painting it. The wood was looking really red, the finish has some unsightly paint splatters, it was really dirty, and it seemed like such a massive black hole with how dark it was. But, I stripped a section of the side, I painted a swatch on the side and the back, and I even painted one drawer. It just wasn’t working for me. The paint was flaking a lot and I didn’t like the contrast of the dark wood and the pale gray paint. I also felt like the piece might look ordinary painted. So, I took a step back and decided to give it a little spa day. Buff it out, oil it up, and see how I felt about it then.

February 21, 2017 88 Comments

Before and Afters

the landscape wardrobe

There are some pieces that are screaming to have a landscape painted on them. This was one such piece. And how can I ignore the pleas from an old piece of furniture? One that’s been around the block, but has a lot of life left? I can’t. And I didn’t. I have been terrible about taking proper before pictures with the most recent pieces I’ve acquired, so here is the best before shot I have of this wardrobe… I found it on craigslist at a nice price, but like most of my finds, this one had some, shall we say, problems. There were some odd modifications and it had clearly been exposed to some moisture. So, we unmodified the odd modifications, cleaned it up, repaired the damaged parts, and added some shelving to make it a more functional piece. We (and by “we”, I mean my dad) also installed a

February 17, 2017 53 Comments

Furniture Makeovers

Me & Mrs Jones

I left early (for me) Thursday morning to fly to Memphis, Tennessee to spend the weekend with Shaunna of Perfectly Imperfect and Stephanie Jones of Me & Mrs Jones. Trips like these always feel like a bit of an interruption to daily routine (I guess trips technically are), but they always end up being a huge boost for me. They pull me away from the computer screen and the studio and give me the opportunity to meet with kindred spirits. I’ve come to expect that from these trips and this one didn’t disappoint. First of all Stephanie Jones, if you have never, ever heard of her, you should check her out. She is not only so creative and an inspiring entrepreneur, but she is one of the loveliest people I’ve ever met. Seeing her in action and spending time with her in her creative spaces was a delight. Enough gushing.

January 31, 2017 38 Comments

All Things Home

Hand Painted Stencils

“Where did you get that stencil?” I’ve been asked that question so many times when I share one of my hand painted pieces. And that has led to people asking if I ever planned to come out with a line of stencils. I have always loved the idea of it, but as someone who works in a freeform way, I had a hard time figuring out how to translate my patterns into stencils. It probably wasn’t as hard as I was making it, but I got stuck on it for a long time. I also wanted to find a way to make my stencils unique. I finally decided to just paint some designs and see how they looked as stencils. Some worked and some didn’t. I worked with a stencil manufacturer who did a fantastic job of guiding me through the process, though, and the result was stencils cut from my

January 30, 2017 31 Comments

Furniture Feature Friday

step-back cupboard reveal

I shared my progress on the step-back cupboard yesterday and here it is all prettied up! As a reminder, here is how it looked before. Well, it had part of the first coat on the top, but this angle better shows what a mess it was! My goal in giving it a makeover was not to make it look new, but to retain it’s age and charm and lose the pencil scribbles, grease spots, spray paint, and definitely the cobwebs and dirt. It didn’t need an extreme makeover, but a little attention to bring out the beauty of the inset door panels, hardware and utilitarian shape. Again, I painted it in a custom mix of two part Eulalie’s Sky to one part Layla’s Mint, both from the MMS Milk Paint line. The back and inset panels were painted in Linen. I finished it out in matte Tough Coat. And isn’t

January 27, 2017 29 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.

next art sale

August 13th, 2026 at 1pm EST

Now Available for Preorder

Move Slow & Make Things

A book about creativity, intention, and making things with care. Sign up to receive updates, preorder details, and exclusive bonus content.

From the Studio

Artful pieces for your home and everyday life.

From original paintings and art prints to Pup Club releases and curated goods, each piece is created or chosen to bring warmth, creativity, and character into your home.

From the Studio and Home

Shop the Feed

A handpicked collection of items styled and shared throughout posts, projects, and social feeds. Every product is thoughtfully chosen to reflect a timeless, collected aesthetic.