Ethan's Dresser and Tennessee

I have four really handsome brothers, and since I don't get to see them very often, it's fun to hang out with them, or do things for them when I can. This trip, I had the chance to help Ethan find a dresser for his new room! He is in engineering school and has a new roomie. They share a cute little house that is slowly getting refurbished. His room is a toasty brown color, so I thought it would be nice to lighten things up with some cream colored furniture. I had plans to do a matching desk, but it didn't work out. I also wanted to find a table and chairs for Samuel because he needs those for his apartment! Maybe next trip. I guess I feel like a mother hen and like they are totally helpless... It's partly true! You know- young boys and getting things done... Anyway, Ethan is 19, and recently acquired a scary fast motorcycle! He took me on a little ride!

I felt like a bobble head in a too-big helmet! 

Okay, so this time I found the dresser on Craigslist, even though my Tennessee family likes Local Sales Network better. Samuel went with me to help pick it up and buy paint. Want to see Samuel too? He is a cute little reserve marine boy. 

Who sleeps with Funyuns! I'm sorry Samuel, I couldn't resist! I couldn't have grabbed the desk and gotten supplies without him!

I only snapped a quick picture of everything with my phone, I've had no real camera access (and no photoshop). Here is what it looked like in the back of a truck.. 

Here is what it looks like with my little daddy helping me scuff it up a bit.

And here is what it looks like with two coats of primer, two coats of Valspar (Drumskin), and a Valspar antiquing glaze.

I just mostly like the cows in the background. 

My mother's birthday happened to happen while I was there. I think she liked her little flag quilt! 

We also watched The Lone Ranger, which we really liked. Wish it was doing better in the theaters!

I also hung out while my sister Martha and my mom made salsa (and canned it). 

I contributed by my presence alone.

Obviously.

I also got to see my gorgeous nephew Austin and his parents, my brother Benjamin, and SIL Amber. 

I love Tennessee!

Found all of this on a walk with my mom. And blackberries too!

Martha brought corn as a payment for canning help!

My Granny and aunt even let me go through their fabric scraps and take what I liked. How awesome is that?!

~Rachel

Chippy Barn Hutch

So I had a lovely post all written before my internet decided to crap out on me.. as it does pretty much every hour or so. Nice.. especially since I can see building of which my service comes from my back yard.. not saying any names. BUT seriously?!! NOT COOL!

Oh well onward and upward! I have about 20 furniture projects I am itching to work on but I have a couple of projects that have deadlines and must be finished ASAP! this has been motivating and a little daunting as I have been working on some old antique pieces that need quite a bit of work! I have however, made quite a bit of progress and should have them done soon! Upcoming I have a hutch to be painted red, a three piece antique set all of which is getting stripped of its current yellow paint and stained a lovely rich brown, a dresser that has been laughing at me for weeks as I decided how to "finish" it, and a armoire for Rachel that I will be painting a color I have been dying to try!!! These are just the pieces for others, and don't included that stash I have waiting to be painted and placed in my own home! So stay tuned for what is to come! I will have plenty of projects to keep me busy all summer long!

But today is all about this amazing hutch! My sister-in-law is the Crafty Queen! Yes, this is true! she recently found this amazing hutch on craigslist for under 100 and allowed me to work my milk paint magic on its exterior. This hutch was rather sassy and at first rejected the milk paint more than I was hoping. So much in fact that the top which I painted first, was nearly naked by the time it had stopped chipping away. I decided to re-group and sanded the entire thing and then went back with the milk paint. This ended up working out perfectly and I can honestly say this is my favorite piece to date! I think it looks like it has just been plucked out of an old rusty barn home. She is now sitting in my sister-in-laws adorable craft room and is home to all sorts of lovely craft goodies! Sorry for the picture over load but she was just to adorable not to share all of her chippy goodness!

This hutch was sanded, then painted in Miss Mustard Seeds Milk Paint in the color Grainsack, and finished off by being sealed in MMS clear wax.

-until next time!
-Haley

Linking up at:

http://missmustardseed.com/2013/07/furniture-feature-friday-favorites-a-link-party-24/
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Winston My Latest Furniture Makeover

Today I would like you to meet a friend of mine His name is Winston. He once lived with a painter. When I picked Winston up he was a grouchy old man being that he is over 70 years old.

Before:

 

 His hardware had layers upon layers of grime, and he had never once been refinished in all of his years. Though I must say he looked pretty dapper for the time and tales he had endured. Being that he lived with a painter it is only natural that he had splatters of paint on his drawers and scars and dents acquired over the years.

 

After:

 A few hours in my little shop and a custom coat of paint and let me tell you Winston is a new man. I knew he had a younger soul than he let on and that you may see reflected in his beautiful new coat. His color is a custom mixture of Miss Mustardseeds Milk Paint including two parts Ironstone and one part Shutter Gay. Overall he is a light blue with gray undertones. Winston is all ready to be loved by someone special. Perhaps a little boy or couple, a single college student or maybe perhaps even another painter.

I hope you like my latest friend! I have some exciting news! I sold my very first piece this weekend! My lovely Grainsack colored dresser is now being loved by a set of twin girls! How fitting!! I hope they love her lots and use her well!

Until next time!
-Haley

Linking up at:

http://missmustardseed.com/2013/06/furniture-feature-friday-favorites-a-link-party-23/

Milk Paint Dresser Makeover

Hey All!!!

BEFORE:

I spent the better part of my morning hanging out in my garage with Carrie Underwood and Cassidy Pope.. Ok not really but their music did fill my neighborhood as I started working on a new furniture makeover. I can now say that Milk Paint and I have officially made up. After our little tiff this weekend we are now friends again. I know aren't you glad? I sure am!

AFTER:

I will be the first to admit that I have a bit of a control issue.. I may or may not have banned my husband from EVER folding laundry.. I know, how selfish of me to keep it all to myself. But it is true, he isn't allowed to touch it, It pains me to even let him put the detergent in the washer machine. I know its a problem... I will say I have learned to let other little things go you know the way the dish washer is loaded, the way the carpet gets vacuumed, you get the picture I have come a long way! I have really! Unfortunately I can't let go of the laundry thing. But seriously I don't think my husband is in the last bit upset about this little "problem of mine" No I cannot recall him ever saying he wished I would just let him do some laundry. Nope...

 

 What I am getting at is Milk Paint is BOSSY!! Yes That's right it is very bossy!! It does not let me make the decisions and that freaks me out just a little. The three projects I have tried milk paint on thus far have made me a little more than uncomfortable. But the two successful projects have ended up being better than I could have hoped for. If I had been the boss and told the Milk Paint what was what it wouldn't have turned out as good. Yes Milk Paint you were right, you chipped in all the right places, and crackled way better than I could have ever hoped for. YOU WERE RIGHT OK?!!

 

Now that we have that all cleared up here is my latest project. and Yes I LOVE milk paint!! It rocks my socks off and it adds so much more dimension to a piece than I could have ever conjured up on my own. Seriously try it out!! I ordered mine online from Reinvented Vintage, they ship super fast and they have wonderful customer service. I have used them a couple times now and am thoroughly impressed! I just ordered some Maison Blanche chalk paint from them and it should arrive tomorrow!  

 

I found this bad boy on Craigslist. and I didn't prime the dang thing one bit! I just dusted it off and started painting. It is now looking all pretty in the color Grainsack. Which is a white with a bit of gray undertones. I am loving this color! I would say I used about 8 Table Spoons worth of the milk paint powder to finish this entire dresser. It goes a long way which I really love. Especially since it does not start out opaque, you really have to give it a good couple of coats to get the entire thing completely covered. I finished it off by sealing it with the clear wax also from the Miss Mustard Seed line. I opted out of the dark wax on this piece because I think it would have been overkill ya know? I think it is absolutely shabby happy without it! Enjoy!

the furniture for sale tab is now live! check it out if you are interested in purchasing any of the pieces I have re-finished.

 

-Haley


linking up at:
http://katherinescorner.com/2013/06/12/thursday-favorite-things-blog-hop-92/
http://imprintalish.blogspot.com/

http://missmustardseed.com/2013/06/furniture-feature-friday-kathleens-favorites-a-link-party-2/

A Little Frenchy Nightstand Makeover

Hello Everyone!! I am back again today with a furniture makeover!! I mentioned yesterday that I had a lot of furniture sitting around in my garage so I figured I would have some fun!!

My plans changed yesterday when I was on my way to a doctors appointment. I figured it would take up most of my afternoon and I would come home exhausted from chasing three kids around the doctors office and not get much done!! Unfortunately while on my drive over, a metal drawer from an old desk in the back of some dudes trailer flew out and sliced the side of my car while we were driving down the freeway!! like seriously it cut through the metal!! luckily I was able to get the guy to pull over. He was very nice gave me his info and was on his way. I wasn't however going to be able to make it to my appointment so I went home and instead I decided to paint a night stand while my little people napped!

I didn't know what to expect from this Miss Mustard Seed Milk paint! I had watched all of the tutorials on her website and she mentions that it kind of has a mind of its own and you have to just wait and see what happens. I went ahead and mixed some of the bonding agent in with the paint. If you don't it has more of a chippy effect which I love, but didn't think would be totally appropriate for this nightstand. I applied 2/3ish coats and did it in under and hour it was very easy to work with and dries fast!! I used the color Shutter Gray and the dark antiquing wax to ad an antique look. I was thinking this color would be darker but I think the true color is very pretty. It nice and neutral and could compliment many color schemes.

This night stand is a pair and is up for sale! It will be listed under our new furniture for sale tab which will be up an running later this week! You can purchase just one or the pair. details on the tab.

as you can see this is  a pretty distressed looking piece, I am completely sold on this milk paint and cant wait to see how the rest of the pieces turn out! I did not apply the recommended amount of bonding agent I intentionally used less. You can see there was a slight amount of chipping which is my favorite part! Check it out!

-Haley

The Master Bedroom Makeover part 3

Here it is folks!! Shortly after I posted yesterday, my husband woke up early and I was able to take some decent pictures! As I said before I found this bed frame on Craigslist. This is my go to for pretty much anything furniture. This bad boy was listed for 200 and I was able to talk the seller down to 150. What a deal right?!! It is solid oak and had been taken really good care of not a ding or scratch! I'm sure any wood lover would have cringed to see me paint over this piece. But I'm so glad I did its absolutely the perfect piece for our master! I started by sanding the whole thing, then I painted it a flat grey called Richmond Grey. This grey is actually in the same color swatch as my wall color. After painting it I played around with a couple different finishes which is partly why it took longer than I had expected. I eventually settled with mixing the dark grey on the wall with lot of water and dry brushing it on. I love the weathered look this technique has created! After it was done or so I thought I hauled it upstairs I then realized I was going to have to polyurethane the dang thing! Originally I didn't want to do this because I wanted the paint to still look flat but it had to be done! So I got to do that little job in my room it was a little interesting... But it's finished! Now here are some before pictures, some during the process, and the finished product! I also hung all those plates on the wall. I had been collecting them for a while now. I found the center plate for $2 at a thrift store and the rest I have scooped up at target some on sale some were 3.99 not bad if you ask me! I've been loving all the plate displays all over blogs and Pinterest and am so glad I went for it! I bought regular picture hanging things( what the heck are those called again?!!) and hot glued them to the back and there you go! Also I should mention the pillows I made only cost 10 I bought a flat queen sheet from Walmart and used that as my fabric. The black Fabric I already had on hand! Enough rambling here you go enjoy!!

-Haley

I should mention the paint I used from older projects. The fabric from the pillows was also scraps in my stash and the plates I have been collecting for quite some time. Besides the bed everything I used I had right at home!

Linking up at http://emilyaclark.blogspot.com/?m=1