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Furniture Makeovers

Furniture Feature Friday – Favorites, Chalk Paint Party & Link Party

I have really enjoyed seeing all of the wonderful pieces of furniture painted with AS Chalk Paint over the last few weeks, so tonight we’re having a chalk paint link up in addition to our usual furniture get together.  Sound good?  First, my favorites from last week.  Desks and vanities are what caught my eye for some reason.  Cutie, Katie, from Craptastic (so funny) painted this tired antique vanity in a cheery yellow, but tempered it with some dark walnut stain.  A harlequin pattern graces the top.  Beautiful choices, Katie! Kristi from The Speckled Dog picked a bold green to make this ho-hum desk pop.  And look at those lovely turned legs.  Would it make you jealous if I oogle and whistle at those legs, Kristi? Julie from The Painted Parlor kept this vanity simple with a distressed coat of white.  The shape of this piece is so stunning, she

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Table Makeover

I have so many things in the works and so few things finished at this point.  I have babysitters coming for the afternoon over the next few days, so I can get some things in the “finished pile.”  Here’s the first piece… I found this pretty table at a yard sale last week.  Funny story…I was paying for this table and a few other things when I spotted a really cool antique shelf leaning against the barn.  It had a $10 sticker on it.  “Oo!  I’ll take that as well.”  I grabbed it and added it to my pile.   “Oh, I’m sorry, but I think that gentleman set it aside.”  Total bummer.  Oh well.  The gentleman looked over at me.  I couldn’t resist asking, “Are you sure you reeeally want it?”  Eyelashes batting (not really.)   “Yeah.  Yeah, I do.  I’m going to put it in my workshop.”  I had an

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A Painted Desk

I worked incredibly hard today and I am incredibly tired tonight.  The day started at 6:30 am when my sons woke me up.  The entire family got ready and we headed out for a morning of yard sales.  I found some great things, which I’ll share in another post, and came home about noon.  After hanging out with the boys for a bit, our babysitter came over and the painting frenzy began.  I have lots to share, but it will all happen in another post.  Tonight, I’m going to share a desk I finished last week.  This is how it started… I painted it in Annie Sloan’s Louis Blue with Old White on the body.  The top was stripped and refinished in a dark walnut stain and Fiddes Wax.  I chose to keep the original hardware, since it was in good condition and still worked with the painted piece. Some light

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Cherry Blossom Dresser

Here’s the latest dresser… …and how it started. For those of you who have “known” me for a while know that my business started out as a decorative painting/mural business.  That eventually evolved into my true passion – antiques and refurbished furniture….well…and my blog and freelance writing and photography and sewing and designing…  Do you know what a nightmare it is to try to classify my business?  Anyway, I wanted to get out of the decorative painting only business, because I felt like everything had to have painted embellishments on it and some things just didn’t need that.  I don’t know why I felt that way, but I did.  I hardly even think about what extra painted detail I can add to a piece now.  For some reason…I just decided to do it on this one.  I added some very simple white cherry blossom branches to just the drawers of

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Furniture Feature Friday – Favorites & A Link Party

Can I tell you how much my heart went pitter-pat every time I saw a piece painted with Annie Sloan’s Chalk Paint in last week’s party?  We are starting a revolution!!  Well, maybe not, but it’s really exciting.  I think next week I’ll have a special link party for chalk paint makeovers in addition to our regular party.  Sound good?  Because of all of the gorgeous chalky pieces and Frenchy pieces and just amazing pieces, it was especially tough this week.  I had about ten links bookmarked, so while I had many favorites, I just picked three to highlight.  Miss Bee from Bee at Home painted this pretty French buffet.  I’m just a sucker for anything Frenchy, curvy with a painted base and a wood top.  I’m pretty predictable, aren’t I? Ginger from Cottage on Rosewood transformed this FREE French beauty with SW Magnetic Gray finished off with distressing and

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Furniture Feature Friday – Favorites & A Link Party

Good evening, my friends.  Oh, how I loved browsing through your furniture posts this week.  There were almost 200 links!  Wow!  I couldn’t visit them all, unfortunately, but I am thankful for the thumbnail parties, which allow me to get a sneak peek of all of them.  You girls are so good.  Here are some makeovers that particularly caught my fancy… Flo from Goin’ with the Flo painted this super old dresser in a Wisteria inspired finish.  I think the distressing, the color, everything is just perfect.  I even love the cracked bottom drawer. I know I’ve featured the folks from European Paint Finishes before and I try to spread the love, but this piece is so impressive.  I love the mix of distressed white paint with the warm wood.  Can’t you imagine this filled with an ironstone collection…maybe a boxwood wreath tucked in somewhere. I’ve been into grass green lately,

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a dresser, a story and a decision

I find my furniture all over the place.  Yard sales, consignment shops, auctions, estate sales, curbs, thrift stores, friends, family, antique stores…  This one was found on Craig’s List.  It looked like this when I picked it up.  The shape is gorgeous, but the peeling veneer and missing details had the old girl showing her age.  Instead of trying to repair and hide all of the quirks, I decided to celebrate them.  This is an old dresser and it doesn’t need to look new.  A heavily distressed paint camouflaged all of the imperfections and played up the texture of the piece. I really love how this one turned out.  One of my favorites and I really, really wanted to keep it, but it went to Lucketts.  That seems to be a theme with me, lately. A funny story about this dresser…I drove out to pick it up along with another one

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Furniture Feature Friday – A Cane Tutorial & Link Party

Our furniture get together is going to be a little different tonight.  Instead of featuring some of my favorites from last week’s link party, I’m pleased to bring you a tutorial on caning furniture.  Caned pieces are a staple in French decor and it always catches my eye, but what do you do when the cane is damaged?  Suesan aka the Frou-Fru-Gal will walk us through this process.  I can’t wait to try it on my new French daybed (that has two holes in the caning, which are getting larger thanks to my two year old!)The link party is still down below, as usual, so please scroll down to join in! I’m so happy to be here on Miss Mustard Seed to show you how to replace Cane Webbing. While many people think this is a daunting task, it’s actually a pretty easy process. I think you’ll be thrilled with

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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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May 20th, 2026 at 1pm EST

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