Moved to: www.restorationredoux.com

Moving ...

2012-09-23T13:00:00.000-05:00

I just want to thank everyone who has been following me for all of your support!!! I had no idea people would actually be interested in my chaotic life and the crazy stuff that's in my head.

I am moving the blog to restorationredoux.com. The site became available and it's just easier for people to remember. It works the same at the new website as it does at blogspot. Just go to the link provided and there is the same subscribe box on the right side and you will be linked in daily.

There are links at the bottom of each post for you to share through Pinterest or Facebook if you want to share with any of your friends.

Thank you to all of you for going on this journey with me. I appreciate you all!!!

List of things not to do today....

2012-09-22T18:14:00.002-05:00

When you have 4 pets, DO NOT walk into the hall in the morning with out looking. You could step in cat vomit (disgusting!) or worse.
DO NOT forget that you have a dentist appointment.
DO NOT drop a heavy sander on your toes. (Feels like it's broken, it's probably not, but it feels like it).
DO NOT move a heavy dining table while trying to pull a rug out from underneath it by yourself, just because you were too excited about your new rug that came today and you couldn't be patient enough to wait until your husband came home. It's really pretty though. (First animal that produces some kind of bodily fluid on it will die (not really, but I will be super mad)).
Most of all, DO NOT be around a crabby teenage daughter if she had a bad day. (Even though you stopped what you were doing to pick her up and went and got her a smoothie, she was still crabby and somehow her bad day was somehow my fault)

Wanna see the new rug?

Yay! Now I got a great old table with fantastic carved legs off craigslist a while back. Someday I am going to make it the same blue that's in the rug. That is after I get finished with the commissioned headboard, footboard and bookshelf, the half table and mirror for my sister-in-law, the two gold end tables. the green end table, and the blue magazine rack/table. Should take me no time at all ... lol! At least it's a nice day out.

If your going to be sanding a footboard it's good if you're not roasting.

Well, hope everyone has a great weekend! You know what I'll be doing!

What I'm Working On...

2012-09-20T17:04:00.000-05:00

This site has moved to: http://www.restorationredoux.com

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed these days. I'm working on five different projects right now and am about to start on two new big ones.

I also have to help my daughter find her whole homecoming ensemble (hair, tan, shoes, jewels, etc). On occasions like this it would have been much easier to have a boy (well actually on lots of occasions it would have been easier to have a boy but that's for another day). I'm also taking care of my mom's dogs every day, as well as my neighbor's pooch. I don't mind though, as you all know I love me some pups!

Here are some of my half finished projects: two very gold end tables/nightstands. I know these are crazy bright but once they are glazed they will be toned down. The doors have all this great carving on them which will really stand out once the glaze settles in there.

Here is a neat little magazine rack/table. My next step is to distress it. It has ivory paint underneath so it will peek out once it's distressed. It also needs glazed too.

I'm doing this pretty little half table with mirror to go over for my sister-in-law. It again needs glazed and distressed. The pretty carving will really stand out once that is finished.

A little green end table. I just started distressing it -- and it needs glazing too. I better make a big batch of glaze!

One of my clients who bought a cute little turquoise telephone table from me, called me up with a DIY emergency.

She bought a headboard and footboard off of craigslist and decided to try redoing it herself. Well, long story short it didn't end well. So she brought it to my house last night, and I am going to revive it. I'm going to paint it ivory and do my thing on it. Don't worry Aubree it will be super cute!

She also brought me this darling bookshelf. I think we decided on making this one ivory also and maybe doing some turquoise wallpaper or fabric in the back of the shelves.

Well, now that I've just thought about what all I have to do, I guess I better go and get painting!

PS. I finished a super cute turquoise tv console/dresser that I will show you tomorrow!

Lulu's Story

2012-09-18T12:42:00.000-05:00

If you read my earlier post about my first dog Gracie, you know that I am absolutely in love with my pup. She is such an amazing dog. The only problem we had was separation anxiety (on both our parts). She was (is) super clingy to me. If we would leave you could hear her through the door crying.

So at this point in our lives, we had one dog and two cats which my hubby thought was more than enough. I didn't.

I knew Gracie needed a friend. I also knew this time I didn't want to go through a breeder. I wanted to rescue a dog that needed a home, so I looked on petfinder.com. It's a great site. You can type in what breed you want, what gender, what age and how far you're willing to travel to find one.

Being allergic to dogs I have to have a hypoallergenic breed which limits things. I liked bichons and thought they were beautiful, so I found a rescue in Kansas City who had a litter of bichon puppies. I (kind of) discussed it with the hubby and he needed some convincing, but he didn't say a flat out no -- so I filled out the forms and emailed it in to see if we qualified.

A woman from the rescue called me the next day saying this litter came from a puppy mill and would be ready to go by the weekend. GREAT! Only problem was you had to commit to the dog, sight unseen. Well, what if we got up there and didn't bond with the dog? What if she hated me? Then what? My husband would kill me if we drove 3 hours to get this dog, and we didn't even want it.

The rescue was bringing several animals to a Petsmart that weekend to try to get them adopted and said we could pick up our pup there.

Here was my plan, we could go in and just act like we were random people, look at the dog and if we didn't want it we would just walk back out.

Once inside, we saw the little munchkin. She was so tiny! We asked to hold her and she was so still and quiet and just snuggled up in my arms. At that point we told the woman who we were and that we wanted her.

Now bichons are usually white little fluff balls, but at the puppy mill they just had dog cages stacked on top of each other, and one dogs waste would just leak down to the cages below (sorry, not a pretty visual). So when they found all the dogs there they were literally yellow, so they had to shave them all down. So she wasn't quite as fluffy as I expected but that was fine it would grow back.

We put her in the kennel we brought and headed back home. The whole 3 hours in the car there was not one peep from this puppy. I kept looking in the kennel to make sure she was still breathing. She was terrified.

It turns out, for the first 3 months of her life she never stepped foot outside her cage. That is the crucial time where puppies learn to bond with people and their litter mates. She did neither. So when we got her home she crawled straight under the couch. It took so much coaxing to get her to come out. If my husband came near her, back under she would go. It was really hard for him.

Once they had rescued Lulu (which is her name) from the mill they put her right in a foster home. The only problem was that the foster home had 4 small children that were constantly chasing her and pulling on her. So going from zero interaction with people, to the other extreme, she sort of had a nervous breakdown.

We have had Lulu for 5 years now. It took 2 years before she would come on her own and sit in my husband's lap. Even now if we move too quickly around her, she will dive for cover. If anyone other than my mom comes to visit, she will race back under the couch.

It makes me sad that her terrible beginning in life will affect her forever. I think for the most part she is a very happy dog. She loves us, and she follows Gracie everywhere.

Gracie is definitely the Alpha and Lulu is fine with that. I can't imagine what her life would be like if she was adopted my anyone but us. Not everyone would be as patient and understanding with her as we are. I guess that's why God brought us together. She has enriched our lives and we couldn't imagine life without her.

Speaking of family, this green dresser almost became part of mine.

I really fell in love with this one. I got it off craigslist for $25! It's from around 1910-1920.

Now it looked pretty horrible when we picked it up. It was also very heavy. But it has great lines. The top two drawers stick out further than the bottom two (intentionally). It had fantastic hardware on the bottom two drawers, but the knobs on top were missing. I found 4 different, really cool, vintage knobs that give it character.

I used Sherwin Williams paint in Paradise as the base for my chalk paint, distressed it, glazed it with brown glaze and waxed it.

It has been sitting in my dining room for a few weeks, I'm having a hard time parting with it. If I had a speck of green anywhere in my house this baby would be mine.

I'm putting her on craigslist tomorrow and I'm asking $150 for it.

Look what I got!

2012-09-15T21:28:00.000-05:00

I wasn't going to go to garage sales this morning. I told myself, "I'm was too exhausted".

I checked the ads last night and there weren't many out there. Good, case closed.

So when my daughter's alarm went off at six o'clock, why did I check the craigslist ads? Simply put, because garage sales are addictive. If you don't go, you lie in bed wondering what you missed, so you might as well get up anyway.

Well I'm glad I did because I found some goodies. I was the first person at a sale, and I got all of the good stuff! (If I'm not one of the first people at a sale they usually aren't worth it to me.)

I'm pretty particular about what I buy. I'm there for antiques and vintage furniture, and those things go quickly unless they are way over priced.

I scooped up a great old end table,

a fantastic vintage mirror,

a vintage picture frame (not sure if I'm going to paint this one or not, I kind of like it the way it is),

an old scooter (to stage my furniture pieces with)

a cool old metal container,

an old wire basket and vintage skates to stage with,

some old books to decorate with,

an old rocking chair,

and a stool.

The woman who ran the sale was super nice and very chatty. We started talking about my furniture business and my love of vintage things.

Three days ago I was telling my mom how I hate the way my mantle was decorated, and I wish that I could find a great antique mirror. Fast forward to today, the woman who ran the sale asked if I would be interested in a big, old mirror.

Of course! It was fate! She took me inside, and showed me the most fantastically ornate and GINORMOUS mirror! She told me she paid $700 for it at an antique store.

Seeing how much she paid for it made my heart sink. If she paid that much I knew she would still want a pretty penny for it.

I asked her what she wanted for it and she said "I don't know, what about fifty?" My heart started pounding ... did she she say fifty or did I miss the 2 or 3 in front of that?

So I repeated fifty? She said "would that be okay?" Let me think about this.. YES!!! I can't believe she only wanted $50 for this mirror!

Then she mentioned it was incredibly heavy. Now heavy is never a word my husband wants to hear. But I called him up anyway. He met me there, and I told him I bought a giant mirror. (Keep in mind this is already after he looked in my SUV and saw it completely packed.)

How giant, he asked? Pretty big I said.

Again he asked how big? So I took him in to see it. Holy Mary of God! he said. Yep I said it's pretty big.

Now I'm 5'7 and it comes up to my shoulder. It's big. Husband's don't seem to care what an amazing deal you got. All they seem to hear is that you spent money, that he's got to fit it in his car, and that it's heavy. Oh, and then there's hanging it up once we get it home.

Fun sucker.

Here she is (pay no attention to the shlubby dressed person in the reflection):

To some people these pieces probably look like junk, but I see potential. I love taking something that looks like it's meant for the trash and repurposing it, giving it new life. It's my part in recycling. Furniture, made in the 20's through the 70's, was just made better.

Just because a table has a few scratches on it, it doesn't mean it's ready for the dumpster. I think my pieces have been selling so well because people like things in their home that have character and a story behind them.

At least that's what I like.

Anyway, I'm super happy I got up this morning. I got some amazing deals and unique pieces. I'll keep you posted on how I transform them.

Have a great weekend!

Gracie's Story

2012-09-12T21:50:00.002-05:00

I wasn't always a dog lover. Anyone who knows me now will find that hard to believe. Growing up, all we had was a cat. Now I didn't dislike dogs, I just didn't like walking into someone's home and being jumped on, having my legs clawed up and getting showered in slobber. Plus there's the fact that I'm allergic to them.

When I married my husband he wanted a dog. I told him no way. I had lots of excuses: my allergies, the jumping, not enough room, the slobber. So for years we just had cats.

Back when I was working, one weekend we were setting up a booth at the Wichita Women's Fair. It just happened to be a weekend there was a massive blizzard. My dear hubby was helping trek loads of clothes from my store to this convention in 2 foot drifts.

It was absolutely miserable.

After it was over and we thawed out, I told him the next day we could do whatever he wanted. And of course, he wanted to go look at puppies. Ugh! But how could I say no after what he just helped me do.

So I said "Fine, but we are just looking". It seemed he had done some research and found out which dogs were hypo-allergenic, so that is what he took me to see. We went to the breeder's house the next day, and the room he brought us in was wall-to-wall puppies. One adorable face after another. Maltese, shi tzus, malti-poos, bichon-poos. Lots of fuzzy little babies. Of course the breeder sticks them right in our arms and my defenses are weakening. I'm actually thinking about taking one home. This is not at all what I was planning.

My daughter found this little apricot bichon-poo, and she fell instantly in love. It was crawling all over her, and my hubby. It was hopping all over the floor. My husband is pleading his case: we just bought a new house with a big yard; it's good for kids to have a dog; I have always had cats so why couldn't he have a dog. Dang it!

So next thing I know, we are dog owners. How did this happen? I didn't want a dog.

We went out and spent a fortune on dog supplies. That night we stuck her in her kennel and went to bed. Ten minutes later all hell broke loose. Gracie (that's what we named her) was screaming bloody murder. I jump up thinking she must have ripped off her arm ... or worse.

In a panic, I pull the blanket off the kennel, and there she sits, wagging her cute little tail. What was that? She's not bleeding, her paw isn't caught in the kennel door.

Then my hubby informs me that they just do this the first week or so because they don't like being separated from their litter mates or you. Are you kidding me? He failed to mention this when he was pleading his case.

So needless to say we got ZERO sleep for three days. After that she was fine. Thank God!

Well Gracie started out as all of ours but she has turned out to be mine. She follows me everywhere. I can't even go to the bathroom by myself! She is such a great dog though. Yes, she hates all other dogs but she loves all people.

She is now seven years old and if anything ever happened to her you would have to lock me away forever.

Now looking back I would never again get a dog from a breeder. Back then I didn't know any better. I now volunteer at my local humane society, and there are so many dogs there that need homes, why would you intentionally bring anymore into the world?

So needless to say I am now a converted dog lover. I think until you have your own dog, you can't truly understand how fantastic dogs can be. The unconditional love they give you can change your life. Someday I will have to go over some of the crazy stories about my dogs.

Getting back to business, this old table came from a yard sale a dirty brown.

I painted it a pretty coral, distressed it, and was ready to glaze it. I stuck the little drawer back in and this is what I saw.

Hmmm...didn't think about the sides showing. So it took me another day to put 2 coats on the sides then glazed and waxed.

Turned out pretty cute. It's for sale now for $45.

Garage sale grief

2012-09-11T19:20:00.001-05:00

Last Thursday through Saturday, I had a garage sale. It's a lot more fun going to them then it is having them.

First of all, in Kansas you never know when to have a sale. Is it going to be freezing in in May? Or will you roast in September?

I, it turns out, roasted on Thursday, endured torrential rain on Friday, and then had a pretty day Saturday. I must say I'm pretty proud of myself for setting up and running the sale while my hubby was out of town.

I did encounter some odd ducks during the sale though. There was the man that made me hold his one-eyed chihuahua while he shopped; there was the guy who I'm pretty sure was buying my mom's clothes for himself; there was a woman who had been shopping for 4 or 5 minutes and turned to speak to me and smoke came out her nostrils even though she wasn't smoking; and of course all of the people who let their kids run completely wild in my garage.

Garage sale money is that hardest money you will ever make.

Last g-sale I had, a woman bought a ton of my daughter's clothes. It took me awhile to total her up but I went over the numbers 3 times and my husband went over it twice also to make sure it was right. I even let the woman look at it and she seemed satisfied. She left with tons of stuff she got for a steal.

Three hours later she came back and said we over charged her by $15. How would she know this since we removed the tags as we totaled her up?

Anyway, we took out the sheet we totaled her up with and tried to show her. She then got right in my face and literally screamed "I AM NOT A LIAR!!!".

What the heck is her deal? Who does that? Now I have had a lot of garage sales throughout the years, but never have I had anyone scream in my face. Then she turned and ran to her car. Wow.

So fast forward to this sale, and guess who my first customer was? Just guess? Yep, the insane screaming woman. So naturally I'm really nervous when she walks up to my house. She starts shopping, and I'm bracing myself to duck and looking around for something to use as a weapon if it came down to it.

She acted sweet as could be though, like she never saw me before, like she had never scared the bejeebies out of me. I held my breath the whole time. Then she left and I counted my blessings. Why would she come back to my house after she thought we had screwed her over before? Or does she do this type of thing so often she just didn't remember.

Now I know there are a lot of nutty people anywhere you go, but I feel like I met more than my share the last three days. I did get rid of a bunch of stuff and made some decent money in the process. It did, slow me down on my furniture projects though.

Tomorrow I have a TV console to distress and glaze, a side table to glaze, and two end tables to finish painting. I will get you some new photos on those ASAP.

I found this two tiered table from the 60's laying on the curb for trash pick up. Super excited, I loaded it up in the back of my car (my daughter would die if she knew I did that!)

I roughed it up a bit, used a really bright turquoise on it, distressed, glazed and waxed it. Good as new, actually better!

I took this table that was somebody's trash and turned into a nice lady's treasure (who probably has never once screamed at a garage sale hostess).

Please remember to vote for my sucky basement!!!

2012-09-08T18:53:00.003-05:00

Ok guys, I really need your votes for the next five days (until 9/14).

I entered the contest below for a chance for Mandi, the owner of Vintage Revivals, to come make over my boring beige basement.

All you need to do is click on the banner below. Once there, scroll to the bottom where you will see all 140 entries.

I am number 125.

You will see my name and right below it, it will say vote. Click that and you're done. Easy peasy.

If you want to see what I entered just click on my name. I'm warning you, it's not pretty.

You can vote once a day for the next 5 days. The top four with the most votes are then guaranteed a spot in the top 10. The other 6 are chosen by Mandi herself. Thank you to any of you who are voting and to everyone who is being so supportive about this blog in general. I promise it will get better as I go along!

Have a great weekend!!
Shanna

Time marches on....right across your face

2012-09-07T19:16:00.001-05:00

I'm starting to look old.

Maybe I'm not starting to, maybe I have been and no one has told me. Because really, who's going to tell you? Not your friends because they want to remain your friend. Not your coworkers because they have to continue working with you. Definitely not your husband because even said lovingly it's a sure fire way to be in the dog house for a long time.

I know I'm vain to even be talking about this but things are definitely going down hill fast. I'm hollowing out under my eyes, I'm getting marionette lines around my mouth, little crows feet around my eyes, my lips seem to be disappearing and my skin just looks dull. What the heck?

I used to be able to run errands without putting on makeup and knowing I didn't look great but not too bad. Now those days are gone. Now when I pass by a mirror bare faced I scare myself. Who is this exhausted looking woman looking back at me? I try buying the newest lotions and potions, but time still keeps marching right across my face. I think my face needs some plumping up. A little Botox around my eyes, some restalyn around my lips or at the very least, a good facial and some microdermabrasion.

Unfortunately we don't have an unlimited budget. We have our daughter's Invisalign to pay off, we are saving for a car for the child, would someday like to take a vacation, and grooming 3 dogs every five weeks is pricey. Now I could get the facial and microderm for my birthday or I could have a weekend in Kansas City with my hubby going to all of my favorite vintage shops. The latter will probably win out.

It's kind of hard when your daughter keeps getting more beautiful and looks fantastic without a stitch of makeup and your own face is shriveling up. Trust me I'm not writing fishing for complements (I hate people who do that).

I'm not asking people to write and say "no Shanna your really not so shriveled". I'm just stating the facts people and the facts suck. I know growing older is a fact of life and it's better than the alternative, but my friends, I don't have to like it.

Speaking of old, I found this little telephone stand/side table in some pretty sad shape. I'm not sure if it had been left outside for awhile, but it needed some serious sprucing up. I sanded it down a bit (something I only do if completely necessary).

When I painted it this pretty aqua I got from Lowe's the remains of the stain underneath kept bleeding through the paint. After several coats of paint and it still bleeding through I put on a coat of Kills primer and then continued painting. Problem solved. It turned out to be a cute piece!

Boring Beige Basement

2012-09-06T18:45:00.000-05:00

This site has moved to: http://www.restorationredoux.com

Hi Everybody! I want to introduce you to my best friend Mandi.

Well I guess she's not actually my bestfriend per se, and I guess er, friend might be pushing it a bit seeing how I've never um, technically met her. I really, really, want to though, and we could be best friends -- you never know. Mandi's was the first DIY blog I ever read. I saw her on the Nate Show, and I was hooked. She is a DIY legend! Mandi is giving away an Epic Room Makeover, so I entered and I really, really want to win. Sept 7th-14th you can go to Mandi's blog and vote for me daily. Don't worry, I will be sending you daily reminders asking(begging) you to vote. Beneath is where you will see me pleading to Mandi. Thanks!

Hi Mandi! I'm Shanna Gilbert from Wichita, Kans and this is Charlie:

I know Wichita doesn't sound like the most fun place to visit, but I promise we would make it fun.We need your help!

We are drowning in a sea of beige! When we bought our house I didn't know what color to paint the upper level since all of the rooms flowed together.

So I painted the whole upper level beige.

I thought I would get my color in when I did the basement. Well, the upper level walls flowed into the lower level walls, so where do you stop one paint color and start the next without making it look odd? I didn't know what to do so I painted the basement beige too. I know, I know sooo boring.

Two months ago, we bought this giant sectional which we love. It is super comfortable and seats a lot of people.

The only problem is, it's brown. Beige room, brown couch,

brown end tables

brown tv console

and you guessed it: brown blinds.

To quote you Mandi this is "an Epic Fail". This room needs some serious color -- I just don't know what color to use or where to put it.

What I love about your rooms, Mandi, is is all of the bold colors and interesting pieces and fixtures. My room has nada. Here's the sad thing (besides this room), I redo vintage furniture bright fun colors for a living. I can create all these fun pieces for other people but I don't know how to incorporate them into my own home.(ps I learned a lot of my furniture tips from you Mandi).

I also have shelves of unique decorative pieces I have bought at flea markets and yard sales and they just sit in storage because I don't know what to do with them. (Could you tell my hubby that just because I haven't used them YET doesn't mean I'm a hoarder?)

Problem number 2) this room is a big rectangle. If this space is where you relax and watch tv, what the heck is this side used for? There is nothing over here. Looking at these pictures I would like to tell you we just moved in, but we have lived here for SIX YEARS! Ugh!

I bought these neat bookshelves off of craigslist the other day because A) they take up space over here and B) I wanted to paint them to look like built ins which I can't afford. Only I cant paint them, because again, I don't know what colors to use.

See Mandi, I admit it, I'm stuck. Not knowing what color or style I'm going for has paralyzed me. I'm on a tight budget and I don't want to screw things up because I can't afford to fix them.

I need some guidance. I need some Mandi magic sprinkled on this room. You need to tell me "Shanna this goes here" or "don't use that color, that would be stupid". You have the fantastic vision that I clearly lack.

Your blog is my absolute favorite. I read it religiously and I even watched you on Craft Wars. Who wants a dumb birdhouse anyway?

Charlie and I are hard workers. We think it would be great fun if you would come to Wichita! Maybe we could go to yard sales together, that would be fantastic!

We need your amazing creativity and playful personality all over this room. I think this room has potential, and you and I together, this room could be amazing! (ps I had a dream I answered the door and you were here. I think it's a sign don't you?)

Plus today is my birthday, if you came here that would be the best birthday gift ever! Please come to Wichita Mandi!

A good night's sleep

2012-09-04T19:57:00.003-05:00

This site has moved to: http://www.restorationredoux.com

A couple of months ago we purchased a giant, super comfy sectional for our basement. It is seriously comfortable. One of my daughter's friends comes over just to sit on this couch.

My husband and I have a queen size-bed. Stay with me here...this will all come together I promise. In this bed sleeps the two of us,

Charlie,

Gracie,

Lulu,

and sometimes Kitten (we will discuss the reason for Kitten's name another day).

That is too many bodies! My hubby and I sleep in little balls at the edge of the bed so not to disturb the pack. Throughout the night, we roll over to have a tiny little face staring back at us on out pillow. We have paws pushing into our ribs, and the occasional brawl at two in the morning when a fight breaks out over a bone.

During the summer my daughter and I would stay up late watching old movies. One night we decided we were so tired we were going to sleep on the sectional. My daughter, myself, Charlie, Gracie, and Lulu all slept down there with plenty of extra room. Guess what? I slept great! The next morning, I went upstairs to talk to my husband and he slept great too. Feeling rested, what a concept! We weren't in pain from contorting our bodies to make room for dogs, I didn't have to threaten him with bodily harm if he didn't stop snoring, and we genuinely felt a little more human.

So now that's how we sleep now -- unless my daughter has a sleepover, and then I'm back with the pack in the bed and nobody is excited about that. Is it sad that my hubby and I have to have a few getaway weekends a year just to get a little snuggle time?

Now, I know a lot of people would just say to kick the dogs out. When it's all said and done, we (I) love having our babies close to us. God knows our biological baby wants us far, far away (unless she needs money or a ride). Does anyone else let their pooch sleep with them?

Speaking of bedrooms, I got this cute table at a garage sale for $10. Can you believe it? I remembered to take a before picture! Yay me!

It had great bones but was a bit scratched up. Just how I like them. So I stepped out of the box and painted it an extremely bright lime. I did decide to glaze it brown just to tone down the color a bit. A friend at the salon I go to bought it to go beside her bed. Hope you're enjoying it Megan!

Blue, clawfoot chair

2012-09-04T18:09:00.001-05:00

I found this chair at a yard sale, in a barn, way out in the country. It was filthy but I could see the potential. The leather padding on the seat was still intact, it had neat claw feet, and it was actually comfortable.

After cleaning 2 lbs of dirt from it, I taped off the leather seat with frog tape so I wouldn't get paint on it. I then gave it 3 coats of chalk paint, distressed it, glazed it (I didn't want it to lose the vintage feel) and coated it with wax a few times to protect it.

Of course I forgot to take the before picture! Here is the after.

It's going on craigslist tomorrow but if any of my subscribers want first dibs, I'm asking $40.

Creating a bedroom

2012-09-03T21:07:00.000-05:00

This little table intrigued me with it's unusual shape, so I picked it up at a little country yard sale. It was an ugly brown and terribly scratched up.

I mixed up a little chalk paint using Sherwin Williams Dishy Coral, distressed it and glazed it. Super cute!

The lady that bought my blue desk purchased this for her daughter's bedroom night stand. She brought over her quilt to see if it matched: it had the turquoise that matched the desk perfectly and the coral table was a perfect match also.

She was also the one I did the cream "dresser from hell" for. She picked up the dresser yesterday and is going to send me pictures of the room once it's all completed.

I can't wait to see! I'm so excited that this cutie patootie's little bedroom is going to be made up with some of my pieces. (Monica, if your reading this let me know if it's alright for me to post the pictures on here too.)

Not mine anymore

2012-09-03T19:27:00.002-05:00

I got a cute little three shelf bookcase at an estate sale. I thought it would be about the right size for a child's bedroom.

So I decided not to go my usual route with the distressing and making it look aged. I went for a bright sunny yellow and painted the back of the shelves white.

It looked a bit boring, so I decided I would try my hand at stenciling. I found a sweet one with flowers thinking it couldn't be very hard could it? Well let's just say my flowers looked like big yellow blobs. Not so cute.

So I painted over them and waited for it to dry.

Second attempt: better than blobs but still not flowers.

I painted over them again and waited.

So apparently, with stenciling the less paint on your brush the better. Third attempt looked really good! I slapped on some poly and had a darling little bookshelf perfect for a little girls room.

A few hours after listing it I got a call that they would pick it up that night but she was asking all about chalk paint and how it worked. I thought maybe the lady was wanting to learn how to do it herself.

When she came to pick it up she told be she needed to know what the chalk paint was made of because she was going to paint over it!!!!

OMG!! She was going to paint over my perfect little flowers! She apparently had a son and wanted a red bookshelf.

So sad. I guess money is money. We made the sale, my girly bookshelf became her property, and she could do whatever she liked with it.

If I had known that was the case I would have left it the ugly brown it started out to be. I guess you never really know what anyone is going to do with the piece you have slaved over anyway. I might be appalled at what some of my pieces look like now.

In my mind however, they all still look just the way they did when the left my house.

Sometimes ... a deal is not a deal

2012-09-03T14:51:00.003-05:00

You know the saying "if it's too good to be true it probably is"? On this project I learned this the hard way.

I found this great deal on craigslist. It was a vanity with a cute circular mirror and an upright dresser with great carving from the 1930's. $40 for the pair! I talked my hubby into going to take a look at them (which is code for "Shanna's going to buy these").

We got there, and they were so cute! The only problem was that they were coated in lots of paint. Not just lots of paint, but lots and lots. My hubby tells me walk away. But no, I knew I could transform them. As hard as it is for me to say this, it turns out that sometimes husbands are r-r-r-r-right.

The reason I use chalk paint is that I don't like to sand. I have rheumatoid arthritis and the sanding hurts my wrists. So the chalk paint is perfect because it adheres to anything and you don't have to sand beforehand.

These paint-saturated pieces had to be sanded. There were big chunks for paint missing and if I painted over it, it would never be even.

Once home I coated the whole dresser with stripper and waited. And waited. And waited. Nothing happened, no paint bubbling up, no globs to melted paint-sludge oozing down the sides, nothing.

They had coated this in so many layers of what I guess was spray paint that it turned into a thick rubbery coating. Stripper, stripper and more stripper and nothing.

I had to peel the entire dresser by hand. Did I mention that I had to do this on the deck in 105 degree Kansas heat (which means wind and humidity to boot)?

It took me weeks. Once the spray paint was off, I realized underneath was 3 coats of oil based paint (which turned to goo when the stripper was on it) and for an extra treat several coats of latexy something under that.

I hated this dresser. I literally would have set a match to it or taken out some Office Space type of assault, but a super nice lady who bought two of my pieces for her darling daughter's bedroom wanted an upright dresser also and at the time this was the only one I had.

Long story short, it turned out to be a nice piece. I painted it an ivory color and once distressed, it was the right amount of rustic charm.

Now if you figured out how much I would have had to charge her to make all my hours pay off it would have had to be around the $3000 range but you live and you learn and you never buy furniture you have to strip.

Oh and if you're wondering where the cute vanity is that went with it? It's in my basement where it will probably be for the next 10 years or until I loose my mind again.

Oops I did it again!

2012-09-03T13:42:00.002-05:00

Add caption

I love having before and after pictures of all of my projects. Some of them are really challenging and I felt like giving up in the middle of it. Once it's finished I like to look back at how crudy it looked before and I feel like it was worth it.

Here's my problem...I can never remember to take the before picture! I get excited about starting something new and once I have slapped a coat of paint on it, I remember that I forgot the before picture.

Look what my husband put on my studio wall to help me remember. You would think that would be enough to help me remember right? Nope. I have still forgot at least 4 times since he put that on the wall.

I need to focus. With a teenage daughter, all her friends, a cat and three dogs running around here sometimes it's hard.

This table is another great garage sale find for $4. It is a pretty, three tiered, really old table. I painted this one a hundred times. The original stain kept bleeding through. I have found that on some extremely old pieces that will happen. Sometimes they have had some water damage and that makes them bleed.

I painted it a really pretty aqua, distressed it and when I glazed it, it made the paint start peeling off for some reason. Uh Oh! I was half way through glazing so I couldn't stop then. The longer the glaze sat on it the more the paint peeled off.

So I decided the only thing I could do was move fast. It was the fastest I ever glazed before. Once I was finished it still looked really good. Yes, it was maybe a little more distressed than I thought it was going to be due to the paint peeling off, but it turned out to be a really sweet little table.

In the beginning, when I started a project, I would have a vision of what it would look like in the end and I would freak out if things went wrong. I am starting to learn that things happen. Paint doesn't always look the way it did in the can. Glaze can turn your paint pink. Paint can glob up and you have to start over. I've learned you just have to roll with it, and sometimes (most of the time) the project turns out better than I thought.

Leave well enough alone

2012-09-03T13:07:00.003-05:00

I got this cute little round vintage table at a garage sale for a song. It was an ugly, orangey (is that a word?) brown.

I mixed a up a pretty turquoise paint, did several coats, distressed it and it looked pretty good. Then I thought maybe I should distress a spot right on the top in the middle. I rubbed and not much happened so I rubbed a bit more.

A HUGE chunk just peeled off. Ugh!!

So here's my pretty little table with the ugly orangey brown showing right through the top. So I tried to cover it up with some paint. No luck, how about a little more paint? You could still see it. So I had to redo the entire top of it all over again.

Like I said, every project that I do has some element of disaster to it. Some are large and some are small. I have so many projects where the piece looks great, but I think I need to tweak it here or there and that's when things go awry.

I need to just leave things alone.

Anyway, the table turned out really cute, and a nice lady bought it. I forgot to take a before picture (again!). So here's the after.

Should have stayed in bed...

2012-08-30T17:54:00.000-05:00

You know when you have one of those days where everything seems to go wrong? That was today for me. Before I was even out of bed I had a grouchy teenager yelling at me that I had washed the wrong shorts for her last night. Pretty sure she was lucky I washed any shorts for her.

My husband's car was being worked on, so after having only two hours of sleep last night (insomnia) I had to take my daughter to school and him to work. I had a doctor's appointment so I had to kill and hour and 1/2. So of course I went to some yard sales. They were total duds.

I arrived at my doctor's appointment and they informed me that she was in surgery and I would have to come back tomorrow. Seriously? I was so tired and cranky at that point I thought the reception's unwillingness to pull my doctor out of an operation for me would result in her own would need for a teeny bit of surgery.

Anyway, I drove 15 minutes back home and as I'm pulling into the driveway my aunt calls with a tip on a great desk which was all the way across town. Of course it was.

So I flip around, find this desk (in a questionable part of town) and ask if anyone can help me load it into my car. The nice lady said she would help but she had a bad back. So she helped me but it was basically with all the strength that her pinky finger had. This is a seriously heavy desk to lift alone.

So by the time I was finished I was drenched in sweat. This desk had apparently been HEAVILY smoked around for the last 50 years and now my car stinks like an ashtray. So I finally get home, try to take a nap, and in one hour of rest I get six phone calls.

So much for the nap. Anyway that's enough of my crabby rant.

On a brighter note this is a little stand I got at a yard sale for $4. It was an ugly chocolate brown. I used a pretty aqua on it, distressed, glazed and waxed.

Little white dresser

2012-08-30T17:26:00.000-05:00

My aunt called me about a dresser at an estate sale. I drove down to find this pretty little dresser that needed some work.

I sanded and sanded and sanded! This paint did not want to come off. So I decided stripper was the answer.

No it really wasn't. It just turned into a gooey mess.

So, back to the sanding. This paint had obviously been on there for a realllly long time.

After the many days of sanding were finally over I started to paint. I used a light blue chalk paint on it. I went over the raised filigree with an iridescent white paint. It turned out really sweet.

A nice couple who were expecting bought it for their nursery.

Huge Undertaking

2012-08-28T16:27:00.001-05:00

THIS SITE HAS MOVED: http://www.restorationredoux.com

This has been my most challenging project to date.

I bought this dresser off craigslist. We drove a long way to see it (my husband was super excited about that), and it was a definite fixer upper. It was totally dated and smelled really bad.

I thought it had some serious potential though. My husband did not. I think his exact words were "this is crap, nothing can be done with this, just walk away". He has no vision.

So we piled it in the car along with the matching headboard, and we were on our smelly way home.

Cleaning this was disgusting. All of the grooves in the carving required hours of work and many nasty q-tips.

Once clean I painted with chalk paint. Repeat, repeat, repeat. It soaked up the paint like nothing I had ever seen. Five coats later it was finished.

I then started the glazing process. It took forever. Getting the right amount into the carving without getting too much was sooo hard. If too much got in I had to go in with a toothpick wrapped in cloth to get it out.

I then glazed the top. I looked down and a huge patch of glaze soaked in way too much. So here I was with this dark spot right on the top of this dresser I painted 5 times! Determined to make this work, I then started dry brushing on the stain and it started evening out. Thank heavens!

After several coats of wax later, it was finally finished. The pictures don't do it justice. It turned out to be my favorite piece.

I really had to think hard about whether I wanted to sell it or not. Monica, the nice lady who bought my blue desk, bought it to hang her tv above.

Ring around the table

2012-08-28T16:04:00.002-05:00

I bought this coffee table at a yard sale for $12. Great deal! It had a neat shape and great carving. It was an ugly brown and had a circle around the top of it that was inlaid with some other type of wood.

I painted the whole thing turquoise but the ring still showed through. I added a couple more coats of paint but it was still there, it just looked like a bad cover up job. So I paid my dear daughter to use a tiny paint brush and paint the ring brown. I then lightly sanded over it but it took off a huge chunk of it! Then I thought I would paint the whole top of the table brown and maybe I would sand the ring and the turquoise would show through. No dice, it looked weird. So I had to putty over the whole ring, sand it down, and start over. Ugh! In the end it turned out really pretty but I put way too much effort into the silly thing. I forgot to take a before picture (I have a hard time remembering to do that) but here is the after.

Bright coral bench

2012-08-28T15:50:00.001-05:00

I bought a black bench at a yard sale the other day. It needed a little sprucing up.

I coated it in black chalk paint followed by a coral. After some distressing and some wax it needed a cushion. I found some material for $6 (a steal) and some padding and voila!

Little twin tables

2012-08-28T14:40:00.001-05:00

The next two pieces came from garage sales. One was $2 and one was $4. I painted them both with chalk paint, distressed them, and they looked boring. I decided to use a dark wax on these and it was exactly what they needed.

The beginning

2012-08-27T17:14:00.003-05:00

Ok, I'm officially starting my own blog. I'm not sure when I'm going to have time to do it or who is going to be interested in reading it, but here goes.

About six months ago, I started buying vintage furniture, redoing it, and then selling it on craigslist. I put the first piece on having no expectations of anyone really buying it. They did though, and lots more since then.

I have sold every piece I have finished and am getting decent prices for it. People keep telling me I'm selling things too cheap but the fact is, I want it to sell quickly. I have no place to store all of this stuff--something my husband tells me daily.

I've been thinking about contacting a place in town (Wichita, KS) that sells furniture like I do but they 1. are way on the other side of town, 2. take a pretty good-size commission, and 3. I have been selling my things so quickly that I would have to stockpile quite a few pieces to make the trip worthwhile, and then we come back to the storage issue again. So I guess for now I will keep doing things the way I have been since it seems to be working.

My goal for this blog is to share some tips, show some before and after photos, and have a place to list all of the items I have for sale.

If people are coming here looking for some expert advice they are coming to the wrong place. Most of what I do is complete trial and error. Most of the time what I envision a piece to be and what it actually turns out to be are two totally different things.

On almost every piece there seems to be some giant obstacle to overcome. Whether the paint turns out a different color, or there turns out to be 52 layers of paint to strip off, or something is so decorative and ornate that it takes me weeks (and millions of Q-tips and toothpicks to glaze).

Overall, I enjoy these projects (or at least most of these projects) and it's a good way to earn a little extra money. My teenager is going to need a car in the next year and any extra money will come in handy.

Here is one of my first projects. I bought this old desk off craigslist. Originally I was going to paint it black. So I sanded it down (my least favorite part) layered on 3 coats of latex paint.

My dear hubby told me it would be fine to wax over latex, so that's what I did. Did it work? Not so much :(

I buffed and buffed that thing but no matter what it looked like there was Vaseline smeared all over it. I was not happy. So then what?

I heard about chalk paint. I researched chalk paint but it turned out to be $42 a pint! Too steep for me. So I decided to make my own. Once I got a batch made up, I had no idea how it would do over a piece that already had been painted with latex and waxed. What did I have to loose?

I put two layers of the turquoise over the black and nothing disastrous happened. It was incredibly bright so I decided to make my own glaze and try it out. I used a black glaze over it and it toned it down just the right amount. I added some fun new handles and Ta Da!! It looked pretty darn good.