Shabby little antique folding table

I found this little table in my grandparents attic.  It's really old and was originally a little fold-out sewing table.  It is in almost perfect condition for its age (80-100 years old), but it was pretty boring as just a brown table.  So I tried something I have never tried before- I painted it a light periwinkle and then did some heavy distressing to the top to make it look really weathered.  Then I did some stenciling and faded them to look worn as well.  It came out even better than I anticipated.  I will definitely use this technique again!  All  I did was paint it, and then when it was not quite dry I ran the paintbrush over it and let it take some paint off in spots.  Then I used a green paint and did very light lines here and there to conjure the thoughts of moss on wood that was left outside for a while.  It is so charming, don't you think?  Selling this one for $25.  This is the perfect thing for the holidays or any time when you have company over and need more room for people to sit and eat.  It could also work for a kids (or adults) craft table, though I don't think it would survive toddlers or preschoolers.  It's sturdy, but couldn't be climbed on. ;)

Here was the table before:

Mint Green Stenciled Country Coffee Table!

This little coffee table was absolutely PERFECT for a makeover!  It was cute before I painted it, and now after it is just adorable!  I blended my own mint green paint, and after some distressing I added some little flower and bird stencils.  You will agree that it is possibly the cutest thing EVER!!!  OK, sorry, I need to calm down and not love it so much because, yes folks, it is for sale.  I am including it as the very first piece in my furniture yard sale.  The price is $40.  Here are the photos:

Here is the table as I found it:

And after the makeover:

Stay tuned for more!!!!

Antique Frames, a Fabulous Trunk, and more news...

This blog post is going to have a few different subjects.  First of all, I want to mention that after some counsel from a friend who is knowledgeable in the world of selling hand painted furniture and/or decorating, I have decided to actually make some pieces to sell.  Or, give it a try anyway.  I am planning on finding bargain pieces at my usual thrifty haunts, hand painting, stenciling some of them, distressing, and just plain making them look cool...and then having a yard sale to see if I can sell some.  This will be my first practice in what I hope will become a possible career to do from home some day.  I love painting so much, and wooden furniture allows me to be creative while reusing and bringing something to new useful life!  I am really excited about this.  It will be an ongoing project and the yard sale will take place in the spring some time after I have made enough pieces and the weather is warmer.  I will keep you all posted!

Now, moving on to the next subject.  I have been frequenting a consignment shop in Chesapeake called Better Homes and Bargains, and I cannot leave this place without something awesome every time I go.  It's one of those places where every way you turn, you see something new that wasn't there 5 seconds ago (even though it was.)  It is seriously floor to ceiling antiques and vintage awesomeness, with a narrow path meandering through the treasures.  The owner, Cheryl, has basically everything that you want to find at thrift stores, contained in one place so that you don't have to sift through anything newer than the 1950's (and if it is newer than that it is REALLY cool and eclectic and worth looking at.)  Last week I bought the antique mirror that Ben and I had been eyeing since we first discovered the place.  Round, gilded, gesso frame...the usual Victorian charm, with the original faded mirror for added history and mystery.  This is what I am getting at in this part of the post- my love of antique frames and how I am slowly collecting them.  I have three, two which are mirrors and one which is just a frame.  Below you will see the pictures.

This frame came from my great grandmother's old farm house, and it is mid 1800's.  I thought about painting it, but I love its patina (I THINK that used to gold paint, but it is really hard to tell..) and the chips are very charming.  I also love to think that family members long gone used to look into the same mirror which I look into now.

 Next I found this frame below at Salvation Army, and you may have read my post about painting it.  This one started out black and gold, but I painted it light blue and gold.  It hangs on our bedroom wall, with a little statue of angels in it.

And finally, we have the gold mirror that hangs above our TV cabinet, purchased at BH&B...

OK, so the frames are some of my prized vintage possessions , but I cannot leave this post without showing you all this...something that junkers are always on the lookout for...this fabulous old trunk, refinished by Ben's uncle and sitting in storage for years, until we bravely ignored its intimidating size, stuffed it in the back of our Honda Element, and found a place for it.  I LOVE this trunk. It is solid wood with metal details, and one surviving leather handle.  Ben's uncle upholstered the inside.  It is somewhere between 100-150 years old (that's my guess) and for the age is in great shape (after the refurbish years ago.)  The wood stain is the same as out desk and TV cabinet, and it really fits nicely in our living room as an amazing conversation piece.  Pottery Barn, you WISH you had one like this!

Happy treasure hunting, friends. :)

Dining Chairs complete!

This is just a quick post to show you a picture of my four painted and distressed mismatched dining chairs. I have a round, drop-leaf farm/cottage style table being delivered this week.  I need to see it in person to decide how to paint it, but most likely it will be distressed white- either entirely or just the legs.  I will post a picture after it arrives, so look for an update on this blog post.  For now, here are my chairs, awaiting their table!

-------------UPDATE! UPDATE! UPDATE!!------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, I am a happy girl!  I ended up ordering a table online because I couldn't find the style that I wanted for the right price and in decent condition anywhere else.  I won't say which one, but it had to be ordered from a certain chain store.  It goes against my "everything reused" mantra, but who knows, maybe I will find my dream table some day at a flea market or thrift store or estate sale.  Until then, this one was the style I needed, for a low price, and I might end up painting it to look old anyway.  Here is a picture of my little table and antiqued chairs!

My cute little Owen thought it was a fun place to hide. ;)

Gorgeous ladder back chair

This chair is one of the four chairs which I am painting in a green/white color scheme to be our dining set.  I wanted the chairs to mis-match but complement eachother with paint.  I love the way this ladder back chair turned out so much that I have to give it its own post.  It's an old chair, but I don't know how old, my guess is early 1900's-1930's, somewhere in there.  Here are the pics:

The chair before:

                            
                                           I decided to leave the woven seat natural, so I painted the wood
           white, did some green leaf stencils, and then distressed.  It looks so amazingly shabby-romantic now.

This last picture is of the three finished mis-matched chairs.  The one on the left is a 100 year old chair from my grandparents attic.  I have one left to paint, which is the other press-back like the one on the right.  Then my task will be finding a table....

Chairs, painting, and a vintage school desk...oh my!

Happy New Year, everyone!!!!!!

We have added some new additions to our house full of vintage/thrift/consignment furniture.  My goal is to have a house completely full of reused and repurposed furnishings.  We really are almost there.  I am hanging on to our non-thrifty bed, simply because it is a very high quality, almost new bed and mattress set, with a wood and iron headboard.  It doesn't clash with all of the other stuff, so for now it's staying.  I will also be looking in the next few years for vintage beds for our kids, as of right now they have mismatched modern wooden toddler beds, one which was free and the other which came from the CHKD thrift store.  But I digress, this post is about the things which have just joined our thrifty family.  I have a plan right now to hunt down four dining chairs and a small, rustic, sturdy wooden table (preferably all of it old, but I may have to cheat a little.)  I am going to paint the table distressed white and the chairs will be shades of green and yellow.  This has been my dream dining set for the past year.  It has taken some time to collect, and now I have the chairs but just need the table.  I have a set of antique reproduction Victorian press-back chairs that I have been hanging on to, but I want a mis-matchy feel to the chairs.  So I am going to use two of those, one old antique chair of my grandmother's, and another old ladder-back arm chair which we bought at a vintage consignment shop yesterday.  I have already painted one press-back "Winchester sage" which actually came out more teal than sage, but it still looks really cool after being distressed.  The other press-back will probably be the same color, and then possibly a lighter minty green for my grandma's chair and a vintage yellow for the ladder back.  We also found a vintage school desk at Goodwill for $8, which I have put in our kids room.  Here are some pictures.....

The Victorian press-back which I have already painted:

The ladder-back that still needs painting:

And, finally here's the kids school desk.  I am going to paint the wood back and seat, but we're still deciding on a color.