School of Restoration: Striped Round Table

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:

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DIY: Chalk Paint

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!

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Featured on: Better After

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!

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Ghost Lamps

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!

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New Love: Cut Canvas

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"!

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