Makeover of a 80`s something rolled top desk

I love furniture, no doubt about that. But I do have a special crush on hutches and secretary desks. Actually anything that can unfold itself to me, open up and show the inside. There is just something to it.....

This is an 80`s (possibly even 70`s) secretary desk. It was tiered and a little worn down. But nothing I knew I couldnt fix.
When I first saw it, I knew the knobs had to go first thing. Well, that wasnt going to be very easy, because they were plugged in with wooden dowels and glued ALOT! I used every trick in the book to get them off. Finally, they went.

Heres a few before pictures...

See how rough the finish had become?

But the wood was still so beautyfull, so I knew I wanted to keep some of the wood finish. I just had to give its old shine back. Allso, after seeing Jamie over at Andersons & Grant with her amazing two-toned rolled top desk in black, I instantly knew what I wanted the end results to be!

I used Miss Mustard Seeds Typewriter for this job. I just lovet the matt, chalky finish on it. I sanded to top with machine, then I stained it. Everything that wasnt painted in black, got a few layers with hempseed oil. I have allways wanted to try MMS hemseed oil, but I havent gotten my hands on it yet, so I actually dared to try a hempseed oil from a regular health product store. And it worked like a charm! (but still want to try MMS`s...)

I just love the effect on the rolled top! I sanded quite a bit to bring out the gold-like oak. Instead of waxing, I used the hempseed oil on it. 

All the pull handles were replaced with these golden knobs. They are just the perfect crown on this jewel. I sanded quite a bit all around the edges of the desk, to make it look more vintage. 

I can just imagine sitting here, writing hand-written letters on old, yellowed paper with an ink pen. Hopefully someone else will allso se the nostalgic charm in this old, renewed rolled top desk.

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Mid century vanity desk

Hello everyone!
It has been a while, I will admit. But I have been working on some things for our house.
We got a new dining table (free!) and so I have been putting my self AND my husband at work so that it would be finished and ready by the holidays (wich by the way are creeping up on us fast!)

Now, on to my latest make.
I bought a very cheap teak vanity desk. The formal owner had allready painted it white, so there was nothing I could do to savour the teak wood.
I knew right away that I wanted to play with this piece of furniture, and actually use some color for a change. I usually play it safe with neutrals, so this was absolutely out of my comfort zone. But I think I did a good job, and hey! It sold within two days, so I could`nt be happier!

Here is the before

The paint was in very bad shape, with thick brush strokes. Not a very good paint job...

But the mirrors were in lovely condition! No stripes or spots (except from the one down to the left there. Thats an old sticker I removed).

And the after:

I used Miss Mustard Seeds Leylas Mint. It was the perfect green minty color for this piece and it gave it a sort of 60`s feeling. 

  

The inside of the two side compartments and the drawer was in perfect condition, so I did not go in there with the paint brush. I lined the drawer and the fronts with this awsome wallpaper with matching colors. Is`nt that cool??

I was very suprised to find out that the fronts flip down, instead of out like regular doors. An interesting touch!

And finally, just to make it a LITTLE bit more interesting, I spray painted  bronze "socks" on the legs.

What do you think?

This mid century vanity makeover makes me happy! And I really got to test my self by going out of the  box and think in other directions. 

There`s one lucky girl out there who is getting this for christmas! The guy who bought it wanted to give it for his girlfriend as a present. 

On to the next one!

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French vintage dresser

Happy friday everyone!
I`m still riding on my own little cloud after making a great sale yesterday!
A couple of weeks ago I decided I would take this furniture-painting to a whole other level, and opened a Facebook page dedicatet to the furnitures I find, buy, paint and restore. I have ambitions about someday being able to make this to more than a hobby.
Ever since that day I have been picking up furniture ALOT! Our top floor is full of furniture in all shapes and sizes. Haha....

Yesterday I finished a lovely french dresser, that I had been working on for 3-4 days (I still have a full-time job, two kids and a husband, so things take time).

When I picked up this piece, it was in perfect condition! Not a single scratch! The former owners must have taken really good care of it! It was allmost as I felt bad that I was going to paint it....
But I really dont regret it.

Here is the "before"

It was very nice and all, but it just did`nt do it for me....

I knew I wantet to try one of Miss Mustard Seeds newest colors, Schloss. So I went for that and Iron Stone. Both are great colors! Besides, nothing beats grey on a french old wornout piece of furniture, Since that was the look I was going for.

I startet out "highlighting" some areas with the darkest of the color, Schloss. The side panels and the drawers were going to be white, so I wanted the grey to show under a little bit, to give it a little depth

.

After that, I sort of went in my thinking box, I often do that, right after I have startet on a piece. Because usely I havent decided what I want it to be before AFTER I have startet. 

But I knew I wantet it to look old, and worn, and french. And not perfect. I wantet it to look chic.

Thats where the dark antique wax comes in. It makes wonders! It is the perfect touch for an old, worn look.

What do you think? Did I do just that?

Oh, as I was sayin... I am still soaring on a cloud of happy, because this lovely dresser sold after only 15 min after I put it out for sale on my facebook page. A lady really liked it and wanted it right away! I must be doing something right, huh?

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend! I am taking my family up on the mountains for the weekend, where I will propably dream about my next project! 

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Drop-leaf table with grainsack stripes

I want to say that one can never ever get enough tables. Just like one can not get enough chairs. But then I would be lying. Because when one does not have enough space for all those tables and chairs,
then one might have a problem. Like I did.... or do.... When it comes to furniture, I hoard. I will gladly admit it. Theres no shame to it! I think....Okey, maybe just a little....?

I found this lovely drop leaf table online, and the price was not so bad. I actually bought it with the intent to use it in our dining room as a side table. But like any other project I have, they get held up, because, well, I am not an octopus. And before I even got to start on painting the table, I found a vintage cabinet online that I allso wanted for our dining room. Because, again, I am a hoarder....
So I decided that when I was finished with the table, I would sell it. And within a few days after it was done, a nice lady came by and picked it up. She wanted to use it as a stand for her newly bought vintage singer sewing machine, An insanely heavy, but beautyfull machine, that deserved just as beautyfull a table for it to stand on.

I used Miss Mustard Seeds Ironstone and Shutter Grey for this one. I allso painted the inside of the drawer with a little leftover from the color Mora, wich I used on the new cabinet. Its not easy to see, but its there. And isnt that rose knob just lovely?? (note to self; get new one for the closet door...)

I got the inspiration for the grainsack stripes on Pinterest. There are so many lovely tables with grainsack stripes! I have been wanting to make them for a while now, and I instantly knew that this table was perfect for just that.

I really enjoyed the distressing job on this piece. It brings so much history and character to a piece of furniture when it is rugged and toughened up.

The whole table got a very good amount of clear wax, before I used a little antique wax on the legs.

This project was a lot of work, but allso a lot of fun. Just to bad I couldt keep it.....

Hope you enjoyed reading! Have a great day! 

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Some times you just need simplicity

I have lost count over how many times I have refurbished our hallway, or changed the furniture in there. And that is only within a year. Infact, our hallway is just like any other room in the house, it is a room we have to use  to get to our kitchen, livingroom, bathroom and up to the second floor where all the bedrooms are. This is very typical for old, norwegian houses. The hallway connects all the other rooms.

And just as important as furnishing is for me, so is storage space, seeing as we have two kids.

I was looking for a piece that I could use to store baskets for all their outer wear like hats, mittens and scarfs etc. A place that would be natural for us to put our keys and what not when we get home, but allso something that would be decorative. 

I am very rarely actually looking for something specific. But I do check different pages online and on facebook daily for cheap scoops. And sometimes (waaaaay to often!) I find something that makes me go: "Ooooh! That would look great there!" 

So, a few weeks ago I found this very cheep old pine shelving on a facebook page for only about 6 dollars (50 NOK). It wasnt much to look at, but had plenty of storage space. So I went to pick it up, and started cleaning it right away, as it was full of dust and spider webs after having been stored in a garage. I allso removed the legs, with the idea of maybe, sometime, replacing them with industrial weels.

I had some leftovers from different colors of Miss Mustard Seed milkpaint.

First I gave the cabinet and shelves a couple thin layers of linen, a soft creamy white.

The backboard got a different color, a mix of Shutter Gray and Trophy. The same for the top. It is very hard to see from the pictures, but the top has a nice shine of light blue, gray and white. Very nice! And everything was topped of with a light sanding, a little distressing here and there to get the wood showing, and then topped it of with wax. 

Now we have a great storage space for all our stuff, pluss it lookes quite nice in the hallway.

Wonder what I`ll do with it next, haha... 

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New Years resolution; do pilates and a dining room make-over

Hello everyone!
Wow, its been over a month since my last post! I`ll just tell it like it is, I have been in a rut, blogging-wise, But I did make some changes to our home, I just didnt document it so very well.
So here comes a little update.

Ever since we moved in a year ago, our dining room has been my main focus. AND the main foot up in my %!"@&. Have you ever been troubled by restless leg syndrom ? I have, and THAT is the relationship I`ve had with this room. I never got the sence of being comfortable in there, and I really needed it to bee since we love having people over for dinner, and we spend quite a lot of time in there. So... my mind was set up allready in early december. I was going to paint the room as soon as the christmas ornaments had been packed away. It was the only room left on the main floor that had`nt been through a makeover with paint. And it needed it so bad!
I knew I wanted it to stay related to the other rooms that we had painted in a grey scale, but in a warm color. Our tv room has a more cold grey, and I needed the dining room to go with both white, grey and elements of wood and nature. So, as any nuts person wood do, I spent days and days looking for inspiration on...? You guessed it, Pinterest! Hahaha...
At last I went for a color named Kalk, or "chalk" in english. It has a little red in it for that grey warmthness I was after. So, I went home, prepped the walls, and hit it with my roller.
Wait, WHAT?!?! Its the SAME color???  I literally could not se ANY difference in the old and the new color! Did I spend all this time looking for the perfect shade, only to find out it was the one allready on there? The very same that I hated? Youre kidding me!

Yep, that was the sound in my head...
But thank goodness, the color changed quite alot when it dryed up. My husband couldnt do anything else than laugh at me. I totally understand. I would to, if I was`nt so upset.

But any way, It worked out great, and I am very happy with it.

A little re-furnishing was in its place to.

Yep, thats right... we have a green vinyl floor in our diningroom. 

The chair in the corner there is waiting for a slipcover to drop down from the skyes.

And this corner, by the way, is like a black whole sucking up all the attention. My plan is to but up a couple of white shelfes there and display the ironstone collection, that I am planning on getting as well.

In case you didnt notice, I am going for a relaxed cottage style meets nordic kind of feel. Am I there yet?  No?... thought so.... 

This Ikea cabinet was in desperat need of something on the top.

The space between the cabinet and the ceiling was way to big. I think I nailed it with this lovey string basket filled with my white table cloths and linens. The paperbook wreath I made for christmas is in the back and then I topped it of wih a couple lanterns.

Well, there you have it. My humble dining room tour. No I am off to do pilates. At least thats something I know how to do! 

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Little wood table in gray suit; MMS`s Shutter Grey and Trophy Grey

Its no secret, I love grey. For me, grey is one of the prettiest colors there is. It has so many lovely shades, can be paired up with a lot of other colors, and gived me just the right mix of cottage and shabby chic.

I`ve had this little wood table standing in my living room for a year now. It was rescued from a barn, where my mother in law put it, probably many years ago. It had been stripped from several layers of old paint ( I saw hints of red, blue and white!) and had been standing "naked" in its natural wood, ever since I took it home. Dont get me wrong, I really love the old, chippy look, but it was time to change it up a bit, and make it match the rest of my (grey) interior.

(exuse the lighting, its terrible!...)

Heres the table, naked and raw, with lots of old "scares". You can very easely see signs of old paint.

Heres the results after the first layer of milkpaint. I am so lucky to have a retailer of Miss Mustard Seed Milkpaint "near by" in Sweden where I buy my paint. I used Shutter grey for the base. Originally, I bought the colors with the intent to use this color for the top coat, but after reading a little more about the color, it turns out that it is a lot more blue than grey. So I switched it for the bottom color.

I read somewhere that candle wax can be used as a tool for easier chipping. You simply rub it on the places where you want the paint to chip easier, and then you paint over it, and watch the magic happen. Well, obviously I am not a magician, because I didnt see any sign of chipping at all. Unfortunately..... 

Starting with the second coate, I used Trophy grey. A lovely rustic grey. I wanted to make sure that the shutter grey color showed through the top color, so I deliberately did not cover everything with the Trophy, leaving small areas open for the bottom color to come trough.

Look at that! Perfection! The trick is to know when to stop layering the paint, and that sounds quite easy, but I assure you, its not! 

Finnished with second, and last coat of paint. Now comes the sanding and distressing. My favorite part!  Because: (everybody know! ) THATS WHEN THE MAGIC HAPPENS!

I know, I have said it sooooo many times before.....

I got to use MMS antique wax. So soft, it was like handeling butter! So after giving the table a layer of clear wax, some areas of the table got a taste of the dark antique wax. I really think that gave it the proper look. 

Would you look at that! So many different layers of color. You can even se the wood peeking out from under the milkpaint, and the chipping from the red, blue and white old paint that had been stripped away. Is it possible to be even more in love with this piece?... 

It makes for a great statement piece in my living room, and really gives the right pointer as to what is my interior style. Old, vintage and reused! Just the way I like it!

Thanks for reading! Hope it was interesting:)

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