Monday, October 21, 2019

Falling for Freshly Fixed Up Furniture

Hello my friends!  Happy Fall to y'all... I have
been working diligently in my shop these past couple
of months getting it set for Fall.  It is easy with the
beautiful stone wall we have as a backdrop.
 
 
I also bring in darker colored furniture and change out lamp shades to brown and gold tones. Then for the Christmas season I bring in lighter colored furniture. Really sets a different tone when I do this.

 
My hubby found this hall table at our local auction house.
He transformed it into this beautiful piece. We are still
using Country Chic Paint which makes it easy to achieve
these beautiful results! The lower portion was painted in "Vanilla Frosting" and he used "Smoky Quartz" glaze to make it look aged.
 
 
 
Our resident artist brings in his Fall themed paintings which
add a really nice touch to our mix.

 
But before Fall officially hit and as we moved from August to September this gorgeous buffet received a complete fix-up! Some of the veneer was missing, loose, the top was in need of major TLC... it used to look like this:
 
 
 
We found this piece up in the Adirondacks...luckily we had a truck with us on this trip! Would have been a tight squeeze in the van! Yikes! We could see its potential.. and so did one of our customers. She bought it and selected her two colors from our CCP inventory.  "Pop the Bubbly" and "Piece of Cake." Lovely choices!
 
 
I totally loved this piece after it was finished!
But of course it was a custom order so we had to
say goodbye as it was delivered to its new home.
 
 
I'll be back to give some more updates on the shop...
my daughter and I are very involved with our local Nutcracker production so I am working on the show program.  My blogging skills of editing graphics and photos have come in handy creating ads for the dancers.
Bebe performs as the Nutcracker Doll this year!
 
I'll be back soon with more shop updates! 
 
 
 
 

Monday, April 22, 2019

Latest DIY Projects - Vintage Desk, Dresser, China Cabinet, and Hutch Makeovers!

 
Hello my friends! I am stopping in to Blog Land for a quick update on our latest shop projects.
 
This vintage desk received a makeover by using
Country Chic Paint in "Cobblestone."

The top was stripped, stained and varnished by my hubby.  I loved the tone so much that I decorated it with vintage Industrial finds.  The display turned out great using vintage movie theatre film reels, old phone, desk lamp, and suitcases.  It sold already so I was bummed my display didn't last too long but hey, a sale is always a smile bringer!
 
 
This piece is from a china cabinet. The top piece will get a makeover too sometime in the future. For the lower half we painted it with Country Chic Paint in "Sunday Tea."  The top was stripped, re-stained, and then varnished. These china cabinet bases are great for using as a large TV screen stand and media center.
 
 
This piece is so charming! My hubby took
a piece that was in rough shape and turned it into
something beautiful. One of my Instagram friends said it looked like the vintage Wedgwood porcelain pieces.
 
And let's not forget the gorgeous arched window
sitting there on top of the dresser! It must have been a corner cupboard door because it has a knob on it.
It must have been a very big cupboard because this window/door is not small in size. We were thrilled to find
it and now it has found a new home.
 
(This was the before)
 
 
 We've had a good turnover of vintage china cabinets and hutches. The Farmhouse style is still very popular in this area and I can't really keep them in stock for very long. This one was painted using Country Chic Paint in "Crinoline."  They usually only last a week or so in the shop. Again, a smile bringer!  
  
 

This piece turned out so neat! I selected the Country Chic Paint colors Cheesecake, Pebble Beach, Sunday Tea, and Driftwood. They all went together so well which made this mid century dresser new again!
This piece was purchased by a woman who owned two air B & B's.  I never imagined my creations would find their way to such interesting destinations!
 

I'll be back to share our latest escapades in picking, refinishing and anything else DIY.  Hope you are having a wonderful SPRING!


Tuesday, February 26, 2019

Let's Talk Vintage: What is Selling in Brick & Mortar Shops?




Hello friends!



 Hope you are as excited 
about SPRING coming as I am! 


Today I'm sharing what things are moving 
in our brick and mortar shop. Now, that being said, 
we are in the North East, and what is selling here may not be selling out on the West Coast. But it is fun sharing and reading about it all so let's keep going...



We sense a revival, an awakening in the shop, as folks come out of the winter season ready to work on their homes. It is really an exciting time. The landscape changes and so does our mood, thanks to Mr. Sun!



So what is selling in the vintage 
world of brick and mortar shops?




We've noticed home decor, DIY projects, 
and spring things are moving right now.


Farmhouse items are still moving. Signs, accessories, kitchen scales, ironstone, industrial lamps, metal containers, etc.
What really hasn't been moving for some time now, is china.  Most folks are downsizing and the younger generations aren't acquiring any of it. People come in and tell me they have tried to give it to their children and they say "no one in the family wants it." Same thing with glassware. I'm sure there are some who collect it, but the majority are passing on it.  Will this trend change? Only time will tell! Things do have a tendency to come back around. And there are true classics like the Blue Willow above!



Signs are still a popular item! Hand crafted or mass produced, they are always a hit.  I did not make the one above, but I am working on creating my own.  I bought a Cricut and it is a whole other world that I am starting to get into. I'll do another post on that later!


Upcycled and Repurposed Items 

Anything that has been made from something, out of something, or a creative re-use is very popular. 



We've made chalkboards out of old cabinet doors,



old doors into signs, wire baskets into shelves, 




old wooden ironing boards into storage caddies, etc. It can be a lot of fun being creative and watching them being discovered by customers is a great reward for a job well done.



Greenery and floral items are also always ending up at the check out counter. 



I love decorating the shop with it too! A win/win this time of year.

Enjoy the birth of a new season and I'll be back to share some of our furniture makeovers and sign making projects!

Friday, January 18, 2019

As We Journey Into 2019, A Belated Happy New Year!



Hello! I'm back after a long pause from blogging.  We had a wonderful Christmas season. It was all so busy and it went by in a FLASH.

This long pier was where I was the day after Christmas... so I thought it appropriate as I write my post today for the first one of 2019.

Where will this year lead us?

So far the store, Bebe, the house, and taking care of my Dad are all we seem  to be able to keep up with so I'm wondering if this year is just a continuation of the same.

I try to look at things with a positive outlook, which is something I had to learn how to do actually.
Not so hard though when you have guidance from a good Father who loves you... my Faith has really kept me grounded.

So, for a review, after we had my Step-son's wedding back in early September, we had Bebe's 10th birthday.... (can you believe this?)

 
Right around that same time she was also fitted for her first pair of pointe shoes! (A rite of passage!)

Then we had Thanksgiving,


the Nutcracker performance,
(Yes, that is Bebe in the party girl dress!)


We had the store to run for the holidays,


and then we hosted family for Christmas.

Whew! I'm all kinds of tired!

I do hope to continue to pop back in and blog on occasion... I know I can't keep up with it like I used to... but I still enjoy it.

One of the things I plan on doing soon is updating you all on the store and the things we are doing there. So, keep your eye out for another post!

Happy new year, even if it is arriving a little late.