As I prepare 2 bedrooms to rent out to foreign college students, I find my already tight budget stretched a wee bit tighter as I have to furnish each room with a bed, desk, chair and dresser. I have been foraging through thrift shops for great deals (last night I scored an awesome neo-Rococo cream dresser with mirror at a local Goodwill for $39.99!!). I'll post the before and after on that piece once I clean it up and repaint it white.The upstairs bedroom is furnished but the downstairs one needed a few more pieces, including a bedside table. I found this Simply Shabby Chic table on Amazon.com and pounced on it. It was delivered 2 days ago and last night I finally put it together, then stood back, amazed at how sturdy it is and how pretty it is too! It will be the perfect table in a room with faded blue and white floral-vine wallpaper, glass chandelier, lace curtains and Ralph Lauren blue rose print bedding.I am very pleased with it. The best part was the price - under $35!
Sometimes I feel I'll never get this table done! Here is the final step before I can call it done and set it on the ground (off the card table it is currently elevated on so I can work on it eye level) and use it for breakfast, reading or more likely, a cat perch in the window. Gold leaf details. I bought the faux nailhead trim from doityourselfchic.com - it comes white, flexible and ready to mold on to your project. Zap it in the microwave for 10 seconds to soften it and then glue it on. I first painted the areas to be gilded with a yellow ochre primer used in gold leafing. The gold leaf I am using is the composite leaf which is more affordable. But since it is not all gold, it will tarnish over time unless coated with a lacquer. All you do is coat the surface you want gold leafed with a quick sizing glue - let it dry for an hour or so and then apply the leaf. The photo I took was before I had a chance to smooth the leaf out so it looks rough. Once dry, take a brush and gently sweep away the loose gold that did not adhere to sizing and smooth down what is left and you're left with a little gilded glam on your piece. I love Swedish Gustavian design and a piece of white furniture with a little gilded detail on it speaks to me and I offer it up as my own version of Gustavian.
OK, I have had many house projects planned for a few years now but over the course of each season, I manage to come up with just as many excuses to not get them done. Most of them need to be done outside during nicer weather and when I don't get them done, I sit all winter lamenting the fact that I wasted my summer doing nothing. I have now decided to kick my own butt and get some things done before the weather turns. In the front yard, I set up a cheap canopy I got for $30 at Big Lots. (protection from rain and sun).
Last week I began with the coffee table. I got it off Craigslist for $30 - a Queen Anne style with a dark cherry stain and 2 drop leafs. I lovely table, although the top was scratched up. Well, my house is blue and white and not suited to dark wood so the table was destined to become white. I spent a few days preparing it - washed with TSP, then sanded and primed with KILZ. Then it received 3 coats of white latex paint. I use the same white throughout my house: Waverly's "Cottage Linen White". It's a lovely shade of soft white - not a cream but not too stark either. Then I coated the painted table with gloss Crystalfin lacquer. I always protect my painted furniture with this acrylic lacquer which cleans up with water and soap. It comes in several sheens from matte, to satin, gloss and hi-gloss. So the next project in line was the round table that sits in the corner in the living room. I bought it to sit at and read or drink tea. It was hard to find one that size for a good price. It's a 36" round for $160 from Target. Quite sturdy. here is what it looked like when I bought it. The base (hard to see in the picture) was a dark, dirty cream (very unattractive) and the top was a darker wood. It's been out under the tent for a week now, going through it's transformation. In a few days I will post a picture of the finished piece for comparison. Stay tuned...
