Furniture Makeovers Archives | Page 93 of 111

Furniture Makeovers

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

October 17, 2011 88 Comments

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

October 10, 2011 32 Comments

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

October 8, 2011 58 Comments

Furniture Feature Friday – Favorites & a Link Party

Oh my word, girls! I am normally really inspired by all of the links to FFF, but last week was bananas. I had so many pages of favorites open it was insane. I had a very hard time narrowing it down to only three, so I just had to pick three and go with it. Here are the ones I decided to share this week… (For some of my other favorites, check out my FaceBook page.) This fall vignette from Momma Hen’s Coop is so creative and beautiful in its simplicity. I love the use of the French chair frame and the “fire place” made out of old wood. It’s just stunning. Janet from Shabbyfufu shared her gorgeous dining room with a homemade farmhouse table and Craig’s List French caned chairs. Who says great style has to be expensive? Work it, girl. Work it. Pamela from From My Front Porch

October 6, 2011 28 Comments

Furniture Feature Friday – Favorites & a Link Party

As I looked through the projects from last week, three jumped out at me almost immediately. Usually I have to go back and forth between ones I love to narrow it down to three, but last week…there were three that I instantly loved. Here they are… Christie from Three Pixie Lane lovingly painted this secretary and the end result is so worth the effort. Not only do I love the way she painted it, but the styling is perfection. That Nordic bunting is so pretty. Maple and Magnolia found this surveyor’s cabinet on Craig’s List and tackled the chore of refinishing it. The result? Killer. This girl slayed this cabinet in the best possible way and the styling is spot on. Love, love this. I want one, now. Little Miss Penny Wenny used one of my dressers as her inspiration for this piece, but I find her piece inspires me. I

September 22, 2011 20 Comments

the french armoire – before & after

Some of you have been waiting a long time for this one. Trust me when I say that I have, too. Back in March or maybe April, I was browsing Craig’s List. I looked all over my area and didn’t find one thing that was of interest to me. Hating to spend all of that time searching and only to come up empty, I decided to expand my search. I looked in metro areas where I had family, including the Orlando area where my parent’s live. And, I came across this French armoire for $150. “Um, Dad…will you pick up an armoire for me? Pretty please?” Batting eyelashes don’t translate over the phone, but my Dad melted at my sweet, angelic tone. Not only did he pick up the armoire for me and spotted me the money until I sent him the check, but he stored it in the garage and then packed it up and drove it

September 21, 2011 114 Comments

a poor paint job

I used to shudder at pieces of furniture that were poorly painted. Drips, major brush marks, streaks and chips. I felt like my paint job would only be as good as the previous paint job and I needed to sand it baby bottom smooth to make it right. Well, I have had a change of heart. I no longer see problems in poor paint jobs. I see texture. Amazing texture just waiting to be highlighted and put on display. For example…this piece was poorly painted. It was streaky, drippy, chippy and not in a good way. The drawers worked perfectly, though, it’s solid wood, has the original hardware and a great shape. Instead of stripping or sanding it, I just painted straight over it with a mixture of paint (I’ll get into that in a minute.) Once the paint was dry, I sanded it heavily to bring out all of

September 17, 2011 59 Comments

Furniture Feature Friday – Favorites & a Link Party

It’s always tough choosing my favorites for FFF and narrowing it down to just three, so I’m going to start featuring some runner-ups (runners-up?) on my FaceBook page. That way I don’t have to choose just three. So, “like” my page if you’re interested in seeing what catches my eye. Here are the three I really loved from last week… Amy from Whisper Wood Cottage deconstructed this French chaise and it looks amazing. It’s a gutsy move to leave a piece like this and I think it’s heavenly. Jaime of Craft Happy Scrappy gave this card catalog some love and now it looks fabulous! I love the size and scale of this piece as well as the warm wood. Jillian from The Virginia House made her own hand painted Restoration Hardware inspired “Grain Sack” chair. In her post, she points out the flaws of her 3am project, but I think

September 15, 2011 18 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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