MCM Dressers, My New Obsession

Well I think it's safe to say I took the Summer off from Blogging.  My last post was two days into Summer Vacation & now here it is Labor Day already.  I have been busy to say the least. Hope you all had a wonderful Summer.

I was looking through some pictures of my work & noticed how many Mid Century Modern Dressers I've painted. They seem to be my new Obsession.  I love the clean lines. 

This is the dresser that started this new Obsession of mine. It was a roadside treasure that turned out to be one of my favorite dressers I've ever done.

Sometimes the MCM style is straight lines with curvy drawers. 

This was a custom job.  I Love how the French Post card graphic pops on the top of the dresser.

Recently I have been finding these amazing long dressers that work perfectly as entertainment centers. People want them for their large Flat Screen TV's.

This set I painted the same & they sold together.

This is the set I have now.  

Available at V Trading in Grand Blanc, MI

Available at V Trading in Grand Blanc,  MI

I love the paint/wood combination.  I am waiting for the perfect set to come along for myself.  I would love a set of this MCM style in my own home. 

Do you like the Mid Century Modern Style?  Would you paint them or leave them original?

Thank you for stopping by, hopefully I'll be able to slow down some & post more often before the snow flies.  Check me out on Facebook to see what I'm working on.  Have a great day!  Dee

Lane Hope Chest

Happy February everyone.  Hope you're all staying warm.  We have been in the deep freeze with record breaking temps & snowfall most of the winter so far.  I have never been more ready for Spring to arrive.

I have had this project on the back burner for several months now.  It's a Vintage Lane Cedar Hope Chest.  It was in pretty good shape, just needed a good cleaning.  Here's the before picture:

It had so much potential with the padded top & the trimmed out detail on the front.  

I painted the body Black, distressed it & gave it a clear wax.

My mind was racing just thinking about what I was going to put on the front.  I wanted to try my hand at decoupage.  I am the first to admit, I'm decoupage challenged.  It is not an easy medium for me.  I never seem to be able to get all the ripples out no matter what I do & this drives me crazy!!! 

I had a paper I was dying to try & this piece was perfect to experiment on.  This is the paper:

It's the Document gift wrapping paper from Ballard Designs.  They discount it after the Holidays so it was super affordable.  I just love the look.  I decided to cut the letters apart for a more filled in look, then I overlapped & decoupaged them onto the front of the chest.

I upholstered the top with a Cream colored Matlasse fabric.  It looks like a plush quilt, love it!

Here is a close up of the front.  So loving this paper.  My decoupage didn't come out to bad.  I'll keep practicing until I'm happy with it though.

Available at V Trading in Grand Blanc, MI

I love this transformation.  I can see this at the foot of some one's bed.  I have big plans for the rest of this paper, I have almost three full rolls left.  That paper is too cool to wrap presents with.  What would you do with this paper?

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Don't forget to check us out on our Facebook, see what we are doing in between posts.  Stay warm & pray for Spring!  Dee

The Cream of the Crop 2013

Happy New Year!  I hope your Holidays were everything you hoped for.  Mine were perfectly enjoyable.  Now that we have them behind us it is that time of year again, time to look back.

Drum roll please......

Top three most viewed:

First:  The Charak Table was the most viewed & the most comments.  Oddly enough, we chose not to paint it.

Second most viewed:  Vintage Windows.  This is also one of my personal favorites.

Third most viewed: My Wedding Chairs. This also had the most features.

MY PERSONAL FAVS!

1.

This antique phone table was so fun to do.  I love the color & the graphic was just perfect.  

2.

My French Laundry vintage ironing board.  I had a new stencil to play with & used a technique I learned years ago when I did Faux Finishing.

3.

This Sweet Waterfall Vanity turned out beautiful.  The vanity & the mirror were both roadside treasures, but what was so surprising was that I found them separately but in the same week. They went together perfectly. Love it when that happens.

4.

The Cornbread Yellow Cabinet was a team effort.  Loved the Chickadees.

5.

This Shabby Lamp Makeover was a challenge but so worth it.

6.

Chippy Blue Dresser was another project we chose not to paint. We loved the color so we just waxed it.

7.

The Medallion coffee table.  I used one of my all time favorite stencils on this.
8.

Gate leg table.  This turned out amazing! It belongs to my vendor sister, Lena.  It's for sale in her booth now, if your interested.

9.

The Serpentine Dresser.  I just realized I have not posted about this beauty.  I will have to do that in the near future because it's worth talking about. 

10.

My Shabby Fireplace is a keeper.  Another roadside treasure!  I plan on holding on to this one a little longer. It looks so nice in my booth as a prop.

It's been an exciting year.  We started teaching paint classes & brought a chalk paint line into our booth at Collette's Vintage & Antique Mall.

This is an amazing paint & very user friendly, it's called The Vintage Farmhouse Distressing Paint.
We also started a Facebook page so you can see what we're up to between posts.  For my birthday my Mom gave me a new camera, so my New Year's resolution is to make the time to take better pictures. 

Well, I hope you've enjoyed this stroll thru my year. I want to thank you all for your kind words, inspiration & encouragement.  
Thanks for visiting me.  I hope you all have a happy, healthy & prosperous year ahead.  Dee

A Custom Window

Has it really been almost a month since I last posted anything?  Where has an entire month gone!?  Christmas is just five days away,  Gulp....

My only excuse is I've been very busy, you know how it is this time of the year.  I had a few custom jobs to do & that's what I want to share with you today.  

My sister called me a few weeks ago & wanted to know if I had any ideas or anything special she could give for a Christmas gift to one of her clients.  We discussed a few ideas & decided on a window.  I had several to choose from but they were all to big.  The one that would work perfectly was already painted. This is what it looked like before I started:

It's actually an old cabinet door.  It was in my booth all summer & I had pulled it out to re-paint it anyway.  It's the first time I have stripped any of my graphics & I have to say it was painful to do.

After I scrapped the graphic off & sanded the coral paint I wiped it all down & started over.

I painted the wood black first, then painted two coats of white.  Before I painted on the white I rubbed a little Vaseline on the edges, so it would distress nice & chippy.

Next it was time for the graphic.  You can read my tutorial on how I put the graphics on the glass here.  It's a tedious process but so worth it.

This was a quote the client had on a wall in their home already, but they are moving & my sister thought they would love to have it in their new home.  

Now it was time to make the special gift wrap.  I sewed a "slip cover" for it out of drop cloth.  I tore it so it would have frayed edges.  I have to admit, I am not a seamstress.  Simply sewing up the two sides took me forever!!  I am sewing machine illiterate.

Once I finally had the sides sewn up I added the graphics.

Made the matching ribbon, hand stamped & so perfectly shabby...

All wrapped up....

And here it is in it's new home.  They loved it.  I think I like this version better too.

 Thanks for stopping by & don't forget to check us out on Facebook. I hope everyone has a safe & very Merry Christmas. 

Shabby Lamp Makeover

During one of our after dinner walks this summer my husband & I noticed one of our neighbors putting a floor lamp out to the road.  Well you know me,  these are my favorite finds.  I was told it still works, they just didn't need it anymore.  I let him know we would gladly take it off his hands.  He was happy to oblige, he always thought it had potential.  I couldn't agree more. 

Here is a picture of it before:

I knew just what I wanted to do :)

I had seen some french paper online that was waiting for the perfect project for an excuse to order it. 

This paper is translucent & would make a perfect lamp shade.  I found it on Etsy, here is the link if you want to check it out for yourself.  I know, the wheels are just spinning aren't they?

I painted the lamp shabby white & stripped the wicker off the lamp shade frame.  Then I waited patiently for the paper to arrive.

I was NOT disappointed!  This paper is lovely.....

I saved the panels of wicker to use for a pattern.

Whew!  With only one roll, I had just enough for this shade.  I cut each panel out, making sure I would have enough to overlap the edges. I used Modge Podge to glue the new panels to the frame. 

Here it is all put back together......

I just love the end result....

It's so pretty when you turn it on. These pictures just don't do it justice.

I even tried taking a picture outside to see if I could get better lighting.

Here it is in my booth, all dolled up for the Holidays.

Well, now I can scratch that one off my "Dreaming about doing" list.  What would you do with this beautiful paper? I would love to hear your ideas.

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  Check us out on Facebook to see what we're up to.  Enjoy your day,  Dee