Teak secretaire transformation

Hello everyone!

Last few weeks have been busy, busy, busy!
But I have had the time to paint a few pieces. One of them wich I`ll show you today.
A local office was announcing that they were getting rid of alot of old furniture. All of it dating back to around the 70`s. Among the items were a sleek teak desk, a teak secretaire and an old wooden stool.
I called and announced that I could pick up these three pieces later that day. No worries, they would hold them for me.
Guess what happened? Yep.... someone else got there before me and "stole" them from me! Aaaaah...!  I hate it when that happenes! I know it was free furniture, but still! They said they would make sure no one else got it. Well, well...... At least I got to bring home the teak secretaire desk.

It stood in the basement a few days before I brought it in. I was just waiting for an aha experience on what to do with it. And it did come! A few weeks ago, I bought some left over wallpaper, and still had this amazing piece that actually costs a fortune! About $115 per roll! Jikes! I was happy I only had this one meter! Haha....

So then It all came down to the colors. I used (no surprise there...) Miss Mustard Seeds milkpaint in the colors Typewriter, Bergere, Trophy and Shutter Grey. I mixed them a little around.

The sides I painted with Typewriter. That was a new ecperience for me! I was hoping for a bit more glossy finish on the color after waxing. But instead I felt that it looked a little more like chalkboard.... Maybe hempoil is better? The real showstopper here though, is the wallpaper on the front. I wanted the paint colors to reflect in it. I think they are quite on spot, dont you?

On the drawers I used a mix of Bergere and a little Trophy, and I got a hold of a huge lot of antique pullers. They were perfect!

And the same for the inside. I wanted some of the original teak color to play a part of this piece, so I left the top, edgings and the inside shelf as is. The little drawer allso got a piece of the highly expencive wallpaper.

I actually think this picture is before waxing...

The inside of the drawers were in PERFECT condition! It surtainly didnt look like they were 30-40 years old! So I left them as is. 

(Hey! Did you by any chance see that I allso painted the floor in this room?? Scroll up to the other pictures and you`ll see the transformation. No more 70`s cork vinyl floors! ) 

When posting it on facebook for sale, there was a lady who just could`nt restrain herself, and asked how in the world I could ruin all these lovely furniture?! She had seen alot of my pieces, and her opinions was that I ruined them with my painting, and that they were ugly. I will admit that it got to me for a second, but I obviously have fans, because she got really put in place by other people standing up for me. A very talented woman I know told me: "You are not famous before you have haters". Maybe that is true?....

Anyways, someone really fell to its liking, and got to take this (very nice if you ask me) teak secretaire home! So I am happy:)

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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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F is for French. And Fabulous!

I might just have overdone my self with this one! I kid you not!
This looker caught my eye on a sales page a few days ago, and I showed the picture to my husband, saying: "Hun, wouldnt this be a great makeover?? Its fabulous! ". But it was to expencive for me to buy, spend the money and time to paint, just to sell it again. So I forgot all about it. Until the seller reposted it for allmost half the price, saying it had to go! My husband nearly forced me (ok, I asked him, and he consented...) to buy it! So I did! I bought this amazing french china cabinet!
The owner, a man in his 60s maybe, said that his mother in law had it as long as he could remember, but they just couldt find the place for it in theire home. And I totally understand. I mean, its lovely and all, but the only people with this kind of style must be Queen Elisabeth of England, and the Pope... After all, the back and shelf was covered in red velvet fabric. Very royal all over. But it had to go!

Here I have stripped downt the red velvet. It has been defeated!

I dont believe this was an expencive antique arti fax, seeing that it was not a heavy object and the back and shelf was in thin plywood, so I wasnt feeling guilty for taking it apart. But, please, correct me if I am wrong! 

I wont bore you with the details, other than the fact that I used home made chalk paint to prime it. Twice. The reason that I like to prime with home made chalk paint, is because; 

1. Chalkpaint sticks to EVERYTHING!

2. It dryes quikly! Like in 20-30 minutes. Then its ready for an other layer.

3. If I were to use milkpaint as a primer as well, I would, in this case, sand it down a little to make the paint stick. But it would most likely flake of. Wich is a great side of milk paint. But that wasnt the look I was going for this time.

So, after a couple of layers with white home made chalk paint, I went with Miss Mustard Seeds Grain Sack. I love that color! Then I painted the details on the cabinet with a mix of Trophy and Shcloss, wich are both shades of grey. I watered it out a bit extra. The framed panels on the outside of the cabinet allso got a good wash with the grey. 

After I had primed the details with chalk paint, I sanded them down a bit, so that the gold gleamed through a bit. 

And of course, in the end there was a bit sanding and distressing on the "right places", as I like to call it, followed with clear wax. Alot of it. I used a big round pencil brush to apply dark antiquing wax on all the details. That really gave the impression that this cabinet could actually be an old, french antique! 

Oh! I allmost forgot! You propably noticed the inside of the cabinet? It makes the whole wow-factor!

I used nepkins, and made home made mod podge to glue it on! 

I learned a few new techniques on this one, and boy was it time consuming. But really woth it!

Heres a picture spree for you!

I am beyond happy with this one! But unfortunately it doesnt go with our interior, nor do we have the room for it. But no worries, because it sold in like only a few hours, so a lucky lady will be eyeballing it insted. It will definately get the attention it deserves!

I hope you liked it!

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Dining room makeover

We all love makeover, am I right? I know I do! Oh, the feeling one gets when looking at Pinterest for makeovers on calming bedrooms, relaxing bathrooms and farmhouse kitchens. Ow well.... One can always dream.....

We have lived in our old rental house for allmost 3 years now, and one room in perticular has been on my nerves ever since we moved in. It felt like what ever I did, and however hard I tried, this room was just not RIGHT! I am sure you all know what I mean. Right?
The big elephant in the (dining) room, was this horrible green vinyl floor. I hated it then, and I still do. But we finally dived in it and bought new laminate floors! You must be asking yourself; "why did it take you so long?!...". The deal is that we are infact only renting, and spending so much money on something that might not even be ours, isnt worth it. But on the other hand, we could be living there for decades, and I really wanted new floors. So thats what we did... got new laminate.
And I love it! It makes the whole difference! Infact, its like its a whole new room in this old, little house! And it feels so warm and cozy, and gives just the right feel to it. And what else, is that it gets me one more step closer to the whole farmhouse-feel.

Here`s the before. Now, keep in mind that a lot of the furnitures has been changed out...

Its like that green floor takes over the whole atmosphere. And not in a good way!

But after!

Something definetly happened to the light and temperature in the room. Now this is a delightful place to have my morning coffee. All the furnitures I have thrifted and painted my self. And they help make this a home I can live in.

I hope you enjoyed the little tour!

Tone

Vintage wooden dresser in MMS`s Iron Stone

Hello everyone!
Today I want to show a dresser that I bought a few months ago. I have been playing with the thougt of painting it time after time, but havent quite been able to make up my mind. But that was until now!
I just threw my seld into it, and grabbed the brush, hoping that if I painted this dresser white, then it would help brighten up our dining room a little.

The lady I bought it from, told me she once bought it from an old man when she was a student, I guess about 25-30 years ago. And when she got it, it was painted brown. She stripped it down, only to find out that it allso had been red, blue and black at some time. So it is safe to say that this lovely thing had been through quite a lot of makeovers.

Allthough I do like old, raw wood, I can only take so much. Besides, it was a blank canvas begging for attention.
I only had some milkpaint in the color Iron Stone. Even though I would much rather paint it in MMS`s Grain Sack, I just couldnt wait to get started. So Iron Stone it was....

Now, this dresser was VERY thirsty! It took three layers of paint. Some places more, and I was starting to get nervous of if I had enough paint to finish it. But I did! But I did leave the top unpainted, and that I did for a good reason. You see, I have a pretty old cupboard hanging over the dresser, allso in old, raw wood. And I wanted the two pieces to still "be connected", if you know what I mean.

Anyway, after the painting was done, I sanded and distressed in all the "right" places. I will admit, I was very nervous that I had done a stupid thing by painting the dresser. Somehow, while painting it, I just didnt get a good vibe of it. But that all changed when I was finished destressing it! I knew I had done the right thing by giving it a makeover! I gave it a layer of clear wax, and it was perfect!

I just love it!

What do you think? Did I do the right decision by painting it?

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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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Mellow Yellow cooffetable

Hi again!
This time I want to show you this cool little table I got from a friend. It is an original teak table, but the finish was quite bad and beatened up. So I did what I do best. I painted it! I had a small bag of MMS Yellow laying around. I had never tried that color, but after seeing the wonderfull yellow dresser that Marian from Miss Mustard Seed painted, I knew that this was the right color for this retro triangle table.

I did no prep work on this piece. But I did have to put on qiute a few layers of paint for it to cower enough. Think maybe the paint was to thin? Allso I distressed it just a little bit before I gave it a proper layer of wax.
See the details on the legs? Yeah, I thought that was an interesting touch for a retro table. Not bad, eh?

This one is for sale at my facebook page. Hope someone likes it enough to take it home!

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