Nine Red

Indio & Mid Centry Modern

2012-03-10T16:15:00.001-08:00

Recently we took a trip down to Indio, California. Every time I told someone where we were going they'd say "India?!?" in total shock. While India sounds really fun, it's hardly a 4 day weekend kind of trip! Indio is just outside of Palm Springs, and most people will probably know it for it's crazy music festival in April, called Coachella. We went to escape the cold weather of Northern California, get some sunshine, swimming and bbq in. We had a blast!

One of my favorite things about visiting the Indio/Palm Springs area is all the amazing architecture you can find. It's a mid century modern paradise, and totally reignited my love for the period. I think we're pretty much set that in our next house (more on THAT later!) we will go with a mega mid century modern theme - and you know I'll document the whole thing for you to watch!

So I combined my refound love with my newfound love (pinterest) and came up with a lovely board of ideas, that I'm sure will be three times as big when I'm through. If you're on pinterest already, click here to head to the board and check it out, and you can follow me there too! For those not yet on pinterest, here's a snapshot:

And for a little extra eye candy from Palm Springs, take a look at this gorgeous hotel we passed by:

I'm in love! I think it's Holiday Inn owned (surprising!) and it's called The Saguro hotel in Palm Springs. Here's a link if you want to check more amazing photos. That first photo was our first view of the place, and they've done something I always wondered why other cinder block hotels didn't do. Paint those patios in different colors and shades! So much better than a massive grey building. What I love most about this hotel is the clean modern lines without having to go entirely minimalist and colorless. Very bright, very fun, and still very simple! Color will definitely be included in our MCM decor in the next house. If I lived in Palm Springs I'd probably take it to this level, no joke here people! Hope everyone is having a great weekend, enjoy!

School of Restoration: Striped Round Table

2012-02-27T10:47:00.000-08:00

Hello again! Hopefully everyone had a great weekend. We were down in Indio, California, and it was around 92 degrees midday, it was fantastic. Today, my next tutorial in the "School of Restoration" series on The Divine Minimalist was posted. Head over to their blog to check it out, or read ahead here. Enjoy!

Today's tutorial will involve mixing paint with wood stain on a tabletop, which is a favorite look of mine. I love that juxtaposition! We'll be sanding, taping, painting and staining - so get you're gloves on! For my table, I chose a round table that everyone has or has had in their house at one time, you'll see what I mean in the "before" shot. Take a look at our finished product though:

That's the final result of this tutorial, and I think the pattern made a huge difference in the look of this dime-a-dozen table. Seriously dime a dozen folks, head to your local thrift store because I'm sure you'll find 12 for 10 cents. Just kidding, but these tables really are plentiful. Here's a peak:

Now, I had already taken the legs off - forgive me, I got really excited. You can of course choose any table you want, but let me just say - the great news about these widely available tables is that they are solid wood, the legs come off, and boy do they ever sand well! So let's get to work.

Materials:

A Table
Electric Sander with medium to fine sanding pads. (or sandpaper and a sanding block if you don't have a sander)
Sanding Sponge, fine grit
Masking Tape or Frog Tape
Masking paper (or any spare paper)
Paint Brushes
Optional: Extra paint gallon cans (free stilts!)
Plastic sandwich bags (for inbetween coats)
2 colors of paint (stripes and legs)
Wood Stain
An old T-shirt
Minwax polycrylic, satin
A weekend

To start, let's strip this table down. My weapon of choice, is the electric sander. I highly suggest the investment (check your area to see if you have a used tools shop, you can save a ton o' cash...). I started with a coarse grit, and the varnish flew right off, I was so impressed.

Here's a halfway sanded shot, see the difference from the varnished to the wood? I just wanted to remove that top layer. After the course paper, I went over it with a fine grit to get rid of any rough edges and bumps I may have left behind. Here's the opportunity to remove any stains or marks that the table inherited along the way. Just blend over the area gently and watch it vanish.

Here we are, all finished! I took my fine sand paper and went over the table sides and legs lightly, just to rough them up enough to give the paint something to hold onto. Since we are painting the sides and legs, I wasn't too worried about completely removing the varnish.

I like to do the table top last, to avoid having to put a freshly painted tabletop upside down. So let's flip it at this point. Mask off a rough square around the sides of the underside we are about to paint, as shown below.

Even though eyes will rarely see the underside of the table, I figure it's just as easy to go ahead and keep a clean look. Now, paint the sides of the table top base. Regarding primer, for this look - it's up to you. I opted out (yet again) because I knew ahead of time I would be distressing the legs. Also, by not priming, there will not be a white undercoat showing through when we distress. This is all personal preference, and if you like primer, go for it! It never hurts. If you don't go with distress then primer is a great idea, as you want all the adhesion you can get.

Yes folks, I busted out the paint sprayer for this one. You definitely do NOT need to go out of your way and get one of these for this project, but if you own one already - why not get your money's worth out of it? Which is exactly what I did. A paint brush, or a can of spray paint do the job just fine too.

Paint your legs and your frame layer by layer until you are happy with the finish, letting it dry between coats. If you're using a brush, tightly wrap it up in a sandwich baggy between coats so you don't have to wash it each time. If you would like less distress (or if you are going without distressing) then sanding with a fine grade sandpaper between coats will help your top coat stay put.

Set these legs aside in a warm dry place for the next few, and flip that table back over. It's time to tape!

Measure out your stripes. You could draw the line with a pencil if your table doesn't have lines like this one. Just be sure to leave the pencil line within the area you will paint, so it gets covered. For this table, I chose a width of 3 planks for my stripes. I taped outside the 3 planks, then marked with a light X which stripes to paint. You'd be amazed how easy it is to paint the wrong area!

I'll be using some Glidden Interior paint I had leftover from another project I did. I love this grey (sp?). This color is called "Wood Smoke." On another note, I used blue tape because I was pretty sure leakage wouldn't be a problem on this thirsty wood. Frog tape however, is amazing, for keeping leaks out. The sides are coated with a chemical that react to the paint, and expand, forming a mini barrier to keep paint from crossing the line. It's great when doing intricate designs. Since this is a more rustic style, perfection is the least of our concerns.

Here we go! Paint, paint, and paint again. See? I don't always cheat and use that gun. I did this one by hand! Also note in the picture above, that my brush is not soaking wet with paint. I like to keep it fairly dry when dealing with taped edges, it's less likely to seep under the tape.

Done. Let it dry inbetween coats, and since this is the tabletop I'm going to encourage a light sanding between coats. By hand, not by that ferocious electric sander. Tabletops face a crazy amount of wear and tear, and the more you can do to prolong this coat, the less refinishing you will do down the line. I did 3 thin coats here. When you're satisfied with yours, carefully pull back the tape to reveal your stripes! If you find the paint is pulling up at all with the tape, stop, and score the edges of the tape with a razorblade or a box cutter. Easy does it though, we aren't carving this beauty!

Fortunately I did not have that problem, as the paint stuck like a dream to this wood. Have I mentioned how great this type of table is to paint? It's like it was just begging me to do it! I gave the entire table a light sanding by hand, and a little rougher on the edges. Take a look:

Fancy. Get your plastic gloves and wood stain, because up next we give our table some much needed contrast. I'll be using Minwax Wood Finish, Jacobean.

Hold the phone - A friend made it clear to me that I should point something out here, I prefer to use Minwax Wood Finish. Just the finish. Any brand is fine of course, just as long as it's not a, 12 in 1 type thing - stains, seals, delivers, slices, dices..etc. I think that those stains are great for some purposes, but I've found that they are so over-engineered to make the job quicker, that you find yourself rushing to get a smooth look before the whole thing dries. A nice, oil based wood finish like I have here will give you plenty of time to work with it, and blend any areas that look blotchy.

Do this outside though, stuff is stinky! Hello Jacobean...

I use an old T-shirt, and I chop the sleeves off. Gloves on, ball up a sleeve and dip a little into the can. Now start rubbing it on, with the grain, in the bare wood stripes. Really glop it on. Let it sit for a few (read your stain instructions), and use the bulk of the Tshirt to buff it off. If you get it on the painted stripe, just wipe it off fairly quick. For a more distressed look, you can bang up the table a bit before staining, as we learned in the last tutorial.

Once those wood stripes are done, rub some stain on the painted stripes. Then buff off right after. No need to let this sit on the paint too long, we are just trying to give the table a uniform age and hue.

Don't forge the legs! They are bright as can be. I ran my sanding sponge over the legs one or two times. Rather than a back and forth motion, I just push hard and drag the sponge down one or two times. I find this to be a little more natural looking, but it's up to you! Here's a tip, when my sanding sponge has lots it's rough edge, and I don't want to run to get another, I use sandpaper wrapped around the sponge to give it a few more go's. The idea is to have a flexible but firm sanding tool, to grab those curves!

After you've distressed to your liking, take your jacobean T-shirt and run some stain over these legs. This brings out the distressing, and makes the legs match the hue of the table. I don't hesitate with the buffing either, this is a wipe on wipe off routine! I find it easiest to put both my hands inside the T-shirt, grab the leg, and just start spining it. Works like a charm. Here they are, aged a bit:

If you want them older, keep on going. Do this same technique for the sides of the table frame, on the underside of the table. It really helped me to put my table top, right side up, on top of a few 1 gallon paint cans. I know, I messed up and didn't take a photo. Forgiveness please! With the table up on the cans, I could keep my table top safe, while staining the sides. It works, and it's free!

Alrighty! Once she's dry, reassemble your table and take a look. Don't forget to seal! I used Minwax Polycrylic in Satin, because it's nice and natural looking while super strong. Read the directions on your specific stain to know how long to wait before sealing. This is surprisingly important! Now set that table up and snap some photos.

A little staging never hurt anyone....

You did it! Now show your friends, show us, show the world. Surprisingly easy to tackle, with some really eye catching results. Thanks for tuning in for another tutorial in the School of Restoration here on The Divine Minimalist! If you decide to take on this weekend wonder, send us your photos - it's always great to see the work people do. If you missed our first tutorial you can find it here, and if you are wondering who I am, that's here too. Class dismissed!

DIY: Chalk Paint

2012-02-17T10:29:00.000-08:00

There's been so much talk about chalk paint and how wonderful it is. I have yet to try it, but I'm about to. First of all, seems like Annie Sloan paints and waxes are everyone's favorite, but they are from the UK and after shipping, we are looking at a very very pretty penny for a quart of paint. Then I saw a lot of people are just making it themselves, this fits my budget and mindset perfectly!

I've heard chalk paint (like milk paint) has a really great finish. It's great for ditressing, you can coat it on anything without a primer, yes - even over smooth glossy surfaces! It dries really fast, and is totally safe. Cleans up with water, requires less coats, and most important - gives everything a really nice hand painted, artistic appearance. I love the dull finish too, which can compliment a lot of bright colors really well. I really like that right now, bold bright colors that have a soft matte finish. I think it looks great without being the brightest thing in the room.

Here's the recipe that I am going to try, because I love plaster of paris & I have some more projects I need it for, so hey - a two in one purchase, right? This recipe comes from this refinishing furniture site. It couldn't be more simple:

"Simply combine the latex paint and the plaster until you are satisfied with its color. If the solution gets too thick, simply add some water."

That's it! Here I was thinking this was going to be a difficult procedure. Ha! There are a lot of recipes too, some use grout, some use glue and actual chalk. I'll be taking the easy route, but be sure to check out the recipes on their site. For reference, here's another blog that made some of their own chalk paint and put it to the test: Shabby to Chic Designs.

Let's just get to the pictures, that's what we all want anyway (ha!):

See that distressing? It's very natural. The paint also has a very soft look, I love it. Photo courtesy of Shizzle Design.

Remember I said that it sticks to glossy surfaces? What's glossier than pumpkins and fruit.. i've lost many a sharpie to the glossy exterior of a pumpkin while carving at Halloween. Photo thanks: Perfectly Imperfect.

I LOVE that red console table there. Came out really nice. If you have any tips or tricks regarding chalk paint I'd LOVE to hear them, as I'm about to embark on a whole new journey here. I'll post along the way! Have a great weekend!

Featured on: Better After

2012-02-14T12:42:00.000-08:00

A huge thank you to Lindsey over at Better After for featuring my striped table and dining set last week! I was surprised when I saw the feed come through my email. Check it out on her blog, she even showed the magical 7 layers I pulled off of those chairs! I love the little quote at the bottom, "Holy. Crap." It really was crazy to find that much under there, and especially comforters!

Thanks again Lindsey, have a great day everyone!

Ghost Lamps

2012-02-10T09:31:00.001-08:00

Have you heard this term before? Ghost lamps? Well I hadn't, but I had seen the style before. It's where you strip an old lampshade to it's bones, and either leave it as is or give it a (tedious!) paint job. After some research it seems they've been coined "Ghost Lamps" - which is kinda cute! Seems every style gets a title at some point (wait until we talk about ombre... haha).

My big concern when I saw these lamps was how bright they seem. Would the bulb blare at you? So I had to try it out. I had a few lampshades here with some less-than-lovely fabric on them, and they were begging for this project. I wanted to review this style for myself, and it turns out I really like it! Check them out:

I did lime green for mine. I bare bones'd 'em, primed and painted. The wiring is new and was from one of those lamp bottle kits at the hardware store. It had everything I needed. Since the shade is lightweight, the wire is enough support.

Here is the secret to making this work. Low wattage bulbs. In this case, I used "Vintage Style" bulbs that are now available at any hardware store. Look at the filament in there! The light is soft, non blaring, and gives a great accent to any room. Any low wattage bulb will work, but since the bulb itself is a big part of the focal point here, it's fun to get an interesting one. Tons are available online too.

When it's off, it adds a bright color accent in this green & cream corner.

Here's the second ghost shade, and it was one of those scalloped frames before. This is also a vintage bulb, they come in two shapes so I got one of each. The filament in this one is more like a spiral.

There we go! I gotta say, I like them best as a set. And it STILL was not too bright or blarey, despite what my camera is telling you. It's nothing to go studying under, but it's perfect for an accent.

So, my review of the ghost lamp idea is complete, and I'm in love. I really like the style, and I'm happy that these vintage bulbs are available and affordable. I got mine for about $8 each. Since I already have one thousand lights in my home, I will be putting these up for sale in my shop. I will eventually be doing some for myself though, hehe. What are your thoughts on this upcoming trend? Have a great weekend!

New Love: Cut Canvas

2012-02-09T11:01:00.000-08:00

I was in an art store the other day and saw a great deal on canvas I couldn't pass up. I didn't know what I wanted to do with them, other than possible make some great fabric covered canvases, but I knew I had to grab 'em. Glad I did, because after a few days thought and playing around with them, I decided to grab my knife, my cutting board, throw on a movie and dig in. Here's what I came up with:

Free hand, geometrics. Reminds me of crystals or something.

Freehand.... anything goes design. haha.

Floral

Tidal

A little Transamerica action..... backed with a map.

and lastly, the freehand tree. These are 11x14. So, these were fun & easy, just time consuming! I put them facedown on the cutting board, and just went to town with my knife. Afterwards I gave everyone a coat of a few of my favorite spray paints (Jade is actually my #1) and stepped back to enjoy. I think these would look great in a set. I'd love to see yours if you give it a try, and if you don't want to try your hand at this but still want it for your home, these are for sale & I love custom orders. There's a lot of wiggle room here too, fabric backed, paper backed, multi layered... endless. Have a wonderful day, it's beautiful for "winter"!

Spotlight: Modern Colorful Mobile

2012-02-07T09:21:00.000-08:00

I love mobiles, I always have. They're fun, they move, and they can add a lot to a room. Plus most mobiles you can easily make, which gives you the flexibility to change it at any time. You just need a few materials on hand. Before I start, check out these beauties:

SO pretty! I think what also attracts me here, is the color spectrum. I have always referred to this as the "80's rainbow" since it doesn't have green. I don't that was an actual thing in the 80's...but I noticed a lot of toys and clothes from the time seemed to flaunt this green-less beauty. Anyway, seems like a lot of people are incorporating the sewing machine into paper arts, making garlands, bunting, and in this case - mobiles. Here's the link to the original tutorial where I first saw this: DIY Modern Colorful Mobiles.

While the tutorial says great for showers, etc, I can see making a few of these to spice up a boring corner of a room, gently spinning. Adding the fishing weights is a great idea too. I bet a group of these huddled in a corner with a spotlight underneath would look fantastic. Imagine all the variations of this you could do, if these colors aren't your thing. It can affordable be tailored to compliment any room. Just thought I'd share, enjoy!

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Featured on: Craptastic

2012-02-03T10:24:00.000-08:00

A big thank you out to Katie at Craptastic, who featured my striped table (among 4 other cute stripey projects!) on her Five Feature Friday. Head over to her blog and check it out, lots of cool things to look at!

Happy Friday by the way.......

Spotlight: Subtle Swirl Wall Pattern

2012-02-02T10:14:00.000-08:00

I love paint. I finally live in a house where painting is allowed, and trust me, I painted. My sister sent me this great idea, via pinterest (my new addiction) which uses a gloss version of the same color paint as their matte wall. I imagine you could do the same thing with just a high gloss polycrylic seal, instead of having to buy another can of your color in gloss. The possibilities are endless and I thought this was perfect for todays spotlight. This idea comes from Beth and Nick of Sawdust & Embryos. Check these great pictures out:

I love that floral wall hanging! Looks metal. Great contrast on this beautiful blue!

I love this idea, and I love how it came out! I'm definitely going to remember to keep this idea in mind when I do my next paint job. Head on over to their blog, linked here, for more ideas. Happy Groundhogs Day!

Before & After: Striped Round Table

2012-01-30T19:40:00.000-08:00

Hello! I just finished up on this table, this was a really really fun one to do! It sanded nicely, it took the paint well, everything just seemed to go nicely the whole way. I couldn't decide a design, and eventually settled on stripes since I haven't done them in so long. I chose thick, almost nautical stripes. Here's the before:

I feel like these tables are a dime a dozen. Literally, I see them everywhere! But, they are solid wood which is really great. If you have a good base to start with, you're good to go. And so it went:

This turquoise is actually the same color as the top half of my kitchen. It's really bright, and wonderful.

A lil staging....

There it is! It's up for sale, and will soon be in a local shop as well. I'll let you know where as soon as it's confirmed. Have a great one!

School of Restoration: Teal & Persimmon side table

2012-01-30T09:21:00.000-08:00

Good morning class and welcome to the School of Restoration! As many of you know, I guest blog over at The Divine Minimalist in a tutorial section they call School of Restoration. Head on over to their blog and take a look around! So first up in what's to be a long line of tutorials, is the Teal & Persimmon Side Table.

Well hello there my sweet lil side table! Or sweet now... because before this simple yet satisfying make-over, this table would have quickly been put in the back of the basement. Distressing is a popular and fun way to give furniture a fresh look, while giving the impression that your grandma made it this way decades ago (and how thoughtful of her, it happens to match your home decor!). Today we'll walk through the steps for this two color distressed effect, and some of the tricks that I've picked up along the way.

Materials:

Electric Sander with medium to fine sanding pads. (or sandpaper and a sanding block if you don't have a sander)
Medium Steel Wool
Sanding Sponge - fine to medium (optional)
White Candle (a dead tealight is perfect)
2 colors of paint - one for the undercoat, one for the topcoat.
paintbrush
plastic sandwich bags
Watco Satin Wax (or your preferred seal)
Plastic gloves (I know, I don't like them either, but just do it!)

Let's begin. Before you go starting on a piece, check to be sure it's sturdy, solid wood, and doesn't smell like mold. If you do have a mold problem, a bleach and water solution plus plenty of time in the sun should clear that up. My biggest pet peeve with furniture, is particle board. If you see it, run away. It's not worth your time to try to repair particle board. It's flimsy, absorbs moisture, and crumbles under pressure. Just say no! Here's my table:

Look at these water stains, the previous owner was clearly an anti-coaster household. We can fix that!

First we want to rough this table up so we can ditch some of those water stains, and give our new paint something to grab onto. I'm using my orbital sander, with velcro sanding pads. If you don't have an orbital sander you can of course sand by hand, but if you are considering re-doing furniture regularly it's worth the investment. You can pick up a good one for around $20-30. Pop your dust mask on (safety first!) and sand it smooth.

Once your table is sanded, clean off any dust and choose your undercoat. I'm not priming this table because I want the wood to show through in my final product. For my undercoat color, I'm using Martha Stewart's Persimmon Red. I love when paint companies name their products after foods! I got this at Home Depot, and the sample size sitting at $3-4 a bottle will be more than enough.

I forgot to mention that her brand of paint samples has a built in brush in the cap, how clever is that? Next up, I painted patches on the table where I will want the persimmon to show through. Prime real estate for these are edges, handles, and I like to choose a few surface areas too. This will give it the look of once being entirely persimmon.

Ah yes, wax! This is a great tip. When you are distressing from one color and trying to retain the color underneath, it's really tricky to not over distress both colors right off the table. Unless you wax. Take an old white candle, and rub wax all over the areas you painted your undercoat. The wax is going to act as a block against our next coat of paint.

For my top coat, I'm using some "oops paint" by Dutch Boy. If you haven't heard of oops paint, ask your hardware store - they almost always have an area where paints they either mixed incorrectly or customers didn't want are sold for cheap. We're talking $1-2 here folks. I've made a habit of browsing that aisle every-time I'm there, just in case..and I have racks of paint to prove it! Luckily I found a teal, and it's a dirt fighter too - so fancy...

Here's a closer look at the color:

For a larger piece you may want to break out your paint roller to save time. This table is relatively small, so I hand painted. A great tip in-between coats: put your paint brush in a plastic sandwich bag - this keeps the paint moist so you can re-use it without cleaning the brush each time.

Let's start the distressing! A medium grade steel wool is ideal for this next step. Gently rub all the areas you previously waxed until you start to see some of that undercoat show through. Try to think of areas that would receive more wear and tear for heavier distress: corners, handles, and feet tend to see a lot of traffic. A medium to fine sanding sponge is also a valuable tool. Rub the corners and edges with your sponge to let the color and wood show through, you'll see the sponge gets that paint to slip right off! Depending on your personal preference of how much distressing you like, you can take it one step further and bang the piece up with chains, screwdrivers, anything you have lying around. I once beat the side of a table with an old saw blade - what a kodak moment!

Here's a close up of the distressed front. You can see I have the red & some of the wood showing.

Step back, take a look, and pat yourself on the back. Now it's time to choose a seal, if you want to give the table some protection. I've found all the Minwax Polycrylics to be excellent clear top coats that range from satin to gloss - and I promise I wasn't paid to say that! They just never fail me. Though for this table I chose Watco Satin Wax, natural color.

The wax provides a protective barrier without adding a shine. It's a soft, natural look, that is easy to apply. Easier than you think. Dab a little on a cloth (I use old T-shirts since I have 2,000) and wipe on generously. Grab a cup of coffee, wait ten minutes, and buff it off with a dry cloth. Done! You can find this wax and other seals in the paint department of your local hardware store. So here we have our table:

See what I mean? It looks like my grandma gave it to my mom, and my mom gave it to me. Delightful. Well I hope you enjoyed my first tutorial for the Divine Minimalist! I had fun writing it. Keep an eye out for future tutorials in the School of Restoration, as I plan to hit on a variety of techniques from staining to stencils, and taping to... tiling! I had to keep the alliteration going there. Class dismissed!

School of Restoration

2012-01-27T18:13:00.000-08:00

Class is now in session! The great gals over at The Divine Minimalist have asked me to start writing monthly tutorials on furniture restoration and techniques. We're gonna cover a lot of subjects, and take some crazy looking furniture and give it love again. Fun! Check it out, and their blog: The Divine Minimalist.

The Dining Set, part 4

2012-01-27T11:14:00.000-08:00

and the finale! Well, I put all the pieces in the same room today for a final photo shoot before they go to their new home on Tuesday. It's been a long journey, but a fun one, and I really like how they came out. Here's the set:

I wanted to take a picture from both sides, but my three million windows really drowned that last one out! Up next is a close up of the leg, chairs, and table top.

So, you might notice that table top is a bit different than the first picture I had showed you in part 3. Well, it is and I'm glad! The person I'm doing this for agreed, it needed a little more brown and warmth, so I distressed it and rubbed 2 coats of Jacobean all over it. Came out great! I love it. I'm waiting for it to fully dry before giving it a good seal to withstand the wear and tear of real life. Isn't that ironic, we distress furniture and then seal them so they won't become distressed? One really great thing about the distressed look though is that if it DOES get a scratch, it's pretty forgiving. I'm rambling, here's some shots of the table progress if you are interested:

That's the first coat of Jacobean, below is also:

Bring in a lil' leg to show some contrast:

And the final coat:

I love that the table is expandable, but with this many seats (6) I think it will always be in it's widest form. This was a really fun custom job, I was so happy to do it, and I hope she loves it when we deliver it on Tuesday! Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Dining Set, part 3

2012-01-24T10:01:00.000-08:00

I'm just about done with the dining set! You've seen and read the progress so far, here, so let's cut the chatter and get down to business. Here's some final shots of the chairs and progress of the table. First up, the chairs!

I love that fabric! It's textured so it adds a lot of interest and changes the look in different lighting.

Don't mind the bits of upholstery foam all over the house.... haha. I had just finished up!

and in the shop, the table during it's sanding when I remember I had no photo yet:

There it is with the final stain coat on it. She chose "tugboat" by behr, which is a semi translucent stain/coating. It still lets some of the wood show through while effectively delivering the color she wanted. We are thinking about distressing the edges to let the light wood show through just a teeeny bit. Not sure yet. Once it's done drying completely I'll set the whole thing up for a fun photo shoot. Have a great Tuesday!

Turquoise Half Table

2012-01-13T08:48:00.000-08:00

During dry times on the dining set, I took a little break to spend some time on this half table that was brought in recently:

Pretty great as is! I loved the legs. But I hadn't done a good old fashioned color wash in a while, and I already knew where I wanted to go with this table. So I spray painted light blue, color washed in teal, and distressed that dark brown right back out. Here it is after:

I like it! I sealed it in wax, for the soft finish. Yes, that's a copy of design sponge on top... I love that book!

A little close up of the leggies:

This table will probably head over to The Beach Shop on Soquel Ave in Santa Cruz. Of course, it will also be available in my etsy shop. Have a wonderful weekend!

Dining Set, part 2

2012-01-12T13:36:00.000-08:00

Moving right along, the chairs needed a good cleaning and a priming. Here they are:

What a difference some primer can make! Yes, maybe I'm over excited about it. But to see some progress here was really helpful, haha.

Since the style she wants is a distressed style, I wanted to do a nutmeg undercoat. In this case I used spray paint. I just love spray paint.

So that's the final coat! She picked out the grey, and I distressed down to the nutmeg, and then coated the entire chair frame in an ebony stain.

Here's a close up of the distress, I love how it came out.

So now you're up to speed, I'll take more pictures as the progress moves along. There are 6 chairs, and the fabric that she chose for them is a really pretty almost teal blue...... you're gonna love it. Have a great day!

Dining Set

2012-01-11T11:50:00.000-08:00

In mid December, I had someone contact me about doing a custom dining set for them. I was really excited about this - one, it was my first time doing an entire SET rather than bits and pieces.. and two, I was flattered someone wanted ME to do it. We've amazingly been doing the whole process via phone & email, which is pretty impressive. Between craiglist purchases and delivery coordination, to sharing paint codes so I could get the exact colors - it's been a fun adventure. I'm almost done, and I thought now that I have a good line up of pictures, it would be a good time to start the sharing. So over the next few days, I'll show the journey that has been, the dining set. Let's catch you up to speed, here are the chairs as they arrived:

Oh my....

Someone, somewhere, loved that print - and got a LOT of use out of them. These chairs were really.... something. I was so curious to see what was causing the interesting lumpy-saggy front thing they had going on.

First things first, I took the seats off. I was SO happy and relieved to see that the base was wood, and not some crazy spring contraption that would have tripled the time on these. But look at all these layers I found! At least 6, and whoever covered them (over and over again......) just wasn't really feeling the whole, remove some layers FIRST idea. Notice the clever use of old comforters as a padding between layers, No wonder they had such a lumpy shape before! I found a brown and cream label that said "Davis Cabinet Company - makers of fine furniture - Nashville, Tennessee" I'm going to say at least 1960's.

Why hello there! These chairs just aged themselves.. this is the original padding on the wood. Mesh, straw, and pure unfiltered cotton. You can see all the little husks in it! But, this is a new day and age and we have super-cushy synthetic padding now, so these got a good salute - then the boot. Haha, how cheesy...

Here they are, all six, lined up and cleaned up, ready to be worked on. Keep an eye out tomorrow when I show you what happened next.

String Art Tablets & The Divine Minimalist

2011-12-12T11:08:00.000-08:00

If you have followed the blog for long, you know of my love for string art - as seen here and here. But those are more, installations for your wall and can't come with you if you move. So I thought I should try to do a few on wood, since I LOVE wood grain too. Here are some photos:

I picked out a nice looking piece of wood and began to cut it into tablets. Then I beveled the edges and sanded the fronts smooth. I chose my designs for my prototypes and got to stringing. It was a lot of fun! These are all available in my Etsy shop, and I'm available for custom orders. My favorite is the Old English letter, which obviously can be done in any letter or font. I think they'd look great on each side of a bed, or on the bedroom doors of a family home.

On the same note, just this morning I saw a post on The Divine Minimalist about my string art! Special thanks to a long time friend, Betsy Webster, for featuring my string art tablets on her blog today. If you haven't checked out The Divine Minimalist yet, hop over when you have a chance. It's like a steady stream of eye candy for those of us who love design and home decor. Plus all kinds of creative ideas to keep your creative side lively and fresh. I LOVE her post on wood grain candles, seen here. Thanks Betsy!

Featured: Better After!

2011-12-09T09:58:00.001-08:00

Aah, what an honor - both in the same day! Yesterday was a big day for the Frank Lloyd Wright Table! Lindsey, from Better After, featuring not one, not two, but THREE of my before & afters on her blog! I LOVE better after. I subscribe to the updates so everyday I get 3-4 morsels of inspiration from other furniture refinishers in the world. I was so shocked to see my pictures come through the feed! Her post is super sweet too, made me blush! Head on over to Better After and cruise through all the amazing transformations. Thanks again Lindsey! Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Featured! On Design*Sponge...

2011-12-08T09:01:00.001-08:00

I love Design*Sponge, I've been following them for a few years now and I've been lucky enough to be featured on their front page as part of their before & after series. If you haven't checked out Design*Sponge before, head over! There's something for everyone and a LOT of great ideas. A big thank you to the team at Design Sponge for including my table!

Here's what she had to say:

"I know that painting or drawing on wood continues to attract controversy, but today I’m excited to share two* of the prettiest painted furniture pieces I’ve come across recently. First up is this Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired table by Jesse Dresbach, owner of the furniture-restoration shop Nine Red. We’ve featured some of Jesse’s skilled restoration work in the past, but this may be my new favorite — the combination of the ultra-dark espresso stain with the rich, earthy color palette is wonderful, and the pattern is a worthy homage to the talented architect and designer who inspired it.

According to Jesse, the secret to this project is Frog tape, but I would have to add a patient, skilled hand to the requirements. If you don’t feel like acquiring either of those, you can always purchase the original from Nine Red. Great work, Jesse! — Kate "

Sakura goes to France, Part 2

2011-12-02T14:26:00.001-08:00

I really liked the original Sakura table (here) and wanted to do another one. We came across this table on a walk one day and I fell for it. It had all the right shapes and carvings one would love, but the overall look left much to be desired. I had to highlight those carvings, and what better way than a good distress & stain job? Top it off with another visit from the Sakura flower punch book pages, and we have Sakura goes to France 2.0.... Here it is before:

and here is the after!

I like how it came out, and I went a little more subtle with the flower this time. They are cute and make some very interesting phrases as your eye goes across them... This table is for sale in the shop, and will have free shipping for the holidays. Have a great weekend!

Frank Lloyd French

2011-12-02T11:09:00.001-08:00

I just finished up this sofa table. It was an experiment, and I like it! I wanted to do another table where I mixed the wood and the paint design, similar to the Hexagonal French Provincial from a few weeks ago. I have always really liked the designs of Frank Lloyd Wright, and I had wanted to do something geometric on this anyway. Originally I wanted something sort of Native American, so this design and color scheme worked out perfectly for both. Here's my best before shot:

I forgot to take a picture before sanding, so that's the tabletop in the raw... Here's the after:

I liked it so much I put a bird on it! Haha... Portlandia reference. This one is for sale, and I'm going to do free shipping. Luckily the legs come off very easily, so it won't have to go show up in a giant box! On the horizon I have another Sakura table, and I'm about to finally get the ball rolling with the string art wall tablets. Have a great weekend!

Spotlight: Buffet Table

2011-11-22T12:17:00.001-08:00

One of my readers saw the post about the Minwax Stain selection, and decided to try her hand at it. She was nice enough to send the photos in, and let me share with you! Check this out, she scored a nice buffet off craigslist, and then vamped it up in Minwax's "Spice" color. I love it! Thanks Lorena!

Nice, right?? It looks great in her house too, all those colors are going together well. Great job Lorena!

Jade Standing Mirror

2011-11-18T09:45:00.001-08:00

Joel had brought me a standing mirror that his friend was getting rid of, and I am kicking myself now for not taking a before picture! How can I describe it... it was in pieces, missing hardware, and it looked like someone fell asleep while they were priming it. All in all though, it was a solid wood mirror in great shape, with plenty of potential. I mulled over it for a while, and finally came to terms with the fact that I have, and will, always love the color teal and all it's siblings in the turquoise department. So, thinking back to this chandelier project, I wanted to re-use that wonderful Jade color paint! It was hard to find, but amazon brought it home to me. Here's the best picture I could scrounge up for a "before" of the mirror:

However, the paint was not in such nice condition! So in I started on the jade, and after seeing that all the wonderful wood grains were showing through the paint, I went with a black glaze. I wanted to utilize the back of the mirror too, which was just wood. So I made it into a magnetic chalkboard. Here are the pictures, I hope you like it! It's for sale in my etsy shop.

I painted the hardware black and distressed it a bit, to match the rest of the mirror.

The holes for the hardware were completely open, so some wooden plug in black make a nice accent. So there you have it, the Jade Standing Mirror. I'm so happy about the magnetic paint! I hadn't used it before and it has really surprised me. I tested it out and it works great!

Have a wonderful weekend.

Featured! on Young House Lovins....

2011-11-04T14:00:00.000-07:00

Wow, what an honor! I was so surprised yesterday to find out I'd been chosen to be on the blog Young House Love. I have been a follower of their blog for a while now, watching their many adventures in DIY home repair. They have a section called "Reader Redesign" and they chose the Hexagon French Provincial for their spotlight this week. Head over to their blog and check it out, and explore their many many wonderful posts. This comes at PERFECT timing because I've started on another french provincial, and I was thinking about doing a similar wood vs. paint design. This encourages me to do it! Have a great weekend!

Spotlight: Farmhouse Table Tutorial

2011-11-03T11:52:00.000-07:00

I just saw this post from Miss Mustard Seed, and I love it! The table looks like a project that is easily tackle-able, and the materials are pretty easy to come by. Check out some of the pictures:

So that's the finished product, here are some pictures of the during:

There you have it, not too bad at all! Check out the full tutorial here. Have a great one!

Bamboo Sofa Table

2011-10-19T10:45:00.000-07:00

I just finished up work on a sofa table that a customer fell in love with. Here's the before picture:

Solid wood, and originally done in a sort of dirty wash. I stripped it, sanded it, and removed all the hardware. I really wanted to test out minwax's color stains, and let me tell you, it was love at first... stain? Haha. This stain was great, easy, and water based. I put two coats on this table and it was perfect!
Take a look:

After the stain set, I hand cut two sets of stencils. The bamboo poles, and the bamboo leaves that would layer on after. Here's a tip if you ever stencil: I sprayed the back of the stencil with spray adhesive, then let it dry. This makes a tacky, almost sticky note surface so the stencil adheres perfectly. This worked like a dream... I did it for the leaves and not the poles though, however, I like how the poles came out foggy here and there:

There you have it! The customer really likes it, I really like it, we are happy. This was a really fun project to do, it was seamless from start to finish. I love it when everything seems to just go well, with no surprises! Hand cutting that stencil was really fun too, I can definitely recreate this look any time. Have a great day!

Spotlight: Double Wide Dresser

2011-10-05T10:46:00.000-07:00

I saw this post come through the Better After feed, and I fell in love. Not just with the project, but with gradients in general. I've always LOVED the look of paint chips, and it's so neat to see all the art people make with them. It seems the paint companies themselves have hopped on the bandwagon and had people make things for their ads too. Well take a look at this double wide dresser from Frou-FruGal:

Boom! Isn't that great? The stencils were actually reversed too, so she blocked the letters and numbers to keep the wood grain showing through. I love that. See how it gradually gets darker as it goes down? She started with the color on the bottom drawers, and for each level up added a teaspoon and a half of white. Brilliant! It gives a great effect. And those drawer pulls are macrame monkey paws! I've NEVER made those but I'm totally inspired. Check out her step by step tutorial, here.

On the topic of paint chips, I saw the front of a Martha Stewart Magazine a ways back with some really neat wall art on it using paint chips. And they didn't even alter them at all! Take a look:

This just follows along the same line of my love of color organizing. It can totally change the look of a collection.

As far as my own projects, coming up I have the Sofa Table that I'm doing in a colored stain, which I have never done before. I'm using Minwax's Line of colored stain, "Green Tea". More on that later...

Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone!

Spotlight: Paint by Number Murals

2011-09-22T09:56:00.000-07:00

I've always loved the unique look of paint by number, and seeing it on these wall murals makes me fall in love all over again! I recently saw this post from Nicole who writes the blog Making it Lovely. People take paint by number pictures, copy them onto transparencies, project them on a wall, trace, paint, adore. Simple! Haha, just kidding. It looks like a LOT of work, but totally worth it. Enjoy the pictures, and head over to Nicoles blog for the original post.

Here's a sea themed one from the cute blog: Easter Kiwi:

I'm extremely tempted to do this on a wall in my house, but I'm a renter and wonder if I should invest all the time in something I can't take with me for a few years! I love the look though, and as soon as I can do it - I am! Have a great day :)

French Provincial + Geometry

2011-09-16T07:00:00.000-07:00

I believe I have showed the "before" of this table, if not, here it is:

You can see in the photo that it was one of those over lacquered tables, that is pretty beat up. But the curves are all there, and they are nice! The top had really pretty woodwork, a nice diamond inlay. So, continuing with my recent love affair with wood AND paint rather than one or the other, I stripped this table to the bare wood. I stained the top Dark Walnut, and then went hexagonal with it. Here it is:

So it turns out I'm in love with the table. You never know when cupids arrow will strike, do you... haha. Seriously though, I'm happy with how it came out. It's just as I imagined. I love the dark wood flowing in between those hexagons, and then the contrasting turquoise underneath. It's actually a light turquoise, who's name I can't be sure of, as I spotted in the mishap aisle. You haven't been to the mishap aisle? It's really great.. you can pick up a lot of fun colors that have been abandoned by whoever asked them to be made. Usually for a couple bucks! This one was a lucky find. Anyway, this table is for sale... but if it doesn't go, I will not mind seeing it in my living room! hehe.. have a great weekend!

Itadakimasu - Let's Eat!

2011-09-14T13:12:00.000-07:00

Finally! I got some pictures taken of the finished tables I've been talking about. The first one, is a round drop leaf table. It already had really great wood grain and some natural distressing, so I decided to keep that look. I stenciled "Itadakimasu" on the top, which is japanese for "Let's Eat". Lately I've really been drawn to the style of paint on wood, that still shows the wood. I think it's so different! After stenciling in a blue-grey, I washed the entire piece in a grey paint before sealing it with a few coats of satin clearcoat. Here it is before:

And here is the after:

I love how it came out. I like that you can see it's age and history, but has some fresh additions. This table is for sale!

Newbies

2011-09-03T18:24:00.000-07:00

I've got two new tables that are almost done. I can't wait to post them. Here's the before shots, and a hint to after - is that I have a recent love affair with grey. Or is it spelled "gray"?

My mom came across this one, and it has really pretty diagonal wood grain on the top. I do love painting furniture, but in this case, I kept some wood grain. I won't spoil the surprise.

OK - now this one... I love! I am a total sucker for drop leaves. The idea of super easy expandability just tickles me pink, or whatever that expression is. I almost kept this one... I just finished up with it today. Pictures soon!

Sakura visits Better After

2011-09-03T17:13:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was honored to be featured on one of my favorite blogs, Better After! She posted the before and after of the Sakura table, check it out here.

If you haven't seen Better After before, head over and check it out. It's really entertaining and inspiring to see all these different pieces change into awesome works of art. Lindsey is a really funny blogger too, so it's fun to read! Click the picture to head on over.

Emerald Chair

2011-08-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

The Emerald Chair is done! And lovingly named Dorothy, of course. This was a great find, and I'm really happy with how the glaze job came out. Completely new foam and fabric, very comfortable chair!

Alexandra

2011-08-22T12:01:00.000-07:00

Here is a chair I finished up recently. Been trying to finish it for a long time! The main issue was finding new padding, and I finally found a store that carries the thickness I was looking for. My friend Aaron named her "Alexandra" and I thought it was cute, so it stayed. Here she is:

I don't have a before picture, but this is the original paint. I cleaned it up, then I distressed all the edges. I also gave it a high gloss seal, and I really like how it came out. The seat was torn before, so this is brand new - 2" foam, and all new fabric. I love love love this fabric.

New Home for the Twins

2011-08-19T11:28:00.000-07:00

The nasturtium twins made it to their new home this week, and the new owner was nice enough to send me a picture! Check out the adorable room, too! I love the colors :)

I LOVE that bedspread, and the three dandelions on the walls! So, there's the nightstand. Made it safe and sound, I'm so happy with the newfound shipping option. It costs slightly more, but in the long run - building a custom box and using UPS has proven to be a success. Have a wonderful weekend! Special thanks to Dana for letting me use this photo.

Doug Fir

2011-08-15T16:59:00.000-07:00

On our trip to Portland recently, a friend took us to this awesome bar, lounge, venue & hotel. I instantly fell in love with the place when we walked in. It's the pacific northwest's take on 1960's modern. Think log cabins meet the space program. I got so many ideas in this place, check out these pictures:

Above is the bar lit up at night. The wood looks amazing! I love how it resembles a stack of wood, it's so clever. I plan to implement that style in some future pieces. Here's a lit up shot:

Above is a look at the restaurant. See that Chrome globe light fixture? Space race indeed!

The outside, super modern. You can see they probably kept the rocks from the original motel and painted them white. Some people are so against that but I think this is proof that it works just fine.

Above is the entryway, see why I was instantly in love? It just got better and better. If you are ever in Portland, check out Doug Fir & grab a drink. They have an outdoor seating area with a lava rock fire pit, surrounded by concrete planters bursting with bamboo. The light bulbs in the motel hallways were all switched to blue, and it looks great. Just wanted to share a bit of inspiration with you! Enjoy.

Emerald Chair

2011-08-05T10:02:00.000-07:00

I love chairs. I love when I find a good chair to redo. I think they make the most impressive before & afters. Plus, I get to pick out some nice fabric! Here is the chair that has stepped up to the plate for a redo:

The seat was in pretty bad shape, but I tore it apart and will be replacing the pad with a new thick foam pad. I recently went to Harts, a local fabric shop, and learned they have a HUGE selection of upholstery fabric! They have an online shop too: http://www.hartsfabric.com

Here's what I picked out for the chair:

I'm planning on a green frame with a black glaze. Stay tuned for the after pics - have a great weekend!

Sakura goes to France

2011-07-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

I remember learning about a time when the French had a strong interest in the Japanese, and the two cultures shared a lot of goods. This table, which started like this:

ended up totally blending the two. This table has a lot of the French Provincial style, and I didn't even think of the relevance that I was putting a Japanese flower all over it. Ha! What a coincidence. First, so you know what I'm saying, here are the pictures:

I started out with the intentions to just make a cream white shabby chic table, and just thought it needed something else. I grabbed some vintage books, and got to cutting. I ended up forming all kinds of "interesting" sentences while I was adhering them, just by reading what was randomly cut out. They surprisingly made sense! haha. Anyway, it's been fully sealed so the pages are protected, and is up for sale in the shop.
Have a great weekend!

Iris, the Purple & Black Side Table

2011-07-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

Another throwback to the portland post (I was working on three things at once!) is this table that I just finished up. Here she is before:

Now, I had a lot of ideas for this. Especially because of the drawer having those diagonals. But in the end, I stayed true to the fact that I've been dying to do my first glaze job for a while now, and this was going to be it. I'm happy I did, the table came out a great color, very shiny, and well here it is:

I don't know which I like better, the drawer or the stripes. Very fun little table and is up for sale in the shop. Have a great day!

Nasturtium Twins

2011-07-26T16:36:00.000-07:00

Done at last! This was a fun one. So, I believe I mentioned in my last post that I was working on these nightstands:

Well they are done! This was a really fun project. They came out how I imagined in my head, and I learned a few great tricks along the way. Ok, here they are:

It's so nice to take a step back and take a deep, deep breath! These were a lot of work, but I'm glad I went with my original idea to line the drawers. I corded the corners there too as a little bonus. So these are up for grabs. I also have pictures of the smaller table from the Portland post, and the drop leaf table... all 3 finished up at the same time. Talk about perfect timing! Have a good one......

Off to Portland!

2011-07-13T09:04:00.000-07:00

I'm heading to Portland tomorrow! But I wanted to post before leaving, so here we go. I'm pretty excited about Portland. For one, it's a road trip (12 hours!) and I love passenging. I don't think passenging is a word yet, but if it were, it would mean "one who enjoys rides in the car without the hassle of paying attention to driving". And that's me in a nutshell. Secondly, Portland is supposedly a creative mecca for all things DIY, so I'm curious to see what kind of ideas and inspiration will come from this. I will not be without notebook! New York gave me tons of ideas to bring home, and I'm looking for more. Furniture in particular, there are apparently a lot of people up there playing the redo furniture game. And Third, Portland sounds beautiful. A river running through it, warm weather, tree after tree after tree...this should be great!

So here's what I've been up to lately. I started juggling a few projects at once to take advantage of the warm weather. Above is the Brod box, done in a beachy teal and white wash. For sale here, "brod" is Norwegian for Bread. Ever since I saw teal and red in my sisters kitchen, I've been in love with the combo. So naturally when I was staging this photo, I thought of bright RED. This was a fun one.

The other three on the table were not as quick, but are coming a long great. I am not completely finished but here they are in their before state:

Look at that last table! It was in "interesting" shape to say the least. Really weird finish on it. It's just about done now, and I'll have pictures soon. Here's a sneak peak of what those end tables are doing:

Oh yes... yellow! As much as I LOVE the bright yellow, this was stage 2 of a longer stage process. These are pretty much done, but I'm taking the time to nicely line the drawers. I'll have pictures when I get back!

Well, I'll be gone from tomorrow July 14 until Friday July 22, until then, I leave you with this awesome Etsy video. It's from the "How-Tuesday" line of videos, and is featuring Allison from Zipper8 lighting, which you may remember from this post. Anyway, she does a great tutorial on how to make a fun cocktail umbrella lantern. Super easy, cute, and affordable. I had wanted to do a project like this years ago, but had never thought of some of the tactics to tackle the project that Allison has. Check out her video, she does a great job!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Journey to Alaska

2011-06-21T19:31:00.000-07:00

So the Brick & Turquoise table (seen here) sold in late May, and it was a pretty big deal. So, the wonderful (and helpful!) Teresa wrote me while I was in New York, and told me she had her heart totally set on the table, but the only issue was that she's in Alaska.... but she had already done a TON of research on who would and would not ship to Alaska, and wanted my feedback. First of all, I was so flattered that she loved the table enough to spend who knows how long on finding it a route up there! So between the two of us and a lot of phone calls, we managed to find a way to make it happen. Not greyhound, not Southwest... but just the good old Post Office. Miraculously the table was the perfect dimensions to even be considered by the USPS, and we had to have a box built (Yes, full on BUILT) for the table to make the trip. After anxiously waiting and hoping it wasn't getting thrown around, the table arrived in Alaska (in only about a week and a half!) Here she is, in her new home, with her new family:

Isn't their place adorable? I love the bright colors and those awesome chairs. It looks so cozy! Oh, and check out that bench - Teresa did that one herself, I love it!

I learned a LOT in this experience, and it will help make future shipments way easier. From building boxes, to new ways to ship - this was a big lesson. Having a box built is the way-to-go! Thanks again Teresa for letting me show everyone your house!

Hoops & Hoops

2011-06-09T10:25:00.000-07:00

I've been doing a lot more of the fabric wall hoops while different pieces of furniture dry. Here they are!

These are all for sale, as sets. I can do custom sets as well. I think they came out so cute! These two fabrics in particular are actually some of my favorites, I have the pink squirrel one in my room. I plan on doing wrapped canvas as well, as well as making some mixed sets. Stay tuned. Have a great weekend, and congratulations to the class of 2011!

Let's hear it for New York

2011-06-07T12:53:00.000-07:00

I know, I'm sorry - now that song will probably run in your head all day, but imagine how many times it ran through ours while we were there? Ten thousand, at least! Anyway, my sister and I just got back from a GREAT trip to New York City, and I realized I hadn't posted in a bit because I've been in super catch up mode.

Let me start by saying New York is awesome, just like everyone says. Everyone should go. The people and the streets were not nearly as mean or intimidating as everyone says, and we felt pretty comfortable pretty fast. My sister Denise set up the whole thing, and she found us an AWESOME apartment on Airbnb, my new favorite site. You can rent (or rent out yours) apartments in so many cities, and it was cheaper and better than any hotel we saw. It was a beautiful one bedroom apartment, on the 21st floor, with a full kitchen, internet, etc. Here's the view:

Every night after running around New York, we'd grab some beer and sit at the table that was right next to the huge window. It was foggy and overcast most the time, but looking back, if it were sunny I would have probably overheated, haha. Chrysler building:

Check out the building next door, they had this really nice rooftop deck. We went over there one night and had a few drinks, and we realized that looking back upon OUR building, you could totally see our window lit up, and everyone over there probably saw us watching them! Funny.

Look at those cute lights!

All in all, we had an amazing time, ate a bunch of great food, saw a lot of amazing things, landed free tickets to Dave Letterman.. I got a ton of ideas and inspiration for new projects I want to tackle, and I can't wait to go back to New York again someday. Have a great week!

Spotlight: Bamboo Fence

2011-05-04T08:00:00.001-07:00

I LOVE bamboo! Not only is it extremely sustainable and renewable, it's beautiful! My sister Denise and her boyfriend Joey recently completed their bamboo fence for their front driveway. The design was their own, and it came out great. They thought of every detail, like routing the edges for a nice finished look. Next time you consider building a fence, give bamboo some serious thought. Here's the pics:

I love the redwood around the bamboo. The bamboo gives it that natural, organic feel... while the redwood keeps it very clean and tidy looking. Great job Denise & Joey! They are in a contest too, if you want to vote for them go to Cali bamboo's contest page: Click here. They are number 7. Have a great Wednesday!

Barn Red Dresser

2011-05-03T14:17:00.000-07:00

When this dresser came to me it was in an "interesting" state to say the least. Take a look:

One drawer was busted, a track for another drawer (see the tape?) was split and being held together with electrical tape, and the finish had overall seen better days. But, at it's core it had some great qualities. Solid wood, no particle board, and what's this? All of it's handles? Yes, something could definitely be salvaged from this situation - even if it ended up only being some really cute hardware to add to the collection. I thought about it for a few days, and I'm a huge fan of letting the furniture be the guide. Like I mentioned, it was not without it's wear and tear, so that set us on the path to a shabby chic - antiqued look. I made some executive decisions and got to work. First, take a look at the after:

Tuh Duh! Yea, I had to ditch two drawers. I probably could have kept one, but an 8 inch tall shelf didn't seem as useful as a 18 inch high. I think this would be great for a TV, record player, bookshelf, wine bar, you name it.

Yea, I went with red. This red is almost like a wash or a glaze too, so the wood grain shows a little. The entire piece was stained with dark walnut as well.

I was able to make this with almost entirely re-used parts from the dresser itself. The back you can see are the fronts of the old drawers. The only new wood is the shelf.

See the gap back there behind the last shelf? I did that on purpose, here's why:

A hole for wires! In case the new owner decides to run something electrical through it, the wires can be concealed and run out the back via that gap I showed you.

I'm really happy with this one! Just a few more details and he'll be ready to go up for sale. Thanks for looking!

Before & After: Aqua Blue Lamp

2011-05-03T13:49:00.000-07:00

My friend Sarah snagged this lamp for me a while back, and as pretty as it was for it's time, it needed a modern spin. Here's the before and after of the Aqua Blue Lamp:

Before.....

....and after:

Well there she is! I'll have it up in the shop soon, and I will lower the price if you don't need the shade. Have a good one!

How To: String Wall Art

2011-04-28T12:35:00.000-07:00

How lucky am I? Recently I posted about string art, and it got my mind so wrapped around it (no pun intended!) that my goal that night was to hopefully convince Ralph that he needed it in his room. It wasn't that hard really, he had already seen the post & the pictures and loved it, I just had to put the hammer to the nail - ha, ha - get it? hammer to the nail... I'm full of 'em today! Well here's the wall done:

With that, let's get to work. So you want giant string art on your walls, eh? Good choice make that... great choice. This is 50 times easier than it looks, and it comes out fantastic. You can also change it whenever you want with very little time & effort. Estimated cost, maybe $10?

You'll need:
Nails - I recommend something longer than an inch, with a head.
Hammer
Scissors
String - Yarn gives a thicker look, embroidery string is a thin look. For this tutorial, we used yarn.
Pencil
Push pin
Lite Algebra
Good music

Step 1: Find yourself a blank wall. We've all got 'em!

Step 2: Draw Your Circle. Here is where your algebra can come in handy. There are two ways you can approach this. The first & easiest way, is to just decide how big you want this baby. For the example let's say 4 feet wide. So, our radius, will be 2 feet. Tie a piece of twine (any non stretchy string) to a pencil. I chose a pencil that matched the wall, hehe. Measure out 2 feet from the pencil, and tie the twine to a push pin. Still with me? We're almost there! Push the pin in the wall where you want the center of the circle. Pull the pencil and twine nice and taut, and lightly draw your circle. A good tip is to hold the pencil straight towards the wall, not at an angle. See look, here's a blurry picture of me getting my circle on:

Not the best picture, but it was dim lighting in there! The other way to draw a circle only applies if you need an exact amount of nails for your pattern. I generally advise just winging it, but some people think I'm nuts. So here's the other way, that makes you feel like those 8 years of algebra can finally be put to some use. I know, this is super long winded, but I promise the rest will be nice n' breezy.

OK - nerd alert, here we go: Using the equation Circumference = 2*pi*radius, we can get some fairly accurate specs. Brings back memories right? I know... Let's use the same measurements as circle 1. Let's say you want exactly 80 nails or something. We basically need to know how far apart to place each nail, so we need to find the circumference. Our radius was 2 feet, or 24 inches. Plug that in and solve your equation. C=2*(pi)*24, pi is about 3.14159265. This gives us a circumference of 150.79 inches. Divide by number of nails (80), means place a nail every 1.88 inches. Phew! So what does this all mean? If you draw a circle with radius 24 inches, place your nails that far apart on the line. Another way to work this would be to do it backwards, decide how many nails you want and how far apart you want them, get a circumference, and solve for radius so you know how to draw your circle. Ok, enough-enough! Let's move forward....please!

Here we drew our circles and hammered our nails in. We measured for the larger and we winged it for the smaller. I think weird shapes would be really fun too.

Look at that! We've begun. Choose a nail, tie your string and just play with it. For this pattern here, we just crossed the circle over to a nail, wrapped skipped one wrapped, then went back up to the next clockwise nail, and wrapped. It's so much easier to do then it is to explain, you'll see. Play with it.

Keep the pattern going and stop whenever you want, or continue until it completes itself. The wonders of math make it come around to nail #1 sooner or later. We stopped a little early here, because the open space is nifty.

Who doesn't love a good close up?

The baby was a total wing job, and it came out fantastic. You can see we are just zig zaggin it...

Look at these two:

There you have it, another tutorial. This is a personal favorite. I love it so much, I want to do it right now. Maybe I'll beg Ralph to add a third - haha - a third circle would actually look really nice here!

Good luck with yours, remember, it is much easier than it looks, but we don't need to tell too many people that - it's more fun to just have your friends think you're some kind of math magician. Have a wonderful day, and if you embark on a string art, I'd love to see & share your photos!

String Art

2011-04-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

Once upon an apartment, before I was allowed to paint, I had a fairly large bedroom with a not so fairly large window. Bottom line, I had enough blank white walls to go around. I had a good amount of art, but I really craved something big and different. String Art. Yes, the lovely 1970's string art. This was the perfect solution to my problem and it was fairly easy. I plan to do a tutorial on it soon, but for now, I want to show you some really awesome spins on string art. These have a more modern feel, and if your looking for something cleaner than yarn (yarn tends to get fuzzy and bulky), swapping it out for embroidery string costs a little more but looks really really good. Here are some neat pictures I found, with links to more info:

Now this one (above) is actually done on a piece of wood vs. the wall, which is a good idea if you want to keep your finished work. This picture is from Threadbanger's Decor it Yourself.

I LOVE this one! I've been trying to find the patten you would use to get such a fractal like design, but I think it's an isosceles triangle. If you find more info let me know. I love how it complements the red couch. Here's the link.

I'm pretty sure this is the one I'd like to do somewhere, ASAP. I love the tree. This is different than it's geometric brothers, but it's very striking against the green wall. This actually has a full tutorial, and it only uses thumbtacks & yarn!

This fella did an awesome job, again with that pattern I'm looking for. I read his is out of yard, but it certainly looks like something thinner. This picture was from a post on Yarnia.

There you have it! A little inspiration for the weekend. Look around you and see where you can cram some art, and let your creativity do the rest. There are so many different shapes and patterns you can do, from geometric, to random, to actual shapes. Seriously, do some google image searching and you'll see things range from stars and flowers, to owls and people's silhouettes. Wild stuff. Have a great weekend!

Japanese Rising Sun Coffee Table

2011-04-22T17:42:00.000-07:00

Remember this table? Your standard, run of the mill table... I had a LOT of ideas for it, but as a spur of the moment decision, I went with the rising sun. I'll let the pictures do the talkin'


Here's how it was before. I think it's a lil better now.

Thanks for checking out the update on my table, finally! This is up for sale in the shop, message me if you would like to work something out. Have a good one.

How To: Fabric Hoop Wall Art

2011-04-21T15:23:00.000-07:00

Ah yes, another tutorial! Special thanks to Ralph, for having the wall space and needing an art project. He had this sheet from when he was younger, and really liked it but... well he wanted a different look. I suggested embroidery hoops, and before I knew it he showed up with 8 in 4 different sizes. This is a super easy way to make some really cool wall art. Be prepared, some of my pictures are a little blurry... but you get the idea!

Ok, step 1: Find yourself some fabric. Anything. Sheets, fabrics, quilting squares, old band shirts, anything. Then get yourself some embroidery hoops. These babies are like, under $2 for the largest, and come in many sizes. Lay your fabric choice out and start throwing your hoops all over it. Look how nifty:

Good job! Now, it's a lot easier to avoid cutting the carpet if you can lift the fabric a bit. But you don't want to lose all that positioning work you did! Enter scene: Sharpie marker. Draw some quick circles around your choice. We did about a half an inch.

Start cutting. I have a special pair of scissors just for fabrics. I wrote fabric ALL over it so no one would ever use them for anything else. Why? Because after 9 years of ownership, those puppies still cut through fabric like butter. Creepy that we are cutting the throat in this picture. Oh well!

That's my rug showing through.

Your circles are cut, fantastic. Loosen your embroidery hook and remove the outer ring. This is a total carpet activity by the by.

Now take the matching circle size and place it over the solid hoop. position it as best as you can.

Take the loose hoop and gently push it over the other hoop. Keep in mind that you'll more than likely hang these hoops by their clasp, so remember which side you want up. Give the clasp a few spins to tighten it up. Don't worry about loose spots in the fabric, we're gonna tighten these soon.

Just how soon? Try now. Look at that! Flip the hoop over, and gently start to tug your fabric through. Don't tug too crazy, you don't want distortion. Just, you know, make it nice looking.

Tighten that clasp all the way. See, he was tightening so incredibly fast that the camera couldn't keep up. So blurry from the fast tightening work. Amazing!

There she is! All done. Wait, no we aren't. We are pretty much done here. Now take your glorious fabric scissors and cut the leftovers off the back. I didn't take a picture because, well I forgot, and no one needs a picture of that anywho.

Repeat your steps and you have an adorable lil family:

Remember old cut throat? Looks great now, huh? I love the crown. When he-she was on a sheet I didn't realize how it looks like a row of little smiling candy corns on his-her head. Now it's all I see!

We totally winged it on the hanging, and that's just how I like it. I think they came out great, and I want to do one million more!

A few night time shots:

Great work! I'm sure yours came out great too, I'd love to see 'em. Thanks for reading another one of my long winded tutorials, I'll be back with more - don't you fret. Have a great day!

Better After: One Man Show

2011-04-15T08:59:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning to find many a sweet comment (thank you!!) on the blog here, and learned that I'd been featured on one of my favorite blogs, Better After. Lindsey of Better After did an article on me yesterday and featured lil Cobalt & Cozzy end table. So here's a big thank you to Lindsey and her kind words, and for the rest of you, head over to her blog and subscribe - it's really fun (and inspiring!) to see all these daily transformations from "drab to fab". Haha, OK I know that was really cheesy and cliche to say drab to fab, but I can't resist some good rhyme time (boom! another one!) Have a wonderful Friday!

How To: Framed Vertical Succulent Garden

2011-04-08T08:00:00.000-07:00

I saw these recently on Ready made and wanted to drop everything and start making them. Of course, it had to go on the "to-do" list, which seems to grow faster than I can keep up with! Oh well, this one's a winner, and would make a great gift - especially now that summer is coming! The project was featured in the Ready Made 100 contest. I absolutely love Ready Made, just about as much as I love instructables. Anyway, Here's the tutorial: Framed Succulent Garden.

Here is another version from Better Homes & Gardens, done in a wreath style. I really like this one, it's nice to see wreaths around when it's not the holidays. Tutorial aqui!

That's what I've got for today, have a great one!

Two Tiered Cobalt & Cozumel Table

2011-04-07T10:49:00.000-07:00

Well, she's done! I think Cobalt and Cozzy came out pretty good. I started just knowing I wanted to go the route of dark blue, and I think the warm weather over the weekend inspired me, and this piece just went tropical. I couldn't help it! I had a few different ideas, and I was even going to do a black eyed susan side view silhouette on the top, but refrained. I still wonder though........

Anyway, check out the pictures:

Here is the before picture:

Hope you like it, have a great day!

Spotlight: Zipper 8 Lighting

2011-04-06T16:38:00.000-07:00

Recently I posted about the paper artichoke lamp tutorial, and shortly after I found Zipper8 Lighting. Oh wow! Allison, of Zipper8, and I have been corresponding and she shared her blog with me, check it out: The 3 R's Blog .

Right now she's in the midst of 30 projects in 30 weeks that revolve around reusing materials, there are SO many creative ideas on there. She also has an etsy shop where you can buy many of the creations she's been making, I love all her lighting!

She has so many great ideas on there, and here you can see she did an artichoke pendant lamp for herself. It came out fantastic! Here are some pictures of her wonderful lamp, and many other pictures from her blog:

The straw lamp blows me away, it's so cute! Reminds me of a Jelly Fish. Have a great day everyone, be sure to check out more from Zipper 8!

Spotlight: Plum and Zebra Wardrobe

2011-03-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

I just had to share this, check out this amazing before & after by Brecken over at Junque. Original post here (and more pictures!)

Hop over to her site and check out her work, I'm a huge fan! She's an inspiration to the refinishing & upcycling community. Her designs are fresh and fun!

Wall Plates

2011-03-28T12:30:00.000-07:00

I love plates, I always seem to find neat ones here and there. Garage sales, Flea Markets, and my personal favorite - Japanese markets. Storing all these plates is another story! This weekend I decided to embark on a project I've been meaning to do forever, pick out my favorites and hang them up. Plate hangers are AWESOME and inexpensive. Why let these beauties waste away unnoticed in the cabinet, when they make such great wall art?! Here are some gorgeous examples of what you can do with your collection, some wall space, and a $2 plate hanger.....

I think they look great, and added bonus - You can still easily take them down and use them. If you haven't considered plating your walls before, let these pictures be your inspiration and let the hunt for cute plates begin! Have a great day, it seems the rains have stopped for us here in California.... for now...

Two Tier Table

2011-03-25T08:28:00.000-07:00

Now that drop leaf baby is finished, it's time to move on to this two tiered end table I've been glancing at for a while now. I'm not sure what to do, just yet, but I have a lot of ideas floating around. I'm thinking something along the lines of cobalt blue... I might stripe it with the wood, I might two tone it, I might do a fabric inlay, a pattern stencil.....I really can't decide. Do you have any ideas?

Paper Scrap Light

2011-03-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

I love this light! Really simple in construction, I saw it on design sponge and fell in love. The original post is here on Design Sponge, one of my favorite blogs. I can't wait to start making these. I love paper and I love lights, I've always toyed around with both - this is perfect! Here's a few more shots:

Keep an eye out for these, I can't wait to start!

Cute Cake Stands

2011-03-22T17:31:00.000-07:00

Beth over at Green Cricket recently posted a really awesome tutorial on how to make some cute and fun cake stands, I love the bright colors! Check them out:

See the full tutorial here, and while you're there check out all Beth's great creations! Have a good one!

Brick & Turquoise Drop Leaf - Part 2

2011-03-21T17:17:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I finished the table! Here's the original post if you missed it. So I finished up with a good distressing session to let the red really come out, then I did a glaze of deep black over the entire thing afterwards. I'm pretty happy with how it came out! Fun little beachy table, with just the right amount of red coming through. Let's just get to the pictures, huh?!

Originally I wanted a lot more red to come through, but I just went with the flow, and ultimately I think it's just the right amount. Don't forget, this was the before:

This table is available in the shop.

Brick & Turquoise Drop Leaf

2011-02-19T17:40:00.000-08:00

Brick & Turquoise, Teal & Red, how can you say no to this combo? You can't. They are naturals. I started work last week (beFORE the rains...) on an older drop leaf table I had around. Let's start with my inspiration picture first:

HELLO! How cute is that thing? I was searching for ideas, and I knew I wanted to use turquoise, and I saw this. The red layer underneath poking out here and there is what sold me, and away I went. So here we have a table with one too many layers of lacquer going on. I know it was a style, but the key word there is "was". But it was solid wood and had plenty of interesting carvings, this table was ready for it's world to be rocked:

Hello Darling....

After it was stripped, we realized it some pretty neat woodwork going on, and goal #1 was to do a stain. Well that fell out the window and I decided, forget it, let's just be bold and see what happens. So here's the progress. First I put a coat of this beautiful brick red from my sister Denise, which managed to paint not only her living room, but mine as well:

Bring it!

I love this red. It's great because it's a nice flat red, and will really work well the bright turquoise. So that was layer one, bear with me. Layer 2, the turquoise:

Alright! Now we're getting somewhere. This is about as far as I've gotten, since it's cold and wet outside and the paint just never seems to dry. Rather than rush it, I just came inside to post this :)

The goal here is to either whitewash the outside or do a dark glaze over the whole thing. I can't decide. Either way, I'll distress the project in all the right places and let that brick red shine out where it counts. Wish me luck, i'd love to hear your feedback, input and ideas on this baby. Also, I got new hardware (not pictured) it's a white ceramic drawer pull.

Have a good one!

Fabric Wall Art Tutorial

2011-01-27T10:22:00.000-08:00

Lately I've been such a sucker for cute fabrics. I love them, and the best part? SO affordable. I have to say IKEA really tugs at my heartstrings the hardest with their fun, bold and affordable prints. Finding someone to cut the fabric? Difficult. Don't say I didn't warn you! But, well worth the struggle. Anyway, here's the project I can't seem to stop doing:

These lil beauties are above my bed. IKEA had an adorable print with bunnies and squirrels but in a bright modern style, and I instantly fell in love. I wanted new wall art as well, and it all came together perfectly. So this is the easiest project in the WORLD, and you can use existing canvases around your house without doing any damage. I used some of my old oil paintings, and merely staped to the back. So my paintings are still under there.. I just needed a change, ya know?

Step 1: Gather your tools! You'll need:
Canvas or frames (For the smaller ones I used some old idea frames that could take the staples)
Fabrics
Staple Gun
Fabric Scissors
10 Minutes

This tutorial was made when I was making these for my living room:

Step 3: Lay out your fabric face down, and put the canvas on. Play around and decide what you want to show, it always comes out great.

Step 4: Cut out the shape of the canvas, remember to give your self extra space on the edges for the wrapping. I did like 4 inches per side.

Step 5: Think of wrapping gifts, just start wrapping and stapling. You want to staple onto the back, versus the sides, because it gives that nice gallery wrap look. At first it helps to crossover to the opposite side, pull the fabric taught, and give a staple. Then just repeat! Tip: I left my corners for last.

Step 6: Continue all the way around the canvas.For the corners I flattened them out at a diagonal, pulled, and stapled. Trim off excess fabric.

Step 7: There is no step 7, you're done! Hang these up, instant wall art, and it's sooo affordable! I had this random heater wall that just needed a little love. My intentions are to put coat hooks under, not sure. For now there's a cute wooden catch all chair.

Hope you enjoyed the tutorial, and hopefully you feel inspired to start wrappin' up your canvas! There are literally thousands of prints out there, and this would also look amazing framed as well. Imagine, an old frame spray painted in high gloss white? Delicious. Have a great day!

Okay-okay, this isn't a wrap, but check out that great print... Ikea also. (above)

In the last shot, I imagine a solid color frame... so cute!

How To Chalk Things Up

2011-01-05T10:04:00.000-08:00

Hello and Happy Holidays! Well.. belated anyway. The holidays were SO wild for me here that I basically shut down shop for the month of December, to focus on family, friends, fun times and home repairs. Things are piecing themselves back together nicely, and so far, 2011 is a pretty nice year.

Seeing as how I haven't been up to TOO much, I decided to feature a tutorial from the great Design Sponge today. This series is called Before & After Basics, by Barb Blair. I love her approach and her style, it's right up my alley. I thought I'd share her! The tutorial I chose is regarding the wonderful chalkboard paint, which is extremely easy and fun! Plus, everyone who sees it in your home thinks your some sort of genius, which is always a welcome feeling if you ask me....haha. Luckily for me, this is a no-genius-necessary project and pretty much could go on any surface. I'm debating painting a breakfast nook table with chalkboard. Here's the link to the tutorial: Chalk it up! To give proper credit, the picture is from DesignSponge.com

Special thanks to Barb and everyone at Design Sponge for providing us all with great resources and fun eye candy all over their site. Happy New Year everyone! Make it a great one.

Better Bookshelves

2010-11-28T11:24:00.000-08:00

I saw another bookshelf today in color order, and it just reminded me how much a little reorganizing can change the entire look of a shelf. Sure there are those who this kind of organizing drives INSANE... but if you think you can handle it, I think you should definitely do it. I was worried I wouldn't be able to find anything, but to my surprise, I usually remember what the book looks like - and have been able to find the book i'm looking for pretty easily.

Your shelves can go from ordinary to extraordinary in a matter of hours. How to tackle this? Just pull those books off, put them in color piles, and try to organize each section by hue. For example, notice how the green isn't just green... the similar greens stick together, and slowly fade to the neighboring color. I'm not going to lie, this takes a lot of time, so put on a favorite movie & a pair of sweats, you're in for the night!

Squares

2010-11-16T08:00:00.000-08:00

Here's another newbie for the bunch. I saw this table and had an immediate flashback to my childhood. I completely forgot about tables in this style!

The almost checkerboard squares inlaid, really takes me back. I think my Dad had a rectangle one of these. I had to give it a try, partly because of the memories and partly because this is a genuinely cool table. Ross had a great idea to paint it checkerboard, and that sealed the deal for me. I bought it, threw it in the car (it fit, that's always a plus!) and started brainstorming. I have a lot of ideas. The one I'm leaning towards is all matte black, with the squares alternating matte black and ivory. then distressed and rubbed with a walnut stain, and sealed for durability. I'm excited that the wood texture will show through the paint too, that will give it a lot of character. What are your ideas? We'll see where this week takes us. We have a lot of work to do in the shop itself now that it's raining. The main workshop is getting it's own pallet floor solution like the storage area, as we've been getting hit with a few puddles! Well, thanks for stopping by and have a productive day!

The Kill

2010-11-14T13:37:00.000-08:00

Hello again! Hope everyone had a great weekend. Quick side note, I've always said "Hello again" without thinking twice about it, but recently we had a night with Netflix and the movie that arrived was "Hello again" with Shelly Long.

I hate to say it, but it wasn't the greatest movie in the world, but somehow it stuck with me, and I can't stop thinking about or quoting it! Eighties movies are so fun to watch though, I think it's something you just HAVE to see. Anyway, moving on!

We just got in a few pieces of furniture and I've been racking my brain to remember what it is CALLED. I've seen them all over and I used to know, but I'm drawing a blank! Maybe you can help:

I love the style, the raised back perfect for a lamp, leaving room for book and knick knacks underneath. I'm toying with a few different ideas as to how to paint it, any suggestions?

Now I usually don't talk about all the vintage things we put in the shop, simply because there can be SO many that it would hog the whole blog. This one though, I had to show. This plate is actually titled "The Kill". Check it out:

This has to be the most interesting plate I think I've ever seen... well, have a great day!

Before & After - Coffee Table

2010-10-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

Remember this post? Well Ross and I worked on Kevin's old coffee table and finished it up yesterday. We sanded it, primed it, painted it, then worked a Cherry stain into it. After a lot of experimentation to get the look we wanted, we lovingly distressed the piece. I think it came out great! White with a subtle red - purple tint. That's the cherry stain and I am really happy with it. The way the wings fold up on this table still amaze me, it's SO easy. Just pull 'em up, and they stay! Putting them back down is as easy as pulling the hinge. That's it! The designer was a genius to install the wings like this! Anyway, enough rambling, here she is and she's looking for a great home:

After!

Before & After - Side Table Wash

2010-10-22T12:42:00.000-07:00

Remember this post? Well I finished up the tables, and I love how they came out. Here's the before & after shots:

After:

I like how they came out and I learned a LOT doing this wash. It was my first time, and I can't wait to do it again. It was fun AND educational. I used the tutorial from Barb at Design Sponge. Next time I'd like to try one withOUT the brush strokes. Well, I'm a sucker for brushstrokes because I think they look really cool, especially cross hatch like I did here, but I'd like to try other ways too. I definitely recommend this process to anyone looking for a furniture face lift! These tables are up for sale in the shop.

Have a great weekend!

Before & After - Royal Empress Chairs

2010-10-16T08:00:00.000-07:00

Just finished a set of chairs! Here they are before:

And After:

I decided to do the third chair differently, as a set of 2 is probably better than a set of 3, rather than 4. The fourth chair is missing. The third of this set has arms, and will make a nice chair by itself. I chose this color paint to compliment the pinks and reds in the print, and highlight the greens and blues. In different lights the chair seems to be a different color, very pretty! Ross actually "made" this color from two other colors we had leftover. I'm sad that I used it all up! Oh well, we can always go get it matched.

These are for sale in the shop, with free shipping and delivery, of course! Have a great weekend!

Time for a Wash.....

2010-10-15T09:15:00.000-07:00

I have a set of end tables that I've been decided what to do with. Finally, I decided I need to learn this wash technique that I saw on Design Sponge. Here is 1 of the 2 tables I plan to wash today:

Here is what I'm going for:

I'm excited to do it, the full Tutorial from Barb on Design Sponge is available here.

Wish me luck and have a great day!

Coffee Table

2010-10-13T13:26:00.000-07:00

All is well with the Design Sponge post, they corrected it - I'm a "he" again! Hehe. In other news, Kevins coffee table and desk came out GREAT (pictures to come soon) and he loved them. He immediately replaced his old coffee table with the newly refinished one, and sent us home with the old! He didn't want it, so we are re-doing that today. Here it is:

Aren't those drop leaves awesome? I was really surprised to see how easily they go up too. Normally with drop leaves you have to mess with little switches or pins, not these. Simply pull the side up and it stays.To put it down you just pull gently on the hinge supporting it. So easy! I really love the style of the legs, it was the inspiration for how we would re-do this one. Ross and I decided on French Provincial shabby chic style, like this:

The first coat is on and it already looks really great. Don't get me wrong, I loved the wood of the table, but it had some stains that made it a great candidate for paint. I'm partial to paint though, so I always say that! Have a wonderful week!

Design*Sponge, baby!

2010-10-08T11:20:00.000-07:00

I'm so happy and honored to have made it to the front page of Design*Sponge! I LOVE reading design sponge and have always turned to them for advice, tutorials and ideas. They post a lot and have "65,000 daily readers on the main site, over 89,000 readers reading via RSS, and 103,000 Twitter followers" (from their About page). Well here is the link to the article: Design Sponge, and here is the review:

I’m not sure if this is a permanent installation or just a creatively styled photo shoot, but there’s something wonderfully surreal about this outdoor desk set up. Jesse runs a little furniture shop in Santa Cruz called 9 Red, and when she saw this pine desk, her creative gears immediately started cranking. She painted the desk ivory and then added lovely silver fleur-de-lis patterns in varying sizes. The results are quite beautiful, especially when paired with the plain wood chair and the wire basket. The desk combines French country, rustic vintage and simple modernism, which I’m absolutely loving. Click here to see more of her creations and be sure to check our her shop site, as well. Amazing work, Jesse!

Did you notice, though, that they think I'm a she? Haha... it's a little funny, and not unusual, because with an androgynous name like Jesse and the faceless-ness of the internet, it happens all the time. Either way, I'm ecstatic to be featured on design sponge, I know they have thousands of before and after submissions coming in all the time. Here's a big thank you to design sponge!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Sewing Table & Hexagon Parasol

2010-10-07T11:54:00.000-07:00

Two new additions to the shop today, are the long awaited sewing table and a spur of the moment parasol. I've been trying to finish up the last of my parasol stock, but only so I can get more!

The sewing table was a sweet find. It was in great shape, just needed a face-lift. After stripping it and examining it, Ross decided to take off with Grey and Teal for this one. We had some leftover from our kitchen project, and the two go together beautifully! I'll let the pictures do the talking:

What do you think? It's available here, with free shipping or local delivery. $50 off for pick-ups. Up next is another parasol, this one I did in the style of a wall mural I did a few years back, that got a lot of compliments. Thought I'd give it a try!

Available here, this is #11 of the 12 parasols I have made. One more to go! They take a little while though so I have to take breaks. Cutting each piece then gluing each one, man! Oh well, it's fun. Have a wonderful day, it looks so much like fall out today!

Parasols

2010-10-06T12:22:00.000-07:00

Hello again! I just finished up two new parasols last night, and they are ready in the shop:

My favorite is the red one! I got the idea from a magazine that had a few pictures from some fine china shops in Canada. One of the plate sets had these cute red flowers going up the side with a very fine red branch. Pretty much like I have it here!

Have a great day!

Fleur de Lis Desk - Before & After

2010-10-04T14:39:00.000-07:00

Before:

After!

I was surprised with how this desk came out, I am really happy with it. Thank you Sarah for your help! This is available in the shop or through email.

Postmen Love Parasols

2010-10-01T10:28:00.000-07:00

I have two crazy stories regarding the shipping of my parasols, everything has been resolved but I still look back and can't believe it! Here we go ~

So a Canadian customer purchased one of my first parasols. I was really excited, so I packed it up in a tube, all safe and sound. Everything seemed fine. Now keep in mind, when crossing the border, we don't get the same kind of tracking we do here. Not that it would have helped much, but it would have given us some clues.

So my customer writes me, and says she got the parasol, but inside was NOT a parasol! It wasn't just empty though either, a strange "ring" of yellow fabric had been put in the place of a parasol. I couldn't understand so she sent me a picture, and sure enough, it had been switched out. I sent her another parasol of her choice, free of charge and it made it no problem. Though, I can't help but wonder, if there is a Canadian postman running around with a polka dot parasol......ha!

A few weeks later I ship another parasol, this time within the U.S. My customer writes about 2 weeks after I shipped, asking for more tracking info. I go to check, and it says they are still waiting for me to BRING the item that I paid postage online for! So at this point, no record. My postman didn't remember seeing a tube go out either. The logical answer is that someone STOLE it from my mailbox! I don't know whether to be angry or flattered that people love these parasols so much they are stealing them! But really, it was pretty frustrating.

I offered to make another one for her and rush it out so her mom could use it at a festival in Louisiana, when BAM! It showed up! A happy ending, but I still can't believe the interesting things surrounding the shipping of these parasols. I had to share, have a great weekend!

Lil' French Provincial!

2010-09-28T22:10:00.000-07:00

Here she is! All done and ready to take home:

I love how this one came out! It was similar before, but in pretty bad shape and dirty. Now we have a cuter cleaner style, that still says french vintage. I believe it's named "Madison" - kinda cute! For sale in the shop.

Teal Mirror - Before & After

2010-09-26T10:08:00.000-07:00

Remember this mirror? (see post here) Well it's done! Here are some images from before, during, and after. What a change.

For sale in the shop, here: http://NineRed.com

Have a great day!

New Shed!

2010-09-22T08:46:00.000-07:00

So I've posted before about the workshop shed, but I never showed the storage shed! We set up a 10 x 10 "garage" to store furniture in before we work on it, so the moisture here in Santa Cruz would stop killing them! I've lost quite a few pieces to moisture, and it's really annoying - especially when you are in the middle of a project! It's mostly the mist from the ocean that does it.

Anyway - up until now, it was on the ground. But thanks to my step-dad Mark, we were able to raise it! Take a look first and I'll explain after:

Using free pallets from craigslist, we stacked 18 pallets on top of eachother, in opposite directions. Then purchased roof plywood ($8 a sheet) and secured them to the pallets. $26 dollars and about 2 hours later, we have a raised platform to keep the furniture off the groung this winter! This came out so much better than I thought, that I am really excited to do the workshop with this method and a few other areas in the yard, but use nicer wood on the top for a pseudo "deck". I rent so I don't want to spend money on installing a full on deck without permission (and compensation, ha!). Mark had tons of tips and tricks about this procedure he came up with, e-mail him here if you want more information.

Have a great day, keep an eye out for our new flickr album as I'm going to start posting all the inventory "as - is" to be available for reservation. Thanks!

Kevin's Table

2010-09-15T22:37:00.000-07:00

Hello! Here is a beautiful table that Ross has been working on for our friend Kevin, sorry it's not for sale! I love the way it came out.

Sadly, I don't have any before pictures, but let me tell you it was in trouble. It had a lot of stains in the top, some looked like oil. The table has a hand carved signature, and says "Jules Suppo 1953". Almost 60 years old! Ross is going to give it another coat of stain and then seal it up for protection.

Polka Dot Chairs

2010-09-10T13:29:00.000-07:00

... the adventure continues! I just finished putting on the fabric for the seats, and had to take a preview picture. What color do you think the chair should be? I was aiming for light blue, but now I have no idea. Remember, it's a set of four, and the back will match the seat!

In case you missed the original pictures, here they are:

Give me your ideas! Thanks!

Long Break!

2010-09-08T15:35:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! I apologize for such a long break, we have been working really hard getting our new workshop set up. Here is a picture:

There you have it. That table was a crazy find, we went to a "free" sale which turned out to not be free (long story) and scored this table. It's HUGE! We don't have a big enough truck at our disposal, so we paid extra to have it delivered. Well, we got a call that night around ten p.m. saying they dropped it off at the liquor store NEAR our house... and that's it! SO Ross and I, at ten p.m., were carrying an enormous table down the middle of the street. It was very awkward, but very worth it! We can each work from a side with plenty of space.

I've started in on a few projects. The first is one of the chandeliers. I decided to break all the glass out, and I will paint it bright red with oversized light bulbs.

Breaking the glass was a fun stress relief!

The other project is a set of four chairs from my Grandma.

It's so cool to be working on these chairs after growing up around them. It's neat to think all this time I never knew I'd be redoing them one day!

Set of four, all matching. Here they are primed:

Like our make-shift paint booth? There is one chair missing from the photo. I think I am going to paint them a light blue, and use this fabric for the seats and the back:

I haven't finalized any of the plans though, so it is still open if anyone wants to reserve them to buy and choose the colors and fabrics. Anyone have suggestions of chair color, after seeing this print?

Ross is working on a few things right now too, but I only have a picture of one. This mirror:

It's pretty big - It's been primed now too, and is about to receive a coat of color. This is also up for reservation if anyone is interested.

Thanks for checking in, I'll post progress pictures soon! Have a great one.

Digest

2010-08-11T09:16:00.000-07:00

A lot of things have been going on this week! Sales have been up, and the purple hexagon table was adopted by a couple in San Francisco, and left us on Sunday. I'm glad they liked it! I have two more end tables in the works right now. Both are square, one I already showed you so here is the other one:

Pretty crazy isn't it....... this one definitely puts up a big challenge. I'm open to ideas! I need a lot of them. I'm definitely thinking solid color, but the panels behind the designs on the doors come off, so I might do them a different color or maybe in a fabric. We'll see. Here's another "beautiful" project I have going, that I have some ideas for but I'm also pretty blocked:

Interesting, right? The problem here is some of the glasses are broken. But, I know something good will come of them. I have 2, this is the big one and I have one more that is smaller. Wish me luck!
Lastly, I put up a couple more parasols also:

Alright! Those are in the shop, have a great day!

Hexagon Table; Before & After

2010-08-01T23:01:00.000-07:00

Here it is! Remember this table? You can see the original post here. I just finished it! Kate & Ross had found this one up in Felton, or Ben Lomond. I love the shape and all the details. I went with purple because it was really nice on another table I had done (here), and I had still have a decent stock of the purples that make it happen. I debated between going with a color or stripping it down and re-staining it. I went with color because the wood on the top would stain different than the wood on the sides. Here are some more shots:

This table is currently for sale, either in the shop or by email. Have a good one!

Paper Parasols

2010-07-27T10:38:00.000-07:00

I've always thought paper parasols were really cool, and when I finally found some plain ones - my mind started spinning on what to do with them. For now I'm starting with tissue paper, and experimenting between bleeding and non-bleeding papers, but I have a lot of ideas written down so there will be more to come. What would you do with a plain paper parasol? I love ideas!

Soon I want to make a few of these into lights. I had a parasol once that I turned into a hanging lamp, I cut the handle off almost all the way, and put a small hook in the stem. It would hang over a standard hallway ugly light and cast a nice glow down, instead of that terrible bare bulb.

I can create custom parasols if interested, just message me. The rest will be available in the shop. I've seen a lot of awesome parasols done for peoples weddings, some with monograms across them. I haven't tried that, but maybe someday. Don't forget we are on facebook now, click the button on the right!

New Projects!

2010-07-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

Here is a few things we are starting on - if you would like to reserve anything, let me know, and you can choose the colors - etc.

We are also now on Facebook under "Nine Red" or you can click here to become a fan! For you twitter lovers, we are there too under NineRedDecor. Nine Red was taken! Oh well. Thanks for stopping by!

Honeybee Telephone Table

2010-07-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

Remember this table? You can see the original post here. Well it's finally done! I went with Marigold yellow for the entire table, but opted for a chalkboard top and black knobs. It reminds me of a honeybee, but I stopped myself before putting accent stripes here and there. Maybe I will still do it.... we'll see! The table is done and for sale, best of all, it packs flat!

On the vintage front, here is an interesting wooden plaque (or tray?) with hand painted butterflies on it. I feel it's a wall plaque, but I guess it could also be a trivet or a simple serving tray. I guess it's up to the owner! Thanks for checking out Nine Red blog, have a great one!

Super Seventies Chandelier Makeover

2010-07-18T13:15:00.000-07:00

Here it is! The super seventies chandelier is done. This was a chandelier that was going to be thrown away during a home remodel. I had a few ideas, and eventually went with paying homage to it's 1970's roots by redoing it in retro fabric and colors. It lights up really nicely. I yet again forgot to take a before picture, but I have a picture of it in pieces before hand. You can really see the improvement! For sale here.

On a vintage note, Ross and I came across this really pretty serving tray and thought it would be a great addition to the shop. Click here to see it in the shop.

Have a wonderful week, the weather is great!

Shells and Cheese

2010-07-06T13:45:00.000-07:00

Hello! Hope everyone had a graet 4th of July weekend. Here's an update on what I've been up to lately. I found these book ends in a thrift store and it looked like someone just left them in their garage for years. Tarnished and it looked like a child with a sharpie attacked them. I wish I took a picture,oh well. I had the idea that they would look great in a really high gloss solid color, for a retro-modern look. After debating about the colors for a week or so, I decided to just go for golden yellow. I love this color! After it dried it immediately reminded me of that nuclear velveeta ooze on those shells and cheese - I can't help but love that stuff! So these are up for sale in the shop.

In other news, I recently got my hands on this really great 1970's console stereo (thank you sarah!). I can't wait to get my hands on it. It needs new curtains, but the stereo itself works, the speakers and great (with amazing bass!) and it has auxilary ports to hook up an ipod or mp3 player. We had a phone hooked up to it streaming Pandora, when a phone call came in, and we actually took the call on the stereo! Pretty funny. I think I found my new love, console stereos....

A long time ago I did a few chandelier make overs, and I really liked that. Here is the teal "candle"-lier I did. I'm onto another one. Again, I thought I took an assembled picture of it before hand, but I can't find it. So here are it's parts, just so I can show you the progress!

So, I hope I can explain this, the wooden pieces connect to that metal center. The metal center has the lights on it, and the 6 wooden pieces that attach hold 6 semi circular glass panels with a brownish tint. I'm going completely 70's with the chandelier. While working on that one, Sarah sent me a few more chandeliers that were being tossed out, so I went and grabbed them. I'll have updates on it soon to show you more, but think 1980's octagonal & rectangular lamps... we've GOT to find a way to bring these "beauties" into our modern decor. Any ideas? Thanks for stopping by, have a great one!