Lingerie Chest with Toile Motif

I found this little lingerie chest at the flea market.  It's not old at all. I liked the size, but the drawers were wood grained and the rest was black.  I found this new toile image I wanted to try out and this seemed like the perfect piece to try it on.  I learned a lesson on this piece.  The finish was extremely slick and although I sanded it down and give it a coat of chalk paint, the finish was still too slippery and when I went to do my reverse mod podge transfer that I usually do, the image pretty much slid off.  This was a first for me.  So I simply decopaged the image on in the normal way.  I like doing the reverse mod podge better because I get more of a hand painted feel.

I found several rolls of wallpaper border at a garage sale that had this wonderful French style relief on it.  The size was perfect for these petite dresser drawers.  I followed the directions on the package by wetting the wallpaper border and applying them to the fronts of the drawers but I found the paper lifting.  I'm convinced the original finish on the drawer fronts was too slippery as well.  Tacky glue came to my rescue and the paper is very secure now. 

I painted over the paper which is what the directions called for as well and it blends beautifully with the rest of the piece.

I did a little sanding to distress the piece when it was done.  The original color was black and in case any of my paint chips off it will just blend with the already distressed finish.  The hardware also got painted to tie in with the look.

Here is the piece as I found it.  I took the first drawer out and started painting and then remembered I needed to take a before photo.

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Guest Retreat

Last year was a crazy year which left little room in my schedule for blogging.  Our youngest daughter bought a place of her own which meant decorating and shopping to get her settled.  I'll be doing a blog post on her cute little townhouse very soon.  Her moving out meant that the room she inhabited for a very long long time needed a desperate redo.  This also took up a big part of the end of my year, but finally I am ready to share the results.

Her room was a generic white which she liked, but I was ready for some subtle color.  I chose a greige color from Dunn Edwards for the walls.  The bedding was stock bedding from Bed, Bath and Beyond.  Everything needed to be washable and pretty well indestructible as we know our grandson will be using this room when he visits.  However, I didn't want to do a child's room because he is only here around three times a year.

The closet doors are floor to ceiling and 12 feet across.  We replaced the cracked mirrored doors with paneled doors to blend with the rest of the house.

I found these two Home Goods style side tables at the flea market.  They don't match, but I like it better that way.  The pair came to $60.  I couldn't pass them up.

They were perfect for the room.  The lamps came from Home Goods.  Nothing fancy about them, but I like that they are plain and tailored.

This pillow was a find at Bed, Bath and Beyond.  It's perfect for this guest retreat.  In looking at this photo, I just noticed the pillow shams behind my dreamer pillow are different.  I find that rather odd, but I like it just the same.

A traditional magazine rack holds clean towels and wash cloths and a few of my favorite books for perusing.

I found this Hotel de Paris sign at the flea market, and these great photographs of old Paris hotels look like they are matted,but they are not.  They hang between two pieces of clear glass and the wall behind shows through.

This sweet little chair came from a yard sale.  I've had it for years and finally had it recovered with plain drop cloth fabric.  The script pillow is the finishing touch.

This is our daughter's Ikea bed that she left behind.  It was pine and I wanted to add more pizazz to the room with the black accents.  My husband wasn't crazy about having painted furniture in the house but now I think he likes how clean and fresh the room is.

I am kind of making this room a reminder of last year's fabulous trip to France that I took with my girlfriend.  She knew I was doing this room in black and white so she made me this wreath for Christmas as a reminder of our incredible vacation.  Isn't it darling?  I'm going to hang an antique French mirror above the chair and have this swagging the front of it.  

Thanks for taking the tour of our new guest retreat.


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Paris Chalkboard

This is a crazy busy time of year at work and I can't believe I didn't photograph this whole door but somehow I did not so I will just share snippets with you.

I would love to tell you this was an old door I salvaged from a fabulous flea market or salvage yard but this door is circa 1994.  The best I can do is call it "vintage Ikea."

After the Northridge earthquake when we repaired our house and did a little updating, my girls wanted Ikea furniture.  That was many moons ago and our youngest finally purchased her own place this year.  Did she take Ikea with her?  Heck no.  Coming up soon you will see another post about other things we did with her "vintage Ikea" furniture.

We demolished the TV cabinet which was ready to fall down on its own and my husband was able to save this door for me.  There were actually two, but he insisted the other one was too badly damaged to use for anything.  I wish he would have let me be the judge of that.

The pine door got painted a generic creamy white.  I added my raised plaster stencil technique which you can see here.  I also added some joint compound here and there on the door to give it a roughed up look and also to get my washy paint to give the door an aged look.

The door got a heavy sanding and a healthy wash of dark brown paint, probably raw umber or burnt umber.  Whichever one is darkest brown.  Just a wash was all it took to get in the crevices.

Next I added a little stenciling and a chalkboard finish to the top panel.  I love the way it came out.  I did manage to find another tall pantry door at the salvage yard this week and I plan to do the same treatment on it.

Here is the door with just the white paint and the raised plaster stencil before I did all the aging of it.

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Paris Apartment Dresser

This is one of my favorite finishes to put on furniture and it's so easy.  Whenever I do a piece like this, it sells very fast so I usually have one as a back up waiting to bring in.  This dresser had kind of a retro vibe so it was perfect for this finish.

To achieve this look, I use Annie Sloan's Old Ocher.  It's a dirty grayish white and it complements the gray paint I use on the trim.

Once the piece is painted, I go over the borders of the drawers and the edges around the top and whatever detail a piece has with a very dark gray.  Then I go over the gray with an antique brass paint.  Modern Master's is my favorite.  It has an old goldish tone to it.

Then I give the piece a heavy duty sanding to expose the layers of the paint.  I almost always leave my hardware in the original gold tone finish, especially if it is aged and has great patina.

I apply this old world cherub image and add some French words from my collection of stencils.  If you don't have stencils, print the words on your computer and trace them onto your piece.  The image can be decoupaged or reverse mod podged, whatever your preference.

It's okay if your lettering is not perfect.  Give it a good sanding and enjoy the vintage Paris Apartment feel that this finish exudes.

Thanks for visiting.

Fridays            French Country Cottage       My Romantic Home        Miss Mustard Seed

Remembrance of Paris

Last summer I took an incredible trip to Northern France, and we spent several days in Paris so when I came across this image called Remembrance of Paris, I knew I had to do something with it.

I had some small pieces of peg board that I was saving to paint some signs on and they were the perfect size.  I painted the board white and applied my image.  Since the board had a funny texture, it was a little rougher than usual where the mod podge had been applied.  I wanted a very vintage look to the sign so that was okay with me.

I used tan and light grey and layered the whole board with several layers of washes.  I also used some stencils and applied some designs with my joint compound to make a 3-D effect.

I stenciled the word France on the very bottom and applied one of my small metal roses to the top.

Finally I waxed the whole board.  It's the perfect size and is a nice souvenir to help me remember my fabulous vacation.

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Maison Clement Drop Leaf Desk

A couple of weeks ago I sold at The Little French Flea Market in Tarzana, California, and here are a couple of small desks that I sold right off the bat.

This first desk is a very small drop leaf desk.  I thought it would be great in a kitchen or any small nook would be perfect.  I painted it white and then applied my images using the reverse mod podge method for transfer.

I used various pastry shop images I have purchased on Etsy.  These images always appeal to me for some reason.  Maybe it's my sweet tooth.

This desk sold the first day of the market.  Below is the before photo.  It was just an unfinished pine piece that was in desperate need of reinventing.

Here is a second desk that was the first thing to go.  Unfortunately by the time I got around to photographing it, I was getting the afternoon shadows.  I always shy away from these desks, but it's so hard to find inexpensive pieces to re-do lately that I went ahead and took a chance on this piece.  I just stenciled it up, added a little chair and away it went.

I even decorated the side.  It was an easy project and I was glad to have an extra piece to sell.  Perfect for a teen girl's room.

Thanks for your visit.

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Dresser with French Script

This was a very simple dresser makeover.  I am getting ready for the Little French Flea Market this weekend in Tarzana so I am churning out projects left and right.  This was a simple pine dresser, probably was one of those unfinished pine type dressers.

I bought an inexpensive stencil from Wall Masque stencils on Etsy.  It made the project so easy.  I just painted the piece my usual white and then used a medium brown acrylic paint to do the lettering.  It turned out so cute.  I love it.  Below is the before pic.

If you are in the area this weekend, stop by for a fun flea market experience.  I'll be selling with 30 other dealers including Pat from Aubergine Emporium and Jennifer from Hoot'n'Anny.  The weather will be perfect!

           

Thanks for stopping by.


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Fridays            French Country Cottage       My Romantic Home        Miss Mustard Seed