Monday, August 26, 2013

Me time

I actually took a weekend and did something for myself! I had a little break in between clients so I found myself a $20 table, used an old hutch that had come with a dresser I purchased (I knew I'd end up using it for something), and spend $15 on a 10 foot pine board at Lowe's. The hutch had a mirror in it so I removed the mirror and the corner shelves (useless) and replaced them with the cut pine boards. I used corner braces to screw them in a few places since the shelves would be holding lots of paint. They needed to be sturdy. I cleaned it all up well, primed it and then painted it Turkish Tile from Valspar. I wanted a BRIGHT and RICH color to keep me happy while working hard out there in that sad, blah garage. OK, so here are all the befores...



The next two are in between pictures of the hutch. I had removed the mirror and corner shelves and then installed the new shelves.



Primed...It looks better already, doesn't it?!


And here it is put together and then all set up with supplies!




I'm sooooo happy I had time to get this done because I'd already been so unorganized for a while and it was only getting worse! I still haven't gotten everything in order but this is a big start. I think I'll get some storage bins or hey, maybe even a cheapo Craigslist dresser for more storage underneath at some point. I am so proud of myself! :)

I have another reveal coming up in a day or two of a 1930's Typewriter desk and a chair the client brought to go with it. She wanted the top of the desk stained the same color as the chair and then the seat reupholstered. It looks amazing! It was A LOT of work, that desk. It was in rough shape, much more so than it looked but it's done (whewf!) and I'll have pictures by Wednesday. Then I have another small nursery set in the next week and it's NOT white! So that's going to be fun. Alrighty, I'm off! See you all soon!

Friday, August 9, 2013

Early reveal! Yay!

I got done with my pieces early enough to get pictures today so that was unexpected. SO I have one of my reveals early for you. The other I actually didn't get pictures of because I'm going to have to get my husband to help me move it but I'll have that one for you tomorrow. :)

OK, so if you've been following me you know that I've been working on a Union Jack dresser for some time now. I was mainly waiting on the matching nightstand to be delivered but I finally got it this week and was able to finish it all up. That feels nice. So this piece took me (the big dresser) 15 hours!!!!!! The longest part was figuring out the flag but of course I found a lovely "map" of it on Pinterest which I'll be sharing with you, and that helped but still...I taped and retaped a few times. I had already decided I was going to do the flag on the drawer of the nightstand when I got it but when I sat down to map it out it just wasn't going to work. I felt like it just wouldn't look right so I decided to just paint it red. OK, so before I show you the pictures I'm going to give you a few tips. First of all, use the map thingy (here). Second, wherever you're going to paint the flag, paint the entire thing white first, or whatever color you plan to use for the white places. I thought I was so smart and the I took the tape off and realized that I would either have to tape it again around the white or very carefully hand paint it. The taping took forever so I hand painted the white in super carefully and still ended up having to touch it up. My pretty lines weren't as pretty. I guess there's not a third but those are big ones. Oh, third, have a tape measure on hand. So yeah...anyhoosers, now we get to the pictures. :)

Before...I totally forgot to take my own but these work just fine.


And after!


I glazed over both the dresser and nightstand to antique it. I think it adds so much more charm to it. Perfect is kind of boring. So there ya go. And I'll see you tomorrow for a tv console reveal. Happy Friday!!

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Just a small request

No new furniture today but I do have two reveals on Saturday. Today I just wanted to give you all the link to my Facebook page and humbly ask that you take a look and "Like" it. I also have a giveaway going on so if you're in the Upstate SC area you could win a $40 gift certificate that you can use towards a purchase of any piece I have for sale or custom work. If you aren't in the area I would still greatly appreciate a "Like". Word of mouth is all I've got right now and it truly does mean the world to me. Thank you so much in advance for your support! I'll see you guys on Saturday!

My Painted Cottage FB page link: The Painted Cottage SC

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Another nursery set makeover!

I told you I had been working on another nursery set and I finished today and it's already been picked up. It looks so great and I can't wait to show you the before & after pics.

Here are the befores. It was a beautiful set to begin with. The detail on the drawers were so lovely! I just love what I do!



                                              



There was also a desk that the same client wanted me to refinish. She wanted it all painted white and settled on repainting the hardware oil rubbed bronze but she wanted the desk distressed a little. Of course, I love how it turned out!












My husband just couldn't understand why anyone would want white furniture but once I was finished he said it looked great and now he understands, especially when it's slightly distressed. :) I'm converting people all the time! I hope you enjoyed this makeover. See you next week for a 1930's typewriter desk makeover and tv console, and my finished "Ikea hack" Union Jack dresser! :)