Ivy & Co.: benjamin moore

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Upcycled Shutter

I found this shutter "on the side of the road." Okay, it wasn't totally on the side of the road, but someone was clearly done with it, and I clearly wanted it. That's all I'm going to say about that.

It had some amateur-looking carvings in it.

There was a random wire hook on the back, that did the job.

I had great plans for this shutter, I did. You're on Pinterest, right? You've seen what people do with these things. I envisioned modge-podge-ing fabric on each individual louver. I envisioned antique-ing it or sanding it. Well, in the middle of painting the Antique Child's Rocking Chair (see post here) in Benjamin Moore's Hollingsworth Green, I slapped some leftover paint on the louver. I figured it would be a great 1st coat.

Well, it was the only coat.

A few days later I went back out to put a little thicker coat and get creative, and I realized it looked great just as it was! It's not a great paint job. It's not evenly done or anything, but I think it looks fine.

It sits just above the little table I got a few weeks back (see post here).

Yes, that's a whip on the wall.

And yes, Kit painted that canvas on the little table.

So get out there, pick up someone else's junk, and turn it into your treasure.

Aloha,

Rebecca

Antique Child's Rocking Chair

Say hello to the newest member of our household:

It came to me from a co-worker (who lives in an awesome plantation home) like this:

She said she got it in Carmel in the early 1990's. She always wanted to re-furbish it, but never did. I looked online for some type of database that would tell me when it was from, but could find nothing like it anywhere!

Her daughter, Emily, is my student and etched me a great little keepsake in the arm rest:

No worries, though, cause I sanded it down and primed it with Kilz.

Then I painted it Benjamin Moore's gorgeous "Hollingsworth Green."

One coat in:

I had great plans for its new cushion. It came with part of one, but it was ripped and falling apart. I found a mud-nest thing in it, so I decided not to salvage it.

First I measured out the cushion area and the fabric and tacked on white pom pom trim and XL rick-rack:

Next I cut out foam from an old bed foam cushion thingy and made a pillow insert. I wanted the structure of the foam, combined with the cushion of the pillow. I made the pillow insert out of an old towel so it wouldn't slip around inside. It's filled with just basic pillow filler.