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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Card Catalog Round up at Rink Gallery

Who doesn't love a card catalog?! I've got one in my house, and we absolutely love it! (Click here to see it). When we were in Oklahoma over Thanksgiving, my brother took us to this place called Rink Gallery. Rows and rows of antiques and plenty of antique furniture to fawn over, including card catalogs! Here's a few of my favorites. :)

This one's made out of metal. Pretty much something you'd see in a school office.

Cute little wooden desktop duo

Basically a distressed side table with card catalog pulls.

Another metal duo

No coverage catalog. More like glorified cubby holes.

This one is all wood, and those knobs are something else.

Another duo... different from the one above, I promise... I actually used this image on my promo for Instagram followers to get a discount to my Etsy shop. See below. Are you following me on IG or Etsy yet?!

And here are some other, not card catalog beauties:

What I would give for a gossip bench. They are no where to be found here in Hawaii.

Green is my favorite color, so I had to share this desk.

Love the white wax on this blue desk and those functional shelves on the sides. Perfection!

Love this little blue side table and red dresser. 

I'm loving black furniture right now. Maybe this was the moment I fell in love?

Love this aqua antique clock. Get in my house, now. But I don't need the fake Ivy. I've got plenty of real Ivy in my life. 

The blue on this old cash register might just be the best color ever made.

And yes, they do have free hot dogs on Saturday-Sunday from 12:00pm-4:00pm, and we partook of them. :) If you are in Oklahoma, you should definitely check it out!

They are located at:

3200 N Rockwell Ave

Bethany, OK 73008

(405) 787-RINK

www.rinkgallery.com

Hours:

Monday - Tuesday-Wednesday 10-6 

Thursday 10-8 

Friday-Saturday-Sunday 10-6

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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