Most Recent Projects

Sideboard Redo

I purchased this buffet from a Bed & Breakfast in Camden, ME.  It was advertised in a local virtual garage sale.  The price was right.  It's a beautiful piece and retails for over $1,000 used.  The finish was in great disrepair.  And I am not always a fan of many wood grains, patterns and colors.   Though I totally appreciate the craftsmanship.

I was going to paint it white, but after painting my Moroccan Red dresser, I just needed to try out another color.

The blue is Bermudan made by Behr Paints.  I also painted the brass hardware with satin black spray paint.  I was thinking about getting new hardware but it fit perfectly and I had never tried to paint some before.

I completely sanded the top so it would receive paint easily.

 

The photo with the entire sideboard is most true to the color.

 

Moroccan Red Dresser Before and After

I saw this disaster at Goodwill and I held my breath and practically ran to the front to purchase before anyone else would see the hidden beauty.   I just couldn't believe it.  I even fit it in the back of my station wagon with the double jogging stroller.

I hadn't decided what color to paint it when I happened to be in Home Depot purchasing something for my husband and I fell in love with Moroccan Red by Behr paints.  Love at first sight.

I haven't refinished a piece of furniture in a while.  It took back burner.  But our new house in Maine desperately needs furnishing.  So I have my eye out.  And the desire has come back like a flood.  I am becoming addicted to junk once again.  Finding the beauty in things that others put in a trash heap.  Seriously addicting.

So here you go.  The restoration is finished.  Psalm 23:3 says He restores my soul.  As he does this deep, beautiful work on my I find things to bring back to life.  I have never felt more alive.

Kitchen in Progress

 

Before

 

After counter tops installed

 

 

 

Cabinets are being painted... and more.

Hutch Redo

My husband has had this hutch for 20 years.  It seemed to be making the side of the room it was in dark.  Or maybe I was just sick of it.  I decided to give it an update.

I rough sanded it. 

Painted it Behr paints Bleached Linen.

I sanded the top down.

Stained with a walnut stain.

Distressed paint.

Distressed stain.

Waxed.

Still not my favorite piece, but it was fun doing it and now the room is much lighter.

Linking here:


http://bec4-beyondthepicketfence.blogspot.com/

Painting Living Room & Dining Room

 

There is limited mobility and total chaos in our house right now.  Dave is conquering the painting of the living room/ dining room area the past couple of days.

New Art Sign Project

I have off and on been working on creating text art.  I have struggled to come up with different formulas that create the product I am looking for without spending huge amounts of money on letter press etc.  I do have publisher thanks to my amazing friends but have no idea how to use it.  And, if I use publisher, I would basically need to glue a print to a base and wouldn’t get to play around with paint which tends to be my preference.  I also don’t want to spend the money on a vinyl letter machine and I couldn’t find any vinyl letters at Joanne’s when I went there the other day. 

So I saw on Pinterest how you could make your own vinyl letters. 

via.

Of course being the thorough person that I am, I never actually looked at the website or read the instructions or even remembered what product to use.

I bought some contact paper at target which seemed to be the right product to me at the time in the store.

I created some text in PicMonkey.  I wasn’t really making a layout, just some letters to cut out.

I printed the letters on contact paper, cut them out and then applied them to a pre-painted board.  This whole process was quite tedious.  I don’t like cutting things out.  I had previously tried another technique of coloring in the letters with pencil and then tracing them onto some other piece I made.  That was also VERY tedious and a complete fail.  This time I almost quit cutting them out because I was imaging doing all of this work for NOTHING.  It’s all a very long learning process. 

Once I got the cut out and peeled contact paper on the pre-painted board, I painted the board more colors.  I let it dry for an hour and then peeled the contact paper letters off.  I used some sand paper to add dimension to the paint layers and then watered down some paste stain and applied it to give it a less bright look.

This was my result. 

Better in a frame.

Overall happy with my latest little project.