Thelma & Louise

Thelma & Louise

I cannot tell a lie, I have not seen the movie Thelma & Louise. This image, however, sticks in my head vividly from the movie previews - That's going WAY back, I know. 

Anyways, I'm not really sure why, but these tables and this image seem to go together, in my head at least... so I'm naming these rustic, yet chic gals Thelma & Louise.

They aren't marked with a manufacturer, but they are both good quality, solid wood. When I bought them, one had drywall mesh stuck to it and the other had some deep nasty scratches. No structural issues though, only cosmetic - Excellent thrift store find! I love me some thrift store! Does anyone else get that high feeling when they walk into the thrift store and smell that thrift store stank smell, just knowing that some super awesome bargain is waiting to be taken home?? Probably not. I'm pretty sure I stand alone on this one....

Alrighty then. Inserting super awkward moment. ...Aaannnndddd let's get back to the tables.

So. I'm constantly searching for inspiration and trends, whether its color or style or staging. I love the look of painted furniture with stained natural wood tabletops. I've also come across stenciled wood tops. Such is the inspiration for these tables. I love LOTS of color, but I really toned it down on these, using a chalk paint in a neutral, off white shade.

Let me tell you this stenciling project was a disaster. Stenciling onto bare unpainted wood...NOT my friend. The paint was smearing and bleeding through the stencil...etc., etc., So after a smeary, bleeding stenciled mess, I decided to sand the stencil off and try again. And let me tell you - sometimes the most awesome stuff comes out of a complete hot mess disaster! The more I sanded the cooler these tables got. The smearing went away and the sanding left them with this rustic shabby chic feel. I couldn't have planned it any better if I tried. I added some "new" old vintage drawer pulls, a coat of polyurethane on the table tops for added protection, some dark wax for depth and color, and these girls are ready to make a getaway. The dark wax really enhanced the rustic feel and deepened the color. Here's the finished product. 

 

 

 

 Despite heavy sanding one of the table tops still has some minor scratches on the top. That's to be expected with "pre-loved" furniture, but since it adds to the rustic character, I'm ok with that. Because of the scratches I'm only charging $300.00 for the pair, which is a pretty decent deal. You can see them in detail on my Etsy store.

They would make great nightstands, or end tables, or would even look amazing in shabby chic living room or porch. The possibilities are endless really! Visit my Etsy store at http://www.etsy.com/shabbychicfrenchprovincialtable and help these ladies make a getaway to their new home!

~Happy Shopping!

"Wattamelon" Roll Anyone?

Check out these fun sconces. Aren't they curvy and beautiful?

The color is very reminiscent of Friendly's "Wattamelon" Roll. Remember these yummy logs of deliciousness? - What's more summery than that? 

I found them thrifting at one of my favorite places! They are made of a lightweight plastic resin and stamped authentic Syroco. I painted them up with some chalk paint that was appropriately named "Watermelon Smoothie" and lightly distressed them so the underlying gold would show through. I think that gives them an almost "Hollywood-esq" kinda feel.

  

These sconces are like a little black dress - classy and fun all at the same time! They could be used with or without candles, and would look great all glammed up in black and white room, dressed down on a shabby chic porch or patio, or even as an accessory in a sophisticated girls room of any age! Please visit my Etsy Store for more information http://www.etsy.com/listing/ornate-syroco-sconces 

Happy Shopping!
~Amy

Accessorize...!

I've been such a slacker this last month- Not at painting and working on projects, but at posting my projects for sale on Etsy. In April we took a much needed vacation to Disney; and by much needed I mean our first vacation in 7 years, and our first vacation as a family EVER. Then in May my husband ran the Pittsburgh Marathon and the following weekend we ran the Cleveland half marathon together. SO, I've been doing all kinds of other stuff, but totally slacking about getting stuff posted online. There just never seems to be enough time in a day...

But all this "outdoorsy busy-ness" means one awesome thing - Spring and summer are here! It's seriously my FAVORITE time of the year AND the perfect time to spruce up your house and accessorize! This warm weather provides all kinds of color inspiration for me in the way of summery colors like magenta, watermelon, coral, sea-foam green...and my very favorite of course- Caribbean turquoise and aqua. It's like a beach party of all things warm and summery in my brain. So I'm adding a few accessories this week, and then next week I've got several fabulous end tables/night stands I'll be listing. And, many of you have been wondering about the sewing table turned to bar cart. Well that's coming too, after I work out some of its "kinks". Lets just say that project, is truly A PROJECT. I guess all good things take time, right? 

Anyways, back to accessorizing! First up is this stunning mirror finished in a bold, custom mixed Magenta pink chalk paint, dark glazed, and heavily waxed. The color is inspired by these peony that bloomed on the side of our old house in Ohio. Gorgeous!

The frame is all wood, with adorning ornate gesso carvings at the corners, and it features its original antique glass mirror. The mirror does have some areas of pitting and ghosting but that's to be expected due to its age. And this thing weighs a ton, 23.5lbs to be exact. Truly and awesome thrift store find!

Pretty before, but awesome after some sprucing up!

 

It would look amazing above an entryway table, a dining room buffet, and it would add a bold pop of color above a bedroom dresser. Please visit my Etsy site at http://www.etsy.com/vintage-magenta-pink-antique-mirror

Happy Shopping!
~Amy

Marge

Meet Marge. She's cute, isn't she? 

Marge is an extra special chair because she was once a plain old boring school chair from the library; but now she has been re-imagined and will be going back to the library for a "Chair-ity" auction. She's looking quite stellar!

Last year the library was soliciting people take home old chairs, "renew" them (haha- pun intended), and return them back to the library for an auction event benefiting the Mt. Lebanon Public Library. I thought it was a great idea and couldn't wait to get one, or maybe even two or three chairs. But, in typical fashion I procrastinated until there was only one chair left. Seriously, I got the last chair! Why do I always do that??? So instead of three, I got one. But it's all good, right? Here's how she started out when I got her, and then another picture after I sanded her down.

I have this total obsession with owls. Not real owls per say, but the cutesy ones that everyone is decorating with now - They're just so fun! I had it all planned out that one chair was going to be a cute little owl with a nursery rhyme I love, and the other one was going to have a vintage Pittsburgh Pens logo on it with "Let's Go Yinz" painted across the top. Buuuttt...since I got one chair, I had to choose one design. And since I'm about the most indecisive person on the planet, my lovely Facebook fans helped me decide. The owl won! Plus, that meant I could use one of my favorite nursery rhymes, The Wise Old Owl, that I read to my youngest son.

I saw several really cool owls online that I could have copied onto the chair, but being that this chair is for the library "copying" an image seemed sorta wrong...I was having flashbacks of college plagiarizing lectures. YIKES! So I decided to freehand my own owl using this picture as inspiration, and then transfer it my chair for painting. She needed to be a "wise" owl to match my nursery rhyme, and what "wise" old owl doesn't wear retro 1950's cat glasses, right???

 

My lovely lady owl got painted in some girly colors and set upon a beautiful painted oak.

I originally used acrylic transfer medium to transfer the nursery rhyme to the back of the chair. That was a TOTAL disaster and I ended up sanding down the entire back on the chair and painting it over again -And using some choice words in the process. Don't try a new technique on a otherwise finished project. Lesson learned. NOT fun. See:

I finally decided to print the rhyme on card stock and decoupage it to the back of the chair. After several coats of polyurethane she's fun and done!

I'm naming her Marge. When I was growing up we had a family friend named Marge. She was a lovely older lady and she wore these great 50's style cat glasses. They were probably originals and she was fashionable and didn't even know it! She was such a nice lady and she made the best gingersnaps cookies - Yum! I immediately thought of her when I saw the glasses on this owl and knew the chair's name would just HAVE to be Marge. Here are some more pics.

If your in the Mt. Lebanon, PA area Friday, April 19th, please head over to the Mt. Lebanon Public Library for the Chair-ity auction. Marge will be up for auction along with many other fabulous chairs. She could be yours! Here is a link with more information about the event http://www.eventkeeper.com/MtLebanonChairity In addition to great chairs, there will be live entertainment, and light refreshments. Yes friends, free food and music - That has my name ALL over it! I'll see you there!

p.s. - If you miss the auction or this fabulous gal sells to someone else, check out my Etsy site at www.remaderenegade.etsy.com for other items for sale. I try to add new things each week and remember - I love custom orders. Happy Shopping friends!

Ginger

Ginger

I found this great bed frame, headboard/footboard combo, at a thrift store near "the other side of the tracks." And by "the other side," I mean the side where I could barely afford to even look at a house, let alone live there. The quaint little town "other side," where the likes of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes stayed last year while he was filming a movie shot in Pittsburgh. The "other side" where...Never mind- you get the point. Naturally, I always find fabulous stuff at "the other side" thrift place. My mom and I went thrifting that day to find her a queen size bed that I could paint. Ironically, we found this full size bed that won't work for her, but it works for me to sell! Score! It was stuffed off by the back door, away from all the other furniture. I saw it out of the corner of my eye and nearly knocked my poor mother over to get to it. She'll get over it!  ...Juuuuust kidding - Love ya mom!

Anyhow... This bed is a furniture refinishers dream. Seriously. It's solid wood, in immaculate condition, and all the pieces were with it. It never happens like that. It just doesn't-something's always needing some sort of repair. This one was perfect! I grabbed the tag off this bed so quick you would've thought it was on fire. I had a vision for how it would be finished as soon as I saw it. It was screaming Hollywood Regency. A brushed silver finish and some dark wax for depth. I was totally in the zone on this project and I hadn't even gotten it into the car yet! Visions of 1940s and 1950s black and white Turner Movie Classics were dancing in my head. Glitz and Glamor, plush satin fabrics, large mirrors, tufted furniture, and iconic movie starlets like Ginger Rogers, Rita Hayworth and Grace Kelly. 
---Complete. Hollywood. Glam.--- Check these pics out:

It looked like this when I got it. Like I said, in really good shape.

This beauty got a light sanding and then paint with a custom mixed silver chalk paint. 

Glazed to bring out all those really pretty details, and dark waxed to add depth, durability, and sheen.  I'm in love. 

 

 

 

  

This bed turned out better than I could've even imagined.The pictures just don't do it justice. I really love it. Please visit my Etsy store at www.remaderenegade.etsy.com  and give this glamor gal a new home! She'd be a gorgeous centerpiece for your Glizty Hollywood boudoir.

~Happy Shopping!

It All Comes Down to the "Finish"

It's no secret I'm stuck on turquoise. Alright, I'm pretty much stuck on any color that's bright and vibrant, turquoise just happens to be my current "flavor of the week." So when I found these fun accessories the first color that came to mind was turquoise. The sconces weren't too bad as is, but since I can't just leave well enough alone...I had to paint it. Duh. 
The picture frame? -Well that goes without saying that it NEEDED some paint luuvvv, like STAT.
 

The sconces are made of some kind of lightweight but solid wood. The picture frame is another example of cast resin Syroco style, so detailed that I couldn't pass it up. I'm such a sucker for those details, even if it is resin. Plus, I knew I wanted to make the frame a chalkboard anyways, so the resin makes it lightweight. Bonus!

But today's blog is really about the finish. It all comes down to the finish. A lot of people have been asking about how I paint- what kind of paint I use, how I finish things, etc. etc.  Lately, I've been partial to chalk paint. There are several brands of chalk paint on the market that you can purchase already mixed, or as a powder to mix into your own paint, or you can make your own chalk paint. I've researched this a lot and I really like to make my own because it allows me more freedom in picking the exact paint color I want. I'm actually experimenting now with making a more "earth friendly" paint from scratch using natural powder pigments...but that's for another blog. ---Back to it all coming down to the finish --- SO these pieces have both been painted with a custom made chalk paint in the EXACT SAME turquoise color. Hard to believe right? They look so different finished. This is where the creative part of painting comes in. When I see a piece it just speaks to me, and I get this vision as to how it should look when it's completed. I'm sure furniture speaking to me warrants that I get serious mental help, but whatever - I truly do get a vision. Yikes! 

I immediately knew I wanted the frame to pop with bold color and be bright and vibrant against the black chalkboard. So this piece just got chalk painted and then finished in a durable semi gloss spray polyurethane. No glaze, no wax. Just a true color finish.

The sconces have lots of grooves and crevices, and I wanted them to have a darker hue when they were finished. So they got finished with a glaze and paste wax. I'll be the first to admit that glaze used to freak me out, and on some pieces it still does. Nothing can make you panic quite like slapping dark brown glaze on your beautiful paint job. It's sort of a make it or barf break it moment. But I'm getting more comfortable with glaze and so the barf break it moments are fewer and farther between. Thank God. The glaze goes on and then is wiped off, quickly so it doesn't dry too much. It sticks in the grooves and crevices and really brings out those details. I also used a paste wax for dark wood on this project which not only seals the chalk paint and makes it more durable, but also adds more depth to the color and details. The pictures below really illustrate this. The one on the left is turquoise paint ONLY, before glaze and wax. And the one on the right is the finished glazed and waxed product. You can really see the difference the finish makes!

The sconces and frame are available on my Etsy store. Check them out at www.remaderenegade.etsy.com and bring these chic and fun accessories into your home!

~Happy Shopping!