Leaf Me Alone, I Want To Play Dress Up!

An Update for a Very Old Dresser

You may know that over the past several years we put an addition on our home. Ourselves. Well, with a LOT of help from family and friends. Any renovation is challenging, to say the least. By the time you get to 'dressing' the new rooms, you've changed your minds about color a thousand times, many arguments have ensued ("we said we were going to put the door THERE, not THERE"), and the budget has dwindled to next to nothing.  What you find is, "Next to Nothing" can be quite inspiring.

Gar had been making use of a hand-me-down dresser from my parents since we were married. Before it became his, it was part of their 1962ish blonde bedroom set. Yes, you know the ones.  They had done a blue pickling technique after living with the 'blonde' into the 70s.  When it came to us, we painted it a deep red- almost burgundy. And it lived happily that way until the 'new master bedroom' was in need of something new to go along with the rest of it. But, alas, no budget.

We had incorporated things with leaves into our bedroom, like our bedside lights and our curtains.


Our leafy bedroom curtains.

 So why not the dresser?  I scoured the basement for paint and found some light blue-ish gray that was leftover from our bathroom. Love the color but it needed something else. Oh yeah, leaves.



I painted this puppy the light blue-ish gray I found in the basement. 
Sorry I don't have step by step pictures, I did this two years ago.  This picture really
doesn't do this dresser justice.

 I also found some white paint, went outside to find the perfect leaves, and painted the leaves and pressed them on the newly painted dresser. LOVE it!



The best was when the veining in the leaves really showed through.





As you can see by the burgundy showing through on the bottom of the dresser,
it might be time for a touch up.



The old, dark brass handles needed a lift too. Used chrome spray paint on them after cleaning them up, roughing them up and priming.



Here's another view. The leaves are sprinkled across the top of the dresser too.



This was a really easy technique. What took the most time was the drying time of the base coat of paint. This would be really cute for a bedside table, or whatever piece of furniture you want to spruce up. Of course, spruce have needles and not leaves so I probably could have chosen a better word!

Paint On my lovelies.


The Real Deal

Just wanted to confess. I did not Shark vac yesterday and it shows.  Furball alert! Nobody is perfect and neither is our home. But that's probably what makes it a home.
Full disclosure- you're not the only one who has tumbleweeds rolling across the floor. We do too.



Furball City under our dining table.

Welcome to the Real World.

Have a wonderful Wednesday.

Have A Seat

We've had the same dining chairs for a long, long time. Before we had them, they were my sister Gloria's. Before her, they were someone else's. They've stood the test of time, though they are starting to get a little wonky from the many years of use (and yes, they've been re-glued over and over).  They've also had many face lifts- the seats recovered and recovered again. It's an easy change, so why not?  They've been covered in this toile for a few years now.




Dining chairs with original stain, and black and white toile.
It lasted a few years but time for a white wash and change of sorts.


When we got towards the end of our kitchen makeover, the funds were getting low for anymore 'new' stuff. If you've done any construction or face-lifts in your home, you know how that goes. And although I'd like new chairs, I knew it wasn't going to happen right at this moment. So one more 'quick change'. Since our new cabinets are espresso colored, and our new floor is on the darker side (heritage pecan laminate to be exact), I wanted these chairs to be on the lighter side. I found some cream paint (called straw) downstairs (which is also on our bedroom ceiling).  Slapped some of that on and then distressed with sandpaper.  Struck gold at Joanne Fabric with some very inexpensive linen. Also picked up an alphabet stencil and some black stencil paint.  I had Lidia Bastianich running through my head. If you watch her show Lidia's Italy, you know she ends each episode with an Italian saying ....."Tutti A Tavola A Mangiare"...everyone to the table to eat! Here's the result:



A whimsical touch to make people laugh when they sit to eat at our table.

Inspired by Lidia!

 The second chair received the 'eat, drink, be merry' treatment.  That's as far as I've gotten. I still have two chairs and two sayings to go. I'm leaning towards 'keep your elbows off the table' and 'always say please and thank you'.




See how I distressed the edges with a little sandpaper? I love things distressed. I think it's a great
metaphor for life- just perfect the way they are, but a little rough around the edges. 
And, I happen to love the way it looks.

On another note, two thumbs up to our volunteer fire force here in Stratham. They were right on the ball on July 5th. They gave us a good show as they flushed the hydrant at the fire pond which is located next door at our neighbor's (Joanne and Fred) place. It's nice to know they're keeping up with the regular maintenance of the hydrants so they're in good working order should they need them. Plus, it's always fun to watch as it is quite a spectacle.


The fountain of spray slowed lots of cars down and brought neighbors out to watch!





The hose had quite a reach. It took them about a half an hour before they were completely done.


The hydrant show didn't disappoint. A nice finish to the 4th of July holiday.  We'll see them again next year about this time.

Have a great Thursday- the weekend is almost here!