Before and After - Antique Scallop Arm Chair

"You re-do furniture, right?"

"Yeah!"

"I kept seeing this chair on the side of the road, for weeks, and I finally picked it up with you in mind. Do you want it? Like, I'll just give it to you?"

"Really? Yes! Awesome! Where do you live? Can I pick it up?"

"Actually, it's in the back of my car right now. I had a feeling you'd be here. I'll go get it."

Do you have conversations like this?

Later that night I walked into my office at work and saw this waiting for me:

Yes. That's my name, written in ball point pen, on the upholstery, just to make sure no one else stole this treasure. I'm sure thieves were lurking in the shadows trying to get their hands on this gem!

Ivy and I got to work right away, pulling out about 300 staples. 

And oila! It looked like this!

Ok, it took a little more than just ripping out staples and taking off the upholstery to get it to look like this. 

1. I sanded it down

2. I removed the arms because they were loose

3. I painted it bright yellow

4. I chose a vintage Hawaiiana muu muu that I was going to use to reupholster it

5. I painted it dark grey and hated it

6. I painted it dark olive and loved it

7. I distressed it slightly

8. I antique waxed it and topped it with VOC-free furniture wax from Miss Mustard Seed

9. I went into Sew Special and found this upholstery grade mustard scallop certified organic cotton print and bought 2 yards of it! I love scallops! The muu muu will get used another time...

10. I screwed the arms back on, reinforcing them with wood filler and wood glue.

11. I reupholstered it.

I made that little Ivy & Co. sign for my first Craft Fair. One day I'll get a real one made.

It's for sale on craigslist and Etsy for $135. Come and get it!

Aloha, Rebecca

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Black-Washed Antique Side Table

As of May 4, my work schedule slowed down immensely. I've been pumping out furniture pieces during this down time. If you've been following for some time, you know that this year I've been obsessed with painting things black. 

(Click here and here and here and here and here to see what I mean). 

Well, here's another one for you. 

I first introduced you to this little antique table in this post:

It was just simple wood. This little corner of my house is funny shaped, and eventually I found the perfect spindly corner bookshelf to put here and store all our books. Click here to see that post.

So the little antique table floated around the house, until finally I was ready to part with it. I've seen this exact same piece painted in bright crazy colors, like turquoise and red, but that isn't really my style. 

So I decided to "black-wash" it. 

I used my go-to black: Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint in Typewriter

I painted the whole thing, and then sanded it off, heavier in some places to show that great wood underneath. 

I finished it with a coat of Miss Mustard Seed Furniture Wax. Of course, all her products are VOC-free. 

It sold already, to a lady in a red shirt, via Craigslist. 

Aloha, Rebecca

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The Piglet Chair - Before and After

I know what you're thinking. It looked pretty good before!! Well, up close, it didn't. It was one of these worst paint jobs I'd ever seen. It was done in a flat mint, and dirt and dust were just caked all over it, with no way to wipe it off. All the grooves had drips and clumps. Please don't let the pictures and your love for mint deceive you. Trust me on this one.

Ivy always tries to sneak in my pictures.

I gave it a quick run down with a satin pink paint called piglet. Kit liked it like this, but honestly there were just too many imperfections in the wood for it to pull off perfection. 

So out came the typewriter (that's the name of the black Miss Mustard Seed paint I use). And I sacrificed my hands by applying it with a rag. 

If you came to the Seabury Craft Fair this past weekend you would have seen it displaying my train case full of burp cloths. 

 

This chair is on sale in my Etsy shop. Head on over to check out all the details. (Those burp cloths will also be up for sale soon.)

Have a wonderful day in Hawaii nei… or wherever you're from. :)

Aloha, Rebecca

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Before & After: Herringbone Chair and a Vintage Sewing Table

Did anyone else do a dump-run post-Christmas? I mean, with all the junk, not all the new gifts you just received. Well, we CLEANED HOUSE. Also, while we were in Oklahoma and Arkansas, a few rats decided to move in to our laundry area and car tent. So it was a necessity. My husband was clearing out EVERYTHING, and in order for me to keep my beloved trash vintage furniture that I planned on working on, I had to get my butt in gear and look like I was working on it! So here's 2 projects that transpired out of the urgency of Kit's dump run:

 Aren't they fun? 

This kids herringbone chair was lots of fun to do.

You can see it in the foreground of this photo, in all it's wooden glory. Ivy was helping me that day.

After spraying it with a little Kilz, I painted the seat yellow, then taped out a herringbone pattern.

Then I painted the whole thing in a charcoal grey satin, and distressed the whole thing.

I just want to live in the picture below, with that driftwood and Coco the monkey:

For Sale on Etsy for $25.

Now, on to the Vintage Sewing Table that was in horrendous shape, which is how I scored it for $5 at a garage sale. 

That's aluminum foiled stuck on the inside of the table, in the upper right photo.

 After wondering the best way to salvage this piece, I decided it just couldn't be a sewing machine table anymore. I removed the entire inside sewing machine piece, and just screwed the top on. Also, the wood was just in such poor shape that I couldn't preserve it as a wood piece. Look at all that water damage!

I still wanted some wood to show through, so I went for an ultra distressed look with the following layers:

1. charcoal grey on the whole thing

2. tomato red dry brushed on the top and sides

3. "shiloh" grey/beige color on top and sides

4. distress with a medium grit sanding block

5. Miss Mustard Seed antiquing wax

6. Miss Mustard Seed furniture wax

7. Sand the original hardware

That rug is from The Nest here on Maui. My mom got it for me for Christmas. I love it. So does Godiva, because she keeps sneaking in my room to sleep on it and I have to shoo her off of it.

That bunting is up for sale in the Etsy shop. Click here to see it.

That's my DIY votive I made last year. Click here to see that post.

One last look:

I just love a good 'before & after.'

-Becca

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