Custom Chairs

A couple of weeks ago, Emily from Pigeon in the Parlor, asked us to look at some chairs she wanted us to paint. She had six chairs with the needle point seat covers, two captains & four side chairs. I told her to bring one in & we would take a look at it. Of course the only before picture I have is after we striped the chair down to the springs right before painting.

This is one of the Captains chairs.  We started with one of the side chairs that had the most salvageable seat cover. Emily wanted them painted Annie Sloan's Old White with the dark wax on the details. When we delivered the first chair we came home with the other five. Emily really hoped we could salvage a few of the needle point seats, but after we got them all home & looked them over really good, we were only able to save one out of the five.  So we painted out the one just like the previous needle point chair, now Emily had a matching pair.

Now we had our work cut out for us. The remaining four were in sad shape. The cushions were completely dry rotted inside. We had to strip them down to the springs & start over. Here they are all painted, waxed & ready for upholstery:

This was the easy part.

I just love how that dark wax enhances the detail.

Beautiful distressing....

Graceful curvy arms.... & just look at those industrial strength springs!  These are very well made chairs. They just don't make them like this anymore.

Now we were ready to upholster. Emily wanted drop cloth seat covers with different graphics on them. I found four different graphics from the Graphics Fairy. My Mom & I really learned a lot on this project. We thought we could use the old seat cover as a template for the new covers. NOT!!  They were so stretched out & we put on 2" foam, so needless to say the first covers were to small!

So we made new ones, big & square.  We cut where it needed it & stapled away.  This is defiantly a two person job.  Here is how they looked when we were finished:

We added nail head around the legs & arms....

I really need to make time to take better pictures. My Mom took these with her phone, which is fine, but I had a problem editing them. You get the idea..



Emily was very happy with these chairs. She now had a pair with the original needle point seats & four matching with the new drop cloth seat covers.

We grouped them with my Medallion table.  I wasn't sure how they would look together, but it looked pretty good.  Naturally I forgot to get a picture of them together. I really need to do better......

If you would like to see these chairs, they are for sale at Pigeon in the Parlor in Holly, Mi.  If you live in my area, & have a need for some custom furniture painting, feel free to contact us.  I love to read your comments.  Thanks for visiting & have a great day!  Dee



Queen Anne Nesting Tables

We are one week into the summer & I am already in need of a vacation. My mom & I have been working like crazy for the past week so I can go on vacation! Two weeks ago the family & I went to Midlands Antique Fair. This event happens three times in the summer & it is HUGE!

I was able to find a few smalls, after covering half the place I found these:

A set of perfectly French nesting tables with the sexy Queen Anne legs. On the largest table there are drawer pulls, but they're not drawers, they are handles so you can pick them up all at the same time. How cool is that!!?  They have leather tops & the smallest one was painted a high gloss cream. The color wasn't so bad, but the glossy finish had to go.

I gave them two coats of Annie Sloan's Old White & they were ready for graphics. This piece needed something feminine.

I just love how they came out!

On the first one I added a hand painted rose with the script.

The second one....

The third one...



These Queen Anne Nesting tables are for sale at Sassy Fabrics (V Trading) in Grand Blanc, Mi. Let me know what you think, I love reading your comments. Thanks for visiting & have a great day!  Dee

French Olive Side Table

This past spring, during the freak warm spell that gave us eighty degree weather in March, I found the cutest little side table at Collette's Vintage & Antique Mall's first Flea market.

It was so cute with it's little curved legs & it was just the right size to go any where. Perfect for a bedside table, or maybe next to the sofa or even in a guest bedroom.

I knew I had to have it the minute I seen it.  After alittle haggling I happily took it home with me.  Like I mentioned earlier, the weather was so warm for March.  We all had spring fever.  So I decided to paint this little cutie a nice spring green.

I took the last of my ASCP in "Olive" & added "Old White" to it & voila!  The perfect shade of spring green. Then I painted the rest in Old White. A funny thing about old furniture, you never know what is going to rise to the surface until your first coat dries.  This piece gave me fits, I kept getting a pinkish bleed leeching to the surface. I tried primer, then I tried Kilz (you know the "Stain blocking primer" NOT!).  Then I remembered reading somewhere that if you paint over the stain with flat varnish, let it dry, & paint again the varnish will seal in the bleed. Well, it totally works!!!  What a relieve.  That little problem was ruining the fun of painting. 

With that problem solved, I polished up the original hardware. Added a nice stencil I found at Hobby Lobby (love that place by the way). Did a couple of coats of clear wax & buffed to perfection.

Here is a close up of the top.

This little cutie is now available at Collette's Antique Mall in Burton, Mi.  Thanks for visiting, & have a great day!  Dee

The Three Spaniards

It seems like lately every thing my Mom & I paint is either Pure White, Old White, Paris Grey, Black or Duck Egg Blue.  Now I'm not complaining, I love all of those colors. Especially since they are good sellers for me. I've been doing some experimenting & have found (at least in my booth) if I stick to those five colors, they sell. It gives me almost a monochromatic palette with the Duck Egg being the one pop of color. I Love It......

About a month ago I found these cute petite chairs:

They had such a unique shape & they were made in Spain, hence the title "The Three Spaniards". The rush seats were shot on two of them so my Mom & I had to get creative with them. We decided to upholster the frame that the rush was woven on. Not an easy task, but we came up with something that worked out pretty well. Here's what they look like now:

We painted the chairs Duck Egg Blue, upholstered the seats in drop cloth & added a graphic to the cushion.

I found this nice wine graphic from The Graphics Fairy.

These little chairs looked so much better painted.

I just love those sexy legs...

So I guess my go to color lately is Duck Egg Blue. Do you have a go to color or color combo that you love?

The Three Spaniards are for sale at Sassy Fabrics (V Trading) in Grand Blanc, MI.  Thanks for visiting & have a great day! Dee

Happy Day!

It has been a beautiful week here in Michigan. Wednesdays are delivery day for us & last Wednesday after our Grand Blanc delivery my Mom & I decided to drive into Historic Holly's Battle Alley & check out the shops there. This area is famous for their antique & shabby chic shops. We stumbled upon one of the cutest little shops called "Pigeon in the Parlour".  

 

They have vintage clothes, lots of shabby chic furnishings, beautiful artwork from local artist, painted furniture, handmade soaps & last but not least Annie Sloan Chalk Paint!!!! 

I couldn't believe my eyes.  There are only three stocklist in the state of Michigan!  Now the fourth one is right in my area, only 20 minutes away!  I walked right past the paint display & didn't even see it because I was so engrossed in trying to see all the amazing things in this store. I made it all the way upstairs before I seen a couple cans of ASCP displayed on a table.  I made a bee line to the owner to find out why she was displaying ASCP??

The owners Emily & Ray Rath are the nicest people.  Emily explained that she literally just started carrying Annie Sloan & was so surprised at how many local artist she was meeting.  She asked me how I knew so much about this fabulous paint.  After a few minutes of excited conversation & showing her a few pictures of some of my work (thanks to my Mom's cool phone, I so need to get me one of those!), Emily was begging me to bring in some of my stuff to sell in her shop.  I just happened to have a few shabby french pieces that we could start with, so this is what we delivered to Pigeon in the Parlor this Wednesday:

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This very shabby french bench!

Here is a close up of the graphic from The Graphics Fairy.

The nice graphic on the drop cloth cushion, hand painted & stenciled.

Available at Collete's Vintage & Antique Mall in Burton, MI

  

I also brought this little beauty, not realizing the two pieces have the same graphic.  You can read about this table here.

Emily was happy to have this french sign I made out of a foot board from a twin bed. You can read about it here.

So Wednesday was a Happy Day!  I found a new shop to sell my pieces in & I found a stocklist for ASCP & I made a couple of new friends!

If you are ever in the Holly area, stop in & say Hi to Emily & Ray. The Pigeon in the Parlor is at 110 S. Saginaw St. in Holly, MI.  They have a beautiful store filled with handmade treasures.

I hope everyone has a nice Holiday weekend!  Thanks for visiting,  Dee

I've Been Featured!!

Today when I got home I opened my email & found a nice surprise. Beckie over at Roadkill Rescue informed me that the little dresser I submitted, here ,is being featured on her site today!!   Thank you Beckie!!!

Roadkill Rescue is such a cool site. They feature people that find curbside treasures & take them from trash to treasure.  You can get really great ideas from all the great bloggers out there.  Check it out sometime. I am proud to be a Roadkill Rescuer!!   Thanks again Beckie.  On to the next treasure,  Dee



The Charming Chiffarobe

Early last fall I found the cutest little Chiffarobe on CL. It was such a petite size with a camel back & original lions head hardware.  I was swooning as soon as I laid eyes on it.  When I got it home I immediately decided we needed to keep it. Just for a little while, until the spring. I just couldn't part with it  store it in the garage all winter, it was to nice, the cold damp weather would warp it.  That's how I convinced my hubby to put it in the game room, just until the spring.  Here is what she looked like before the makeover:

I just loved all the cool scroll details & the rounded top.....

When you open it you see the drawers on one side & adjustable shelves on the other.  At some point, the back was modified to make it a media cabinet, which I took full advantage of. 

I had all winter to dream up what exactly I was going to do with this charming little chiffarobe.  This is what I came up with:

My Mom & I painted the outside DIY Chalk Paint in Old white with Pure white on the details.......

Here I am in my finest painting clothes...lol !!!

And Duck Egg Blue on the inside......

I just couldn't resist putting the numbers on the drawers.  I love the reaction you get when you open up the doors & see the inside. The blue is such a surprise & the numbers are the cherry on top!

The hardware was original & in really good condition, so all I did was polish them up!

Painting the scroll work in the bright white really made it pop!

Sigh.............

It was bittersweet to deliver this little beauty.  I was able to enjoy it all winter long. I savored every minute of this transformation. When I put her in her temporary home it was kind of sad, until Karen & Denise at V Trading started Eewing & Ahhing over it. That's all I needed to hear. I knew she was in good hands.  They would soon find her a new home.

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They put her right in the front window.  She is such a Charming Little Chiffarobe, don't you agree?  Thanks for visiting.... Dee