Storm Chaser

Well it looks like we might be hit by another hurricane, so I am packing my bags and heading north. The mandatory evacuation begins tomorrow at noon. I am going to stay with my daughter Linsi in Dallas. My husband says he's not leaving so I guess he will ride out another storm. We both said that we would not do it again but he has changed his mind. My parents are supposed to pack and come with me so I will wait for them to get here and we will leave sometimes tomorrow. I worked on my antique space today and when I left to come home the traffic was already bumper to bumper. I hope that it settles down a little tomorrow so we aren't in all that traffic. I will share pictures of the completed furniture when I return home. Take care and stay safe!

Friday and another storm!

We were hit hard in our area several years ago by Hurricane Rita so people in this area are a little more alert and concerned when the weather guys start talking about category 3 Hurricanes. We were not well prepared for Rita and I certainly wasn't paying attention to the weather channel. We live so far off the coast I didn't see any reason to be alarmed, but we found out that it can come this far so everyone here is preparing for another storm. Hopefully it won't come through here again, but I have my gas tank full and ready to head North if it happens to come this way. I won't stay this time and ride it out!

It's Friday and I'm ready for a long weekend. No school Monday so that is going to be nice. I finished up my vanity and chest of drawers last night and it looks really good. All I have left is sanding and sealing! I'll post pictures when I finish. I also purchased a few new items and my husband picked them up for me last night. A friend is moving and she had several antiques that I bought. A really old singer treadle machine, 3 very old trunks, and a dresser and chest of drawers. Those will be my next refinishing projects. There was some really old things left in the drawers of the sewing machine and I will share with you later what was in those drawers. I'll take photos so you can see! Neat things from the past. Stay tuned for more photos and projects to be posted. Have a great weekend!

More painted furniture almost complete

Things have been selling really well in my antique spaces so I have been busy trying to finish up some of my painting projects so I can put more in my spaces. Tonight I painted a really cute antique dresser a vintage green, I painted a chest of drawers vintage pink, and I also painted a mirror that will sit on top of a dresser a vintage blue. I decided to paint several different pieces different shabby colors so that I could have several choices for the customer. I will let them dry for a couple days and then add the 2nd coat. I will post pictures when I'm finished.
The kitchen project is moving along again! The cabinet man showed up today and he took the cabinets down over the bar. It looks so much better, I love it. When he gets finished I'll post those pictures too. Today is my oldest daughters birthday and she is coming home for a visit this weekend. That always means good cooking and eating! She has already requested grilled shrimp wrapped in peppers and bacon.
I am ready for a little cooler weather! Have a wonderful Weds. Jenny good luck with your furniture painting!

A few "before and after" pictures

Before

After

My daughter Linsi painted her kitchen and it looks great! It's a beautiful color by Benjamin Moore Paints. The name of the color is Robin's Nest Blue. She is going to paint her bedroom this color too. The old window that we hung above the sink was etched by my sister several years ago. It was used in my house a long time ago and since she didn't have a window in her kitchen I thought this was a cute piece to decorate her kitchen. As far my kitchen, I'm still waiting for the cabinet guy to come and rip out the cabinets above my bar. He is supposed to come this week and get started. I will believe it when I see him coming down the road!

School officially begins tomorrow morning, so I will be back into the swing of things at work. UT has their first football game this weekend and I have season tickets so I am probably going to be on the road to Austin once again. Go HORNS!

Have a SUPER Sunday!!!!

Rain, Rain, you finally came!

Well we have needed rain for some time and it has finally started to rain here. The only problem with rainy weather is it's not good for painting! I painted some tonight though on one of my projects. I'll take a picture when I'm finished. It's a cute cabinet that belonged to my mother-in-law. It was brown and I'm painting it white and adding a green glass knob to the door. I am going to add one more coat of paint and shabby it up and add the knob and I'll be finished with it. I have several dressers that I am going to paint next. I will get those sanded and prepared hopefully this weekend. I have been working in my office at the ballpark and at school. I am trying to get all of my paper work copied and getting ready for the 1st day with kids which will be Monday. I got Haley moved into her new apartment and everything looked great. I am going to make curtains for Haley's bedroom and I ordered her a shower curtain from Ballard's. When I go back and put the curtains up I will take pictures of the finished room. When we floated the river in July I took the digital camera that I use the most and it got wet and it no longer works! I bought the camera for my husband and it was small and easy to use. Now I'm back using my Sony digital that is really big and bulky to carry around! I am going to buy me another digital that is small and easy to carry with me when I'm on the road. I have been watching the Olympics every night and sitting up way too late! I am going to try and get to bed a little earlier tonight. Have a great week!

One to go!

One more to go! Haley is moving in her apartment this weekend and that will be the end of moving kids for a while! Whew, I am glad that it will be over. I finished all the furniture projects and will head out in the morning to Austin. This week has been busy with school starting and with me trying to finish all the projects for Haley's apartment. I am going to start working on the dresser that I bought a couple of weeks ago and some of my other furniture that I want to paint. We are still waiting for the cabinet guy to come and take out the cabinets above the bar. Hopefully we will get that done soon. My house is turned upside down from all the remodeling in the kitchen and Haley's boxes. I should be able to clean up some since I have Haley's boxes out of the house. I will take pics of Haley's place and let you take a peek at her new place!

Linsi's New Place and winding up projects!

chest of drawers with just two of the handles on. I had this piece dipped. I wish I would have to took a before pic. It was an awful black and white. This is the natural wood and we are leaving it this color.

This is the small wardrobe in the dining room. This may be refinished in a turguoise shabby.
The kitchen before she was completely moved in!

The front of her place.

I am posting a few before pictures of Linsi's new place. I think it is really going to be a cute place to fix up and make her own! It is really different from what she has been used to the last eight years. It is more like a small house and not the apartment style from the past. It has old wooden floors, the washer and dryer are in the kitchen, no dishwasher, no microwave, and very cottage looking. I'm excited about helping decorate it. I had found a couple of antique furniture pieces that she liked and she is going to use those in her new place. She also took her grandmothers old desk and put it in the small office area to use for her computer. We are going to refinish the old vanity and the small wardrobe. The small wardrobe is in the dining room and it looks really cute. It has wooden drawers behind the doors and drawers on the bottom so she can store place mats and other things in this. I think we may paint it a turquoise color to have a color that pops in that room. I put the last coat of black paint on the large chest for Haley today and my parents came up and helped me finish staining the dining room chairs. Haley is moving Friday so I have to hurry and finish all her "stuff" before Friday!!! And I go back to work Weds.!!! Yikes I hope I get it all done. Matt, my son moved into his new place this week also. Thank goodness I didn't have to go and help him! Since he is guy he pretty much does his own. His sister help him decorate his room a little and that is it. I've had a great summer and I am ready for School to begin. It's funny how you can't wait until May to get here so you can have those summer months and then when it's time to get started again I'm always ready for the new school year. There is nothing like seeing those sweaty football players doing 2 a days in the hot weather and the volleyball players in the gym working out. I love it! I will post pictures of the furniture when I'm finished. We are still working on the kitchen. The man is coming this week to take the middle cabinets out and then put the trim on the top of the cabinets. We are not in a big hurry on this project so it is coming along slowly. Have a Super Sunday! By the way I found another old suitcase this weekend at Larry's Trade Days and I made another pet bed last night when I got home. I took it to my antique space today and forgot to take a picture! I'll take one tomorrow and post it later.

Vintaqe Suitcase made into a Pet Bed

Today I decided to work on a project that I've been wanting to attempt for several weeks. I bought the old suitcase in Austin last time I visited the kids, the fabric for the pillow was some that I had on hand,the wooden legs were bought from Lowe's and I painted them black with spray paint. I have been on the search for more old suitcases but so far I have not had any luck locating them. This cute pet bed will be at the antique store where I have a booth space and someone lucky pet will have a comfortable new bed! I will be on the road early in the morning heading to Dallas. Have a Terrific Tuesday and I'll get pictures of Linsi's new place and post later!

Weather and Projects

The weather has not been cooperating with my painting projects lately! We are getting high winds and rain with the storm activity in the Gulf, so I have been unable to paint on anything the last couple of days. Haley and I had a great visit this weekend. We got her things together and packed for her new apartment. Tomorrow Linsi, my oldest daughter is moving to Dallas and I am going to travel to her new place and help her get settled in. She is really excited about her new place and I can't wait to see it. She says that it is like a little cottage duplex, so I think we are going to have fun decorating it. I am going to take my camera and take some pictures to post of her new place. I will only be there for one day and then I'll head back home. I am going to see what I can work on today(weather permitting)! Have a great Monday!

Painted Black Furniture Project

after

before

I finished the bed side table for Haley's room this weekend. This was an easy project that I was worried might not turn out good but it turned out great! I now have the large chest that matches it to do now and I can't wait to start on it. I removed the drawers and the wooden knobs and I sanded them lightly. I also sanded the sides and top of the bed side table. After that I cleaned the piece with a clean soft cloth and then I painted it with Kilz. I took some of the black Behr paint and added it to the Kilz which made it a grey color. I allowed this to dry for several days and then I painted it with the black latex paint. I put two coats of the black paint for a good coverage. I allowed the black paint to dry for several days too. I think it is important to allow the paint to dry at least 48 hours or longer if you are not in a hurry. Otherwise it tends to be sticky and not shabby as well. After the paint had dried thoroughly I took very fine steel wool and went over the bed side table. I then took a 3M size 60 sponge sander and sanded the high edges of where it would naturally have worn. I then wiped it down really well and put Howard's Citrus Shield Wax in Natural for a finished look. This wax really makes a piece look finished and brings out the color of the paint and the rough edges. Lastly, I added glass knobs instead of the wooden ones. I hope this helps if you are planning to paint furniture black. It really turns out nicely and if you are a fan of Ballard's Designs or Pottery Barn furniture you will be well pleased with your new piece at a much cheaper price! I went to the Benjamin Moore paint store today and asked them about painting a dining room table that has a laminate top. I bought a product from them and they said to paint it on and let it dry for 4 days and then paint over the laminate and it will be fine. I am supposed to sand it before I paint this primer on it and then paint it. I will post later on about this project to let you know how this works out. I bought a really nice french provincial dining table with 4 chairs that I am going to paint black. The cushions on the chair are nice zebra print that is nice upholstery fabric so i am going to leave that on them. I can't decide which one I like better painted white furniture or painted black furniture! Have a great Saturday.