Wednesday, July 30, 2008

More projects when I return home.

Well I had great luck today finding great furniture to refinish. I can't wait to get started on the pieces that I picked up today. I picked up the furniture from the place in San Marcos and I was a little shocked at the cost. Not what I anticipated at all but it's done so I will have to live with it! I will either find a less expensive place or continue to refinish it all myself. Linsi's chest turned out beautiful. Today I found two antique dresser's to take home and refinish, they were in excellent condition and so were the mirrors that went with them. I plan to paint another one green like the other one that sold quickly and maybe light blue on one of them. I am about to go to Home Depot to look at paint and other supplies that I might purchase before I head home tomorrow. I am wanting to find the liquid sandpaper that many people talk about using on their painted projects. I would like to try that method of refinishing also. I am having good luck with using the Kilz and sandpaper with my projects but I would like to try new ways also. We have a cabinet person giving us a price on removing the cabinets above the bar for us and he is going to give us price on putting the trim above the cabinets and taking out the fir down above our cabinets. So I will post pictures of that when we get that done. All the sinks are in now and when I get home I'll post more pictures of that too. Things are slowly getting done. School is about to start again so I am hoping to get things back in order soon. Things get really hectic when I start back teaching and coaching. Wow, 2 blog posts in one day! Michelle from London commented and I tried to comment back but I was unable to comment, so if you read this Michelle thanks for the comment and I wish you good luck with your painting projects. Be careful because I think it can be addictive!

Headboard Project Completed

Guadalupe River
Shabby Headboard




Well I am back in Austin and Linsi and I finished her King Size headboard last night. She really likes it and we leaned it against her dark brown wall in her bedroom and I must say it looks really good. She bought this on Craigslist a while back and we decided to shabby it up. It was brown mahogany before we painted it white. We put two coats of Kilz on it and sanded it then put two coats of Behr paint in the color Polar Bear. This is a nice color of white and after we sanded it the last time we sanded down to the wood underneath so that it would show through for that rugged look she wanted. And the last step was using Howard's Citrus Shield Wax. I have tried several other waxes on my furniture but this one seems to give the best results for me. Today Haley and I are traveling over to San Marcos to pick up a few pieces of furniture that I am having dipped. The name of the place is Furniture Restoration and they are a very nice couple that refinish furniture. They have 3 large vats that they dip furniture into if you want to have it stripped down to the bare wood which is what I am having done. I will do the refinishing myself but I thought this would be some much quicker than me stripping the items myself. Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Kitchen countertop is finished

Before












The kitchen counter top is finished. We need to install the new sink and insert the stove top. We will probably do that tomorrow. I am very pleased with the new counter tops. The next phase of this project will be to tear out the overhead cabinets above the bar. I think someone is coming to look at that Sunday afternoon. As soon as that is done then we can start on the walls and the cabinets. My sister, Lisa came for a visit and spent the night with me Tuesday and we had a really nice visit. I am going back to Austin to bring back some of the furniture that I bought to refinish and I will finish Linsi's headboard when I return. I need to sand it one more time and then put the wax on it and it will be finished. Linsi found a nice place to live in Dallas and she is excited about fixing it up! It's an older place that is cottage style so we are making plans on how to decorate it. Until next time, have a great week.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Good finds and RIVER fun!

Saturday was a good day for buying good furniture to refinish and shabby up and it was a GREAT day to float the Guadalupe River in San Marcos. Linsi and I shopped that morning for furniture pieces and after lunch we picked Haley up from work and headed to San Marcos to float the River. None of us had ever done this before but it was fun and beautiful. If my camera still works (it's drying out) I will post pictures later. I took some really great ones but at the very end of the trip we went through a rough rapid and the camera got wet. Hopefully after is dries out for a couple of days it will work again. We are going back to the city wide sale today and pick up the treasures we found and shop a little more today. I am going to have a ton of painting to do when I return home. I found the cutest children's desk and chair yesterday that came from England. I'm going to leave it as is because it is fine like it is. I also found a antique bed, bench, vanity, and armoire that will be perfect for refinishing. It has a few minor things that I will have to fix but overall it is going to be a really nice set when I'm finished. I am going to have to make another trip here to pick up all my treasures because my car is not big enough to bring it all back home. I am still searching for a cargo trailer but no luck finding a good used one yet. The linens were really nice yesterday too, so I purchased a few of those to clean and put in my space at the antique store. I am going to sand Linsi's headboard today and finish it with Howard's citrus shield wax and that project will be complete. Linsi likes it much better painted white and is excited about getting her new place fixed up with some of the things we've bought and redone. I am returning home tomorrow with as many of my things as I can fit into my SUV! Have a great Sunday.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Vintage Lamp Renewal

Headboard with Primer on it.
Presto Felt for Lamps

Trim before the new braid was applied.

















I picked up a beautiful old lamp on my way to Austin this week and last night I cleaned it up and added some trim to the lamp shade and it is ready to go! I didn't like the shade that was on it so I found another one yesterday and I thought it needed a little trim around the top and bottom. The original trim was tiny gold braid. I went to Jo Ann's Fabrics and bought the trim and came back and hot glued it around the edges. I plan to replace the felt on the bottom also and I found this neat felt made just for lamp projects. It is self sticking and all you have to do is cut it to fit your lamp. I also painted the primer on Linsi's King Size Headboard last night. I forgot to take a before picture but it was a dark Mahogany finish. I am going to be out and and about today, so I am hoping to find some new treasures! There is a nice Antique Mall here in Austin that I visited last month and I may swing by there and see what they have.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Early Bird gets the Worm?

primitive table I found at an estate sale.
I woke up Tuesday morning at 4:30 a.m. to get ready for my trip to Austin. I get excited when I'm going to go on a trip and I can't sleep! I think I have ADHD tendency's (at least my kids think that). I keep thinking I'm going to miss out on something if I don't get up early and get going! LOL....Well I left Newton at 6 a.m. had to turn around and go back to the house a couple of times because I forgot things....imagine that! I ended up still forgetting a few things. I am going to paint Linsi's headboard white and fix it for her before she moves to Dallas. I made a few stops on my way here and bought a few treasures. My only problem with trying to leave so early and not miss anything "the stores are not open that early" so I didn't get to stop and do any antiquing until I reached Brenham! Once into Austin I met Haley and Eliza for lunch. Eliza is a precious little girl that she babysits. On my way here, I got a phone call from my antique store and they said I had sold my primitive table and some other items in my booth. This was the table that I really didn't want to sell but I guess it's too late now. I'll post a picture of it, it was very old. The nails were square that held it together. I am going to a few places here in Austin to look for pieces to refinish and put in my booth spaces. I am going to have to get busy when I return home. This has been a good month for my booth sales, I'm excited! Haley and I are taking Eliza to play in the water today at this park. I have got to get ready before they get here! Have a great Wednesday. By the way the kitchen is coming a long nicely. I"ll post the progress when I get back home. The tile is finished and it looks great.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Getting Things Done!

yum!
after the green paint

before


I have been a bad blogger because I have been super busy this week. They finished the tile in the kitchen today and I will take pictures later to show the project thus far. It looks really nice and now we are moving to phase 2 of this project. We moved everything out of the kitchen today so that we can start taking the trim down and begin painting. I also painted a pink door and three blue doors. I will post pics of the doors when I'm finished. I am putting these in my antique space for backdrops. I moved into a new space Saturday and before I could get my green dresser into my space a lady bought it! I was so excited but I really wanted to have it in my space so I could use it to decorate my booth. The lady said that she was going to leave it for a couple of weeks, but then she called back and said she was picking it up, so Haley and I came back to the house and picked up some other items to fill the space. I am going to look for another dresser to paint that same green....I really liked the way it turned out. I didn't get to take a picture of this project complete in my space like I wanted. But I will post one before and after that I have. Haley has been so much help this week and I have enjoyed her visit so much. I'm going to miss her when she heads back to Austin tomorrow. She took a swimming aerobics class this past spring semester and she should me some of the exercises that she learned and we have been exercising in the pool mornings and afternoons. I purchased a aqua jogger set and I think I am really going to enjoy doing this in the pool. We have been eating my husband Jimmy's great cooking all week along with my mom's great cooking, so I need to exercise in that pool for sure! Jimmy went Creek fishing and caught some of the best creek trout, so we had that one night and then we ate his great bbq. another night. Since the kitchen is out of order right now we are doing alot of cooking outside and around the pool. I'll be heading to Austin this week, so along the way I may find some treasures!

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

More Projects.....Woo Hoo!!!




Haley and I are going to Beaumont today to get fabric for the chairs and to look for a slip cover for the couch she will be using in her new apartment in the Fall. The chairs are covered in a deep red furry type velvet material and she wants something with a little more Pottery Barn look. These are chairs that match the dining table she will use in Austin. I think my mother-in-law painted them dark brown for some reason so we are going to try and remove that paint. There is a beautiful old buffet that matches it and we are going to refinish it so she can use it too. She is not into the cottage style so everything will stay it's original color....no white! We are going to paint her bedroom furniture black and shabby it up. She loves leopard print with deep red and she is going to use that again in her bedroom and bath. The kitchen is coming along nicely and I have posted some of the pictures of what it looks like this morning. They are working again today so hopefully it will be done soon. I would like to move on to phase two with the kitchen. Well need to finish getting ready for our shopping trip. I hope we find what we are looking for! Have a Wonderful Wednesday.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Finally a 'LiL break!


I have been soooo busy. Mom and I went to Canton Trade Days Saturday and Sunday and had a blast! I found some great stuff. I had the dreaded yearly checkup with the Doctor yesterday in Houston.....hate those. I have one more appointment for the dreaded yearly mammogram. Boy, what us women have to go through! I've posted one of my favorite treasures from this weekend on this blog entry. It was a chandelier for the porch. I bought it "naked" and then added some things to it to dress it up. My youngest daughter came in last night from Austin and she loved the back porch and how I have been decorating it. She hasn't been home in awhile and she couldn't believe the changes that I had made. She and I enjoyed a nice evening on the porch catching up on her life and what she is doing in Austin. I turned the"new chandelier" on and it looked great! Today we are going to look for her some things for her new apartment she will be moving into in the fall. We went to her grandmothers house last night and brought the chairs home for her dining room table that I am going to cover. We need to choose a fabric to cover them, so I think we are going to decide that today. And then there is the kitchen project. They are laying the tile today, so I am so excited about that. I will take more pictures of that as it progresses. The cabinet guy came yesterday and said that he could remove the cabinets over the bar. I think that is going to look so good. Stay turned for more pictures!

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Kitchen Makeover

Red Geranium Arrangement

Before the Formica was removed.






After the Formica was removed.










They took most of the Formica off the cabinets yesterday. I am posting a few pictures of the kitchen before and after. I will keep you posted on the makeover! I am going to start working on taking down that yucky plaid wallpaper. I hope this is the last wallpaper I ever have to take down. We built our house in the early 80's and wallpaper was the BIG thing during that era, so I had wallpaper all over the house. I bought the stainless sink yesterday and I have the faucet ordered for the kitchen and bathroom. I am also making over the master bathroom. When they start putting the tile in their I will post pictures of that makeover. The laundry room is also getting a face lift and I will keep you posted on that room also.I decided to go with a stainless sink because I would like to get a stainless refrigerator later on for the kitchen. I also included a picture of an arrangement that my mom made for my front door. I bought the red geraniums and the basket container in Canton last month. Today I am going to move my booth space to another space and I am going to look for a new light fixture for the kitchen. Then when I get back I am going to work on that wallpaper removal. And then hopefully tonight I will work on the green dresser and finish it up. I wanted to let it sit for a couple of days to make sure the paint is good and dry. Haley, my youngest daughter is coming home for a visit next week. She and I are going to work on some of the furniture from her grandmothers house. She is going to get an apartment this fall semester and she is excited about decorating it. She wants to use some of the furniture that belonged to her grandmother, so we are going to decide which pieces she will use in her new place. She is so excited about being in an apartment. She was in the Scottish Rites Dorm her first semester at U.T. and it was a great experience but she is ready for her own room and a bigger closet! Well I need to get busy....lots to do today! Have a blessed day.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Kitchen Countertop

water garden before the plants were added around the tub.
Water garden after plants were placed after plants were placed around the tub.




They are starting on my counter tops today! I will post "before" and "after" pictures of this project. I took pictures this morning of my new water garden. I arranged a few of my plants around the tub to hide the cord that comes from the pump. I haven't decided yet which plants I will leave around the tub. It takes me awhile to decide on which ones look the best.

If you haven't tried making a water garden, it is so easy to make.
You will need a small pump that pumps 60 - 70 gallons of water per hour. You will see on the side of the box 60 gph. Make sure that your pump is adjustable. This is important so that you can control the flow of water into the waterfall fixture. Then you have to decide what you will want your water fixture to be. I picked this tub because I already had it. But there are tons of other things to use such as a pretty glazed pot(you need to make sure it doesn't have any holes in the bottom), a whiskey barrel, a birdbath, and the list goes on. Basically anything that will hold water and is deep enough for the pump to be submersible. Then you buy a aquatic plants and a small bag of river rock or pebbles. There are several items to choose for the waterfall. You can use old pottery pitchers, bamboo waterfalls, Home Depot and Lowe's has different things like fish, frogs, etc. that you can attach your pump and those make cute water falls. If you choose a fish or one of those fixtures for you water fall you will need a small piece of 1/2" or 3/8" plastic tubing. They also sell the tubing that you need for those items.


I used a small black water spout that was around $12.00. This connects directly onto the pump so you don't need tubing if you use this type of water fall. You could make a cute water garden for a table top with these same tools just pick a fixture for your water this shorter and smaller so that it fits on your table. This is nice when you are sitting on your porch and you can turn the water garden on and it's very relaxing and soothing to hear the sound of water trickling.
I would love to see some of the water gardens that some of you have created. So share if you would like! Have a Wonderful Wednesday!

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Another Water Garden





Yesterday I bought a couple of aquatic plants for half price at Home Depot and I made another water garden today. I love the sound of water while I am sitting on the porch. I made this one out of an old foot tub that I've had for some time. I'll take some pictures of it in the morning and post them. I've been working on some of my projects and they are coming along really well and I should be finished with the green dresser by Thursday. This pink pitcher is an old depression glass pitcher that I bought several years ago and the pattern is "Madrid". I have several pieces of pink depression glass that I have collected over the years. I think it is such pretty glass and I love looking for new pieces.