Furniture Makeovers Archives | Page 31 of 110

Furniture Makeovers

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

All Things Home

Milk Paint on walls & Kriste bought a house

So, Kriste bought a house!! Our little girl is growing up so fast. She and her husband, David, closed on a sweet 1920’s craftsman bungalow just over a week ago. Not a bad first house at all! It has lots of charm and lots of potential as well. (It even has a studio space for Kriste!) And this girl has been dreaming about that potential. Here are a couple of detailed sketches she made for each room… You can click HERE to see all of her sketches and “mood boards”. Literally hours after they closed (maybe even minutes), Kriste and I were in her bedroom, paint rollers in hand. (A girl after my own heart. That’s exactly what I did when we bought our first house!) Kriste asked if we could use MMS Milk Paint for her walls. Of course we can! Now, I’ve never done it, but

October 19, 2015 35 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

All Things Home

in the works & in the wings

After the push to get ready for The Market on Chapel Hill, I took a bit of a break from bringing in new pieces of furniture. I was actually trying to clean out the studio and weed out the stash, so I just had things to work on that I was really excited about. We’re putting together a second look book for the MMS Milk Paint line and have a shoot scheduled at the most insanely beautiful manor next week and I realized I only had two pieces to shoot! Time to get in gear, Marian. I tripped across these chairs. Almost literally. I went to the Old Red Barn in Chambersburg, PA to teach a milk paint demo last weekend and spotted these barrel-backed cane beauties… I mean…come on. Initially, I thought there was no way in the world I would paint them, but they aren’t particularly old (1980’s most

October 15, 2015 57 Comments

All Things Home

zinc-top table gets a second chance

I brought this amazing zinc-topped table a few weeks ago to sell at the Market on Chapel Hill. I didn’t have time to fix it up the way I wanted to, though, so I was sort of glad when it didn’t sell. It was great as is, but needed a little TLC. And when it comes to furniture, TLC is something I can (and often do) do. Here’s how the piece looked when I brought it to the market… (If you get seasick, you might want to have a barf-bag handy. Yes. I just wrote barf-bag.) The front, left leg is an inch shorter than the other legs. To say the table was wonky was a bit of an understatement. The floors in our studio are so un-level, though, that I didn’t notice it until the day before we packed it. Here was my quick fix… …a stack of sticky

October 7, 2015 19 Comments

All Things Home

market recap & milk-painted wooden toys

We are back home from our trip to Alabama, safe and sound from the Market on Chapel Hill. It is a long trip, but it’s always worth it. The worth isn’t in the profits made. (I told someone I would probably cry if I really took the time to figure out my hourly rate for all of the prep, shopping, etc. that is put into these events.) The worth is in the moments with people…readers, shoppers, fellow vendors, bloggers, the community who hosts this event with so much concern for detail. So often, I’m in a bubble. At my computer, in my studio, in my house. I’m comfortable there. But when I step outside of that bubble, I almost always find encouragement. I feel challenged and inspired in new ways. Most times, there’s at least one conversation or hug or story that moves me to tears. A moment that emphasizes…this

October 5, 2015 22 Comments

All Things Home

Painting with White

When I see someone who doesn’t know what color to paint something, they almost always default to white. It’s neutral. It’s easy. Right? I will admit that it is hard to go wrong with white. I love white and mix a lot of different whites in my home. All three of the whites from the MMS Milk Paint line are represented. Ironstone on the dining table base and chairs… Linen on the jelly cupboard… …and Grain Sack on the 1800’s marble-topped dresser and Gustavian sofa frame to point out a few. So, I’m a fan. But, white is actually one of the hardest colors to paint with. It doesn’t matter what kind of paint it is, white just doesn’t cover as well and almost always requires more coats. This is especially true with milk paint, since it’s thinner than modern paints. Here are some tips and tricks I’ve

October 2, 2015 19 Comments

All Things Home

cleaning & sealing chipping antique pieces

Remember that awesome “cubby” I found a few weeks ago? I spotted it when I was out shopping once, but I passed it up, because it was a little pricey. I kept thinking about it, though, and decided if it was still there the next time I stopped in, I would buy it. Well, it was still there and I snapped it up. (It’s so funny that I get so excited about buying things I’m just going to turn around and sell!) The only problem with this piece is that it was shedding paint everywhere. If you would just breath near it, flakes would fall off. I love the “chippy look”, but I don’t want actual chips of paint littering the floor. So, I have a standard way I deal with pieces like this… Before I get into the process, please check the EPA website for safely dealing with lead-based paint

September 23, 2015 30 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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