Blog Archives

Small Chest Reno

7/30/2015

As I mentioned in my last post, I did get around to renovating another piece of furniture last week. We have had this small chest on a metal stand since 1997. While it has served its purpose dutifully, it was time for a makeover...

After my experience with the spray paint on the nesting tables, I decided to prime this piece. I used regular old grey auto primer then two coats of this pale turquoise. It is La Fonda Mirage by Valspar. While the paint was drying, I got to work on some handles with my leather tooling kit:

Luckily, I had just enough blank leather pieces to create two handles and a small loop for the front of the chest. I did some decorative stamping around the screw holes and treated the leather with some mineral oil. I found some decent looking wood screws in the shed, drilled holes, screwed them in and voila! Leather handles:

I think the paint and leather handles gave it a whole new life!

It definitely brightened up the space. I am pretty happy with the results, although the finish of this paint was flat. I may go back and seal it with some clear satin spray, but for now, I'm calling it good enough!
Have a wonderful weekend Everyone!
Cheers!
M J

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Taking a Break and a Sneak Peek

7/28/2015

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I am currently on a little solo break visiting my Aunt and Uncle in Pennsylvania. I took the long, winding route so I could enjoy some of the beautiful scenery on my drive. Unfortunately, there were no opportunities to snap any photos while driving (although, I have seen some people doing that - Um, hello! Dangerous!). I arrived yesterday before dinner and we were able to relax, have some wine and enjoy a delicious dinner by my Auntie on the deck watching the sun set. My Uncle is an incredible artist, as I have mentioned before, and we will be working on some art projects while I am here this week. So excited!

In other news, I did finish up another of my furniture renovations last week. Here is a sneak peek of a little part of that reno:

Have I piqued your interest?? Didn't know I could do leather working? ;-) I'll post about that reno later this week. Until then, I'm off to spend some quality time with Auntie and Uncle! Have a great week Everyone!
Cheers!
M J

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Nesting Coffee Table Reno

7/23/2015

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We have about a month until settlement on the new house, so I decided to tackle some small furniture renovation projects before we are completely bogged down with the house renovations. Remember my post about remote storage in the living room here? As a reminder, here are the nesting coffee tables from Ikea that we've had for years:

To be honest, I'm a bit over the super dark wood pieces now-a-days. These tables are still serviceable, so some spray paint, adhesive vinyl and Rub & Buff brought them up with the times:

I picked up some Rustoleum spray paint in bright gold for the legs and some Valspar spray paint in Azure Snow for the veneer tops. Unfortunately, I didn't notice that the Valspar was gloss. Duh. No problem. Luckily, I had some clear satin spray paint in the shed and it knocked the glossy mess right down to a nice satin sheen. The corner pieces are white adhesive vinyl that I cut with my Silhouette machine and then turned gold with some Rub & Buff. Have you ever shopped for brass corner hardware for furniture? Um, yeah, not spending that kinda money on cheap Ikea tables. We have an entire house to renovate my Peeps... However, I was happy to see that the wood grain of the veneer still shows through the paint a bit and gives the tops some much needed texture:

The paint didn't want to stick to the veneer in a few places, so I just let the first coat dry and did another. They aren't perfect, but they'll work until we can afford a new coffee table! :-) Let's just hope they survive the move two blocks over to the other house...

Good thing we have a lot of coasters. I have a feeling this finish isn't gonna last too long! LOL! I have four more pieces of furniture to refinish in the next month. Let's hope the next piece takes the paint better than these darn tables... It may be time to invest in a bottle of deglosser!
Have a great weekend Everyone!
Cheers!
M J

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Monday Boost

7/20/2015

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Yup, late AGAIN... :-) I have been giving myself some down time whenever possible lately. I am not going to berate myself for not keeping to some self-imposed schedule that does nothing but cause stress. There is so much going on in my head these days, I am noticing a distinct lack of balance...
Balance every thought with its opposition. Because the marriage of them is the destruction of illusion.
- Aleister Crowley
If you know me at all, you know that I do not enjoy illogical thought processes or hypocritical behavior. I guess it's the scientist in me to analyze everything to DEATH. It's in my nature, it's how I deal with my world, it's how I strive to understand discrepancies and the sometimes downright craziness around me. I always find two distinct sides to any issue and then I strive to see the grey between the black and white. I like grey. It can be a very soothing color. Live in purely black or white and you live in your own fantasy world devoid of the beautiful variations that can occur simply by balancing your views.
A continual, involuntary system of checks and balances is at work in our bodies, however, our minds also need a voluntary balance check every so often. A cleaning out of the cobwebs if you will...
Here's to clearing illusions and living with balance!
Have a great week Everyone!
Cheers!
M J

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Vanity Clean-out (i.e. Makeup Hoarder Rehab)

7/18/2015

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If you didn't know, I used to sell Mary Kay products. What happens when you sell a product you love, create an inventory, then STOP selling said product? You become a makeup hoarder, of course! I did well over the last few years, giving items to friends & family and using up product instead of buying new. However, yesterday, I got sick of all of the STUFF. We will be moving shortly and I don't want to move anything we don't absolutely need. So, after cleaning out my closet for the 3rd time this year, I decided to tackle my makeup hoard.

My vanity has been neglected for far too long, look at this mess:

Dusty, stuff thrown wherever, and my previously organized drawer was disgusting. I emptied everything out of the vanity, top and drawer, and discarded anything that was expired or just didn't work for me. I vacuumed out the drawer, then I cleaned it out with a damp towel. I also cleaned my makeup containers, bins and boxes with a damp towel to remove any grime. I then used furniture polish to dust and shine up the exterior of the vanity. Here is the mercifully clean drawer:

Then I got to work organizing what I had left of my makeup stash. Confession: I also had MORE makeup in the storage footstool at the foot of the bed. AAhhhh, it feels good to come clean! LOL... Here is the clean, organized drawer, which, I am happy to say, holds all the makeup I have left:

And the now clean and shiny vanity:

A place for everything and everything in its place. It feels good to pare down to just what I will actually use. Besides, having backups sitting around for ages for things like mascara and eyeliner probably isn't a great idea health-wise anyway. It's not like I live out in the boon-docks and can't get to a drugstore when I need something! I've actually been wearing a lot less makeup this year for some reason. Maybe it's the 7am yoga class four times a week that has changed my routine. Who needs makeup when you're just gonna sweat it off anyway...
I can already feel the healing aura of letting go... ;-)
Happy Weekend Everyone!! Have a great one!
Cheers!
M J

P.S. Sorry for the crappy cell phone pics! I didn't have it in me to drag out the good camera... I know, soooo lazy... LOL...

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Monday Boost & Great News!

7/13/2015

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Well, hello there! Sorry that I kinda disappeared for a bit, but I've felt like I needed a little vacay from everything lately. So much has happened in such a short period of time that my head was spinning, still is...

First, after some nail-biting and tooth-grinding, our offer for the house was accepted!! Woo hoo!! (Imagine me doing the Peanuts happy dance - fingers in the air people!) It was touch and go for a week or so, they asked for everyone's "best and final offer", we indicated that our offer WAS our best and VERY final offer, and then, low and behold, we were the highest offer! Just so you know, dealing with Fannie Mae is a pain in the royal tuckus. Anywho, you can just imagine how much decorating/organizing crap is CONSTANTLY scrolling through my head... Sleep has evaded me.

Second, sometime on last Friday, our HVAC went kaput. Awesomesauce!! Not to mention that the guy came out last Monday to recharge the system with refrigerant, which by Friday had leaked into our attic space. Real great, huh?? Good thing there is a solar exhaust fan up there, geez... Glad to report that as of 30 minutes ago, I now sit here mercifully in the AC after sweating it out for 3 days! :-)

Third, we finished the back splash in this kitchen and it looks great! Yes, we grouted, caulked and installed new outlets with no AC in the house. Yes, we are crazy... LOL... BUT, look how PURDY...

I consider the last 3 days to be training for the new house. It needs some serious updating and I am just too excited to get the keys and start tearing things apart over there! Oh, and we are pretty sure it needs an entirely new HVAC system. Cha-ching!! Hubby and I will need to keep a close hold on the purse strings for quite a while, but we are moving to the location we have been wanting. We cannot complain!
I hope you all have a wonderful week and thank you for all of the good vibes! We so appreciate you guys!
Cheers!
M J

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Small Chest Reno

Taking a Break and a Sneak Peek

Nesting Coffee Table Reno

Monday Boost

Vanity Clean-out (i.e. Makeup Hoarder Rehab)

Monday Boost & Great News!

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