Union Jack, my new friend

I admit it. I'm in love with Union Jack. 

I saw a lot of these being done in the blogging world and always wanted to try it. 

But I was nervous. 

Then I tried one on the weekend. Check it out HERE

To refresh your memory I finally took some real "after" pictures. 

This was a great starting point. I was able to tape out the design without doing the drawers. EASY! I followed a pattern online. Please don't ask me to find it again..just google union jack pattern. 

Then because I was feeling the love of the piece...I thought I would attempt the front of another dresser. 

OYYYYY boy was I cocky. 

Getting that tape to sit right and do what I wanted it to do was not as easy as doing the top. My hat off to all of you who do more than this simple design. 

I grabbed a dresser that I had picked up two weekends ago. 

And I did remember to get "before" pics...and you have to know I suck at the before ones. 

 Simple but solid and no repair needed....or so I thought.

 There was this funky piece of pressboard screwed to the top...for what reason? I have NO CLUE

Easy enough to take off. Then stripped, sanded, stained...the whole thing so that when I distressed it, a dark stain would show through and not light wood. 

After a few curse words and a lot of tape...I came away with this. 

 I'm really like the handles. I was told that if you have an accent piece of furniture that you shouldn't have "loud" handles. They should be nice but not distracting.

 I'm not sure I will ever get over the love of a natural top with a painted bottom.

ahhhh eye candy. At least for me it is. 

Hope you guys all had a wonderful Tuesday. 

Now to get back to working on a "pile" of chalk boards. 

Sharing here:

Domestically Speaking
At the Picket Fence 
Miss Mustard Seed
Coastal Charm
Savvy Sounthern Style   

Weekend projects

I'm really sorry, I just got so carried away that I didn't take official "before" pictures. 

Just a couple of projects I managed to do over the weekend and I wanted to share with you all today. 

First one is a dresser I picked up. 

I wanted to do something totally different. This one came from a local Re Store. It was already painted white and in really good condition. So I left the base white. It went really well with what I was planning on doing with it. 

After cleaning it up I started with researching how to do this correctly. I just love the internet for this sort of thing. 

Then measuring everything out I marked and taped it off. 

 See what great shape this was in?

 A closer look at my taping.

 After the first coat of paint. I'm sure you are getting the idea of what I'm doing.

I loved the fresh crispness of this design. But I wasn't finished. I wanted it to look like a worn out flag...so out came my sandpaper. 

 I always thought the red stripes that were off to the side were centered. But I was wrong. My brain is constantly wanting everything to be symmetrical. So doing it correctly was really hard for me.

 I LOVE LOVE LOVE the distressing and how it ages a piece. To me it just adds the right amount of depth.

 After taking these pics I realized I didn't have ones with the drawers put back in...so here it is, without the handles. The handles that came with it were aweful and didn't go with this piece at all. So this morning I'm heading to my knob store and picking something far more suited to it.

I did a bit of distressing to the rest of the piece before sealing it all. I love the way it turned out :) 

Then finished up something started on Friday. I picked up these bedside tables at my junk store on Friday. You can read about my junk store HERE 

Again, I so suck at before pictures. But I did get the after pictures. Do I get points for that? :) 

 This set is not for sale though as it is a custom order. A client has two daughters and each daughter will get one.

Aren't they just so cute? I hope the girls enjoy them. They picked the colour and are so excited to have them in their new home. :) 

Hope everyone has a great Monday! 

Back to work I go :) 

Sharing here:
I should be Mopping the Floor
Handy Man Crafty Woman
Primitive & Proper 
Coastal Charm 
Design Dreams by Ann 
Elizabeth and Co.  
  

"MY" JUNK Store!

If you "like" me on Facebook you will notice I often mention my "junk" store. 

People are constantly asking me what the name of this store is, and really it has no name. Oh, for tax reasons I'm sure it does. But there is nothing there that has a name on it. I didn't take a picture of the front of the store. 

On the side of the road they switch out their signs. Some days it says "garage sale" with an arrow pointing. Other days they put out a sign that says "Estate sale" 

Either way, it's an amazing warehouse filled with great finds and a few rooms of hidden treasures...that and a pile of stuff that can aptly be described as pure JUNK. 

So you have to know this kind of store is heaven to me. :) 

 I could discribe exactly where this picture was taken, but seriously, you wouldn't know the front from the back of which room...so I will simply say that my friend and partner in crime Jo took these pics. It was her first time there and I'm not sure she was able to snap her jaws shut the whole time we were there...lol

 I'm telling you, she made this place look way more organized that it actually is. Some rows allow you to walk smoothly down..while others barely give you space enough to shuffle sideways.

 They do kinda have things organized..in two of the rooms...dressers, mixed with desks and beds in one room..dining things in another..mix in another...and disaster in a couple more rooms.

 Hello...meet disaster!! This is one of the two rooms where there is hardly room to place one foot in front of the other. Beware...this is only for the brave of heart!

 See me reaching? I'm grabbing part of a table...I brought it home. I'm so excited to begin a project with that table part. :)

 See how little room there is to walk? That's me in the brown coat.

Thank you for visiting with me. If you are ever in Southern Ontario, give me a shout, I just may be tempted to join you shopping here :) 

Ohhhh Just so you know. We (there were three of us snooping around here today) managed to nab two antique dresser, a hutch, a part table, two bedside tables, a headboard, and some mirrors along with some frames. Two truck loads full. I still can't believe we fit everything in! 

What fun!!! 

Sharing:
Two Sasters 
Coastal Charm
Three Mango Seeds 
I should be Mopping the Floor 
Handy Man Crafty Woman 
Primitive & Proper 
Coastal Charm 
Domestically speaking 
  

Everyone needs a bit of French!

When you think of French, if you are like me you think of furniture. Well that and scenes of the french country side or the city of Paris, the Eiffel tower. 

But mostly I think of curvy legs on wonderful scalloped furniture. 

Nothing make me thing of romantic evenings with candle lit dinner more than an amazing French provincial Dining set. 

Sadly I don't have any before pictures of this set. But just picture plain brown and beige seating. 

Got the before in your head?? 

Great, because here is the after :) 

 Isn't she pretty? I love the curves on the legs, but also on the top of this table.

 The chairs too are a complete classic :)

 Even the skirting has wonderful details.

I'm still loving the natural wood tops with painted bottoms. Don't you?

Now I'm heading off to my "junk" store, hoping to get a few great finds. Cross your fingers for me. 

Oh and today I'm taking my camera so you too can get a peek at what I go through when I go there. :) 

Happy Friday everyone! 

Sharing:
Miss Mustard Seed
  

RED is my new love (at least this time)

Phew...another weekend over. 

We in Ontario have been going through a wet wet cold couple of weeks. But I won't complain. My thoughts and prayers are with those in the upper North East coast of the USA. I couldn't imagine being without power, heat and a roof over my head. 

For those of you who feel like you can spare some money, that's great, please donate to any number of organizations such as the Red Cross or the Salvation Army. They are also in great need of Blankets and Gas, as well as cleaning supplies. 

Okay, on to what you all came for...furniture :) 

Remember the sneak peek at the sideboard? You can see it HERE 

Just to refresh your memory it started out looking like this

Loved it, but couldn't refinish it without the original doors. 

So I bought new doors in the exact style that the old doors were. 

And finally the reveal! 

 I've never done one with a mirror. I know I say I love all my pieces...but I'm seriously in love with this. I keep trying to picture how it was used when it was first built. I imagine a grand Victorian home.

 Please ignore the camera strap in the mirror.

 Except for the hardware on the doors, it's all original. I did clean them up, but they just didn't look right against the red...so out came the spray paint, and viola! They now not only look amazing they really go with the red :)

And remember this horrible drawer with all that ewwwy ugly felt? 

Look at it now! 

This one had the felt. I wanted it to match the inside of the sideboard which I painted to give a fresh look :) 

 The new doors were an exact match to the old ones...I'm so happy!

 And look at all that lovely wood...I'm such a fan of natural tops :)

Don't look at the dirty mirror. I was just so excited to be done. 

phew...busy weekend. 

Working on more this week, I'm half way done another project, and not making a dent in the stuff I have stocked up. 

I should be banned from second hand stores till I'm closer to having an empty basement! 



Sharing here:
My 1929 Charmer
I should be Mopping the Floor
Primitive and Proper 
A Diamond in the Stuff 
Coastal Charm
The Dedicated House 
At the Picket Fence 
Miss Mustard Seed