Meg and Mum's

Guest Post by Julia from 551 East

noreply@blogger.com (Meg and Mum's) — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 01:03:00 +0000

You may have noticed in the last couple of weeks that I haven't hosted my Saturday link party. The reason for this is that I feel I need a break from it all for a spell. I have been working about 4 to 5 hours every day for my other job as a legal secretary from home, whilst looking after the kids, mowing lawns, general household duties and trying to fit my furniture projects in. As some of you may know, hosting a link party can take up a fair bit of time so now it's just one less thing I have to do - because I'm buggered. So by the time Friday night comes around all I want to do is put the kids to bed, make myself and Mr T a nice scotch and sit on the couch to watch the idiot box.

However, I will still be blogging about my furniture projects and the like and will have something for you all very soon. There are also some more awesome guest posts to come including my next guest!

Meet Julia from 551 East! Now this lady is seriously good. She has a great eye for design and isn't afraid to try new things. Things that I would never have dreamed of doing, but wish I did. Even better, Julia has been kind enough to share some tutorials with us.

Hi Meg and Mum's friends!

I'm Julia from 551 East!

I LOVE restoring furniture.

Furniture makes a house a home; I love taking pieces that are no longer wanted and giving them new life.

Since I've been doing this, I've learned a few tricks to help make a piece look unique and I want to share them with you!

Tip One:

I think a lot of us are afraid on a certain 5 letter word...stain.

Staining requires a lot more prep and the results aren't always as predictable as paint.

Which is why I love Minwax's Tung Oil.

Tung Oil isn't a stain, it's a natural oil that conditions the wood and helps bright out the natural wood color and grain. It is much easier to work with than stain and the results are amazing.

Here's a piece I refinished with Tung Oil.

Tip Two:

Remember when the Ombre look became really popular?

I loved the idea, but I didn't want to copy anyone, so I thought of using stain to create the ombre effect.

When you see a trend, find a way to make it your own.

PS: If you are going to use stain, a piece like this is a great to practice on. Lots of flat surfaces make for easy sanding and prep work.

Tip Three:

If you had asked me a year ago if I was creative I would have said NO!

I've never taken a art class, but I've taught myself to hand paint images.

I wrote a post a few weeks back about learning paint images.

Click here to read it!

Tip Four:

Distressing is super popular, but to be honest, distressing stresses me out.

Something about taking sand paper to a piece that I've worked really hard to make smooth doesn't make sense, but I do like the way it looks.

So I came up a way to get the look of distressing with just paint.

Click here to see how!

Tip Five:

I love adding pinstripes to pieces.

It's a great way to add unique details and sophistication.

It's not hard and it can add a lot to a piece.

Click here for a link to see how to paint lines.

Tip Six:

Don't be afraid to try new paints or products!

I've been using oil based paints and I LOVE them.

They give a piece high end look, they are super durable and they are self-leveling which helps for a streak free finish.

Tip Seven:

Go the extra mile.

I'm going to be honest, painting the inside of this secretary was no fun.

But in the end I'm so glad I did!

It really pulled the piece together.

I hope these help you with your next project!

And thank you so much Megan for letting me be your guest today!

I am so inspired by how she puts her own spin on current trends/designs to make it her own. I am definitely going to give the Tung Oil thing a try, as how gorgeous does that desk look?! It confirms for me that not everything needs to be attacked with paint to give it a chic and modern look. So go make yourself a nice cup of tea (or wine, depending on the time of day), pull up a comfortable seat and have a read through the awesome tutorials. I'm about to do the same now that I've locked the kids in their bedroom. (Just kiddin').

Megs x

Guest Post by Katie at Creatively Living

noreply@blogger.com (Meg and Mum's) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 23:26:00 +0000

As you may know, I am taking a little break from my projects and blog, but I have some awesome guest posts lined up to knock your socks off!

This week we have Katie from Creatively Living featuring her great tutorial on her pantry-door-come-picture-frame...

Hi everyone!

My name is Katie, and I blog over at Creatively Living, where you'll find me renovating and turning what most would see as trash, into treasure.

I'm excited to be here at Meg and Mum's to show you a tutorial on how I turned my old pantry door into a long hallway picture frame.

I love this HUGE frame in my downstairs hallway. It's just one reason why you should never throw away an old door!

The picture below shows where it was when we bought the house. We took the pantry and the stair rails out and put in a breakfast nook, which you can see here.

The supplies I used to make the door a frame:

Some semi-gloss Rust-oleum paint.

Some painter's tape

Pencil

Ruler

Thin Molding

Glue

I didn't blog when I did this project, so I'll try to guide you through the steps using recent pictures.

Arrow #1.) Use your painter's tape, pencil, ruler and tape off equal areas to make a "frame" around the outside of the door. Then paint it.

Arrow #2.) Paint your thin trim and then glue it on the inside of your painted frame. Make sure you cut your corner's at 90 degree angels. Putty the corners if needed, and then give the putty some paint when it dries. I would use Liquid Nails or Gorilla Glue to attach it the trim.

I made sure to attach the door to studs in my wall, since it was HEAVY!

Now I have the perfect frame for my long basement hallway!

We have a full house, don't we?!

Thanks for having me Megan!

I hope all of you Meg and Mum readers come by and visit me sometime at Creatively Living!

--Katie

You are so very welcome Katie. Thanks so much for being my guest and showing us your beautiful family. I've decided I'm going to try this in my hallway :)

Megs x

Taking a Breather

noreply@blogger.com (Meg and Mum's) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 02:43:00 +0000

Hi everybody. I am taking a little break from my blog for a week or so due to some personal issues. But I will back on board soon, hopefully with some new projects and some exciting guest posts!

So PLEASE don't go anywhere! I just feel I need to step back for a bit and take a few breaths and focus my energy on other things.

Thanks for sticking around and I PROMISE I will be back very soon.

In the meantime, take care of you.

Megs x

Saturday Splendour No. 12

noreply@blogger.com (Meg and Mum's) — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 03:35:00 +0000

Welcome to Saturday Splendour! I'm so sorry I haven't picked any features from last week. Life has gotten in the way and I have been so busy with work I don't have time to scratch myself and unfortunately haven't had any time to visit any of your awesome blogs. (Do you ever get withdrawals when this happens?). Things should calm down next week so I will have more time.

Now on to the party. There's just a few simple rules, no biggie:

1. This link party is for furniture, furnishings and room makeovers only. If you've made it, revamped it, repurposed it or restyled it, you can link it here.
2. Please link back to your actual post, not your main blog URL.
3. Please grab my button and display it anywhere in your post, side bar or link party page. This is so others can see the party and join in. You can find this below or in my sidebar.
4. I will do a happy dance if you become a follower of my blog, that way you will remember to link up again next week!
5. If you have some time, kindly stop by and comment on some of the other links and share the love.

Next Saturday I will be featuring some of those entries.

(When entering your link you are giving me permission to use any part of your post to feature your entry.)

Thanks so much for sharing!

Megs x

Calling all Bloggers!

noreply@blogger.com (Meg and Mum's) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 22:33:00 +0000

Good morning my lovelies! I hope you've had a fabulous week. I haven't had any furniture to post about this past week as I have been working at my normal job a fair bit, and I have been helping my husband with the tiling in our lounge and dining area - FINALLY. But it's back to business today. I am putting some finishing touches on a Queen Anne tallboy, bedside tables and vanity so hopefully I will have something to show you in the next few days.

In the meantime, I would like to start featuring some guest posts every Wednesday. If you would like to be a guest on my blog, please shoot me an email and we'll "tee" it up. I look forward to hearing from you!

Enjoy the rest of your day :)

Megs x

Saturday Splendour No. 11

noreply@blogger.com (Meg and Mum's) — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 09:40:00 +0000

I know I have neglected my blog the last few days. My stepdaughter and her baby are visiting from Melbourne and we attended a relative's wedding yesterday. It's not often I get scrubbed up and put on a frock and heels. Actually, it's probably about once a year! My feet were killing me after the first half hour. Bec and I snuck out of the reception at one point to stand outside on the lawn in our bare feet - bliss ;) Here's a photo of Mr T and I tarted up for the big day...

me and the kids...

No, this isn't one of those dorky photos with everyone looking off into the distance. This from the view of a 7 yr old who was taking
our picture at the same time as my husband.

The girls insisted on changing their dresses for the reception because the first ones were "too itchy" :/

My feet were so sore this morning that Mr T laughed at me when I took my first steps after getting out of bed. He shut up after I mentioned to him that at least I don't look like I'm trying to start a motorbike when attempting to put my pants on.

Anyhoo, enough of our dressing habits. Lets get down to business with a few features from last week's party.

Look at this beautifully restored dresser from Sweet Suite 10. As much as I love having a paint brush in my hand, it's so refreshing to see something restored to it's original beauty.

I'm loving these painted floor rugs! Check out this beautiful screened porch by Flea Market Trixie. Perfect colours, and perfect view by the looks of it!

Kristi from KrisKraft has a great tutorial on how to jute her knobs!

Finally, my love for all things retro has grown two fold after seeing this gorgeous, awesome, incredible, funky, incredible (did I say that already?) dresser by The Turquoise Iris. I want it.

G'head and grab a button if you were featured!

Now on to the party! There's just a few simple rules, no biggie:

1. This link party is for furniture, furnishings and room makeovers only. If you've made it, revamped it, repurposed it or restyled it, you can link it here.
2. Please link back to your actual post, not your main blog URL.
3. Please grab my button and display it anywhere in your post, side bar or link party page. This is so others can see the party and join in. You can find this below or in my sidebar.
4. I will do a happy dance if you become a follower of my blog, that way you will remember to link up again next week!
5. If you have some time, kindly stop by and comment on some of the other links and share the love.

Next Saturday I will be featuring some of those entries.

(When entering your link you are giving me permission to use any part of your post to feature your entry. I will only feature those who are followers of my blog)

Megs x

Green Buffet

noreply@blogger.com (Meg and Mum's) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 07:24:00 +0000

I saw this photo in one of my magazines and fell in love with the bedside table.

(You'll have to forgive the quality of the picture - my scanner has died and I had to take a photo of it with my camera)

Isn't it gorgeous? As soon as I saw it I knew that I wanted to try it on this sideboard/desk I bought a couple of months ago.

Now I'm not sure if this was used as a desk or a sideboard/buffet. It seemed too narrow to be a desk, but then I couldn't understand the gap in the middle? Anyhoo, it was quite red and slightly oriental. It also bowed on the top because there was nothing underneath to give it stability. My clever husband attached some support to the bottom and it rectified itit immediately.

After studying the picture in the magazine for a good while I attacked the sideboard. This is what I came up with:

I found this gorgeous Toile fabric on sale at Spotlight.

AND this very cool hourglass from Target!

The colour I used is called Weathered Cedar and it is pretty much identical to the colour of the table in the magazine. It is also the same colour that I used on my kitchen dresser.

(No, that basket isn't usually sitting in the doorway - I just placed it there for staging the photo)

On to other news, after two years of living with a concrete floor, our family area is finally being tiled! HOORAY! Will hopefully have some photos soon.

Megs x

I party at My Repurposed Life and plenty of others! Check out my Link Parties page :)

Saturday Splendour No. 10

noreply@blogger.com (Meg and Mum's) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 07:01:00 +0000

It's that time again! Here are some awesome bits from last week:

Becca at From Gardners 2 Bergers shared this great headboard tutorial...

Fiona from Lilyfield Life showed off her lovely bird dresser. (I love those vases too!)

Now this lady does some amazing work! Check out Chrissie's French dresser over at Chrissie's Collections...

This happy entry way by Meeha Meeha literally puts a smile on my face!

G'head and grab a button if you were featured!

Next Saturday I will be featuring some of those entries.

(When entering your link you are giving me permission to use any part of your post to feature your entry. I will only feature those who are followers of my blog)

Megs x

Guest Post at "From Gardners 2 Bergers"

noreply@blogger.com (Meg and Mum's) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 23:20:00 +0000

When Becca from Gardners 2 Bergers asked me to be a guest over at her blog I happily replied "AFFIRMATIVE"! She really wanted me to provide a tutorial on how to achieve the French/Shabby look that I do, which made me realise that after all this time blogging I had never done a tutorial. The way I do things may be very different to others, but if you are interested please go and check out the tutorial on her awesome blog. It is a terrific site and she does loads of reader features.

Becca is also an extremely crafty kid who has lots of fantastic ideas on how to decorate and achieve an expensive look on a tight budget. She is truly an inspiration.

Megs x

White Wardrobe

noreply@blogger.com (Meg and Mum's) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 01:37:00 +0000

I bought this wardrobe together with a matching dresser and bedside tables from a friend who's Uncle had sadly passed away. They had a huge task ahead of them clearing out the house so I was more than happy to take these off their hands for a decent price. The handles were beautiful but unfortunately the wardrobe was missing one.

I really needed a wardrobe for one of the spare rooms. If this was really nice timber and not veneer, I would have left it as it was, but veneer is ugly - plain and simple. Initially I was going to add some colour and punch to it, but I decided after I did the first coat of white I really liked it. So after a few more coats here is how it looks now...

Some pretty glass knobs and light distressing in the middle panels to give it a bit of character...

It's pretty stark white and I might change it later down the track, but it looks perfect where it is now.

My goal is to have everything in my garage cleared out by the end of March so should have the dressing table and bedsides done very soon. I will probably go with a different colour and use them for my bedroom.

Now I have to get back out to the garage to finish some of the things I've started.

A reminder that my Saturday Splendour Party is still open if you'd like to link up your goodies!

Megs x

Saturday Splendour No. 9

noreply@blogger.com (Meg and Mum's) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 03:28:00 +0000

God give me strength. I have three extra little girls here who arrived at 11 am this morning and will be picked up tomorrow morning at 10 am. So far we have had turns on the big ass waterslide, eaten some junk food, spilt drinks everywhere, danced in the bedroom to the same song over and over again and kissed Justin Bieber. All for my little woman who turns 7 tomorrow! Where has the time gone?

My beautiful not-so-baby girl Jariah Lee :)

Therefore Saturday Splendour is running a tad late (well for my Aussie blog friends at least). Here are some features from last week's party.

The most clicked on from Creatively Living. Aside from it being bigger than my lounge room, I could seriously live in this bedroom 24/7.

How's this beauty? And all done right in my price range of twenty bucks. Check out Shabby Loco to see how she created Mr Fancy Pants. She also has an interesting tip involving hot sauce.

A very cute telephone table restyled by Stacey at Embracing Change. I love the fabric!

This buffet by Fiber and Fire has so much more character now

Thanks so much for sharing with us ladies. Go ahead and grab a button!

Next Saturday I will be featuring some of those entries.

(When entering your link you are giving me permission to use any part of your post to feature your entry. I will only feature those who are followers of my blog)

Megs x

Something stupid to fill in time

noreply@blogger.com (Meg and Mum's) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 05:35:00 +0000

Unfortunately I don't have any furniture posts this week. This is because I'm working on about six things at once with my spray gun and nothing is quite finished.

However, to pass the time until my next Saturday Splendour Party I thought I would share with you something silly. Many times I have considered introducing myself via a video clip (I love it when bloggers do this as it's great to put a face to the name). But I hate public speaking. And I hate talking into a camera. Yet I'm not opposed to making a tool of myself for some reason.

So I'm going to share with you something silly that I did the other week when my BFF was visiting from interstate. Of course we had to have a girls' night out when she was here, which is extremely rare for me. Actually, even venturing out for any event is a big headache as I'm a real homebody. But this night we were both in a crazy mood and so it only took me a couple of drinks at the pub to set me off.

Beverages + Karaoke =

There you have it, me being a goose. My apologies if I made your ears bleed. But we had so much fun! Can't wait to see my BFF again :)

Megs

Saturday Splendour No. 8

noreply@blogger.com (Meg and Mum's) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 00:11:00 +0000

Here are a few features from a couple of weeks ago:

Dumped and Discovered

I adore the turquoise colour!

Uniquely Chic

I want to try this on a desk I have sitting in the garage

Twice Lovely

Ann Marie does amazing work!

If you were featured please go ahead and grab a button!

Next Saturday I will be featuring some of those entries.

(When entering your link you are giving me permission to use any part of your post to feature your entry. I will only feature those who are followers of my blog)

Megs x

Green Side Table

noreply@blogger.com (Meg and Mum's) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 08:49:00 +0000

Actually the official colour is "Peat" and I've finally finished after it being put aside while I had my BFF here and then my little trip over to Melbourne.

Here's the before:

It was topless when it came to me, but Mr T made a new top for it with his nifty router. Here it is now:

I repainted the hardware and used it again. They are quite pretty and there was nothing wrong with them.

Of course I had to line the inside with fabric...

Lucky for all of you I'm not one of those morons who take photos of reflective items in the nude and then post them on the web to sell (i.e. the lamp). Have you ever seen those? They obviously didn't look very closely. Yuck.

Anyway, I received so much interest in my blue side table I decided to do one similar so I'm hoping this baby will sell pretty quickly. Next on the agenda is a sideboard. I have to try and stick to my goal of completely clearing out the garage by end of March. Hmm... can't see it happening, especially not in this heat!

Happy Australia Day for tomorrow to all my fellow Aussie bloggers out there! I can already smell the sausages on the barbie! I think we might do the beach thing and then a barbie at home with a couple of beers. I hope you have a great day whatever you're doing.

Megs x

MIA

noreply@blogger.com (Meg and Mum's) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 08:53:00 +0000

Hi there everyone. I realise I have been missing in action for a little while but I have my BFF here visiting from Darwin so I have been spending every second with her. There will be no Saturday Splendour Party this Saturday as I am leaving to go to Melbourne for a few days to spend some time with my stepkiddies. But it will be back to business as usual as of next Wednesday when hopefully I will have some photos for you of a side table I have just finished.

Take care and see you soon!

Megs x

Saturday Splendour No. 7

noreply@blogger.com (Meg and Mum's) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 02:33:00 +0000

Good evening everyone! Yes, I'm a bit late I know. I've been a bit ~~lazy~~ busy and totally forgot about my own party. I think the school holidays are getting to me. Only three weeks to go - hooray!

Here a few standouts from last weeks' party:

Firstly lets start with this stunning piece of artwork from Karin at Art is Beauty. A dear friend of hers lost his brother tragically to suicide the other week. She painted this masterpiece to donate to an auction held by a suicide awareness organisation - something very close to my own heart.

Cassie from over at Primitive and Proper got totally crafty with a spare closet! Everyone needs a Cassie - well I do anyway.

Look at this little cutie pie from Rita at Curbside Creations. I'm crazy about this colour!

If you were featured please go ahead and grab a button!

Now on to the party! There's just a few simple rules, no biggie:

1. This link party is for furniture, furnishings and room makeovers only. If you've made it, revamped it, repurposed it or restyled it, you can link it here.
2. Please link back to your actual post, not your main blog URL.
3. Please grab my button and display it anywhere in your post, side bar or link party page. This is so others can see the party and join in. You can find this below or in my sidebar.
4. I will do a happy dance if you become a follower of my blog. I will only feature those who follow.
5. If you have some time, kindly stop by and comment on some of the other links and share the love.

Next Saturday I will be featuring some of those entries.

(When entering your link you are giving me permission to use any part of your post to feature your entry. I will only feature those who are followers of my blog)

Now, bring it on :)

Megs x

A Recap

noreply@blogger.com (Meg and Mum's) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 12:13:00 +0000

Seeing as I hosted a Greatest Hits of 2011 linky party, I thought I would show you some of mine.

Storage Bench

Grey Hall Table

Telephone Table

Chaise Lounge with storage

White Cabinet

Blue Side Table

White Dining Table and Chairs

Glass Cabinet

Bed End

Kitchen Dresser

Mint Green Dining Table & Chairs

You've probably noticed that most of the photos are taken in the same spot. That is because the rest of my living areas have concrete floor still waiting to be tiled and it looks terrible. I'm sick of it. Fingers crossed in the next few weeks it will be happening!

I've been blogging for about 15 months now and looking back at my previous posts and photos I can't believe how much I've done, and more importantly how I have improved. I'm learning so much as I go. I would like to thank my husband Mr T for providing me with a bloody awesome spray gun!

When I started blogging my first thought was that I needed to keep up with all those other fantastic bloggers out there - their beautiful furniture, the articulate and humorous way they wrote and not to mention the professional looking photography. I also believed that I should stick to the one style of furniture. But I very quickly talked myself into staying true to myself and create whatever was manifesting in my brain at the time. I have never been a slave to fashion in any way, so why should I start now (and at the end of the day, it really just comes down to one's perception of it doesn't it?). I'm not saying everyone is, and don't get me wrong I LOVE doing the French/shabby stuff. I think it's really beautiful and the process of creating it is quite rewarding. However my home doesn't really lend itself to that style, and to be honest I don't think I could look at a house full of it every day. I get bored too quickly. I like some in yer face colour and boldness and I have always had a love of quirky, retro and interesting pieces as well. Do you ever walk into a room and see something and think "far out brussel sprout!"? You don't know if you love it or hate it, but it definitely grabbed your attention and made you think. THOSE things are really my cup of tea. I'm amazed at how artistic some people can be with their creations. It's so personal and honest - and so them! In saying that, I also think the soft lovely rustic look can also really depict one's character and personality and I still get excited when I see that kind of art on your blogs. I'm just sayin' I like a bit of everything :)

I feel I've really "blossomed" over the last twelve months. As well as being practical, I have always been quite a creative girl. I love to sing and used to perform in an awesome 9 piece band for a few years before I had my kidlets. I truly believed this to be my passion until my babies came along and it all changed. I also liked to paint but I hardly ever developed an idea of my own or drew inspiration from something. More often then not I had to "copy" something and maybe change it around a bit to make it my own.

Much to my surprise and delight, when I now see some lonely, crusty, busted up, unloved piece of furniture sitting by the side of the road I can look at it and know immediately what can be done with it. The mental picture forms instantly. There are times when I look at something totally random and out of nowhere I will get an idea for that old dresser sitting in my garage.

I hope to be blogging for a long time yet. Occasionally I like to zone out of the blogging and project thing for a couple of weeks - hey we all need a break. But I know that when I come back you will all have something to show me that will leave me absolutely gobsmacked and inspire me no end.

Anyway, I know this is beginning to look like an essay so I'll conclude by saying just how much I truly dig what you ladies do (I say this because I don't have any male followers). I have made some awesome online friendships and you are all incredibly amazing. I'm so excited to see what you have in store for us in 2012.

Happy New Year my bloggy friends and remember to always stay true to who you are and don't let other people's opinions stain your heart or mind :)

Megs x

Saturday Splendour No. 6

noreply@blogger.com (Meg and Mum's) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 09:00:00 +0000

Well what a week! I am so overwhelmed at all the amazing comments I have received on my post about my kitchen dresser and I'd like to thank you for all your support and encouragement since I began this old blog of mine 15 months ago. Each time you leave a comment it gives me a big kick up the bum to keep going. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Now I am going to show you some features from last weeks Greatest Hits of 2011 party. Out of the 45 entries, most of them showcased all your favourite projects of 2011 so it took me a while to get through - and I loved every minute of it!

Andrea from Decorating Cents received the most clicks for her room makeovers. I love the colours she used, especially the prints:

Next is from Kirb Appeal. Check out clever-Canada-lovin' Kirby's dresser! (Love the blog name by the way)...

This chest of drawers and mirror from 4 the Love of Wood is stunning:

Kelli from The Turquoise Piano showed us her... well, her turquoise piano as well as some other amazing things. What a knockout!

Sam from The Junk House did an an awesome job with her guest bathroom. How classy does this look now?

If you were featured feel free to grab my button below or from my sidebar :)

Thanks to everyone who linked up!

There's just a few simple rules, no biggie:

1. This link party is for furniture, furnishings and room makeovers only. If you've made it, revamped it, repurposed it or restyled it, you can link it here.
2. Please link back to your actual post, not your main blog URL.
3. Please grab my button and display it anywhere in your post, side bar or link party page. This is so others can see the party and join in. You can find this below or in my sidebar.
4. I will do a happy dance if you become a follower of my blog. I will only feature those who follow.
5. If you are able, kindly stop by and comment on some of the other links and share the love. You never know, you might be missing something truly spectacular!

Next Saturday I will be featuring some of those entries.

(When entering your link you are giving me permission to use any part of your post to feature your entry. I will only feature those who are followers of my blog)

Let's rock n' roll!

Megs x

A Roadside Revival

noreply@blogger.com (Meg and Mum's) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:54:00 +0000

Some of you may remember my post a while back of my roadside finds. Mr T picked up this table for me from a few streets over:

What a lovely orange colour - not. It had a few light scratches on the top, was dirty and grimy and had obviously been attacked by some little critter, but otherwise in fantastic condition.

I had these chairs sitting in the garage for ages that I scored at the auctions for about $2 each. I actually have six of them, but only needed the four for this project. Two of them have a flat top and the other two have the curves. I liked this idea of having them a bit different - adds a bit of character.

The colour I wanted to use for this project was a light mint green and whaddya know, Mr T had a ginormous tin of it sitting in his work van. Have I mentioned before how handy it is to have a painter as a husband?

I started by spraying the bottom of the table and the chairs (after sanding of course)...

Taped up and ready to turn over for undercoating the bottom

I always wait until I do the first undercoat to see where there are scratches, dents or holes that need filling. I find it much easier to pick out the flaws after a coat of paint. Although this bite mark was pretty obvious!

In the meantime, for some reason Mr T felt compelled to take a photo of me in my finest attire :(

I know you're overwhelmed by my attractiveness. I try my best.

I really wanted to stain the top but I was scared that I might have to strip it (which I haven't done before), but to my delight when I started sanding I discovered that the only layer on top was a varnish. Woo-hoo! So I went hell for leather with 60 grit sandpaper and it came out beautiful and raw.

Sore arms but this was the result. Beautiful eh?

I then applied Ash Brown stain to the top and about four coats of Minwax Wipe-On Poly. Firstly, I lather the top with the poly and rub it in, leave it for five minutes and then come back and wipe the excess off. After that's dry, I do the same process again. When it's dry I give it a very light sand with 600 grit, clean the top and then saturate it again. This time I use the 600 grit and lightly sand the poly into the grain, then wipe off the excess. It comes out unbelievably smooth and shiny! Everybody does it different, but this works for me.

After distressing the bottom of the table and the chairs, I applied an English Walnut stain over the top and wiped off. Here is the table before and after:

I found the perfect fabric at Spotlight. I cut out some new seats for the chairs as they didn't come with any. I cut the foam and stapled on the fabric. The colouring goes so well together I think.

Slight scratch on the edge that I couldn't get rid of.

I think it looks very French country.

I finished this on New Years Eve and it sold last night! Even better, the lady who wanted to purchase it sent her parents around to inspect it and to make an offer on her behalf. As he was rubbing down the chairs and the table top and inspecting every inch, I told him that I always put a lot of love into my work. He said that he used to restore furniture for a living and he also did the same Shabby French finishes, but that he was now retired. He then he went on to say that he could tell I put a lot of love and time into it because it was top quality workmanship! So you can imagine how proud and happy I was to get such wonderful feedback from an old pro. :D

I have a goal to finish all the things in my garage by mid March. This has inspired me even more and has given me the kick up the bum that I think I needed.

Megan x

Saturday Splendour No. 5 - Greatest Hits of 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Meg and Mum's) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 17:21:00 +0000

I've recovered from the Christmas chaos and am now ready to get back into partying with you all! This week I would love to see all your "greatest hits" from 2011! Link up as many furniture/room makeover projects as you'd like, don't be shy. We want to ~~copy~~ see them all!

Next Saturday I will be featuring some of those entries.

(When entering your link you are giving me permission to use any part of your post to feature your entry. I will only feature those who are followers of my blog)

I'm going to have a great time checking them all out. Thanks for sharing!

I hope you all have a fantastic New Years. Remember if you've got the fireworks out to keep your pets inside safe and sound! My priority will be trying to stay awake until midnight.

Megan x

The Stinky Kitchen Dresser Reveal!

noreply@blogger.com (Meg and Mum's) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 11:38:00 +0000

Mr T and I are as proud as punch over this latest project! I say Mr T because he basically tried to take it over from me. He's got the bug now. Problem is I have to tell him to stop picking up crap from the side of the road because my garage is becoming so stuffed I have nowhere to work!

As I mentioned in a previous post, we bought a very old (1930s to 40s) kitchen dresser for $50 from a guy who had it sitting in his garage for many years with the intention of restoring it. It ended up just being used as storage for tools etc I think. Here's a reminder of what it looked like:

Nice eh? I ripped off all the mismatched contact and then took my heat gun to the exterior. I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly I was able to scrape the paint off. I didn't even need to unscrew most of the hinges as they just ripped out. I gave it a good sand and then Mr T took over with the painting. The bones were great, but we had to replace the side panels as they were quite warped. We also put a new backing on just for some freshening up. Mr T also made a whole new drawer with the new router I bought him for his birthday! Clever kid. I scored a big piece of glass for $5 which Mr T cut with my glass cutter for the top doors, and I bought new hinges and hardware. Here she is now...

How's this for a bit of a 'Australiana'? I purchased this fabulous fabric on eBay and was lucky to get the last batch. It shows old labels of all of Australia's favourite products going back to the 1930s! I love it! And of course as soon as I saw the Vegemite I just had to have it.

I scored these vintage kitchen canisters from my favourite collectibles shop up the road for $12 a while ago. They go perfectly with my new kitchen dresser.

We installed these little LED lights just for a bit of somethin' somethin' :)

Aaah, it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. This dresser takes me back to when I was a wee young lass sitting with my cousin in my Nanna's kitchen chatting and playing while she cooked.

We have been renovating our home for the past six years. It's almost finished, but the kitchen remains as is unfortunately as our budget just couldn't go that far. (One of these days I might be brave enough to show you). It's tiny and 1980s ugly. We currently use a tall Ikea wardrobe as our pantry! It's black and hideous. NOW we can use our beautiful kitchen dresser which is 100% much more attractive.

My apologies for the overkill on photos, but I'm just so chuffed with this baby.

I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas!

Me and Mr T x

Merry Christmas to All!

noreply@blogger.com (Meg and Mum's) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 00:54:00 +0000

I expect most of you have been running around like headless chickens as I have I this past week. So no Saturday Splendour Party today I'm afraid. I have waaaay too much to do. Lucky for me I woke up at 5.00 am this morning and had all my Christmas food shopping done by 6.30 am! Yes, I'm a freak, but I hate crowds. All this while still feeling the effects of my work Christmas Party on Thursday. It's the one day of the year when I let my hair down and it's never pretty the day after. And that my friends is enough to put me off drinking for a full year. I just don't know how those young 'uns do it. It was a fabulous day though. I provide the entertainment every year by singing a song. Don't panic, I don't make a tool of myself. I can actually sing and sang in a great band for a few years before I had my kidlets. Basically I just rip off popular songs and change the words and it's open season on EVERYONE! Mwoooahahah... This year it was "I Need a Dollar" by Aloe Blaac. Oh some lawyers are just so easy to make fun of! But they love it and look forward to it every year. I am lucky to work with such an awesome bunch of people.

I have a few projects on the go at the moment but am waiting for the the busy Christmas rush etc to be over before I get on with things. I am hopeful to have something to show you in the next week or so.

So this is a short and sweet message to wish you and yours a very Happy and Safe Christmas wherever you are. It's a bloody scorcher here at the moment so I will be lathering myself with 30+ and drinkings buckets of water! I'm not the only one who's hot obviously - I just saw a guy running down the street in his undies. Yep, all normal here.

Stay safe.

Megs x

Saturday Splendour No. 4

noreply@blogger.com (Meg and Mum's) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 21:55:00 +0000

G'day everyone! I hope you've all had a fabulous week. Aside from feeling under the weather I have had a great week. But all that might change next Monday when school holidays start - for seven weeks! I'm going to be tearing my hair out after week three! So yep, next photo you see of me I will be completely bald.

Before we begin with the features, I have received a couple of emails from people saying that they accidentally linked up their Christmas crafty projects before realising that it was for furniture and room makeovers, however they were unable to delete them. I am by no means a Christmas Scrooge and would never delete them, and if it generates more traffic for them, all the better! But I just wanted to mention that I will only feature people who follow my blog and who link up furniture and room makeovers only. So please feel free to share your craft projects - I won't delete them! :)

Lets start with this chair which is far from being boring as bats**t! Kammy from Kammy's Korner turned this curbside-find-smelly-bat-poo chair into something modern and funky...

Check out this beauty from SugarScout. They took this old ho hum bench and added a bit of new to the old with this gorgeous fabric and then stained the timber. I think it's stunning and would look great in my house!

This cabinet makes me smile and feel warm and fuzzy like sunshine :) You must check out Lily Field Furniture. I'm totally diggin' the flower knobs!

Finally, Cassie from Primitive & Proper revamped this old footstool for her little girl by using drop cloth and painted the French linen stripe down the middle. I hadn't tried this yet but I have now talked myself into doing it to some dining chairs I'm recovering.

If you were featured, please grab my button below or from my sidebar! :)

Now on to the party!

Next Saturday I will be featuring some of those entries.

(When entering your link you are giving me permission to use any part of your post to feature your entry. I will only feature those who are followers of my blog)

Thanks for sharing!

Megan x

The Gall!

noreply@blogger.com (Meg and Mum's) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 08:12:00 +0000

I thought I'd give you a peek into what I'm up to at the moment. We bought this old kitchen dresser a while back. The guy we bought it from had it sitting in the shed for... well forever by the looks of it. His intention was to restore it but he never got around to it, or he couldn't be bothered. (I think his wife was telling him to get rid of it to be honest).

I think it's from the 1950s. And it smelt like it. So far I've managed to scrape all the paint off completely with the help of the heat gun. Couldn't live without that thing I tell ya, it's brilliant. We've repainted it and bought some new hinges. Now to put the glass in the top cupboards and give it a tidy up. However, Mr T has now taken over and claimed it as his baby. After him bitching and moaning (only a little bit) about me collecting stuff, he's got the bug and there's no stopping him. Soon he'll have a blog of his own! Or maybe I should change my blog name to "Me and Mr T"?

We hope to have some photos of the finished product by the end of next week.

To tell you the truth I'm glad he's taken over. I have been quite sick for the last month, not having any idea what it was. I hardly ever get sick so after all this time I finally took myself off to the doc yesterday and he's pretty sure its my gall bladder. Yuck. Aside from pain and discomfort, I feel hungover, fatigued and am constantly on the verge of being sick. So ultrasound and blood test tomorrow. Great timing eh? No pig out for me on Christmas Day. Waaaaaaaaahhhhh, sob :(

Anyway, I don't mean to bore you with my tales of woe. I've had enough of it that's for sure.

However, what I would like to do is thank these lovely ladies for featuring me over the past few days...

for featuring my daughters' Bedroom Makeover

for featuring my Drinks Cabinet

and for featuring my Black and Pink Dresser

I hope you all have a FABULOUS week! My Saturday Splendour Party is still open until Thursday night if you want to link up :)

Megs x

A Lazy Susan and Another Feature!

noreply@blogger.com (Meg and Mum's) — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 20:47:00 +0000

Before I begin, just a reminder that my Saturday Splendour Party is still open, so come link up your projects!

My Mum Chris was in the mood for another small project so she decided to attack her lazy Susan. No, she didn't attack a woman called Susan who happened to be vegging out on her couch eating a bag of chips. That would just be mean. The lazy Susan I am referring to is one of those round thingies that spin around on your dining table that you put your salt and pepper shakers and the like on. Or you can put it on the floor and sit on it for a bit of a laugh. Whatever. Alls I know is that if I sat on it you wouldn't see the lazy Susan :(

Anyway, her inspiration for the design came from - wait for it - her mouse pad! When she showed me I told her that it would be a fabulous idea.

This is the mouse pad:

Mosaic version:

Gorgeous right? The only problem I have with this is that the photos don't do these things justice. Because the tiles are glass, the photos don't quite capture the true colours, which is a real shame. The stems of the flower are like a deep purple, kind of like amethyst.

I have nicknamed it Sooz the Stunner.

I also want to give another shout-out to Roadkill Rescue for again featuring me. My blue side table was the star this time. I you haven't checked out their website, you're missing out!

Megs x