A while ago, I posted about one of my recent antique shopping trips, and I asked you to guess which “treasure” came home with me. Do you remember that? I didn’t mean to leave you hanging for so long, but you know how one thing leads to another when you start a project.
Well here is the little treasure that I brought home.
It even had a big, red bow on it waiting to go home with someone for Christmas. But no takers. It was still waiting for me in February. I know, you are probably think…ewww honey-gold?
At the time, I wasn’t looking to change up my foyer but I fell in love with the unique style of the bench and the spool-style legs and back, and didn’t think I would ever come across another one…you know how that get’s you every time you’re at an antique store. Plus, I got the dealer down to $125….I think that was a good deal??? What do you think?
Yes, the color was hideous but after many cans of spray paint, I am very happy with how it turned out.
(I probably included too many pictures, but I have hard time editing out pictures)
The two cream and blue block-printed pillows I made from napkins that I purchased from World Market for $4.99 each. I am crazy about block printed fabrics and they are usually very expensive so anytime I can get my hands on some at a decent price (even napkins!), I snatch them up. I backed them in a cream linen fabric that I already had on hand.
I also made the ikat pillow out of a fabric remnant, I believe it is from Kravet, but it has been discontinued. The gingham pillow is from Ballard’s and the seagrass stool is from Target from a few years ago. The floor lamp is from Circa Lighting.
I wanted to mix the block print fabric and the ikat (1 trendy fabric…wink, wink) with the other elements to keep the look from becoming too “sweet”.
I also gave the walls above the planking a fresh coat of paint and went with BM Indian White, a soft, creamy yellow. I’ve been wanting to paint my foyer a different color from the rest of the house for some time, and I’m so glad I did. Funny how a quart of paint can help make a space feel new again.
I’m laying off the “treasure hunting” for a while…too many good things out there!
Hello there. How was your weekend?
For the past couple of months I have been training for a 15K run that includes 2 bridges….one affectionately known as the “green monster”. It’s big and scary and at the end of the 9.3 mile race. Well the race was on Saturday and I’m happy to say that I conquered the beast! All of the training paid off. I ran with my mom a.k.a. running partner and my niece, who is home from college on spring break. We had a blast!
Those are big smiles of gratitude that it was over!
After I rested my legs, I tackled one of the projects on my never-ending list. Please tell me you have a project list, as well.
This project started with these………..
A set of 4 pictures from the antique store. They were $10 each. I liked the colors in the prints but the 1960′s frames had to go. But before I tossed them, I painted them, white-washed them, even spray painted them. No luck. Didn’t like how any of those attempts turned out.
I purchased 4 of these frames on sale at Pottery Barn. I was not looking forward to hanging these frames because each frame has 2 hooks on the back…which means you have to be very precise with your measurements. Precision and measuring, neither of which are my strong suit. So this time around, I thought I would try something new….I cut out 4 “frames” from old wrapping paper, which happened to have the one inch square cutting lines…yes! That really helped when it was time to measure and mark where the nails needed to go.
One down, three more to go.
And here is the finished project….
You can see Barbie’s dream house in the picture. She moved in at Christmas time and has no plans on leaving anytime soon.
It’s the start of another busy week. Hope yours is a good one!
On one of my many recent trips to the antique store, I came across this little table.
I was drawn to the size of it and the price…$24! So I began asking myself….do I have a place for this? Do I need this? And the answer to both of those questions was of course, yes.
The small size of the table got me thinking about where I could put this little number. There were so many possibilities. Then it hit me….the landing at the base of the staircase. You can see in the picture above that the stain on the table matches the wood on the stairs, so I knew that would need to be changed. I started thinking about what type of finish to give the table and this is what I came up with.
I am really happy with how it turned out. I was going for a driftwood finish and think I got pretty close to it. I started by mixing white paint that I had on hand with some water then I simply brushed it on…..
and then wiped it off with a cloth.
When the paint dried, the table looked too gray, so I decided to lightly sand it. This made all of the difference and gave it the driftwood effect.
A perfect fit.
I don’t know what it is about this chair that I have always liked.
Martha’s Vineyard Chair from here.
Maybe it is the coastal New England feel of it.
image from here
scanned from Cottage Living
image from here
So I was pretty excited when I stumbled upon this little number in an antique store a couple of weeks ago while I was out Christmas shopping.
I was a bad blogger and forgot to take a ‘before’ picture of the chair prior to spray painting it, but it was a dull gray, taupy-brown color. But 10 minutes and a can of espresso spray paint took care of that. The chair has one little defect as you can see here. But the chair only cost me $47 so I can live with it and I can add making a chair pad to my project to-do list and no one will ever know it is there.
The chair is the perfect size to fit pretty much anywhere which is a good thing, however, it can be a problem for someone like me who likes to move things around. It has already made it’s way around the house but I think I’ve decided to keep the chair in the family room…..for now.
Should have kept on driving. Should have stayed in the car. But since I am rarely in that part of town, I couldn’t resist stopping in my favorite antique store to see what’s new. There was plenty of good stuff to look at. I behaved. On a scale of 1 to 10, I give myself a 6.
Beautiful collection of antique wooden boxes.
The green tole lamps are so pretty. Wouldn’t those look great in a study?
This dresser is such a pretty color. Love the caster feet.
Oh, how did this guy get in here? Did anyone see Toy Story 3? This was the monkey in the sky…that’s always on the lookout for toys trying to escape. That was my husband’s favorite scene in the movie. I texted this picture to him. He was laughing when he called me. Then he asked “where are you?” I replied…”um, just at an antique store”. I gave myself away.
An old french bistro table.
This little guy came home with me. It is a watercolor print of a local fishing spot. The frame and mat are really dated, but I will just add it to my list of projects. I have a hard time finding artwork. Usually if I love it, it is completely out of my price range. But in this case the price was right, it just needs a little TLC.
This guy came home with me, too….now do you see why I gave myself a 6? It is a pencil drawing of some old boats at a marina (sorry, bad picture). Fortunately, this one was ready to be hung. I love the dark wood frame and the linen mat. And this one was really inexpensive.
Here it is in it’s new home. Please ignore the messy kitchen in the background. There are probably breakfast dishes still on the counter.
The small landscape oil painting is from One Fish Two Fish in Savannah.
It is kind of hard to tell by the picture, but this is a rattan sectional. I wish I had a covered back porch or sunroom for this.
I would stain it a dark walnut and recover the cushions in something like this.
and add some throw pillows in this
That was my recent shopping excursion…have you done any shopping lately?
Leave a Comment (35 Comments)