Furniture Makeovers Archives | Page 44 of 110

Furniture Makeovers

Before and Afters

painted oak hutch

Over the past few days work days, I’ve been getting the studio ready for our first workshops (happening later this week.) It’s been good to have an imposed deadline to get things spruced up. Otherwise, I just work on whatever I’m most interested in and leave other things hanging. Kriste is always a huge help, but in this case, she was really good at keeping me on track. I’ll meander around the studio, working on this and that and she’ll say, “Okay, what are the priorities? Should we get this finished before the workshops? I’ll work on this while you take care of that.” It’s so helpful. So, a few weeks ago, I painted the oak hutch that’s behind the shirt counter… I painted the outside in one coat of Shutter Gray and then got busy with other things, so I never applied a finish. After living with it that way for a

January 20, 2015 21 Comments

All Things Home

say hello to “schloss” | sofa makeover

This really could be two posts, but I decided to fit it all into one. The truth is, after a week of hard work, I have a lot of things to share and I’m getting antsy to get them posted! First of all, here is another one of our new European colours in the MMS Milk Paint line… It’s a rich greige that many of our customers have been requesting and it seemed fitting for the new line of subtle colors. It’s definitely a chameleon color, as you can see in the collage above. It looks more beige on the raw wood sample, warm gray on the side table (by Allison of The Golden Sycamore) and a richer gray on the settee frame. For those who don’t know, Schloss means castle in German. This color reminded me of the gray and beige variations in the stonework. (This is the Marienburg

January 18, 2015 40 Comments

All Things Home

distressing painted furniture | tips & techniques

I’ve shared a lot of tips about distressing furniture through the years, but I decided I would tackle the subject again. I took pictures of the process as I worked on the Marzipan dresser I revealed yesterday for that very reason. So, here’s how the dresser looked once it was painted. It has two coats of MMSMP Marzipan with some Ironstone (white) painted on the trim, handles and carved details. Because I’m going to distress, I wasn’t too concerned with the white paint being perfect or completely opaque. It actually looks a little sloppy at this stage. Distressing serves a few purposes, then. It hides the imperfections in the painting, but it also brings out the details of the piece and adds a sense of age to the fresh coat of paint. I’m going to start with the basics…what is distressing? It’s more than just roughing up a piece. It’s about removing

January 15, 2015 26 Comments

Before and Afters

say hello to “marzipan”

It’s time for me to introduce another one of the European Colours in the Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint line. (The “colours” spelling was for you, Kate.) Please give a warm welcome and hello to Marzipan… This is a very soft, warm neutral with a whisper of a beige in it. When I first worked on this color, I wasn’t sure how much I would use it. Well, now I’m totally in love with it. For those of you who don’t know, marzipan is a paste made of almonds, sugar and egg whites that is used to make cakes and confections. When I was thinking about a name for this warm neutral, the marzipan treats from my childhood in Germany came to mind. The funny thing is that I never liked eating marzipan! It was just too sweet for me, but I loved looking at all of the beautiful things

January 14, 2015 40 Comments

Furniture Makeovers

say “hello” to Layla’s Mint

It’s time to say “hello” to another one of our new colors in the MMS Milk Paint European color line! You’ve already met Bergere and Arabesque and now here’s Layla’s Mint… Yes. It’s named after the Layla. Lettered Cottage Layla. It all started back in the summer when Layla sent me an e-mail, wanting a perfect minty green for a secretary in her house. I tried a few different ratios and came up with a lovely minty green… Layla tweaked the recipe a little bit and painted the secretary, which looks so pretty in her space! As I was collaborating with some of my retailers on the European color line, the request for Layla’s Mint kept coming up, so it became a no-brainer to add it in the line and, as a bonus, it already had a name! The colors in the line all have warm undertones and the original Layla’s

January 8, 2015 30 Comments

Furniture Makeovers

favorite furniture of 2014

Hello 2015! I’m excited about this coming year and all of the possibilities it holds. I am going to take a few posts to soak in 2014 before diving in, though. Furniture makeovers are my favorite, so I thought I would share my favorite pieces that I painted and upholstered over the past year… I was totally in love with this cabinet painted in Eulalie’s Sky… It was a dark green when I bought it off Craig’s List. Using two colors of paint and finishing with some light distressing brought out all of the charming details. This piece had great bones and they just needed to be highlighted. Most of my favorite pieces are blue, of course, but I love this dresser painted in Boxwood layered over Lucketts Green… This piece wore green well and chipped in just the right way in all the right places. I love it when furniture

January 2, 2015 18 Comments

2014 Home Changes

As 2014 is winding down, I’ve been thinking about everything that’s happened over the past year. I started looking through posts and pictures and enjoyed seeing all of the things I’ve done, the places I’ve been and the projects that were completed. I figured I’d write a few posts sharing the highlights…my favorites and your favorites. Let’s start with my house. What struck me as I looked back over pictures is how much has stayed the same. The master bedroom and bathroom, half bath, kitchen, home office, upstairs bath and family room have stayed pretty much the same. For the most part. I’ve made tweaks and moved some furniture and things around, but nothing has been dramatically changed. Here are the things that have changed – This is how the living room looked in January… …and in December. The dining room in January… …and December. I’m planning to put a rug back

December 31, 2014 40 Comments

Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint

Arabesque dresser | take two

I shared the first styling of the Arabesque dresser a few days ago. I brought in an heirloom wedding ring quilt from home and we played up the sweetness of the dusty pink color with some fun knobs and cheerful flowers. I think this is a pretty typical way to view pink. But, I wanted to show Arabesque as more of a “neutral” and here is the result… I swapped out the pink and yellow knobs with simple, vintage-looking glass knobs. This changed the look of the piece entirely. The oriental rug has hints of pink in it, but it’s grounded with rich navy and muted beiges. The wood chair and muted gold frames pull out the dark wood peeking through the chipped paint. We used the same flowers as the first shoot, but edited out all but the pale tea roses. I was styling the dresser and asked Kriste to make

December 29, 2014 50 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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