It's a Hall Tree

I've been on the re-purposing Band Wagon lately.  I love to take old, sometimes discarded items & turn them into beautiful, functional pieces again.
I get so many ideas from Pinterest & that is where I got my inspiration for this project. 

In my collection of roadside treasures I have an old  solid wood door that has a full size window in it.  It was perfect for what I needed.  I also had a large Mission style coffee table that had a few cosmetic issues, but it was also perfect for my project.
 Unfortunately, once again, I have very few before pictures.
  

  We sawed the coffee table right in half..

This will become the seat part of my Hall Tree.

We secured the table to the door & painted the whole thing White.

Loving it already....

Now it was time for the fun part,  the details & graphics.  I found a French address on The Graphics Fairy website that worked perfectly.

Now I wanted to add a vintage door knob & some coat hooks.  This proved to be very challenging.  The door knobs were easier to find then the hooks were.  I guess everyone is inspired by Pinterest & coat hooks are very desirable right now.

Luckily we were able to find them both at a huge Antique Festival a couple of weeks ago.  It took us a while to figure out how we wanted to attach the door knobs, with their back plates, to the door.  I like what we came up with....

The door knob is amazing with the back plate...

The coffee table is nice & big, perfect to sit down & put your shoes on....

The graphic is sooo cool.....

It's a Hall Tree!  I wish I had an entryway where I could put this because this would be a keeper. 

I scored another door this week, it has three horizontal panes of glass instead of one.  I'll be able to make another using the other half of the coffee table.  Maybe I'll get lucky & someone will want one customized with their name on it.

These Hall Trees are a lot of fun to create.  I've seen them all over the Internet lately.  Do you use a Hall Tree?  Was it handmade?

 You can find us on Facebook to see what we're working on next. Thanks for stopping by,  Dee

Cycling Coffee Table

Can you believe it's Memorial Day Weekend already?  Where does the time go?  It seems like it went from winter to summer in the blink of an eye.  I for one am happy to see the winter finally end. Bring on the Sunshine & long warm days!!!

A few months ago I seen the most awesome graphic from The Graphics Fairy.  Usually the piece of furniture gives me the inspiration for the graphic, but not this time. The graphic totally inspired the type of furniture, size & color choice.

How awesome is that!??

I found the perfect coffee table to show off this super awesome graphic.  I painted the base Paris Grey & the top in Old White.  Now the fun was about to begin.  I used my overhead projector to transfer the graphic:

Using my paint pens & a very steady hand, I carefully painted it on.  This took me three hours but I'd say it was well worth it.

I really had to focus when I got to the wheels.

I painted a black band on the edge....

Sprayed the hardware black, the clear waxed the whole thing.

Here it is in my booth.  I know it's not for everyone & it's kind of masculine, but to me, it's beautiful.  

Cozumel, the Color

I love Cozumel.....

 Warm tropical breezes...

The coral reefs..... 

The beautiful Aqua blue warm ocean...

Don't you just want to go there & stay forever?

Someday I hope to visit, but until then I will settle for using my new favorite color.  You guessed it, "Cozumel".  It's a color by Clark & Kensington from Ace Hardware & I love it!

This is the first piece I painted in this color:

I was in love after the first coat....

We happened to have a twin bed that went nicely with the table so we painted it the same color.....

I added a little bling, this is actually a metallic paint called "Oyster  Pearl". It didn't photograph very well, but looks very sparkly in person.

Super cute together, don't you think?

I just couldn't wait to use this color again, so I had an old phone table that needed a new look.  Does anyone even use a phone table anymore?

I found the perfect retro graphic at my favorite source The Graphics Fairy. 

Then I added a little modern spin to it:

What teenage girl wouldn't love this?

What would you use this cute phone table for?

Cozumel... someday I hope to see it. For now I will just enjoy the color.  Thanks for stopping by,  Dee

My Wedding Chairs

I can't believe it's been a month since my last post. I know I've been busy lately, but really have nothing to show for it. When you live in the north during the middle of the winter, it's hard to get motivated to paint. Especially when I normally paint outside. Enough for my lame excuses. I have something super special to share with you today.

Sometime in January, I was primping my booth and spotted a pair of chairs I thought would be perfect for my upcoming upholstery class. I kept my eye on them & finally they were marked down to a honey of a price so I snatched them up. Here is a picture of the before:

I know, hideous right? But so much potential. I loved the shape. So this is what I started with & after the first class they were stripped of all that crushed velvet & lumpy padding.  I painted the wood in Old White & gave it a couple of coats of clear wax.

Distressed it here & there....

    

Love those details....

I used my favorite fabric, drop cloth, & added some graphics..

With the wedding season upon us, I thought how appropriate would these be. I created the script on my computer in Publisher, then transferred them to the inside back panels. After much measuring and adjusting, this is how they looked after three classes.

I added graphics to the back too!

Now came the challenging part. Up to now it was pretty easy, stapling, pulling, more stapling. But, now it was time to sew. I hate sewing. I am a terrible sewer (is that even a real word?). Give me a paint brush any day. My instructor Terry was so patient with me. I would sew a little bit, then have to rip it back out. The sewing machine I was on was so flipping darn fast, I was afraid I was going to sew right thru my thumb before I could stop & get it out of the way! Well it took me two classes to finish my first cushion box. When I started the second cushion I thought, this one should be much easier. Yeah Right.... the first thing I did was sew the top panel on wrong side up or inside out. Had to rip that one out & start over. That's a mistake I won't be making again. Huge waste of time. Here is my semi finished cushion box/cover. I apparently forgot to get a picture of a completed cover.

Blurrie camera phone picture.

 I decided to use white "Gimp" instead of welting or cording. I like the contrast of the white against the  drop cloth & the old white paint. I hot glued it all around to cover over the staples. Here is the final result of all my weeks of hard work:

I like this font for the style of these chairs.

For the crown images, I went over to my favorite site for graphics, The Graphics Fairy. This is the "MRS." crown.

And this is the "MR." crown.

Can't you just see a Bride sitting in this chair on her wedding day, posing for pictures with her "Mr."

What fun photo props these could be.

Available at Sassy Fabric's in Grand Blanc, MI.

Or maybe on either side of the fireplace in a cozy living room. I was hoping to find a small round table to put in between them. I wanted to paint "&" really big on the top. I guess it wasn't meant to be, that might have been to much anyway.

This has been my most ambitious upholstery project so far. Will I try it again? Probably yes. Practice makes perfect, at least that's what I've been told. I hope if you have been thinking about trying your hand at upholstery you'll be brave & give it a try. If I can do it so can you.  Thanks for stopping by. I would love for you to leave me a comment. Let me know how you like my "Wedding Chairs". Have a Great Day!  Dee

linking up to:

Three Mango Seeds

The Dedicated House 

It's a Wash

Hello everyone, I hope you all have had a wonderful week. I have had two little boys home with the stomach bug most of the week. So, needless to say I didn't accomplish very much this week. To top off the perfect week, today is a snow day. Luckily, I have a few projects going that I can work on to pass the time on this snowy day.

 

Last week the hubby & I went shopping for some inventory. This is one of the best things about what we do, you get to go shopping. I found this cute little side table at the Goodwill.

I love the size of this table. It's perfect for a bedside table or a small end table. I have painted this style table before, so I was excited to get started on this one. I had a plan.

 

 After getting it all sanded & cleaned up, I gave it a coat of Paris Grey. 

After that dried, I gave it a Duck Egg Blue Wash. I have used this method before in my Faux Finish days. It's a great way to give a subtle change to the base coat. You can see how it brightened up the grey. It's super easy, you just water down the paint you want for the "wash" & paint it on. It will be kind of runny so just go slow. I brush it on, then use a softening brush to blend it. Or you could do a Cross Hatch stroke to create some movement. Both look cool.

 After the wash was dry, I painted the top & drawer front Old White.

Then I went to my favorite place for graphics, The Graphics Fairy . I thought this graphic suited this little table perfectly. With the help of my trusty overhead projector, I had this graphic painted on there in no time.

When I sanded/distressed, the layers of color added a very cool dimension. Doing the "wash" is a great way to give you that layered look without having to use a lot of paint. Here are some more pictures....

 I also painted the knobs black & waxed the whole thing in clear wax.

 So, So Cute!

And here it is in my booth at Collette's Vintage & Antique Mall in Burton, MI.

Well I hope you all have a fabulous weekend. I know we will be digging out, once this snow stops, before we can enjoy our weekend. Thanks for stopping by, don't be shy, leave me a comment. I love to hear from you. Dee