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Furniture Makeovers

FFF

  Welome to FFF on the new blog.  I’m assuming it’s all going to happen without a hitch…fingers crossed. Here are some favorites from last week… I absolutely adore this bench painted by Kim from Savvy Southern Style.  The lines, the caning, oh…those legs.  Just stunning. Whitney and Dustin from The Rooster & the Hen show their resourcefulness with a whitewashed pallet headboard.  It looks so fabulous, it’ll have you looking at any blank wall in your house… Gina from Shabby Creek Cottage took the plunge into the upholstery world and turned a $2.50 chair into this cutie.  Awesome job, Gina.   Here are the rules for our furniture get-together… 1.) Your post has to be about furniture. Please, please, please…just furniture. If you find your link has been deleted, it’s not because I’m mean, it’s because your post was not about furniture. You can share makeovers, awesome finds, favorite

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Before and Afters

barrel-back chairs

I bought these chairs back in January from an estate furniture shop.  I loved the shape and, while the upholstery was done well, the fabric was not my thing.  I intended to upholster them myself, but once Ruthie came into my life all of that changed.  I turned over every upholstered piece I had in my queue, including this pair of barrel-back French chairs. I painted the frames in ASCP Old White (unwaxed) and distressed it with a sanding sponge before putting them in Ruthie’s capable hands.  She found a super heavy duty fabric that looks like burlap, but feels nice and will wear much better.  It was also a nicer fabric for her to work with and it doesn’t stink or shed like burlap.     These chairs look classy, now.   I got so used to doing everything myself, that it’s still feels funny to turn a piece over

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Furniture Feature Friday – Updates & a Link Party

Well, that stinks. I went to pick my favorites from last week’s FFF and the thumbnails aren’t working. It’s just a bunch of red x’s. There was a time, before the day of linky thumbnails, when I would click through each link and leave comments and choose my favorites that way. Unfortunately, I just don’t have the time to do that anymore. So, no thumbnails = no favorites. Major bummer. Since I can’t share my favorites, I thought I would share some odds and ends. First of all, I have been working on a new WordPress site with my amazing designer, Marina from Penny Lane Designs. We’re going to make the switch any day now. We’re just getting a few more ducks in a row. You can check it out here. If you currently subscribe to my blog, the transition should be seamless. You do not need to resubscribe and

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Before and Afters

{swiss miss}

I always hate the anticipation of having to drag a piece of furniture up my basement steps, rearrange my dining room and set up a photo shoot, but I am always so happy when I take the time and effort to do it.  This is my latest dresser makeover, that is going to be the “pop of color” in my room for the Lucketts holiday open house.  I’ve been calling her the “Swiss Miss”, for obvious reasons. I found this dresser at the same shop where I found the cola cooler.  It needed a little bit of repair on the drawers, but was in nice condition otherwise.  The wood is a beautiful bird’s eye and I fancy these empire-shaped dressers.  (It did have all of the the drawers, I just snapped a quick picture with my phone before I painted it.) I sanded down the top (the old finish was

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Furniture Feature Friday – Favorites & a Link Party

Thanks so much for all of the great comments this week.  That grass sofa really sparked some fun remarks, I was laughing out loud at some of the responses to my day, and I really appreciated the encouragement I received from my post about my growing business.  I’m even going to start working with a new “picker” as a result of that post!  You just never know… I did want to take a minute to address all of “my moms” out there.  I know a few of you are concerned about the pace of my day yesterday, but I don’t work that much every day.  I’m getting ready for a big event, have two articles due and am doing some consulting work, so it’s just one of those times.  Most days are balanced a little bit better. Now, to my favorites from last week…  Emily from Emily’s Upcycled Furniture painted this

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resourceful or ridiculous?

Today, the glittering continued.   I received my box of 10 pounds of glitter over the weekend, so the glittering isn’t going to stop any time soon.  Even my basement sparkles…and not because it’s clean, unfortunately.  I also began working on my feature furniture pieces for the Lucketts holiday open house today.  I started pulling apart this sofa, but as soon as I got the back partly off, I realized I was in over my head.  I have found a lot of strange things in furniture before, but this took the cake.  Upholstery done with a rice sack.  Not a grain sack, but a tarp-like plastic rice sack.  OK…strange… Then I started to examine the filling.  I figured it was horse hair.  It had a wiry, crunchy texture.  No, not horse hair.  Something about it was off…is this?  …could it be?  …grass?  Yes…the entire settee is stuffed with grass.  I did

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chalkboard armoire & princess dresser

Another day of making ornaments has come and gone.  My entire house is dusted in glitter and littered with shreds of paper.  Sigh.  So, since I’m stuck in monotony at the moment, I thought I would share two other new pieces of furniture I worked on last week and dropped off at Lucketts. This armoire had been in my office for a couple of years, but it was replaced in my recent makeover.  I couldn’t just let a good vintage armoire go to waste, so I gave it a new life. I decided to paint the entire piece in black chalkboard paint.  I think it could work in a kid’s room, kitchen, craft room, play room, family room…lots of options.  The other piece, which actually already sold, is this princess dresser.  It wasn’t bad, but the paint finish was very tired, so I stripped the top and painted the base in ASCP

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The General

As some of you may know, I’m good friends with Barb Blair from Knack Studios.  She called me up one day out of the blue (creeper) and I felt an immediate connection with her.  Barb has since been one of my go-to girls to call when I need to chat, vent, celebrate or get some sound advice.  Her work and style, which is very different from mine, has also been an inspiration.  Enter…The General.  I “met” him on her portfolio page a few months ago and he sent my heart a-flutter.  I loved her technique of allowing the stripe on the piece to be wood.  Genius.  Brilliant.  I knew the day would come when I would find the right piece to make my own version.  Here’s a sorry iPhone picture of the before.  It was an extremely sturdy, heavy dresser, but the finish was pretty tired.  I taped off all

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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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