Mint Chip Lady's Desk

I found this beautiful vintage lady's desk last weekend while out searching for treasures.  Structurally she was in wonderful condition, but the finish was in need of a complete overhaul.

I decided to use up my mint colored paint that I had used on a couple of previous projects.  I distressed the final coat of paint to reveal her warm brown tones underneath.  Hence, I am calling her mint chip.

The older furniture has such great detail.  Look at those cute chubby little legs.  Aren't they sweet?

All the hardware was original.

She just needed to reinvent herself.  Below is the desk as I found her.  I'm so glad I brought her home.

Thanks for your visit.


Partying at:
French Country Cottage       My Romantic Home        Miss Mustard Seed
                                    

Vintage Aqua Bedroom Suite

I don't usually take on entire rooms of furniture, but finding great items lately to resell has been nearly impossible in my neck of the woods, so when I found this complete bedroom set I scarfed it up.  The headboard and the mirror are not pictured here, but this was a complete bedroom suite.

The dresser is a full six feet long which is pretty darn big considering I usually stick to smaller scale pieces.  I started with a very bright aqua paint on the base of each piece and painted the tops old white.  I should say my husband painted.  I watched.

Going into the fall and winter months I didn't want this set to look too spring time, so after my husband did his magic, I did a light distressing around the edges of the top and the drawers.  Then I used a Minwax gel stain and glazed the whole piece.  I never have great luck with the dark waxes, and I feel I have more control wiping a regular stain back to the level I want.

When the glaze was finished and set up, we sprayed each piece with a heavy amount of clear coat spray to protect the finish.  The hardware was left in its natural state and I think it adds to the vintage feel of the set.

Here are all the drawers waiting to be cleaned up and painted.  The set turned out great and it's already at the shop waiting for a new home.

Thanks for your visit.

I may be partying at...
                                           

Fridays            French Country Cottage       My Romantic Home        Miss Mustard Seed
                                      
                                  

Sweet Petite Roll Top Desk

Hello everyone.  I have been away from blogging for awhile now.  I took a fabulous vacation, and I'm ready to get back to work now.

I found this adorable petite roll top desk at a flea market.  It was an oak reproduction from the 80's and it needed a whole new makeover.

It got a coat of my favorite white paint.  I left the hardware and the brass rail on the back in their natural state.

The hardware really popped against the white.

Here is the before picture.  This piece was destined for the thrift shop for sure.  The white paint really revived it and gave it a whole new life.

I'm happy to say this sold in a week's time...just in time for back to school.

Thanks for visiting.

I may be partying at...

Fridays            French Country Cottage       My Romantic Home        Miss Mustard Seed

Rose Typography Table

 This will be a quick post to show off my new design.  I purchased this table from a friend.  It was missing some of the decorative moulding.  You can see the before picture below.  My husband stripped the moulding from the edges and I went to Lowe's and purchased some inexpensive moulding to wrap around the top of the table.

 I tried to trace on some typography, but I didn't like it so I used this Graphics Fairy French type image, but this time I used Picasa and converted the type to sepia tone.  I thought the brown would be softer against the rose image I was using.  Picasa is a free download photo editing program from Google and it's very easy to figure out.

 This rose image is to die for.  I found it on Pinterest.  I reversed the image and I also used the image in the normal view.  When reverse mod podging  or normal decoupaging like this, you need both views of your image.

 This might be one of my favorite projects to date.  In addition to needing new moulding, the drawers were also missing bottoms and had a lot of other issues.  Once again, my husband saved the day and helped me give this wonderful piece a whole new life.  The following photo is a before photo.

 Here is the Graphics Fairy image.  If you do a reverse mod podge transfer method, remember to reverse your image so the type comes out correctly and always use a laser image.  Any local copy center has laser copiers.

 I believe I found this rose image on Pinterest.  Isn't it gorgeous?

Thanks for your visit.  I haven't been sharing projects because my work schedule has been crazy busy which is a good thing.  I am heading to Paris next week so I will be sharing some of my travels when I return.  I will try to get one more post up before I leave.

Mondays          Le Chateau des Fleurs        
                                      Between Naps on the Porch Metamorphosis Monday

Wednesdays     Savvy Southern Style   Ivy and Elephants
                                           

Fridays            French Country Cottage       My Romantic Home        Miss Mustard Seed
                                    Potpourri Friday     Common Ground
                                    The Charm of Home    Rooted in Thyme

Rose Wreath Patio Table

I bought this table from a friend last summer to go with two of my wrought iron chairs that I was selling and before I could join them together the chairs sold.  It's a cute iron based table with some sort of Masonite top that has stood up to the hot sun on our balcony for a year.  Since the chairs are long gone, I decided to give this little piece a total makeover.

Her top was painted blue, a beautiful blue, much like the blue in the image I used.  It's hard to put an image on a colored table top and get it to look right so I painted the table Old White.  I went in and washed some light blue and light gray over the white to complement the image I was using.

This is one of my all time favorite images.  The original image was from the Graphics Fairy.  It did not have the text.  I actually purchased the image with the text on Etsy.  Here is the link if you would like to order it.  It's from Cottage Rose Graphics.    It's only 3.95 and it's an instant download.  I think it's gorgeous.

Then I used one of my scrolly stencils and positioned it around the image.  I stenciled it in white, a stark white, so that it would contrast with the light gray and blue wash.  I wanted it to stand out.

I thought it was too much of a contrast so I placed the stencil right over the original stenciled image and stenciled it in a light tan to coordinate with the colors in my image.  However, I was not careful to block out all the white.  It was getting better to me, but I decided to layer a third color over the stenciled scroll and I chose a light gray.  I love the result.

As with all my furniture projects, I did a reverse decoupage, but you could decoupage the image in the normal way.  This image looks fabulous on anything.  Since this is technically a patio table, I used exterior Decoupage medium, and then I sealed the entire tabletop with Valspar clear coat satin.  This is suitable for interior or exterior.  You can find it in the spray paint section at Lowe's.

Here is the original image from Graphics Fairy if you would like to try something like this without the typography.

Thanks for dropping by.

I may be partying at...

Mondays           Between Naps on the Porch Metamorphosis Monday

Wednesdays     Savvy Southern Style   Ivy and Elephants
                                           
Thursdays        The Shabby Creek Cottage    No Minimalist Here 
                                     
Fridays            French Country Cottage       My Romantic Home        Miss Mustard Seed
                                    Potpourri Friday     Common Ground
                                    The Charm of Home    Rooted in Thyme

Magazine Rack in Pastels and Roses

I've been experimenting with watered down paints to create a washy water color effect on my latest projects.  For this sweet little project I used three different colors and layered, layered, and layered some more.

I always use the reverse mod podge method to apply my images because they come out a little more vintage looking and look more hand painted, but this image could be easily mod podged in the usual way.

To give it a more European flavor, I used my antique gold paint on the trim and stencil.  Here is the link to the image which can be found on my Pinterest art board.

Thanks for your visit.

I may be partying at...

Mondays           Between Naps on the Porch Metamorphosis Monday


Wednesdays     Savvy Southern Style   Ivy and Elephants
                                           
Thursdays          No Minimalist Here 
                                     
 Fridays            French Country Cottage       My Romantic Home        Miss Mustard Seed
                                 

Romantic Florentine Accent Table

Now that I'm finished with my actual flea markets for a few months, I have a little more time to photograph and share my projects.  I'm experimenting with watercolor effects and combining them with my reverse mod podge and stenciling projects.  

This table was my first such attempt.  I started with a base coat of Old White.  This is a fabulous vintage table that could be used as a sofa table, a vanity or just a sweet little accent table, and it could be used just about anywhere.  I selected a beautiful 18th century painting that I found on Pinterest.  It's on my Pinterest art board if you would like to save it to one of your boards.

I also copied a beautiful Anna Griffin file folder and cut out her rose pattern to use around the edges of this piece.  Then I used two acrylic paints and watered them down and applied them randomly on the table top.  I chose two complementary colors that went with my image.  When the paint dried, I used one of my favorite scrolly stencils and applied it randomly on the table top.  This gorgeous stencil is from Wall Masque Stencils.  I found it on Etsy.  This is a very layered effect just like the old Florentine tables my mother had when I was a child.

To complete the look, I applied the water colors to the legs and the apron of the table.  

I also completed another little accent table this week by literally cutting and pasting a rose swag on another beautiful piece of art I found on Pinterest and a lovely piece of typography that I embellished with more cut out roses.  Once I applied these images to my table top, I used one of my new French poem stencils by DecoArt.  Our Joann's is not carrying these beautiful stencils yet, but I ordered mine from Home Depot on line.  The shipping was free and the stencils are a steal at 6.98 each.

This was another simple project.

I also want to remind everyone this is the fourth weekend of the month and that means The Little French Flea Market warehouse sale is going on.  If you are in the area, please stop by.  I will be doing a post very soon to share with you all the great things we have to offer.

Thanks for visiting.

I may be partying at...


Fridays            French Country Cottage       My Romantic Home        Miss Mustard Seed