A 1920's French Bakery Station

...at least, that is what I feel it is. Kind of French looking - very Shabby Chic.

I think Rachel Ashwell would be proud of me!!

I took in a renter (Jon) who is now occupying the bedroom up under the eaves and as a "thank you" for welcoming him into my home, he gifted this beautiful piece to me!! (he loves old furniture and has a rented storage room full of unique pieces)

It is naturally crackled in a soft cream with a matching patterned glass back splash. The metal towel bar and handle have a beautiful patina. He wants to do a few repairs on it for me and then he said I am free to paint it or do whatever I want with it!
I will have to think about this...might just leave as-is! I know it will be a sideboard in the dining area and will hold a silver tray with glass & silver liquor decanters on it.
The white marble is cracked but I LOVE it anyways and it will stay - Jon will clean the crack so it's not so obvious.

I feel so lucky to have this piece!!

Hutch details update

I have begun to paint the flowers on the side of the hutch topper. I went through many ideas before I hit on this one - a simple strip of flowers down the center in the same blue hue on the rest of the hutch (paint and wallpaper). It is partially filled in here - have only done detail work on a few of the flowers so far. This same strip of flowers will be on both sides. I used a cheap stencil from JoAnn Fabrics as inspiration - altered it until it fit the length and was detailed enough for my taste. I'll wash over it with RL's "Sunfade" when done, to tone down the bright ultramarine blues. I am using Windsor-Newton acrylic paint.
I will post more photos later when I get more done.

Cast Iron Soup Pot

Check out this deal I got at TJ Maxx last Saturday. Can you believe I passed it up, got half way home and drove back to get it, worried it was gone already? A Cuisinart 7 Qt, cast iron in the perfect shade of blue. I already made the best beef veggie stew in it. I smile every time I see it. Oh, the price was $59.99 because of a few hard to see scratches on the lid. I looked up new ones and they are twice that online. I think I scored!

A New Dresser

Oh boy, I just keep adding the furniture to my collection! But look at this beauty! She's long and graceful with Rococo lines.
(I LOVE shopping on Craigslist!!) And the best part, she's already painted white so I don't have another project on my hands!! (although I would have done a better job at applying that paint) Or do I? OK, confession time - it will not stay just plain white forever. I will add some details as time progresses. I will add some gold leaf, of course, and perhaps some carved and painted trim on the sides. Maybe something hand painted too, like some wildflowers. And the drawers will need to be lined. I have a lovely blue and white toile wrapping paper I use on everything, including lining drawers. But this time I think I might do something different. I love cotton quilting fabrics and am thinking I might get a yard of six colorways and patterns and use decoupage glue to line each drawer.
Some pale blue roses, a pink chintz, maybe sunny yellow stripes and a pale green leafy pattern. Doesn't that sound fun!? Each drawer would look different when pulled open. Stay tuned...

Wall Stencil

As work progresses on the family room furniture (the hutch) and the floor is now complete (the tile) I have begun to paint the walls. I chose Waverly's "Cottage Linen White". I know, I know - white can be boring but it's what this room really needs as I want to keep it light and airy. The ceiling is low but I still chose to paint it "Atmosphere Blue" by Restoration Hardware. It worked beautifully and one doesn't even notice it until one sits down and looks up! It like that the blue ceiling adds a little color and interest. I have a couple of swallows (birds) color copied off which I will decoupage to the ceiling in a few spots. I temporarily taped one to the ceiling in my art studio and one of my cats sat and stared at it for hours. I felt sorry for him after awhile and took it down so he'd come out of the spell it had cast over him and he could go eat and sleep like he should have been doing on a rainy weekend afternoon! I have decided to stencil a simple pale blue pattern on the walls in the family room, to break up the expanse of white. ( I am using "Atmosphere Blue", of course.)
It's a simple, small stencil from JoAnn Fabric's craft section. I have added it to one wall so far and love how it looks.

It is very Swedish country.

If I feel the need to soften it, I will brush over it with a coat of RL's "Sunfade". Not even sure if it's sold any more as I have had that can for years! (it's still good to use). It adds a milky white layer that "fades" color and pattern to make it look like it's sat in direct sunlight for 10 years running.

Hutch Project Update

Wow, I thought I had updated this blog after August but I see I have not and am so sorry!
How boring I have become!!
I have been pretty busy on home projects as well as new ETSY cards (will post for sale my Victorian-inspired Christmas pop up cards this next weekend). In the mean time, I am making slow progress on the hutch - still working on the topper, can you believe it? I finally got it painted white and was able to move on to the details. I added pale blue accents on some trim (Atmosphere Blue by Restoration Hardware). I also used left over wallpaper from my bedroom project to line the inside with.
I love how it turned out!! I always wanted a piece of furniture like this. All I had to do was create it myself. ;-) I also added some carved wooden flourishes/trim to the 2 sides - had to search high and low for thin enough trim to complete the look. Found it at JoAnn Fabrics in their wood craft section. Had to hand miter these tiny corners with a right angle triangle and a craft knife! Next up will be the gold leaf - the side trim/flourishes will be gold as well as some trim pieces on the front. The step after that will be to add hand painted roses on the sides, in between the flourishes. I have a copyright free book on Redoute's flowers and will copy closely some of his pale pink tea roses in acrylic. Then I have to start the whole process all over again with the hutch's bottom half, which sits a few feet away in it's still original condition. I hope I get this done by Christmas. It will be my gift to myself.