The Twins and Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

On my birthday my Mamma and I went to a Thrift Store to have a look around.  You will never guess what happened next.....

Do you give up?

Oh fine, you are right....I found some furniture to refinish!!!

I found two end tables for my living room that were so darn cute with their Queen Ann legs and cute little hardware, I couldn't pass them up!!  My Mamma actually gave them to me for my birthday because she is awesome like that :)

This is what they looked like when I got them (excuse the picture quality, I was outside using my camera phone).

As you can see in the background....I forgot to take pictures before starting but at least I remembered before I started painting the second one and was able to take pictures to show you guys!

You can see my little baby girl Molly in this picture...she is always near me when I am doing anything and wants to be a part of everything I do :)

This is what the drawers looked like before I got my hands on them (insert evil laugh here).

This was my first project using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint....I had no idea what to expect but was really excited about trying out my new paint!

This is what the table looked like after the first coat of paint.  I was not really liking the paint at first.  It dried really fast, faster than I could have imagined especially sitting outside on my balcony painting in the winter.  

Here are the two drawers after getting their first coat of paint, they were covered up a little bit better than the table....I think it was due to me painting them with a thicker coat than the table.

One of the drawers after getting the second coat of paint and I gotta tell you, I am really liking the results after the second coat of paint.  As a matter of fact, I am also loving the color!!

Here is a picture of the two tables after getting their second coats of paint....I love them!!!  I love distressing furniture but after painting these two tables, I decided that my dining room table will be painted in Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White!!!  I love the way these tables turned out and it didn't take as long as it would have with regular paint because I didn't have to sand the tables before starting (not only does that save time but it saves a ton of money because sand paper isn't free!!!). 

Look at how pretty the top of the table looks!!!  If I would have left the tables without distressing them, I would have gone one more coat to get an even color on top but because I knew I was going to be distressing them, I left them as is.

 I love these tables and their great features.  Painting them white brought out the features that the brown color made blah!

Now, for those of you that say you can't paint and distress furniture in the winter time......I did this project in the winter time and it was 45 degrees out at 6:10 pm....I was out there till 8 pm and it was definitely colder by then.  If I can be out on my balcony painting in 45 degree weather, so can you!!!

Are you ready to see what the twins looked like after I got my hands on them??

Here is the first one...

This is a close up of the front by the drawer....squeal!!!  I loved working with the Annie Sloan wax...I used the clear wax on the tables and it turned out great and made the color of the tables pop even more. The one thing I wish I would have known before starting is how to use the wax.  I applied the wax and then wiped it a little bit and sanded....the paint came off too easily and next time I am going to let the wax dry properly before I do anything to it.  I am thinking I might distress before the wax (I read online to distress after putting the wax on the furniture).

This is what the top of one of the tables looked like....

Here is the other top...

Here are the twins tops together....

Finally, for the big reveal of the twins together...

What do you think???  

I love how the tables turned out and can't wait to use Annie Sloan Chalk Paint again!!  It was the quickest and simplest project I have ever done!!  It was a huge time saver and the cost of the materials was not as much as everyone told me it would be.

I actually would like to take a moment to discuss the price of the materials.  I paid about $70 for the wax and paint and maybe $10 for shipping.  This summer I refinished my bedroom set and I bought a gallon of paint from Lowe's and paid about $35 for it.  I used it on quite a bit of furniture and still had half a gallon left when I had to throw out the paint because it was ruined (not sure what happened there).  Besides the $35 for the paint, I probably paid well over $100 for sand paper.  It took me hours to sand my bed and dresser and if I would have used Annie Sloan, I wouldn't have had to sand at all except to distress the furniture.  Imagine the money that would have been saved there!!!  Also, I bought Polyurethane for my furniture and it turned my furniture a yellowish tint....I haven't heard of that happening with Annie Sloan Wax and am hoping that is not a problem I will have to deal with.

What kind of paint do you use to refinish furniture?  Have you tried Annie Sloan or any other chalk paint?  What about Milk Paint....have you ever tried it?  I am going to a class where we get to try out milk paint and I am really excited to see how that works.

Leave me a comment with a link to your blog...I would love to check out what you have been doing :)


I linked up to the following parties...

http://www.blissfullyeverafter.net/2013/02/paint-it-challenge-blog-party.html

http://www.elizabethandco.blogspot.com

http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com

http://www.handymancraftywoman.com

http://gingersnapcrafts.com

http://www.diybydesign.blogspot.com

http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com

http://www.craftytexasgirls.com/

http://www.lizmarieblog.com/

TV Stand Dresser

A few years ago....five years to be exact, my ex-husband and I bought a used bedroom set.  I liked the set but knew from the start that I wanted to change it somehow, but at that time I didn't know what I was doing in regards to furniture.  

The bedroom set included a queen size bed, small three drawer dresser, and a large seven drawer dresser.  The curves and details were fabulous and I loved everything about the set....except the color.

It took me almost five years to do something about it but in the last few months I have changed everything there is about this bedroom set.  The big dresser is what I am going to concentrate on today because I separated it from the bedroom set and now use it in the living room as a TV Stand Dresser.  I love the storage in it and love the finished look!!!  

I didn't take any before pictures and I apologize for that but after I started the work on the dresser I realized what I did and took some pictures.

Here is a picture of the drawers after I sanded them all down....I thought this part of the project took the longest (that was before I started sanding the dresser itself down ugh).

Here is another picture of the drawers as well as a night stand and little table that I sanded down all the same day.

Okay, one more picture of all the sanded down stuff....did I mention that I felt like this project took forever!?!?!

Here are the drawers drying in the sun after painting them white (it was almost 100 degrees out when I was doing this dresser).

A picture of the dresser when I realized I had forgotten to take a picture before starting the sanding part of the project.

This dresser had definitely seen better days!!  It had moved from one country to another and been moved from state to state a few times.

Lots of dings and scratches....builds character :)

Ouch....did I mention how the scratches build character lol

Here is a picture of the dresser painted white before I made it mine (I had started sanding the drawers when I realized I forgot to take a picture of the dresser after it was painted white).

Some of the details of the dresser....LOVE this detail!!!

Two drawers completed...seven more to go!!

Another picture of the details on this beautiful dresser.

Here is the finished product....swoon!!!

I LOVE the way this dresser turned out and couldn't have hoped for anything better.

Some of the details on the drawers...love the different colors on here!

Hello pretty knob!!!

Have I mentioned that this is my favorite detail on the dresser?  See how great it looks sanded and distressed!!

The finished product!!!  I am in love with my new TV Stand Dresser and all those drawers come in great handy when it comes to the boys' school stuff and craft supplies.  I also put my movies in there and my dog clothes have a drawer of their own.

How do you like the finished product??

Comfy Chair

       My Mamma came to visit me from Iceland in the middle of January.  She hasn't been here since September of 2011 so you can just imagine how excited we were to see each other as well as how excited the boys were to get their Amma for 16 whole days!!

While my Mamma was here I put her to work.  I wanted to buy a chair for my living room because I only have a three seater sofa and it is not the most comfortable thing in the world.  I was looking at recliners online and trying to find one that I liked but wasn't finding anything that was catching my attention.  Then.....as I was sitting in school between classes one day I found a used chair for sale online.  The chair was UGLY and came with an ottoman....sounded perfect to me :)

I talked to my Mamma and asked her if she could re-do the chair and ottoman somehow and she said yes, we would figure it out.  My Mamma and I drove down to North Carolina to the two guys that I buy a lot of my used furniture from.  For $40 I got this wonderfully UGLY chair and ottoman. 

       

Mamma and I went to Joann's Fabric and bought this adorable fabric along with some comfy fabric to put on the cushion and on top of the ottoman so the material doesn't get as dirty.

See how UGLY the material is on the ottoman??

What do you think about the fabric on the chair?  I love it!!

This is the finished product!!  I can't believe my Mamma was able to pull this off...it took her two days!!!  She is so talented!

I also bought the beautiful white pillow at Target to go on the chair and make it look even prettier and then my Mamma made the round pillow (more on that later on in this post).

I changed the way the fabric sits on the ottoman so it looks a little bit more cozy and well, Mamma has since left so her suitcases are no longer in the background. 

I love this chair and ottoman and am so glad I didn't buy a recliner!

Here is the circle pillow my Mamma crocheted while she was here.  She had bought the yarn before we even knew anything about the chair and we realized just how perfect it would fit with the chair after the fabric was bought.

As I was taking pics, Kobe, my youngest son decided to photo bomb the pillow....isn't he cute :)

Here is the back of the circle pillow.  My Mamma is so talented and she is all mine (I do share her with three other sisters though lol).

What do you think of my new chair and ottoman?

Mirror Mirror on the Wall

This summer I started refinishing old beat up furniture and found a love I had no idea existed.  I have this obsession with buying cute little tables and painting them and giving them a new life.  I bought so many little tables that everyone around me was starting to make fun of me telling me I was going to be living in an apartment full of tables.  So since there were enough tables to go around, I decided that I needed to do something different this time.  I came across this mirror that was so beautiful but yet, so ugly!!  The color was horrific but the details in this mirror are amazing.

                                     

The mirror started off with this weird gold/copper color that looked so dirty.

I love this color from Valspar, it is called Twilight Meadow and it is to die for!  I have used it on so many projects and it always comes out perfect.

Here is what the mirror looked like after receiving two coats of Twilight Meadow. 

See how purdy she looks with a little bit of love and this gorgeous color to make all the details pop.

Did you notice this flower in the other pictures?  Me neither!!  I didn't notice half the details until I started to paint the mirror.

It's hard not to love this beauty!!

I finished this mirror some time ago but have yet to hang it up.  I am waiting for the table that will go underneath it to be finished (or ummm....started) but that's a whole nother story in a whole nother post...imagine that, another post!!!!  I want to get into blogging again but I'm not making any promises because on Monday I start my first semester of my Bachelor's Degree and this semester is going to be a little bit more work than the last few semesters were.

So for now, I hope you enjoyed my Mirror Mirror on the wall (or sitting on the carpet leaning against the wall....same thing!!  Right??).


I linked to....

http://designdininganddiapers.com/

Crocodile Smile

This summer I started with my obsession with re-finishing furniture and there are certain pieces that catch my attention as soon as I see them and I know that I have to have that piece and I can visualize just what I want as soon as I see the piece.  I was buying furniture off a father/son team on facebook that buy used furniture and then sell it on facebook....it is genius and they are making a ton of money doing it!  Great idea being the middle man and making money that way :)

Back to my table....

The father/son duo know what my style is and every time they get a piece they think I will like, they give me first dibs on that piece.  I went to look at a little side table and walked away with this baby right here...

I knew this table would be perfect to use as a TV table for my boy's room.  I was trying to figure out exactly how I wanted to refinish this table, I knew I wanted to paint it green.  The exact name of the color is, Crocodile Smile....how cute is that!!  I started off by sanding the table down, the stain that was on the table was old and kinda nasty but it actually turned out to be a good thing at the end.  Next I painted the table in Crocodile Smile and let the paint dry.  As soon as it dried, I started sanding away.  This is my favorite part.

I couldn't stop sanding once I started, it was so much fun and the table kept getting better and better with each stroke of the sand paper.  

The color also became better and better with each stroke.  I was falling for this table and I was falling hard....I couldn't stop smiling!

I decided to use the original hardware, it made the table look that much better.  

Yumminess!!  

The top of the table looks so good and I love the way the stain under the paint comes out even after I sanded the table endlessly.  It looks perfect just the way it turned out and I love it.  The boys were really excited when they saw the table that I refinished for them and they couldn't wait to put it in their new room in Apt 201.  The lighting in here is horrible right now because it has been so gray and blah out the last few days so I can't get a good enough picture of the table in use but I will continue to try so I can show you guys how good it looks in the boy's room.

What do you think of the color?  Would you have done this differently, if so, how?