Furniture Flippin'

Curbside Creativity...

2016-03-11T07:52:00.000-06:00

Boy, am I an indecisive person. If given too many choices, I waffle - big time. For instance, I thought I had an idea of what I'd like to find for my son's apartment in the way of a coffee bar. I was leaning towards something like the industrial table that Dee from DeeConstructed made out of an aquarium stand.

Then, I get an email from Dee's friend Gary Meincke. He sent me a number of really cool flips. When I saw this one, I was immediately torn. Something like this would be cool for Zach's apartment! It could serve as a coffee/wine bar. So, now I'm back to square one. (If someone else submits another potential option, then I'll just have to leave it up to the readers here to choose.)

Gary saw this dresser sitting curbside. He brought it home and removed the drawers. He cleaned up the inside area with 1/4" MDF. Then, he separated the two sections building the stem glass hanger and the bottle holders. He left the right side door for storage. Because every good bar needs lighting, he ran LED rope light thru the glass and bottle section. He chose the color Merlot for the exterior and Cappucino for the interior. (See? Wine & Coffee names! Meant to be!) He changed the hardware to "grapes" and he was done.

Isn't that terrific? Very creative! This piece sold quickly.

Currently, Gary sells by word of mouth and via Facebook. He's building up his inventory though, and he'll be going the flea market route soon.

Thanks Gary for sharing your furniture flips! Your one of a kind table will be coming up very soon on the blog.

That wraps up another week of furniture flips. If you have a furniture flip you'd like to show off, email me at furnitureflippin@gmail.com .

~ Stephanie

Basements, Boats & Picket Fences...

2016-03-09T07:50:00.001-06:00

Jack painting his Grandparent's house in 1960.

As I've mentioned here once or twice before, I correspond with Jack. He is the 80 year old grandson of the original owners of our house. He is a wealth of information and I love hearing his stories of spending time in this house and neighborhood.

Mr. Bell in 1924

Many of his stories involve people I remember and some I do not. He speaks often of Mr. Bell. He lived in the house to the East of ours. He knew Mr. Bell from the time he was a small boy. (Years later, I met Mr. Bell when I was 8 years old.) He said that he would wear a path out from his parents home to Mr. Bell's house every day. Mr. Bell called him Buddy and would give him a candy bar each day after work. (Mr. Bell was a salesman for a candy distributor. He had long retired by the time I met him, so I didn't get in on the candy bar giveaways.)

Mr. Bell once built a boat in his basement. (The basement of that house is rather large with tall ceilings and plenty of space to work.) He worked hard building that boat and when it was finally finished, it was too large to exit the house using the doors. It's a boat after all. So, he had to excavate a portion of the basement/foundation and remove it that way. Quite an undertaking for a boat! He named the boat "Buddy" when he was done. Isn't that an awesome piece of history? So sweet, too!

This story that Jack told me came to my mind again when I saw today's furniture flip.

Our very talented furniture flipper, Diane Kelly of DK Fabrics, located in Barrington, R.I., was quick to act when her friend dismantled a well worn picket fence. Diane snatched up three sections of it and took them home.

She decided to upcycle these fence pieces into a bench. She didn't take the easy route, but put some good sweat (and probably some tears, too!) into it by using an old fashioned handsaw as her tool of choice. Much like Mr. Bell did, she didn't give much thought to how she was going to get it out of her basement once she was finished with it. Luck was on her side though, as it was able to barely squeeze through the bulkhead and emerge from the basement. (No removing foundation for her!)

Let's take a look at this fantastic "new use for an old object".

Very nice! It's amazing what one can do with a piece that had been headed to the landfill. Fantastic rescue!

You can see more of Diane's work on her DK Fabrics website and on her Facebook page. She is an amazing upholsterer, too.

Thanks so much Diane for sharing your awesome Furniture Flip!

Dear readers, have you submitted your furniture flip yet? Whatcha waiting for? Email me before/after pics and plenty of details to furnitureflippin@gmail.com .

Oh, that picture of Jack painting his grandparent's house in 1960? He likes to let me know that he has painted this house twice in his lifetime. We are tied! Because I've helped paint this house twice in my lifetime, too! Thank goodness for siding. I don't like painting houses.

~ Stephanie

Pimp My Crib

2016-03-07T08:30:00.001-06:00

I am so glad it's Monday! Why? Because, when our furniture flipper Martin Hodgson of Pimp My Crib sent me today's flips, I was so excited about them I almost couldn't wait for today to show them to you! I know you will love them just as much as I do!

Martin is based in the United Kingdom and has been making children's themed beds for years. Last year he decided to try his hand at cribs, too. He took a second hand crib and decided to make a sample one. (Martin stresses that when making one to sell he always uses a new crib.)

He worked his magic on it and turned it into a carriage, fit for a little princess.

Here it is all ready for paint.

And here it is finished...

Isn't that fantastic? Can you imagine having that in your child's nursery? Wow! Amazing.

Wait, there's more!

This next picture Martin sent shows a complete nursery full of furniture he created.

What a lucky little baby Indianna is! Speaking of Indianna, I have been trying to get somebody in my family to name their future daughter that! I have been trying for what seems like FOREVER! So far, nobody has. I'm still hoping. (They could call her Indy for short!)

Martin is a fulltime dad who pursues his craft on a part-time basis. He keeps pretty busy with his orders. Check out these other themed beds he created.

What lucky children to slumber in these beds.

Look at the one with the slide. You'd never get your kids out of their rooms!

Thank you so much Martin Hodgson for sharing your incredible talent!

You can check out more of his work on his Pimp My Crib Facebook page.

How's that for a start to the week? Have you submitted your furniture flip yet? I hope you do! Email me before/after pics and plenty of details to furnitureflippin@gmail.com .

~ Stephanie

Buh-Bye Dark & Dreary...

2016-03-03T07:38:00.000-06:00

Dark & dreary...that could describe my mood on days when the sun doesn't shine. Well, it could, if I didn't look for the little things that brighten my day. Case in point, the picture right here. On this particular day these things were making my day! My new duster that I used all over the house that day. The fact that the M&M's in my cookies matched the flowers on my counter. My always makes me happy regular iced coffee from McDonalds. My open windows. Finally, the sound of my wind chimes. Yep, that's what it takes to turn a potentially dark & dreary day into a happy sunshiney one for me. It's the little things...(Come on Spring! I want my windows open again!)

Speaking of banishing dark & dreary. Check out the two pieces that our lovely furniture flipper Kellee of The Charmed Workshop rescued.

Both of these are from the 1970's. The top one piece with the gold fabric was Kellee's first save. She found it at a local thrift store for $4.50. Her husband couldn't see the potential, but Kellee could. (How many of us wives have had the same reaction from our husbands over a piece we've dragged home? Raise your hands! Quite a few of us.)

Kellee fell in love with the metal grid on the doors and knew she wanted to highlight them. The entire cabinet was too dark so she lightened it up by painting it Marine Isle by Behr. The old gold fabric was removed and she added some feet to it. (I love when feet are added!) Look at this beauty now...it's now living out it's life with new owners but I hope they tell it that Kellee thinks of it often.

The other piece's size impressed Kellee. She started painting it in cream but didn't feel that it was quite as light as she hoped. So, she went over it in a white glaze. Adding the new feet to it really changed the appearance of it. Finally, she replaced the hardware with new.

What a difference!
These two pieces are no longer dark & dreary.

You can see more of Kellee's work on her Facebook page, The Charmed Workshop. She is located in Appleton, Wisconsin. Head on over there and let her know you saw her on Furniture Flippin'.

Thanks so much Kellee for sharing your furniture flips! Keep 'em coming.

Speaking of flips, dear readers, have you submitted yours yet? What are you waiting for? Email me at furnitureflippin@gmail.com .

~ Stephanie

One Of These Chairs Is Just Like The Other...

2016-02-29T07:40:00.000-06:00

Happy Leap Day! I hope you don't plan on wasting this free day. It won't come around for four more years. Me? Oh, I fully intend to waste the day. I'm so good at that, why change now? I say, if you find something you are good at, then stick with it! So, I am. I shall spend too many hours on the weird wide web. I shall make many high scoring words in my Words With Friends game I have going with my sister and then cackle to myself as I say, "Take THAT! Lee Ann!" I will also restart the dryer a few times because I just don't feel like folding laundry when the buzzer goes off. (On more than one occasion I have restarted it three times, only to find out that it was empty! I even put off work that isn't even there to do! Hahahaha. Read: cackle, cackle, cackle!)

Those reasons are precisely why I could never pull off an instructional video on how to do something. I'd get distracted by something and you'd have a hard time reining me in and keeping me on track. Good thing I'm not the subject of today's blog post. (See what I did? I just caused you to waste 38.01 seconds of your day reading the two paragraphs preceding this line. Yes, I timed myself proofreading them.)

I can promise you this: the rest of this blog post will NOT be a waste of your time. You are going to be inspired AND you will learn something. And, it's all thanks to our furniture flipper Jami Ray of Jami Ray Vintage.

Jami and her husband Zeb have got it going on! They have a DIY Channel on YouTube full of instructional videos. Their website is a chockfull of stuff. It's like one stop everything...shopping, DIY tutorials, before & afters, so much to see! Today, we are going to focus on these two Queen Anne chairs that Jami recently redone.

Here's what they looked like when they found themselves in Jami's capable hands. Sturdy but dirty. Jami stripped them down to their bare bones and went to work.

She repainted them with Fairy Chalk Mother paint in Fresh Cream. You can purchase that and more colors on her website. She then distressed it by sanding followed by an application of Fairy Chalk Mother Antiquing Glaze.

When it came time for fabric Jami chose a faux grain sack fabric that she created herself using a drop cloth. She very graciously shows you how you, too, can create this look through one of her videos.

I'm going to skip over some of the steps she has taken and jump ahead to the reveal of these chairs. You can see this makeover step by step in her video tutorial. (I spent a lot of my Friday watching her videos.)

Isn't that fabulous!?! Love them!

Jami Ray Vintage is located in Lehi, Utah. I'm serious, you will fall in love with her work and you might as well chalk up today as a wasted bonus day, because you will be too busy watching her videos to get anything else done. But, then that's not really a wasted day because you'll be having fun and learning something, too. You can also visit with Jami on her Facebook page.

Thanks Jami for sharing your talented self with all of us! Oh, and your talented husband, too. Can't forget him!

Dear readers, have you submitted your own flips yet? What's the hold up? I don't have all day you know! Or, do I?

See you tomorrow!

~ Stephanie

Here's Hutch. What Happened To Starsky?

2016-02-26T06:53:00.000-06:00

Get It? Stars, Key, & Hutch!

If you are a furniture flipper, I bet you have now, or have had in the past, an unwanted hutch top sitting around doing nothing. I had one. I can't remember what I did with it. All I know is that it was in our garage, and now it's not. I think my husband had something to do with it's disappearance, but he hasn't copped to it yet.

(This pic has nothing but the title in common with this blog post. And that hutch doesn't look like that anymore either. Apologies to long time readers who have seen this feeble attempt of humor through pictures before.)

Anyway, today's flip. The hutch part I'm talking about looks like this. It would sit on a base. Many times, people just want the base and have no idea what to do with the top part. Well, here is a spectacular idea that will make you weep for days at the loss of all of those hutch tops you (or your spouse) may have tossed.

Let's talk about Julie from Simple Redesigns. I adore Julie. I check out her website for her work and follow her Facebook page. I have to dole out my compliments to her projects a little at a time, so she doesn't get a restraining order against me. A makeover of hers will pop up in my newsfeed and sometimes I make sure I'm NOT the first one to like it. Haha. Then after the appropriate time has passed I come back to it, like, comment and dream that I own that piece. Like today's.

Julie took this hutch top and transformed it. It's new purpose was going to be as a sink base in a bathroom makeover. Julie added mirror to the doors to hide the plumbing and whatever other bathroom necessities would be stored there. Then she painted it in a pretty color.

After her part was finished, she handed it off to her friend Mindi of MindiFreng Designs. From there, Mindi's plumber took over and finished its conversion into a bathroom vanity. Look at it now!

Isn't that something else? Doesn't that make you want to run out and find a hutch top to convert? It does me! If you find one send it my way! I DISLIKE my bathroom vanity and would be in bathroom heaven to have a piece like this!

Now check out the one that Julie did for her own 1/2 bathroom.

Julie has excellent taste! You seriously need to go check out her work. She very generously shared, too, the recent remodel/reno she and her husband did on their own Mid Century Modern house. Gorgeous is the only way to describe it.

We've seen Julie's Simple Redesign work here before on the blog. I have a tendency to pigeonhole Julie into the "furniture into bathroom vanity" category and that's just ME. Because of MY obsession with furniture being turned into bathroom vanities and my hatred of my own traditional bathroom vanity. Actually, those conversions make up a very small part of her vast repertoire of furniture flips. Once you go on her website or Facebook page, you'll be inspired for days.

Here's what has been featured here in the past...

Her single vanity was a huge hit! That green desk is so much fun! The double vanity? Well, there aren't enough words to describe its beauty.

Head on over to Simple Redesign's website. There you will find finished pieces available for purchase, unfinished pieces available for you to you request your own look to it, and much more. Julie & Simple Redesigns are located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Head on over to her Facebook page, too. Let her know you saw her on Furniture Flippin'. I'll be over there lurking. Hehehehe...

Keep up the fabulous work Julie!

That concludes another week of Furniture Flippin'. We shall take a break for the weekend! Woohoo! See you next week!

~ Stephanie

I Present To You King Charles...

2016-02-25T07:46:00.002-06:00

Don't get your hopes up Duchess Of Cornwall Camilla, I'm not talking about your husband. Not placing bets on when he'll get that throne. Nope. "King Charles" happens to be the name of today's most magnificent furniture flip.

Now, we've all seen benches made out of beds. We've even seen rocking chairs made out of beds, "wink, wink" (our Triple Rocker). The bench I'm going to show you today is pretty darn awesome. I saw it and couldn't wait to show it to you!

The only problem is, there is no "before" pic. I'm making an exception today and breaking that rule because this is just that cool.

Today's creation is courtesy of Jenniver of The DORE To LAWRENCE, located in Canyon Lake, California. This was only the fifth piece that Jenniver made. The four previous pieces were a test of sorts, to see if she had the gift. (She does!) When she saw two separate sale ads on Craigslist, one for a headboard, the other a footboard, she decided to bring them together and create this...

Isn't that unique? I've never seen a bench quite like that one. Jenniver has been branding her work with a handstamped copper tag. Each piece is numbered. This piece was the first one that Jenniver started numbering, it's number is 2013.1 and she is now up to #2013.174. She has been busy.

Head on over to The DORE To LAWRENCE'S website for more of her work. She is in her third year of business and her work includes furniture, handmade clocks, wine barrel pieces and much more. You can also visit her on her Facebook page. Let her know you saw her on Furniture Flippin'.

Thanks so much Jenniver for sharing the details of this fabulous bench!

Get your flips in people! You don't have to be into furniture for profit, it can be flips you've done for yourself. Let's see what you can do! Email me before/after pics & details to furnitureflippin@gmail.com .

See you tomorrow!

~ Stephanie

Keeping Harmony...

2016-02-24T07:45:00.002-06:00

Welcome to Wednesday and drumroll, please...BLOG POST #300! Funny thing is, had I not taken that super long break I'd be way past 300 now. Oh, well. I'm excited about today's furniture flip and I think you will be, too.

Today, we are heading to the Starved Rock area in the Illinois Valley. We're going to Utica! Why Utica? Because that's where we will find my buddy Michelle. She's the very lovely proprietor of Harmony Paintings & Home Decor. One of my favorite shops. Look at how cute that street is!

You've met Michelle here before. Her flips that have been featured in the past are still big draws to the blog. I check the stats and see how people make their way to the blog, and her furniture brings 'em in! Here's a look at what we've featured in the past...

Aren't they pretty? You should have seen the really rough shape the one on the left was in. It would have scared most people away. If you click on them, they'll take you right to their write-ups and you can see just how awful they looked before. (No offense furniture. You don't look that way now, of course. Hey, I look awful before I'm made up, too. Trust me. And even after I'm made up depending on the day.)

Now today's piece is a solidly built buffet. Michelle wasted no time transforming it. Whereas it would have taken yours truly, days of whining, a couple of Bloody Mary's and tons of breaks, Michelle completed this one and it's on the floor waiting for it's forever home.

There's a lot I like about this piece. The handles for one are awesome! That top drawer is well, top shelf! The storage I can always appreciate. More places for someone to stash stuff and forget where they put it.

Michelle recognized the details that stood out on this piece and decided to accentuate their beauty by painting the other areas in Annie Sloan Chalk Paint's Graphite with Clear Wax.

Michelle is a Stockist for Annie Sloan. She also offers workshops at her store so you can learn the proper techniques to transform your own items!

Let's check out the entire piece now...

Beautiful. In addition to her fabulous furniture, she carries a wide variety of items including, Swan Creek Candles & Melts, scarves, wine glasses, antique and vintage items, and so much more. One of my most favorite gifts this past Christmas was from a friend of mine. The minute I saw the bag I knew where it came from! Harmony Paintings & Home Decor. (Hint, if you are buying me something, go there. I'll be happy with whatever you get me!)

You can visit with Michelle at her store or head on over to her Harmony Paintings & Home Decor Facebook page. Let her know you saw her on Furniture Flippin'.

Thanks Michelle for being blog post #300 today and for being my go-to door lady. Of the five interior doors in our house, Michelle found three of them for me!

Did you get YOUR flip submitted yet? Two more to come this week and I haven't picked them yet. It could be you!

~ Stephanie

Sing A Song Of Steel Toed Shoes And Coffee Tables...

2016-02-23T07:52:00.000-06:00

Some days I sit down to write and I can't think of one darn thing to say! How so very much not like me. Me! Me who's mind can wander all over the map. Me, who can talk my husband's ear off. I am sitting here at my twice flipped secretary desk and I can't think of the angle I'm going to use in writing today's blog post. Let's just free flow it and see where that takes us. Are you game? I am.

On Saturday, I was riding in Daryl The Truck with my handsome handy husband at the wheel. Carrie Underwood's song "Heartbeat" comes on. In it, she sings "Standing on your shoes in my bare feet, dancing to the rhythm of your heartbeat". I turn to my guy and say, "I hope he is wearing steel toed shoes. Think about it. She wants to dance with him by standing on his shoes like a little kid would do. So, unless he is wearing steel toed shoes, I would think that having a grown woman standing on your shoes wouldn't be that comfortable and it would be hard to dance that way. I could see dancing with a little kid like that but not a grown woman." Once he realized I was talking about the song, he gave me a "You're strange". (It's a good day when I can get at least three "you're strange" out of him before breakfast.) Just to prove my point later on, we were sitting on the couch in the family room (no doubt watching NCIS reruns) when I got up to get a drink, stopped in front of him and stood on his steel toed shoes. I said, "See? Now imagine how much more that would hurt if you were wearing your tennis shoes." He agreed and I didn't point out to him that he shouldn't be wearing his shoes in the family room anyway. I let that one slide.

Speaking of shoes in the family room, (or living room) if I owned the coffee table that our flippin' friend Michelle of Vintage Appeal just refinished, I'd be livid if anyone put their steel toed shoes on it. Now, if it looked like it did when she started it, I wouldn't be too mad. Because...well, look at it! It's rough! It's probably seen more than it's fair share of shoes on it.

Michelle...she's adorable. She makes my job easy. I love logging onto Facebook and seeing her latest creation. She shares them on my page and I just love her enthusiasm for her craft. She's a sweetheart. I'm always getting on to her (you should listen to me here, too) about putting her name on her pictures. So, when they end up floating around on the big old world wide web, everyone and their brother will know she is responsible for that beauty. (Sometimes I feel like stamping my name on my kid's foreheads for the same reason. Other days, eh, not so much.)

Michelle painted the table in General Finishes Antique White and stained it using their Walnut stain. She then lightly distressed it and added a custom glaze finish. Finally she added three coats of GF High Performance. She retained the original hardware.

Let's check out the after...

Isn't lovely? Now if you end up being the person that purchases this coffee table, do me a favor...keep your darn feet off if it! It's too pretty for feet.

If you'd like to buy this coffee table or just ooh and ahh over more of Michelle's work, head over to her Vintage Appeal Facebook page. She is located in Louisiana. Get over there and tell her you saw her on Furniture Flippin'!

Thanks Michelle for sharing your work. Keep 'em coming!

The rest of you. Tomorrow marks my 300th blog post. I haven't written it. If you want it to be you, well, there's little chance of that happening unless you've submitted your before/after pics & details to me at furnitureflippin@gmail.com .

See you tomorrow!

~ Stephanie

Dinner & A Dresser...

2016-02-22T07:38:00.002-06:00

World's Best Tenderloin

If you follow Furniture Flippin' on Facebook you might have noticed that I ask you all (pretty much every single night) what you are having for dinner. We have some pretty good cooks out there. You may get annoyed that I ask every night but I don't really care. Obviously, those posts aren't meant for you and you can just ignore them. There are some of us though who love to talk food and swap recipes. There are some of us who copy each other's meal plan. And there is one of us who is thankful that she is four hours behind us so that she can pick from our menu offerings and then doesn't have to come up with her own idea for dinner. That someone is Natasha from Trash & Treasure Creations located in Homer, Alaska.

When I see the color turquoise I think of two people. Natasha, because she has done some AWESOME flips using the color (like that one of a kind chest and that also one of a kind bench) and my Uncle Chuck because he always wore a turquoise belt buckle. He was my parents' friend. He would come to town every now and then to surprise all of us. We never were quite sure what Uncle Chuck did for a living. Mobster, maybe? Who knows. He drove a fancy car and was a bigger than life character. I wonder what ever became of him. We haven't seen him since the late 70's. Just like Jimmy Hoffa. Oh, well. What can you do?

Natasha, on the other hand, I know what she is up to and right where she is. She is busy transforming items like this one into something spectacular.

This dresser came with some history. It was her husband's as a little boy and then was his daughter's. Now, it was time for Natasha to put her mark on it.

She writes, "It had seen some wear, and ALOT of paint! I've been using it for the past year, and finally got around to repairing the drawers, stripping the four layers of paint, and adding some pulls that have been missing for a couple of years." (Can you imagine the hours she spent stripping all of that away? I have to go take a nap just thinking about it.)

Natasha was inspired by a sketch her grandmother had created in school of a Calla Lilly. She "painted" it on the front of the dresser using wood stains.

Isn't that pretty? Such a beautiful job!

Let's take a look at the entire completed piece.

Absolutely beautiful! It doesn't even look like the same dresser. At all!

You can see more of Natasha's beautiful work on her Trash & Treasure Creations Facebook page. She has many original custom built items on there she has produced. Go check her out and let her know what you are having for dinner tonight, too. Tell her you saw her on Furniture Flippin'.

Have you submitted your flip yet? I think I'm closing in on blog post #300. Wouldn't it be cool if that was you? Well, there's no chance of that if you haven't emailed me at furnitureflippin@gmail.com with before & after pics and plenty of details. Get on that.

See you tomorrow!

~ Stephanie

This Is, Like, Sew Cool!

2016-02-19T07:48:00.000-06:00

I see how you are! Were you at all concerned that I was here on Monday with a new blog post and a promise to see you on Tuesday and then I didn't show up? Not Tuesday, Or Wednesday, or even on the all important Grey's Anatomy Thursday? (Which used to be known as Knot's Landing Thursday.) I didn't see any news reports on me. Larry, Robin, Paul and the rest of the WGN Morning News Team didn't run a story on me every twenty minutes. I didn't hear of any search parties being formed. What the heck? Unless you follow me on Facebook and KNEW I was cast down by a cold/flu bug, there is really no excuse for your lack of movement on my behalf. WOW! Just WOW! Here I thought I knew you people! So much for a "GoFundMe" page if ever a ransom for my return is needed to be raised. (I can hear my family now, "They'll return you within a week.") You don't know that! Glad to know you are willing to gamble though! Risky, if you ask me!

Sorry to disappoint you but I'm BACK! Like it or not! I'm healthy and hacking a lot less. I was able to pass my sickness onto the next person and if I have to wrestle my son's gas mask off of his darling face to stay well, well, I will. I won't punish all of you though for the actions of a few. Nope. I'm not that kind of person. So, here's a very cool Furniture Flip to take us into the weekend! Brought to us by Jennifer of Jennifer Clayton Designs.

Our flippin' pal Jennifer is a lot like me but don't hold that against her. She loves taking cast off, unusable items and giving them a new purpose. She is always up for a challenge and what started as a hobby, has become something that feeds her creative soul. Take for instance, this old sewing machine table. It had lived a hard working life. Gave it it's ALL. Working hard, sewing it's little oiled heart out, until one day it's operations ceased. It was like it's little machine guts were ripped right out of it's body. No farewell gathering, no watch, no tears from anyone's eyelets, no long yarns about it's many years of service...just a "you're out of here/don't let the door hit you!" kind of thing and it was over. Cheer up guy. Jennifer is kind hearted. She's taken in other retirees and given them a fulfilling future to look forward to...she'll do the same for you. Promise. Pinking shears promise pal.

And that is exactly what she did. She performed a surgical separation procedure on you that would make the Doctors at Grey-Sloane Memorial Hospital proud. And she did it without any trips to the on call room, any imbibing of spirits at Joe's or ANY stops at the Space Needle. Seriously? Seriously!

To further transform you, it was Jennifer and Jennifer alone who performed every task of your makeover. No trips to Jackson Avery in Plastics for you! Nope! Jennifer herself used multiple techniques to get you the look you have today. She used a homemade Grey chalk paint, cherry stain, she decoupaged napkins on top, and distressed you all over. Then she applied a General Finishes topcoat on your top and a clear wax on both of your bodies. Let's take a look at you (two) now.

See!! That just PROVES what I've been saying all along! If I only had my middle section removed I'd look so much slimmer!! Look at the after! Slim! The before? Wide!

I think that is an awesome flip! You can visit with Jennifer on her Jennifer Clayton Designs Facebook page. You can see her items in person (and purchase today's flip) at A Niche In Time located in Hartville, Ohio. Let her know you saw her on Furniture Flippin'.

Thanks Jennifer for sharing your amazing furniture flip!

Have you submitted your flip yet? What are you waiting for? Send me before/after pictures with a bunch of details to furnitureflippin@gmail.com. Hurry! Limited time offer. Maybe.

Have a nice weekend!

~ Stephanie

Kitchen Cabinets Are Furniture, Too!

2016-02-15T07:34:00.000-06:00

How do you know when our grandson Presley has been in the house? It all comes down to cabinets and shoes. I've tried to get him to stop. I try and this is the reaction I get in return. I will keep trying. I find every single one of our kitchen cabinet knobs turned loose. Same goes for the buffet, the hutch, the dresser in the bedroom and sink cabinet in the bathroom. For some unknown reason, there is not a drawer/door pull that Presley hasn't tried to loosen. He turns them to the left. Lefty loosey, righty tighty. He never tightens except when it comes to shoes. Everytime I try and put my tennis shoes on they are super tight because he insists on walking by all of the toys and reaching for my shoes. Then he grabs them by their laces and slings them over his shoulder. This means I can't just slip them on and go, I have to take the time to loosen the laces or totally relace them.

Do you suppose the owners of the two kitchen makeovers I'm going to show you today also share the same struggles as we do? Maybe we can form a support group. Eh, on second thought...I'd rather form a group called "We Had The Courage To Paint Our Kitchen Cabinets And We Don't Regret It For A Second!"
(There's our club shirts. You can send me your first years dues via Paypal.)

If you are on the fence about painting your cabinets, here's your chance to join our group! Do not fear because Kathy of From Trash To Treasure is here! She's the talented lady behind these two makeovers. She's so talented that she's completely booked up into summer with kitchen redo's! Let's take a look at the first one...

The homeowner loved her Maple cabinets but felt something could be done with the plain, boring island. She surfed Pinterest for an idea and upon finding one, turned the job over to Kathy. Kathy with the help of her handsome handy husband went to work by adding mouldings and balusters. Then Kathy painted it using Shabby Paints in Licorice. She sealed it with black reVax and Shabby varnish. When all was said and done, it went from boring to stunning! It looks like the truly custom piece that it now is. (I love black cabinets. Love them! Have them!)

This next kitchen was a bigger undertaking. The homeowner was tired of her outdated Oak cabinets. (Been there, except only the front of our cabinets were Oak, the rest was crap. I think the technical name for what we had was actually ugly crap. Thus the reason why we added beadboard to the sides of our cabinets.)
They had their island painted black years earlier but the finish on it was chipping off. Since all of the other cabinets were getting a makeover, Kathy suggested the island be painted in a complimentary color.

The main cabinetry was painted in Shabby Paint's Worn White and sealed in a custom ratio of Hazelnut reVax and Sheer Vax. The island was painted in Shabby's Cali Taupe ( a beige gray color), it was sealed in the same ratio of Hazelnut reVax/Sheer Vax. Kathy's client then chose new hardware. You'll see that the addition of a new colors & new hardware equals basically a brand new kitchen! (At a sliver of the cost OF a brand new kitchen.)

Isn't that awesome? It really does look like a NEW kitchen.
I love the difference it made. Now even the gorgeous light fixture above the island pops, too!

I'm a big believer in painting kitchen cabinets. We painted ours six years ago and have not regretted it at all. A few years later when we replaced the broken tile countertops and backsplash (I hated those with a passion) I chose a countertop and backsplash that would go with our current black cabinets but also lend itself to a lighter color if we should choose to paint again someday. It's really an economical way to give yourself a new kitchen without forking out the cost of a new one.

You can see more of Kathy's work (she does non built-in furniture, too) on her From Trash To Treasure Facebook page. She's based in the Chicagoland area. Head on over there and maybe your kitchen can look as fabulous as these two do! Let her know you saw her kitchen flips on Furniture Flippin'.

Thanks so much for sharing your redo's Kathy! I look forward to seeing more of your remodels in the future.

That's not a bad way to start the week, is it? One down and four more flips on their way. Have you submitted yours yet?

See you tomorrow!

~ Stephanie

Chalk It Up To Good Taste & A Valentine's Giveaway...

2016-02-12T07:43:00.000-06:00

It's the Friday before Valentine's Day and boy, do I have a special Furniture Flip for you today! Not only that, but there's a chance to win a Chalky Patina Paint Package from Bluestone House™ worth $150! You can thank my flippin' friend Denise of Salvaged Inspirations for this wonderful opportunity.

If you don't already subscribe to Salvaged Inspirations blog or follow her Facebook page, you are missing out. Denise very generously shares the steps she takes in accomplishing her furniture makeovers on her blog. Do you know how invaluable that alone is? Not only will she teach you a thing or two, you'll have fun along the way because she is a riot.

Let's take a look at her one of her latest pieces. She began with this lovely dresser. The dresser had spent some time in the past as a dog's chew toy. It's legs bore the scars of that pup. That didn't deter Denise. She fell in love with it.

This is Denise

This is me

Denise did a "Wash & Dry" technique on it. (I'm going to butt in here and say, that I adore Denise. The only thing where she & I could have a parting of ways is in regards to a different "wash & dry" technique. She has a dishwasher but doesn't use it. She prefers to wash dishes by hand. That almost could make me dump her as my friend. I have a dishwasher and I can't live one day without it. Opposites attract tho, so I won't break her heart two days before Valentine's Day.)

Denise repaired the dog chewed area with Bondo. She then sanded down the entire dresser and removed the dust. After completing her "Wash & Dry" technique, she added new hardware along with the original. Then she lined the drawers.

Now without further ado, let's check out the entire piece completed...

Isn't that lovely? Denise has excellent taste. You can read all of the steps it took to accomplish this makeover at Salvaged Inspirations. While there you can also find out how to enter for the Bluestone House™ Valentine's Day Giveaway. The package includes:

French Country 473ml/16oz
Bluestone 473ml/16oz
Moulin Rouge 236 ml/8oz
Emma 120ml/4oz
Vintage Velvet 120ml/4oz
100% All Natural Bee's Wax 120ml/4oz
Small Brush
Sanding Block
Buffing Rags
Color Card

You only have a couple of days left to enter. So hurry!
Be sure and check out Denise's past projects featured here.
I showed you her "Fifty Shades of Grey-Green" China Cabinet. I also featured her "Stenciled China Cabinet". Gorgeous!

Thanks so much Denise for sharing your latest furniture flip and for letting the Furniture Flippin' readers in on this giveaway.

That wraps up another week of Furniture Flippin'. I hope you've submitted your own Furniture Flips. If you haven't you can email me at furnitureflippin@gmail.com . Send before/after pics and all the details you'd like to share.

Have a great weekend and Valentine's Day!

~ Stephanie

For The Love Of It...

2016-02-11T07:19:00.000-06:00

Here is what is on my mind this morning: "Grey's Anatomy" is back on tonight. (About dang time!) I'm so glad they moved their time to 7pm this season. (Us old people like to be in bed early!) My sister said that the cast of "The Walking Dead" will be on "Inside The Actor's Studio" tonight, so I have to remember to DVR that. My honey's Valentine's Day gift should be arriving today. First and foremost on my mind? Will I ever find the piece of furniture that will work as a coffee bar for the chalkboard wall in Zach & Becky's apartment? Have you ever been on the hunt for just the right item for a certain spot in your house? Sometimes the hunt seems to last forever.

Our Furniture Flipper Annette Bucklyn Miner knows how that it. She was looking for a piece to repurpose into a small bar. It also had to fit a specific space. Lucky for her she found this Secretary Desk. It only measures 27" wide and it was the perfect size she needed.

Annette scraped the dated gold grid off of the glass and removed the inside cubby. (I despise painting cubbies! I'm sitting at a desk right now that has a cubby and I had to paint that thing twice because I hated the first color I used so much. Come to think of it, I think my handsome handy husband finally finished it for me.)

Annette and her husband spend their winters in Florida. She was looking to achieve a coastal & beachy feel with this piece. She painted it a light gray and then did a whitewash over it all.

The inside was painted using American Paint Company's Surfboard.

I love that color. Nice and delicately light. It goes together well with the exterior.

So there would be no mistaking what the new purpose of this Secretary is...(no getting coffee for the boss anymore, she'll be serving drinks!), Annette added an invitation to the party on it, by painting "The Bar" on the outside of the slant top desk door.

Once that door is opened, you see the real party begins. The bar "Is Open".

Annette also painted some fun numbers to each of the three drawers.

As you can see, it fits that little wall perfectly and it also holds it's liquor very well, too!

Well done Annette! Annette says she just flips furniture for herself and her family. Someone once said to her "only do it for love, 'cause when you start charging money they start bitchin'". Annette writes, "Sometimes I totally reinvent a piece and sometimes it's just painting and changing hardware. I've made kitchen islands out of maple buffets and outside potting benches out of old doors. All because I love doing it!"

Thanks so much for sharing your furniture flip Annette! We'd love to see what else you've done.

Dear readers, you don't have to flip furniture for a profit to be featured here. If you have a piece of furniture that you've made over, let's see it! Email me before/after photos and info you'd like to share to furnitureflippin@gmail.com. Your flip might inspire another person!

See you tomorrow!

~ Stephanie

Vanity Tables, Valentine's Day and A Lady Named Vonda...

2016-02-10T07:16:00.000-06:00

Sesame Street called and they said today is brought to us by the letter V.

I'm flippin' off the camera with the wrong finger.

Did you know my nickname used to be Sesame? I probably told you once. My first boyfriend when I was four years old couldn't say Stephanie and always called me Sesame. That's okay because I couldn't say his name and instead of it coming out as Christopher, it came out as Kissifer. My two older sisters and younger brother would call me Sesame because I loved Sesame Street. They would sing a song "Sesame lives on Sesame Street, doo-dah, doo-dah" to torment me. In return they were known as Baa-Baa Black Sheep (Becky), Lee Ann Pee Pan (Lee Ann) and Mikey Pikey Sat On A Trikey (Michael). Later we would tease Michael even further by singing "Happy Tasting Apple Jacks" whenever we wanted to bug him. He knew what we meant by singing that jingle. We knew what we meant. Our parents did NOT know that "Happy Tasting Apple Jacks" really meant "Hailey, Tiffany, Amber, and Jennifer" - the four little girls in the neighborhood we would tease him about. Sneaky sisters we were!

On to a lady named Vonda. Today we are going to visit Vonda of Antiqued With Love based in Gilbertown, Alabama. When Vonda decided to purchase this vanity after seeing it advertised for sale she was too late. Another person had offered to buy it. As luck would have it, that sale fell through and Vonda had it in her possession.

The vanity had it's issues but nothing that Vonda hadn't seen before. She decided to do a paint/stain combo on it. She sanded it down, primed it, and painted two coats of Valspar Signature Latex Satin in Lovely Bluff on the body. Then she distressed it and dark glazed it to give it an antiqued look . For the top she stained it Java gel stain and then sealed it with polyurethane.

This color combination really looks good on this piece. See for yourself...

Beautiful. Let's look at a couple of more pictures...

Alas, this vanity sold before she even finished it's transformation so if you were hoping your honey would buy it for you for Valentine's Day, you are out of luck.

Speaking of Valentine's Day, it seems like just yesterday that my own honey and I traveled all over the countryside looking for a vanity table to redo for me as a Valentine's Day gift. It was one of our first flips together. When we were finished, my husband wanted to be sure I would always remember how much he loved me, if I ever felt like clobbering him with the chair. (Would I do that? Hehehe...no.) He wrote me this sweet message on the bottom of the chair. We still laugh about it and I have yet to pick it up and swing it at him. We completed that flip four years ago today! It's a sweet memory and I'm grateful for the hard work that went into that.
Even more recently, as our vanity table now has it's own little alcove to sit in. Yes, we measured the vanity and planned the closets my husband built on either side of it. (You gotta love living in an old home that literally only has (had) one closet in the entire house.) Forgive the picture, it's a hard room to photograph with a cellphone.

Let's talk about Vonda again. You've seen her work here before. (Get your flip in so we can see your work here, too!) Three times previous to be exact! (See readers, you can submit more than one flip and be featured more than one time!) We saw her sweet Owl chest of drawers.

And another vanity table...

and a beautiful china cabinet. She takes a lot of pride in her work and it shows.

Thanks so much Vonda for sharing your gorgeous vanity! You can find Vonda on her Antiqued With Love Facebook page. Let her know you saw her on Furniture Flippin'!

Three flips down, two more to go this week Will yours be one of them?

See you tomorrow!

~ Stephanie

Chairs To A Job Well Done!

2016-02-09T07:04:00.000-06:00

It's Two-fer Tuesday! That's right. Today you are being treated to not just one, but two flips! And are they ever good ones! If you know me at all, you know I hate working on chairs. Hate it. Dislike it even more than I dislike French Provincial furniture. (Though you Furniture Flippers have shown me some pretty spectacular FPF flips and I've softened a bit on the style because of you.) Well, today we get to sit back and watch the outcome of another's hard work on a couple of "seen better days" chairs.

We're heading to Florida and checking in with Amanda of Reloved Home Designs. Long time readers (those before my almost two year hiatus) might remember Amanda from her other appearances on the blog. The first time we met her she had updated a cabinet she found for $20. The next time we stopped in she had made over a chair that still brings them into the blog. (Seriously, it was a high traffic source just yesterday.) This time Amanda was on the lookout for a chair to complete her daughter's bedroom makeover when she found this chair on a local yard sale page. She kept putting this one off because she felt a little intimidated by it. She had upholstered dining room chairs many times, but never attempted an entire upholstery job like this chair would require. After finishing up all of the other pieces for the room the time had come. She couldn't put it off any longer.

Amanda writes, "My daughter is an aspiring famous writer, which was the inspiration for the first piece of fabric. Her color scheme for her room is a creamy white, burgundy and black. I painted it in Annie Sloan Old White. I clear waxed it and dark waxed the details to make them pop."

Amanda contracted with Loomcraft to sew the cushion piece and then she did the rest of the upholstering.

Readers - be ready. If you are standing then you might want to pull a chair close to catch you when you swoon at the sight of this completed chair. It's beyond words beautiful. Ready?

And now the back of it...

Don't you love it? I do! I want her daughter to tire of it and sell it to me! Amanda jokes that this beautiful chair now resides in her daughter's room where it is spending it's days holding her clean laundry.

Which reminds me, every time I see a used exercise bike or treadmill for sale, I wonder why the seller doesn't market it differently. I mean, who are we fooling? It's going to end up as a place to hang your clothes in a few weeks, so sell it that way! Geesh...while we are at it, the Super Bowl 50 commercials were horrible and I'd fire the ad agencies that wrote them and hire me for next year! I could do a better job.

On to Flip #2! Inspired by the gorgeous handiwork she achieved on the "Writer's Chair", she was eager to start another one. Along came an old guy named Ethan Allen. She found him on Craigslist where he had placed an ad looking for someone to take him home.

Amanda's first stop after purchasing him was Loomcraft to find some inspiring fabric to set this makeover in motion. This took hours. I can totally understand that, looking at every last piece of fabric. Yesterday I was heading out to the store. My husband usually goes with me shopping. He thought about staying home this time. "Do you want me to go with you?", he asked. "Well, let's put it this way. I'll spend more money if you don't go with me.", I replied. That sealed the deal. He went with me. Eh, it was only groceries and I had a categorized list with me organized by section that I was determined to stick to. (What can I say? I like his company.)

Amanda chose a floral fabric first and then from there chose her complementing pieces of fabric. Once home, she placed the fabric on her color chart to determine a chair color. She wound up using a color mix that someone else created and had named Vintage Kitchen. It's a mix of Annie Sloan Antibes Green, Old White and French Linen. She paid Loomcraft to sew the cushion while she went to work on the chair.

Okay, are you ready for the second reveal? Here we go!

And the back...

I'm in love with that one, too! I think Amanda has made me change my opinion about the possibility of working on more chairs. If they were to turn out even half as good as hers have, I'd be happy. Beautiful work Amanda!

You can find Amanda in her Reloved Home Designs Etsy shop as well as on her Facebook page. You are going to want to follow her page. She does amazing work. You will be inspired. Or intimidated, which in that case, just buy what she has finished! You know it'll be good and you won't have to be stressed out.

Two days of flips down and three more to go this week! Get your flip in! Email me at furnitureflippin@gmail.com .

See you tomorrow!

~ Stephanie

One Door Closes...

2016-02-08T07:58:00.001-06:00

...and another one opens. And, still another one languishes outside with his buddy against a wall not doing a gosh darn thing. (I know some guys like that, too.)

Well, that's about to change! Because Joanne from Funky Junk Home Decor in Newfoundland has a hold of you now and she has a deadline to meet!

Our heroine Joanne entered a local magazine's upcycling contest. However, her dad fell ill and she missed the deadline by 12 short hours. Not one to let that stop her, the project she had intended to enter went forward anyway.

(Who needs to win a stinkin' contest anyway? I know you're a winner Joanne! You don't need a magazine to tell you that. Now the entire universe will know!)

Hehehe...I can hear a conversation taking place right now..."Who does this Stephanie on this little blog think she is? Does she really think she has the eyes of the entire universe reading her blog? She must be mad out of her mind! I think maybe she's hitting the bottle!" Well, let me tell you MOM! Maybe I do! Just maybe I do! Would that be so hard to believe? Just kidding. My mom doesn't read the blog.

Joanne took the door & headboard and set about transforming them into the ultimate upcycled piece. She cut the headboard in half to use as the sides.

For the seat she used an old board that was too damaged on one side to do much else with. Never fear - underside it went! Unless you are up under that chair dusting you're never going to notice that. (Because let's face it, who has time to dust under their furniture? Not me! Maybe you do, and if that's the case, come on over! I've got a whole houseful of furniture with your name written all over it in dust.)

My Matthew

Oh! That reminds me! I have to tell you about a few weeks ago when I asked my 14 year old son to dust the dining room furniture. I call it Teen Lesson #1 For 2016 - if your mom asks you to dust then do it correctly without complaint. Why? Because if you give attitude you will find yourself assigned a different job, in another room, that has a door that can be closed so your complaints can't be heard. Such was the scenario on that day. The end result? Mom did the dusting. The teenager? He had to thoroughly clean the bathroom - toilet, tub, sink, mirrors, floor, woodwork, etc. Lesson learned.

As Matthew Saw Me When He Was 7

Some days dear readers its so much fun to be the Mom!

Back to the flip. Joanne painted this with Country Chic Paint in licorice and added a few hooks plus a place to pin notes and photos.

Check it out!

Isn't that great? Knock, knock! Who's there? A door. A door, who? A-door-iable that's who! Because it is! It's both fun and functional!

I love it! Thanks so much Joanne for sharing your upcycled furniture flip! I agree with Joanne that it makes a great entry piece. Might I suggest that it would also be a great place to write, "You're Grounded" when your kids come home late one night. It'd be the first thing they see when they walk in the door.

You can find Joanne on her Funky Junk Home Decor Facebook page. There you will also get to see much more of her awesome talent on display. She also has a store in Newfoundland and their grand opening was this past weekend! She is also not only a user, but she's a dealer of Country Chic Paint, too. Go check her out. Tell her you saw her on Furniture Flippin'.

This week is off to a great start. Have you submitted your flip yet? We have some wonderful ones coming your way this week. If you'd like to share your furniture flip, just email me at furnitureflippin@gmail.com . Before/after pics and all of the info you'd like to share.

Have a great Monday!

~ Stephanie

To Grandmother's House We Go...

2016-02-05T07:24:00.000-06:00

I thought I knew how I was going to approach this post today. You see, when I get a flip submitted to me, I like to check out the subject I'm writing about. They have taken their time to share their hard work with me and I want to write the best possible piece on them. My longtime readers know, I interject a bit of my own life into each post, too. To do that, I look for something about them, or their website, or their flip that sparks something in me. Today I am introducing you to Tarah of Grandma's House DIY.

I visited her blog and started to construct Tarah's piece in my head while simultaneously singing "Happy Together" and replying to a text my husband sent me. (I'm an awesome multi-tasker.) It was coincidental to me that her name is Tarah Lynn because last night I was part of a group text message from my niece Tara Lynn. My niece just purchased her first home and is excitedly making it her own. She is enjoying it so much. I am one of the Aunts she is keeping updated as she decorates her home. Reminiscent of the time when Tara was the first child of the next generation to arrive on the scene, and we would all watch her twirl in circles and sing for us grownups, we are watching her as she takes this journey of first time home owner and delighting in every decorating decision she makes. You've met Tara at least once before on this blog. So, when I saw Tarah's blog I thought I would correlate the tale of two Tara(h)'s.

Then I read her blog further and not just one thing resonated with me, but so many other things did as well. I think this is why we fall in love with a blog. We connect with the author. We see similarities of ourselves in them. Yes, we may be total strangers but once we read what they are sharing we relate to them.

Tarah's Grandma's House

Tarah and her guy Joe are renovating her grandparent's farmhouse. It is the house her grandparents called home and where her mother was raised. They have graciously opened the doors to this house and let us follow along.

Presley and Ma

While reading of Tarah's Grandma's house, I think of my own house. Here my three siblings and I were raised and this is where I raised (raising) my own three children. I may still be in the "mom" category with one child at home, but I also became Grandma Steffie almost 18 months ago. Which means in young Presley's eyes, this is now "Grandma's house" or "Ma" as he calls me. My hope is that Presley will have fond memories of the times he has and will spend here visiting "Ma & Pa". I also wouldn't mind if he took whatever furniture of mine that may end up as his and puts his own spin on it. (Presley, about the house - don't swap out our big windows with smaller versions. Don't get rid of the clawfoot tub. It's original! Keep the integrity of the outside & remember Ma's rule on shutters. Or, I'll haunt you. Well, I'll be doing that anyway.)

Jack's Grandparents, his mother, and aunt.

So many special feelings are tied to our grandparents. I correspond with my friend's 80 year old uncle Jack. His late grandparents built the house we own and they raised their 9 children here. Jack has many fond memories of being here as a child and an adult. He shares stories and pictures of this place with me. I now treasure his memories as well as my own. I'll have to tell you someday what I have learned about our house. I find old homes and their stories fascinating.

Photo Courtesy of Grandma's House DIY

While "Grandma's House" makes up two-thirds of the title of the blog, we mustn't forget the DIY part. The house is not the only thing that is featured on their blog. Tarah writes, "By the spring of 2013 I had lost both of my grandmas and had a garage full of ancient furniture and so much sadness I could barely breathe. It seemed there was only one thing for me to do: I started refinishing every last piece." These pieces are featured as well.

Today, we will take a look at this old radio cabinet. Tarah said she knew what she wanted for her kitchen. Her list of wants were a red kitchen island with a butcher block top and it had to be on wheels. It took her awhile to figure out this would fit the bill.

Many times, I have been sent a picture of a similar radio cabinet as a "What Would You Do?" feature on our Facebook page. They all have the same thoughts that Tarah had, "If you stand it against a wall it is either useless as a shelf or you have to face the prettiest part of the whole piece to the wall."

Tarah went to work transforming this into her ideal kitchen island. It would serve as a work station and also house her cookbook collection. She sturdied the piece up, painted it the red she wanted, added a base, a butcher block top and then wheels.

Here's the back...

and take a look at the front.

You can read all of the steps Tarah took on her Grandma's House DIY blog.

While you are there, please read the story of her grandparents. So sweet. What a wonderful way she is honoring them.

There are a LOT of tips and tutorials on their blog. You will find yourself spending some time there. Don't say I didn't warn you! Head over to her Facebook page and let her know you saw her on Furniture Flippin' too!

Thanks so much Tarah for sharing your fantastic furniture flip! It's also a great new use for an old object. I will see you on Twitter lady!

That wraps up another week of Furniture Flippin'. What do you think about that? See! I was true to my word. I'm back and I just delivered 7 new furniture flips to prove it! There will be five more next week. If you haven't submitted yours yet, please email me before/after pics and all the details you'd like to share to furnitureflippin@gmail.com .

If you have already submitted your flip, please know I've seen it and I'm not ignoring you. I get a lot of them. It takes me awhile to feature everyone. So, don't get mad at me. Your number will be up soon. I seldom know more than a day ahead of time, who I will feature next. You can always touch base with me again, too, if you have something special going on (sales event or if it's your birthday). Until then...

Have a great weekend!

~ Stephanie

Happy Wife, Happy Life...

2016-02-04T07:25:00.001-06:00

There are some things that go on inside the walls of our house that you need to know. "Enter At Your Own Risk" is what the sign above our doors should say, instead of the friendly "Peace To All Who Enter" signs that hang there now. (Halloween pic - the bats are not everyday decor.)

What goes on? Chances are great that when you open any door, be it inside or outside at our house, somebody will jump out at you and try to scare the crap out of you. It happens daily here. We call it "Zombie Apocalypse Training". It's meant to make you have nerves of steel and teach you to stay calm if you find yourself confronted with walkers. Man, I've scared so many people and it never gets old. I do it, my husband does it, and my son does it. It. Is. Fun. For us, at least. Maybe not for the scarie (or is it spelled scaree? That doesn't look right either. I think it's scaree. Actually it's a made up word anyway, who cares?)

The other thing you must know is that I will sing all day long. I make up songs. Or I'll sing random songs constantly. I do it because I know that if I do it long enough somebody else is going to pick up on it and find themselves singing it, too. It'll get in their brains and there it'll stay. It drives my husband and son crazy. That's fun for me. It works with whistling, too. Yesterday I was singing the "Smurfs" song..."La la la-la la la, Sing a happy song" and before too long, my handsome handy husband comes in and he is singing it, too. I looked at him, he stopped and the look on his face was priceless. "You!", he says. I'm still laughing about it today.

This morning I walked into the kitchen where my son was and started to sing, "Good Morning, Good Morning! How did you sleep last night?" and I heard the distinct thud of the bedroom door closing. My husband wasn't about to fall for that again. He tuned me out really quick lest he be singing it all day long. Oh, gosh. I love doing that to people. Get inside their head...but in a good way. My poor husband and son. They love me though. They are pretty good at ganging up on me and paying me back for my torturous ways.

Back to the title of today's blog post. We've all heard that saying, "Happy Wife, Happy Life". Well, it really isn't all one-sided like that in a relationship. It takes two baby, it takes two! (Now, you'll be singing THAT song all day long.) Today we feature another husband-wife duo. Roni and her husband Gary from Roni's Rescued Relics. They tackle many tough flips together. They tag-team it. This time they took on this old and battered work bench.

It had been hanging out in their basement for awhile. Roni saw the potential in it and the two of them went to work. The piece had been sitting on metal crates so her husband built a new frame for the piece to sit on. It will soon be sporting some wheels, too.

Inspiration struck Roni again and she had her husband incorporate two old sewing machine drawers. (There he is making up his plan of attack.) (Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to work he goes.)

It's looking good!

Let's take a look at what's going on with the back of this piece.

Baby got back!

Can it be anymore fabulous? I don't think it can. Wait...Roni isn't done. She has something else for her husband to do.

I love this picture of it upside down. This was snapped when it's wheels were going on. It reminds me of how the "Dumpster Dresser" we did used to hang out in the garage on a dolly in all sorts of positions.

Roni wasn't finished yet. Her imaginative brain was still churning out ideas. This time she asked Gary to install an outlet on the top. So, in keeping with the title of this blog post, he made his wife happy and their happy life continued. I've seen my husband work a chisel before and I marvel at it. I've tried it and it's not easy. I leave that up to him. Give and take.

Were they done yet? Nope! Good ol' Gar' made her a crate out of old pallet wood and attached it to provide additional storage. He also added an additional shelf. Roni pulled a Stephanie and did the finishing work, paint, stain, poly, etc. TEAMWORK.

Let's take a look at this project in all it's finished glory.

First the magnificent back...

...and now the front.

Very unique! It provides just the additional storage that Roni was looking for in her kitchen. I've glossed over some of the steps of this redo but you can read more about it and see additional photos on their Roni's Rescued Relics Facebook page. Get over there, give them a "Like" and let them know you saw them on Furniture Flippin'.

If you want to see even more items of theirs that I've featured here in the past, then check out their Kitchen Island, their French Provincial Chest of Drawers, and their gorgeous Dining Room Furniture redo. They are located in Long Island, NY. You can also find them on Etsy.

Thanks so much Roni for sharing your wonderful furniture flips! Keep 'em coming!

You dear readers, quit your slacking. Either submit a flip or submit a comment. One or the other. I need something to read, too!

See you tomorrow!

~ Stephanie

I Would Break The 10th Commandment...

2016-02-03T07:28:00.000-06:00

I want Crystal of Urban Patina to be my next door neighbor.

I'd be over at her place every single day if she was. I'd get nothing done at my house. My husband and son would go unfed because I'd be hanging with Crystal. I would break the 10th commandment because I would be coveting every single thing she created. Her style would become my style. (It actually kind of is already.) We would get together and cookout. Our husbands could be best friends. If my husband refused to weld something for me (he hasn't yet but I did ask him about breaking out the welder the other day for a project I'm designing and come to think of it, he never did commit to it), I'd run next door and have her husband do it. She could come over to my house and we could rock on the Triple Rocker, sipping iced tea and counting how many cars don't come to a complete stop at the stop sign. If only...

Since she isn't likely to move to Illinois and we're not likely to move to Minnesota, I'll have to be content with following her on the internet. One visit to her blog, or her Facebook page, or her shop will show you why I adore her so much.

Take a look at this end table Crystal went to work on. She had two of them. They had leather tops and they had seen better days. Crystal set about removing the leather. That left each table with a recessed area that needed to be filled. No lego building plate here! Nope! She decided to use beautiful pieces of wood.

The wood was cut to different lengths. She sanded, stained and sealed each piece of wood. Surprisingly, it's all the same color of stain on each board. Some pieces just took it differently. (Kind of like when I color my hair. Some strands don't absorb the color like other strands. I can fool myself into thinking it all looks blond because I've set my home lighting to be flattering to me at all times. Dimmers are a girl's best friend. It's only when I enter Walgreens and I'm under those florescent lights and catch a glimpse of myself in those stupid mirrors high up at the back of the store that I realize it is gray/white and I'm just fooling myself. Thus, why I avoid Walgreens.)

On the body of the tables, Crystal painted them using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in the colors Old Ochre and Old White. She heavily distressed them and sealed them with both clear and dark wax. She then added new hardware.

Take a look at them now...

Gorgeous! You can see even more pictures of them on the Urban Patina blog. There you will fall in love with all of Crystal and her husband Paul's creations.

I covet this clock...

I'm seriously in love with it. I love it so much it hurts. They offer even MORE clocks than this one. A bunch of them. Beautiful clocks in various sizes and styles. All handcrafted. Don't you feel like you should have one of those hanging in your home? I know I do.

Thank you Crystal's parents for producing such a talented Earthling to walk among us less talented people. Paul's parents, too. Thank you. I shall continue to stalk your children but breathe easy because I come in peace.

Get on over to Urban Patina and see what else these two have to offer. I predict you'll be expanding your Pinterest boards today. Don't say I didn't warn you!

Midway through the week. Have you submitted YOUR furniture flip yet? Get on it. Email me before/after pics & plenty of details. Send them to me at furnitureflippin@gmail.com . I'll be watching for it.

See you tomorrow!

~ Stephanie

Holy Smoke, Copper Nugget & A Coffee Table

2016-02-02T07:27:00.001-06:00

When I was a young girl, our family relocated to a small Southern Illinois town. The kind of folksy area where the big draw each year was the Agricultural Fair at the Fairgrounds, the newspaper was just a weekly one, everybody owned horses, and there was a town named Moonshine. Our dad thought we needed to have horses, too. So, along came Holy Smoke & Copper Nugget. That's not them in the picture but it is me on a horse with Dad holding onto me. (I sure miss that man.) My sister is on the horse ahead of mine.

Let me tell you about our horses. Smoky was a wild one. He was a smoky color which is how he got his name. One day my dad and I took off on him. I was probably six years old. I was hanging onto Dad for dear life. We went quite far on our ride. We were miles outside of town in the middle of nowhere when for some unknown reason Smoky reared up and deposited us both on the road. (That hurt! Especially since my dad landed on me.) Then he was off. Running. We hitched a ride back to town from a neighbor who saw us walking and crying. Okay, I was crying. Another neighbor found Smoky and back to the pasture he went.

(Blatant misuse of a blog! Grandma Steffie showing off Presley on a pony from this past summer. It's my blog and I can show him off if I want to! Plus all of this will be tied together further down the page.) New readers I have a tendency to ramble...

Since I told you about Smoky, let me tell you about Nugget. Horses are smart animals. And very good actors as evidenced by their appearance in multitudes of movies and in this story. Nugget got his leg caught in a barbed wire fence. He tore his leg up and we had to apply an ointment to it daily. He didn't enjoy that. So, we would come armed with carrots to coax him to us. One day, we all loaded up in our green paneled station wagon and headed out to the country to perform this task. The horses could see us coming, winding our way through the countryside. We could see them from afar, too. The fact that if he could see us, then we could see him, never occurred to Nugget. Smoky didn't bother to tell him either. (Not surprising. Smoky was an "every horse for himself" type of animal.) We watched both of them come running across the pasture with their mane flying. When we got closer, Nugget began his Oscar worthy performance. Like a flip of a switch, he stopped galloping and started limping. I think he even winced a little. He stopped short of turning on the waterworks. (Why the Academy didn't take notice of Nugget is beyond me and one reason why I never watch their silly awards show.)

Those days of horse ownership are behind us now. When we again moved the horses were sold. They lived out the rest of their lives in Southern Illinois as we made our way a little farther north in the Land of Lincoln. Horses are still big in that area. I can imagine today's furniture flip would go over big with the equestrian crowd that makes up Clark County.

Take a gander at this coffee table. We've all seen them like this before. We may have even owned one in our lifetime. Linda from EEK To Chic bought this one off of her friend. It was "plain, boring and scuffed up" according to Linda. As soon as she saw it, she knew exactly how she would remake it.

You might recall Linda's two previous appearances on the blog. This one which was the inspiration for one of my most favorite blog titles EVER. "Flippin' The Bird".

And this one, where you all marveled at how the pulls seemed to become a part of the guitar.

Linda said this makeover was a challenging one. She used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. As she painted the background she would lay the picture on it to ensure that she was headed in the right direction. It all came together. She decoupaged the poster in place and finished it all with polyurethane.

Check. It. Out.

And two more...

Isn't that unique? Somebody buy it! It's for sale!

EEK To Chic is located in Virginia Beach, Virginia. You can find Linda and all of her EEK To Chic creations on her Facebook page. Get over there and tell her you saw her on Furniture Flippin'.

Thanks Linda for sharing your wonderful furniture flip.

Dear readers, you can see your Furniture Flips here, too! Giddy on up and send me before/after pics along with all of the details you'd like to share to furnitureflippin@gmail.com. Your flip might inspire someone.

~ Stephanie

And Then What Happened?

2016-02-01T07:33:00.001-06:00

That is a question I ask all of the time. Ask my sister Rebecca. She says I should open a detective agency with her husband because he and I always want to know all of the details, word for word. I think we could be successful, too. I think it's a Virgo thing. I always want to know what happened afterward. After the movie ended, what became of the characters? After the furniture sold, what became of it? Is it happy in it's new home?

I don't know if you've ever seen "The Middle". It's one of the few television shows on the air that you can actually watch with your children and not have to cover their eyes or quickly change the channel because something inappropriate suddenly happens. There was one episode where Sue was reluctant to get rid of her electric curlers. She worried that she would hurt their feelings. Yes, she knows they don't really have feelings, but she still thinks that they'll be hurt if she lets them go. I'm that way. I place feelings on inanimate objects. I do it all the time. What else do you expect from a woman who names the vehicle she drives and then only refers to it by his name. (Daryl - after Daryl Dixon.) I love Daryl.

I assume most people want to know the same thing. I carry pictures on my phone of the pieces of furniture we have flipped in case I run into their previous owners. I have run into them. Almost literally. I spotted one previous owner walking down the street. He didn't know me. I knew who he was. I drove around the block and cornered him in a parking lot with Daryl. At first I think I startled him. Then I showed him the pics of the "Derelict Dresser" that became our grandson's Chicago Cubs dresser. Upon seeing the after pictures, he wanted it back! (I think the Cubs success last season might have had something to do with that.)

I chased down one woman in Kroger's parking lot. This time I was on foot and pushing a buggy full of groceries. She had formerly owned the "Dumpster Dresser". She didn't even recognize it when I showed her the after picture of it. Daryl was with me then, too, but he was hanging out in the boondocks away from everyone else. He's a loner like that. He doesn't let anyone get too close to him. Only the people he knows love him and won't door ding him.

I know where every piece we've ever redone has ended up. I've seen it in its new home. I hear how it's living it's new life. I stop short of sending them Christmas cards and birthday gifts.

I often think of the pieces I've featured here. I wonder about them, and occasionally, I get the answer. Like with my buddy Susan from Stone Creek ReDesigns and Finds in Fredericksburg, Virgina.

I featured a gorgeous dresser of hers in August, 2013. It began it's life many years prior looking in much better shape than when Susan found it.

What you have to understand about Susan is that she doesn't paint just to paint. She falls in the middle of being a wood purist and a painter. That's a good thing. Painting to just be painting and never appreciating the wood is a no-no. Susan doesn't do that. This piece had warped and splintering veneer. It needed help.

After working her magic on it, I think Susan struck the right balance between wood and paint. It turned out fantastic.

I am not the only one who thinks that. It's new owners think that, too. That's why they bought it and now it's the focal piece in their bathroom. (Okay...don't go there. I know what you are thinking but until somebody flips a toilet, I'm not going to give a toilet the main stage.)

Here it is...

Pretty, pretty! Man, I love that piece. I have serious bathroom envy right now. (I didn't say that out loud. My own bathroom may be listening.)

And so, we know. We know what happened. That's the "happily ever after" on this piece. Do you have a "happily ever after" to share? If so, email me at furnitureflippin@gmail.com . Before/after/happily ever after pics and details please.

In the meantime, you can visit my friend Susan in person at her shop Stone Creek ReDesign in historic Fredericksburg, Virginia. Or check out her blog. Or visit her on Facebook. She's a sweetheart.

That's a wrap. I'll see you tomorrow.

~ Stephanie ~

Ain't Nothing Fishy About It...

2016-01-29T06:00:00.000-06:00

There was a time when a fish aquarium was the focal point of our family room. My stepdad had built it into the wall along with a place for the television, stereo and speakers,VHS tapes and the dust that I liked to collect. (See the dust? Don't judge me. My oldest two were little and I was busy.)

We enjoyed this fishtank. We watched fish come and go. One little baby goldfish was named "Pizza Hut" by my daughter. We called it Pizza Hut until she started calling EVERYONE Pizza Hut. By the time we realized she thought Pizza Hut was a bad word (I can still hear her little voice, "you PIZZA HUT!!") little Pizza Hut was dead and flushed down the toilet.

After a while, the built-in fish aquarium lost its coolness factor. It was a pain to take care of and the back part of it took up too much space in the closet behind the wall. Out it came. Now, I could tell you we repurposed all of it, but there wasn't much we could repurpose. There was a mantel that spanned the entire length of it and that we kept for another project. The rest was burn pile bound.

This brings me to today's flip. Had we owned an aquarium on a metal stand, we might have thought of doing this project that Dee from DeeConstructed did. Truthfully, I probably wouldn't have thought of it. Until now.

If you saw this discarded piece of metal by the side of the road on garbage pickup day you probably wouldn't have given it a second look, let alone dragged it into the back of your vehicle and hauled it home. Well, I guarantee you that you will never EVER think of leaving something like this languishing on the curb once you see what our talented furniture flipper did to it.

Dee dragged that baby back to her place and gave it a makeover. She worked on some rust spots and added wood for a table top and also a shelf below. (I'm glossing over some of the details because you need to read her version of this transformation on her blog. I'm not going to spill all of the beans here. Plus, she has more pictures.)

When it was all finished and a picture was snapped and posted, it sat idle for all of ten minutes. Yep, 600 seconds was all it took for her neighbor to come knocking, fork over the money, and haul that baby home.

When I tell you I think of this project a lot, I'm not exaggerating. My son has this chalkboard wall area in his apartment and I totally want him to have a smaller version of this to use as his coffee bar. I even had a lengthy text exchange with him and sent him to Dee's blog to see it. He's on board with it. Why wouldn't he be? It's gorgeous and very urban chic. I almost forgot to show you the after.

See what Dee did? Magnificient! Now hurry off to DeeConstructed and see what else this talented lady has been up to!

Get your flips in! We want to see what you've been up to lately! Email me at furnitureflippin@gmail.com. Send before/after pictures and all the details you can spare. You could be tomorrow's flip!

It's A Good Day To Have A Good Day! And So Was Yesterday...

2016-01-28T11:07:00.001-06:00

So yesterday. Let's talk about that.

It was a good day. No, let's make that a fantastic day. A much better day than the prior day.

One day prior I felt like doing a little baking. Baking is a good thing (I wrote that in Martha Stewart's voice, I hope you read it that way). I love to bake. I love to be in our kitchen. Absolutely adore it. Somedays I even pretend I am on my own cooking show. (Not really. Okay, yes really. My son has a video of it.) On Tuesday I offered my handsome handy husband three choices for baked items: chocolate cake, chocolate pie or chocolate chip cookies. He chose cake.

I printed out a recipe for Black Magic Chocolate Cake that I found on a blog with delicious recipes. I prepared the recipe but then realized that I didn't have 9" cake pans. I had 8" ones. I used those. I should have known better. The batter rose over the edge of the pans and dripped onto the bottom of my oven. I quickly grabbed them out and dumped the contents into the sink. I started over. Made another cake batter and used a 9 x 13 pan instead. Success. It was the best chocolate cake I've ever made. My son and husband raved over it. I was able to salvage the day despite the baking misstep.

What does this have to do with Furniture Flippin' and the fantastic day I had yesterday which brings us to today and my reappearance on the blog? One thing leads to another and it's just my rambling way of sharing a delicious recipe and showing you what was posted on our Facebook page yesterday.

I was missing all of you on Facebook and here. I do think of you often. Yes, I know our followers have now reached over 7,500 on Facebook (which is crazy since I only post sporadically) and you probably don't think I know who some of you are, but I do. I missed our daily interactions. I missed seeing what you all are working on. I missed hearing what you are having for dinner. I missed seeing the pics of your little ones, whether grandkids or your own kiddos. Even though we've never met in person, I do like hearing about what's going on with you all. I'd start naming names here and singling you all out but there are too many. I'll start with one of you today. I'll single the rest of you out on another day.

Missy. Missy Severson of the Antique Barn stands out. Yesterday when I casually asked you all what you were working on and what you were having for dinner (as our dinner - homemade pizza was baking in the oven) Missy replied and knocked my purple toed socks off! She made Shepherd's Pie for dinner!

And...she shared these pictures of her latest creation.

Wait. It gets even better. Although that's subjective because look at the front of that 7 1/2 foot cabinet. How can that possibly get even better? Well, look at the back...

See!?!? Can you imagine owning that? Having that be the centerpiece in your kitchen. Oh my gosh. This is going to be one of those pieces that sticks in my head and that I think about over and over and over again.

Missy said that this was a circa 1950's cabinet that had languished in her shop for the past three years. Then she and her husband Allen decided to give it a new look. They added reclaimed wainscoting to three sides, then painted and distressed the doors and drawers, and added old pulls. The top of this piece was made from three pieces of wood salvaged out of a container they purchased from Liverpool, England.

This piece is available for sale. You can hop over to Antique Barn's website or visit their Facebook page for more information. They are located in Gallatin Gateway, Montana. There are only 141 days until their 2016 Junk-Fest At The Antique Barn! You won't want to miss that.

Thanks so much Missy for sharing that gorgeous furniture flip! I can't wait to see who ends up with that in their kitchen. Repurposed pieces with a history attached are always more fun to own than everyday run of the mill stuff.

Okay, furniture flippers, get your flips in! Email me at furnitureflippin@gmail.com. Send me before/after pics and all of the details. The more details the better! I'll have another great flip for you tomorrow!

See you then!

Stephanie

Hello Norma Jean!

2015-03-19T14:00:00.003-05:00

Well, looky here! Wonders never cease! I've got another new blog post for you this week! This one I actually wrote almost a year ago before I took my writing sabbatical. That's what I'm calling it - a sabbatical. Sounds fancier too.

I'm breaking one of my cardinal rules here on Furniture Flippin' in a big way! Let me say that it's not too often that I let the "no before pic" rule be broken. I think that's only happened three or four times. This one though is too good not to share so out the window went the rule.

I came across the "after" picture of today's flip as I was killing time and avoiding housework on the World Wide Web. I think I had actually just pushed the start button on the dryer for the third time when I spotted it. (Oh, and when I went to fold the clothes the dryer was empty! Happens. All. The. Time.) I contacted Karen the talented mastermind behind Funque Vintage of Bellville, Texas and asked if I could show it off for her. She said yes! (Thanks Karen!)

Karen began this flip with an early 1900's English Dresser. Karen is originally from the U.K. She stripped the dresser to the bare wood. Then she went about fancying it up.

She had a gorgeous poster of Marilyn Monroe aka Norma Jean which she adhered to the front. Then she painted the drawers in silver metallic and used foil to add the black on the sides.

The original hardware was replaced with what looks like jewels, but it's not.

Can you imagine if that WAS the size of the rock on your ring finger? A girl (me) can dream. Check out the rock that Triple H gave me on our wedding day. Seriously. We were married a couple of days before Independence Day and they were selling them at a street dance aka our wedding reception. I still have it and it still lights up. As do I whenever he walks in a room.

But this isn't about me and my big spender husband. (It cost $5.00. That's like 500 pennies. WOW!) This is about the gorgeous chest of drawers that Karen of Funque Vintage created.

Let's take a look at that after picture, shall we?

Tada...

See!?!?! Didn't I tell you it was gorgeous?

I adore this dresser. Karen admits that "Norma Jean" remains one of her all time favorite flips she has done. You can see more of Karen's work on her Funque Vintage Facebook page. You can also visit Funque Vintage at their location 13 E. Main Street, Bellville, Texas. There they not only offer chic vintage furnishings for your home, but painting classes, plus a variety of services for the home, including consultations, personal shopping, furniture refinishing and custom furnishings, and last but not least a vast selection of faux finishes for your home. Let them know you saw them on Furniture Flippin'.

Thanks so much Karen for sharing Norma Jean with us! She's a beauty!

So, is the Furniture Flippin' blog back? It could be. Will it be five days a week? Eh, I don't know yet. Can you submit a flip? Yessiree Bob and Bobera (<< fancy way of saying Barbara), you sure can! Email me at furnitureflippin@yahoo.com . If you do submit a flip, I need before & after pictures, (during pictures we love, too!) some details on the furniture and what wonderful things you did to it. All that, and a medium regular Iced Coffee from McDonalds left on my doorstep is some of what goes into a feature on Furniture Flippin'. I'll be watching for your email (and the iced coffee).

Now, go leave a comment. I've missed you.

~ Stephanie