UPDATE - End Tables with Birdie on Branch - September 14, 2011

My end tables at Swank. Coffee Shoppe and

Handmade Market in Downtown Southern Pines!!

SOLD!!!  The ladies at Swank. Coffee Shoppe and Handmade Market in Downtown Southern Pines bought my end tables this afternoon!!!  Thanks Petra and Jessica :o)

Funny story:  Rachel and I were walking the kiddies last Friday morning in DoToSoPi, and decided to stop into Swank. for a morning pick-me-up...and as a snack break for the kids too.  With coffee in hand and babies in strollers, we found a seat towards the back of the shoppe to sit for a spell, relax, sip, feed goldfish to hungry little mouths.  I look around at all the handmade goods in the shoppe, tons of great handmade items from local artists by the way, and notice the four private little "coffee cubbies" to my right.  In each little cubbie there is a comfy chair for private reading, sipping, or web-surfing.  But I notice that only one of the four cubbies has a side table for newspapers, mags, coffee cups, laptops, etc.  Having just started painting my end tables the day before, they are fresh on my mind.  I think to myself, "I wonder if they are in need of end tables?"  I mention this to Rachel, and she and I both agree that I should ask Petra, one of the owners.  So I do on our way out of the shoppe.  She asked me what color they were and if I could send her a photo via Facebook?  I said that I definitely would.

After finishing the tables yesterday, I took some final photos and sent them to Swank. via Facebook last night.  I hadn't heard back from them by about 10:45 this morning, so I put the end tables in the back of my car, and left to pick my son up from preschool.  After I picked him up, I swung by Swank. and met Jessica outside, explained my story about talking to Petra last Friday and my end tables.  She invited me in the shoppe, asked me more about the tables, and if I would mind leaving them for a few hours until Petra returned to the shoppe later in the afternoon?  I left the tables and my phone number and headed home.

A few hours later I receive a message via Facebook from Petra that she liked the tables and wanted to buy them!  Bingo!!  I literally jumped up out of my desk chair and ran into my bedroom jumping for joy (quietly so I wouldn't wake my son from his nap)!!  It was a great feeling!  How very satisfying...that someone appreciated my work and wanted it for their shoppe.  Makes me want to work even harder now!

Thanks again Petra and Jessica!  If you're ever in the area, Swank. Coffee Shoppe and Handmade Market is a fantastic little shoppe....yummy coffee and fabulous handmade gifts from local artists.  Go in and get your Swank on :o)

Perfect fit!

End table already hard at work, holding up some mags!!

One last close-up!

End Tables with Birdie on Branch - September 13, 2011

Well, after taking nearly an entire month off from "reLoving" furniture...I am back!  Boy, it sure was a HOT summer!  Making it very difficult for me to get outdoors to sand and paint furniture.  Paint does funny things in high humidity and heat.  The joys of living in the Sandhills.  The first week of September brought a break in the heat wave thank goodness, still warm, but not nearly as humid!

I just finished 2 of the cutest end tables yesterday!  These tables were originally from Pier1, my mom bought them several years ago and my parents painted them white...originally they were stained a dark brown.  The tables belonged in the sitting room of my parent's beach home for about 6 years, one on each end of the pull-out couch...perfect!

It's a long story, but my brother and I actually broke one of the tables playing around one night...let's just say, I will never try to pull my muscular brother up off the floor with my bare hands...the weight distribution between us just doesn't balance out.  After we were sure my brother had not broken any ribs, my mom made the necessary repairs to the broken table, but they were never the same after that incident...

Many years later, the beach home long sold, my brother and his wife become owners to these end tables...along with their sweet boxer, Finley May.  Well, Finley thought the other (non-cracked and still in good condition) end table would make a good snack.  Yet another casualty to the end tables, a whole corner almost eaten all the way off....sigh....they just couldn't catch a break....

Before: Both tables repaired with wood filler

These tables had seen better days.  10 years later....they make their way to my house for a yard sale that we had back in June.  I see these overly beaten, chewed up, sad, pitiful looking end tables and rescue them from the yard sale pile!  I had full confidence I could bring them back to life!

Before: Crack sanded and filled with wood-filler

Before: Crack sanded and filled with wood-filler

Progress:  Wood-filler dried and sanded

Progress:  Wood-filler dried and sanded

Before:  Chewed corner with wood-filler

Before:  Chewed corner with wood-filler

After a little sanding, a lot of wood-filler, more sanding, painting, more sanding, more painting...a Birdie on a Branch cut out of scrapbook paper, and some polyurethane.....they were as good as new...and maybe even better....

After: Finished end tables with decorative touches!

After: Finished end table side view

After: Top view - with Birdie on a Branch cut-out

My own special touch underneath ;o)

Small Unfinished Bookshelf - July 24, 2011

Bookshelf Before
(if you look closely at back of shelves, you'll see the mold)

Bookshelf Before

I found this little unfinished bookshelf at an antique store just up the road.  Kyle will need a small bookshelf for his schoolbooks in a few weeks, so I was on the hunt for something just right...I can't believe I actually found something so perfect for the little space in his office.

I was taking our two Golder Retrievers to the vet on Friday, and decided to go a totally different route to change up the scenery a little bit.  I literally drove by two antique/thrift stores on my way there that I never knew existed...coincidence?  I think not.

This little bookshelf had some water damage on the top and inside the shelves.  The shop owners had a little waterfall sound machine sitting on it, but they didn't realize it was causing mold to grow on the inside of the shelves...yuck, yuck, yuck.

Water damage on top, mold growing inside...yucky!

I sanded most of the mold away, but you still have to kill it completely.  I made a 1 parts bleach to 10 parts water mixture in a little spray bottle and with a toothbrush (no, not Kyle's) scrubbed the moldy areas...sprayed and scrubbed, sprayed and scrubbed, sprayed and scrubbed.  Took a little elbow grease and some time, but bleach will completely kill the mold, you must kill it or it will return!  Especially on wood.  I made sure to let it completely dry over night so it would be ready to paint the next day!

Bookshelf After

Bookshelf After

Top of Bookshelf After (no more mold!)

The next day, I checked the entire piece to make sure it was mold free after drying over night.  It was, the bleach mixture was successful!  I painted it a color called "Promenade" that we had leftover from painting one of the bedrooms, a light green-blue.  I love this color, and love even more that it's not going to waste.  After two coats of paint, the bookshelf for Kyle's new office is now complete!

Bookshelf After

Bookshelf After (perfect fit!)

"Love" T-shirt Pillow - July 22, 2011

T-shirt Before

My husband gave me this "Love" t-shirt for Easter one year when we were dating.  I have always loved it, and loved the design, but even more so...love that he picked it out especially for me :o)

Now, several years later, I have been blessed with motherhood...and sometimes clothes that once fit you just right before, do not necessarily fit you in the same way after having a baby!  I can still wear it, but let's be honest....it hugs me just right in the places I don't want to be hugged...

I am terribly sentimental, not wanting to put the shirt in the yard sale pile, decided to make it a forever keepsake...a pillow!  Now mind you, I do not sew...that's why I paint furniture!  Since it's been 100º and higher each day for the last week, I have not been able to spend much time outdoors doing what I love to do.  So indoors sewing this week it is!

Design close-up, "love" it!

After an hour or so, I had myself a soft, new little pillow just right for lying in bed to read!  Instead of it hiding in my closet, I can enjoy it out everyday.  Maybe not the prettiest or most perfect sewing job, but certainly "ReLoved" and special to me....

New Pillow After

And just for fun, a photo of me wearing the shirt in 2006 with, my then boyfriend – now sweet husband, Kyle!

Don't we look so young and carefree?!

1920's Mission Era Teacher's Desk - July 13, 2011

Desk Before

Desk Before (with pullout writing desk)

This desk was a great find!  I found this solid oak teacher's desk (circa 1920), virtually in mint condition, at a local thrift shop.  My husband is going back to school this fall, and the desk we have now is just far too small for the work that he will be doing.  When I saw this desk, I knew it would be perfect for the job!

Desk Top Before

The desk is from the Mission Era.  According to Wikipedia, Mission style originated in the late 19th century, and its origins can be traced back to a chair made by A.J. Forbes around 1894 in San Francisco's Swedenborgian Church. More info.

I sanded it down using 150 grit sandpaper, then added a coat of white prime.  I chose "smokey slate" as the color, the color of our bathroom that I just love, and had enough paint leftover for this redo (I love when things aren't wasted!)  It took a good two coats of paint, in some places 3 coats of paint, to completely cover this piece.  I finished it in about 3 days (had to manage around 103º temps!).

Desk Back Before

Unfortunately, the new, painted desk did not fit through the doorway to our guest bedroom/husband's office!  For some reason that particular door frame is smaller than a normal door frame.  Oh well.  I was disappointed, but we figured I could use the new desk and Kyle could take my old one...he said he didn't mind that the old one was smaller.  He's a good man.  So now I have a new desk...fun!

Desk After

Drawers and Pullout After

Desktop After (lots of space!)

I love my new desk!  Now I just need a new chair......hmmmm, next project perhaps!  Stay tuned...

Desk After

Antique Dresser, Hutch & Mirror - January 16, 2010

Dresser, Hutch and Mirror (in rear) Before

This piece is my pride and joy and favorite "ReLoved" piece so far!  The antique dresser (pictured on left) was passed down to me from my Aunt Debbie, which used to be her mother-in-law's back in the 1940's.  It had been passed around between family members for the last 60 or 70 years, and finally it fell into my lap!  I was THRILLED to get my hands on it.  It also came with a mirror (pictured in rear) and nightstand (which I will be repainting very soon).  They were all painted a mustard yellow-brown color...which wasn't all that bad, and could be coming back into style.  But for what I wanted to use the pieces for, the color just wouldn't go.

The hutch (pictured on right) also came from my Aunt Debbie.  The hutch originally sat atop a narrow table, which I was using as a desk at the time, that she bought as a set in the 1990's.  When moving furniture around, Kyle and I haphazardly placed the hutch on this antique dresser to get it out of the way for a quick moment...then noticed that it fit on the dresser perfectly!!!!  Like it was made to go on it.  I thought this was no coincidence, and from then on, envisioned the two pieces together for life.  A sweet marriage of the 1940's and 1990's!

I was 6-months pregnant during this furniture makeover.  My husband Kyle (pictured) had to help me sand and prime these pieces.  Because of the age of the furniture, there was a great possibility that lead paint was used, which is very toxic to an unborn baby.  We both wore masks and did all the work outdoors...in January...Brrrrrr!!

These pieces of furniture would be our new baby boy's changing table and set of drawers to hold diapers, wipes, blankets, and all sorts of little baby hygiene necessities...a sort of changing and dressing station.  The shelves would hold photos of him and little memorabilia from his birth day.  It really "makes" his whole bedroom, a beautiful focal point that adds so much character.

We knocked the makeover out in about 5 hours.  I picked a creamy white color for the redo, a can of paint hardly touched that we had left over from when we repainted trim in the bedrooms.  I chose to buy new brushed chrome drawer pulls to spruce it up a bit...giving it a more modern look.

Dresser, Hutch and Mirror Before (Kyle helping with the sanding)

Dresser and Hutch After

The antique mirror was a fun task for me as a pregnant lady.  I had the idea to add a quote around the border, or rather a song lyric in this case.  I bought alphabet stamps from Michael's and mixed all sorts of bold colors to go around in a mismatched order.  The song I chose was "Forever Young" by Bob Dylan.  The song I danced to with my Dad at my wedding, and also a children's book that was given to me by my Mom for my son.  This song is more of a parent's prayer for their child, a tidbit for my son from his Mommy to read as he grows up.

Mirror After

Sisal Rug - June 21, 2009

Rug Before

This sisal rug belonged to my parents.  Great rug, but had seen better days.  For some reason my parents' cat took a liking to this rug...and by "liking" I mean "peeing."  She thought this was her rug and she could do whatever she wanted to it.

We needed a rug for our high traffic sunroom, something that could withstand our 2 large and hairy Golden Retrievers.  Mom donated this rug to me, it was perfect for our needs.  So after much cleaning, I decided to add several coats of paint to it after taping off the border.

I chose a cornflower blue color and went to town on the rug.  I quickly found that I needed a much bigger nap size on my paint roller.  I went with a 3/4" to 1" nap size, the size that works best when painting bricks, concrete, etc.  It worked great!  Really got in the grooves of the sisal fabric well.

Once the rug was dry, it definitely weighed much more than before...I had to use lots of paint!  The rug looked great in our sunroom and really served it's purpose well...if it could withstand 2 adults and 2 dogs, it was fine in my book.

Rug Before

Rug After (Mason and Rivers enjoying)

Rug After

Queen Headboard - June 14, 2009

Headboard Before

This queen headboard was my husband's, Kyle's, all throughout college, and later became our headboard as newlyweds.  Kyle worked in the summers during college for a moving company.  Sometimes the people moving would leave things behind or would sell things trying to get rid of them before their move.  This headboard was one of them...perfect for a single guy in college on a fixed income, he couldn't pass up a cheap headboard.

I never much cared for it all those years.  I thought it was a little dated, probably built in the 80's (does this mean that I am also dated?).  Definitely a solid piece of furniture, nicely stained too, just needed some sprucing up.  Finally after being married a few years, Kyle let me get my hands on it!  Watch out, a woman with sandpaper, a can of paint, a wrench and a hammer!!!  Nothing good could come out of this you think....

First I sanded the entire headboard down, wiped it clean with a damp rag and then proceeded to beat the pure, living daylights out of it with a wrench and hammer!  Boy, talk about an awesome stress-reliever!  I had the best time.

Then, I began to paint.  I painted lightly over the preexisting stain that I had lightly sanded with a rusty, rosey red-colored semi-gloss, latex paint.  I still wanted some of the stain to show through to make it look a little aged and worn...like if you were born in the 80's ;o)

Finally, after the paint had ALMOST completely dried, I began to sand down the edges and corners to make it look distressed...really play into that aged look.  And voila!  She was brand new again!

A boring headboard I wasn't all that crazy about became a fresh piece of furniture that I fell in love with...it became "ReLoved!"

Headboard Before

Headboard After

Headboard After (detail)

Headboard After (detail)

Headboard After (detail)

Headboard After (with bedding!)