They started off with a darker stained finish and some lovely dragonfly fabric – which im sure was awesome sometime or another, but they needed an update.

I removed the cushion and then painted them in a bright white (Behr Ultra White), then they were distressed and clear coated.  The seat cushions were recovered in a thick gray fabric that i found @ Joanns – i loved it so much i bought extra to make some pillows for my couch  I love the white with the gray, it looks so fresh and clean.

411

paint – Behr Ultra White

clear coat – Varathane in a Gloss

Fabric – Joanns

Before…busted up leg…

Then i painted it Ivoire by Sherwin Williams.  Its a light buttery yellow that would be great for walls, but its kinda boring as is for furniture.  So i distressed it and then glazed it with a dark brown stain.  See the difference the distressing/glaze makes?  oooh lala

After all was painted and the original hardware updated with oil rubbed bronze spray paint – it looks like this!  I love it!

Love the distressing on this one!!

the 411 

color = Ivoire by SW

glaze = van dyke brown glaze by SW (oil based)

clear coat = Wood Classics gloss by SW

top stain color = Kona by Rustoleum

This little dresser was just listed in the Sweet Pickins Shop as well as these 2 other pieces!  (before & after posts on them coming soon!)

Vintage Cabinet

Wood Cabinet

With my new design, i switched over to WordPress.  So this means if you dont resubscribe to my blog in some other way, i will loose ya!  I dont want that to happen!

This also means, any other blogs you are following via Google Friend Connect that are not through Blogger, you will loose their posts as well!

So, we have removed the normal “follow me” box from my sidebar so that wont be an option anymore, i’ve had a few emails about how to sign up for my blog since the switch.

You can still follow along by-

1.   Google reader (or there are many options for other readers) by clicking on the RSS feed icon on my sidebar under the “connect”         tab – its the one that looks like a rainbow.

2.  You can sign up to get all my posts sent directly to your email, that option is on under the “subscribe” tab

3.  You can follow me on Facebook

4.  OR my new favorite way to follow my favorite blogs, is through BLOGLOVIN.  Its very simple and easy to use.  Under the “subscribe” tab is an option for that.

So, whatever you do you better get on it!  Remember as of 3/1/12 you will loose my site and probably lots of other ones if you have signed up through Google Friend Connect.

I still have some work to do on the content for the menu bars – but that will be done shortly

I’m hoping that this blog will be much more user friendly – for both you and me!  You can see on the side bar there is a “How I Paint Furniture” tab – i get lots of questions everyday so i will soon start a series of how i go about painting furniture, so all the posts will be there so you can reference them.

I also decided to accept advertisers/sponsors – something i never thought that i would do!  But lately i have gotten emails about it and if i can help promote someones site/small business then i would be honored!  You can click on the “your add here” on the side bar to upload your button.

How do you guys like the new design?  I LOVE it!!  Tony @ Evenpar Solutions did an awesome job and was so great to work with!  This change also involved me moving to WordPress – so that should be fun!

This was one of the most intimidating projects I have taken on.  I never had a piano, never really “inspected” one and didn’t really have a clue as to what was goin on inside of one.  Until now – now I’m good to go on some more piano painting!!  It was actually kinda fun getting to know the “innards” of a piano

I started with this cool old upright piano that hadn’t been getting any use, this thing was almost a hundred years old!!  My client had her mom (the sweetest lady!) deliver the piano to me so it could be prettied up and then my clients husband drove all the way from another state to pick it up and take it home with them!! 

Anyways – the piano was in good shape, but kinda plain.  We got it all sanded down and ready for paint.

I bought these wooden appliques from Lowes, put the biggest one in the middle, and then a little one on each corner.  I also framed out the large applique with some decorative molding.

Then I started disassembling the piano to paint it.   I thought I got pics of it taken apart but I guess I didn’t it.  I took off the back part (where the molding is), then I took off the little sidebars where the back part hooks in, the key cover, and the keys.  There was no way that I could just tape around it to paint it, the whole thing had to come apart.  That’s where I used to be intimidated, but not anymore!!  I started just taking out piece by piece and it was pretty easy.

Then I taped up the guts of the piano so I didn’t get that painted and started spraying it.

After a coat of primer, 2 coats of paint, a little distressing and a clear coat, I reassembled everything and got it all back in the right spot – pheww!!  Luckily the keys were numbered so all those just went back in order.

Then after it was all done – it turned out like this.  I love it!!  How fun is this color too?!

I so want a piano now!!  My daughter loved having it at the shop and was so sad to see it go – she got a keyboard for Christmas and has learned a couple songs, so it was fun seeing her play her new tunes on a “real” piano   Plus they just look so cute!!

the 411 = color is Calico by Sherwin Williams in a satin finish.  Poly I used is a gloss finish by SW Wood Classics (water based).

Anyone refinished a piano?  I would love to see it!!!

My clients dresser wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good either!  It was solid wood and in really good shape so they didn’t want to trash it.  They needed a tv console for their new flat screen and after seeing the one that i posted about here, they decided to have me re-purpose their dresser as well.

It started out like any normal dresser, but i needed to reconfigure it a little to be a functional tv console.  I started by taking out the three top drawers and then the middle one in the center.  I just used the jigsaw to remove that middle support between the 2 drawers.  My client wanted and open cubby in the middle so she can put a basket in there to store remotes/dvd’s/games.

Today I am guest posting over @ I am Momma Hear Me Roar!  Go check out and see how I turned this dated dresser into a TV console – it looks awesome!!

These wont be in any particular order – I just need to get done what excites me most that day!!  I get bored easily…

First up on my list, which I actually think I am going to do tomorrow is my fireplace mantel.  I just want to chunk it up a little by adding some molding and painting it cream.  That should be easy.

Next, is my railing.  I HATE our railing.  Its so boring.  I have some ideas to chunk that up too, and my spindles for sure will be getting a coat of white paint.  But, it does make a good blanket dryer!

Then, my cabinets are calling my name!  I am just trying to decide on the perfect creamy white and then I will get to painting those – cant wait!  And I have figured out what I am doing with my island, so that will be getting another re-do too!!

But 1st, I need to paint my walls!  Oh ya!!  im thinking a nice soft gray, or maybe a cream, or maybe white….or maybe gray – I need to decide!  Every inspiration pic I see makes me change my mind!  I like the color on my walls now, but it needs to be painted anyways and I am just ready for a change. 

Then, this dreaded spot in my house.  I HATE this spot more than anywhere else.  When we built this house, I had visions of kids doing homework here when I was cooking dinner and watching them browse the internet – ya right!!  It’s a big ol’ junk collector!  Its where everything without a home gets shoved, even the dog!!  Its not a good spot, and this is a pic on a good day!!  I have plans to build this into some sort of hutch – got lots of ideas floating around my noggin

Oh, and then theres this crappy area.  I also had visions of the kids sitting down to put on their shoes then I kiss them on there foreheads while I pass them their lunches as they headed out the door to school – ummm, not happening!!  What world am I living in??!!  Im hoping to make this area a little more practical with some built-ins. 

And see this wall?  The one around the pantry door – it needs something.  I have an idea that will add a little old house charm…

And last, but not least is my pantry.  I have an awesomely huge pantry but I need to make it more awesome!!  I have a few ideas for that too.

And I think that’s it!!  At least these are the “for sure” ones that I want to get done, I can always think of a million projects! 

My island before was pretty basic, although it did have beadboard wrapped around it.  But it was nothin special, just kinda builder boring.

I wanted to customize the island by adding some molding and some posts.  Lucky for me I got some posts for free so that saved me a few bucks, and they were the perfect size

before…

I started by adding some baseboard molding around the entire island.  I had to pop off the corner trim put on by the builder. 

The back side of the island used to have the toe kick, but I wanted it to look custom and more like a piece of furniture.  So to get the baseboard trim to wrap around, I had to use the table saw to cut off about an inch so it wouldn’t hit the cabinet doors.

Next, I took some pre-cut poplar strips from lowes in 3 1/2 in widths and framed out the sides and back.  Santi also had to move over the outlet so it wouldn’t get in the way of the molding, while he was at it, we swapped it out for a black outlet and black cover. 

Where the corbels were, I just used the jigsaw and cut those to fit

Then I put the posts on.  I just used some liquid nail on the top and bottom of each post so they arent going anywhere.  I also nailed them to the wood floor and to the wood that is under the granite.  I thought about adding some trim around the base of the posts, im still undecided on that…

After all that was done, we sanded down the doors and used my paint sprayer to paint those.  The rest of the island was painted just using a good brush and SW All Purpose Enamel in Tri-Corn black in a satin finish.  The paint went on awesome, and you can hardly see any brush marks.  I didn’t prime the island itself, just light sanded it and cleaned it well.  The doors were primed with an adhesion primer from Sherwin Williams, just because they will get a lot of use.  And if you read my last paragraph you will know why I decided not to clear coat it at this time…

And after…

See all the dust already!!  Its only been done a week!

So, that was my 1st project of 2012!  Its one of many that I need to get done – the list is long!  And, I have never liked the darker cream of my cabinets, they look lighter in pics than they really are.  So soon I will be painting my cabinets a lighter cream, cant wait for that!  You can see in the pic below how much lighter they will be with this sample cabinet I painted. 

SO – I love the way the island turned out, the molding looks awesome and changes it from builder boring to custom – BUT, I don’t know if I am loving the black!!  IT kinda looks heavy to me and I really want a lighter feel to my house.  SO – should I paint it the lighter cream of the rest of my cabinets when those get done?  I cant decide!!  I think I will live with it for a while and see – I do seem to change my mind about a lot of things from week to week!!

*and sorry for the crappy pics – it was a gloomy day here, but this is the only day that my house has been half way clean!!*