Holiday House - A Barn Sale

Saturday, November 19th, my friend, Stacy, and I hosted our very first barn sale. We held it in her large shop just outside of town. We had tons of painted furniture, vintage items, home decor, and Christmas decor. It was lots of hard work but it was fun seeing her shop be transformed. Despite all the snow we had a steady stream of customers and sold a lot of stuff. We think it was worth the effort. Here are lots of pictures!!!!

All of the furniture you see below was painted and refinished by the two of us over the past couple months except a few chippy antique pieces that were already perfection.

We made lots of german glass glitter letters and word garlands.

We made vintage sheet music wreaths and ornaments.

And the day of.  Full of customers.

For our first ever very own show I think it was a success. 

Duncan Phyfe Table and Lyre Back Chairs

I picked up a small duncan phyfe dining table and two lyre back chairs last week.  The table was $7 and the chairs $1 a piece.  To say they needed some tlc is an understatement.  The joints on the chairs were loose so I spent a good hour glueing, clamping, and repairing them.

One was upholstered in green and cream stripes and the other was red with cream swirls.  The fabric was filthy.  This is after the chairs were repaired and sanded.

The table base and top were also sanded.

Then I sprayed them with black paint in an eggshell finish. This is always the easy part.  It took me about 10 minutes to spray everything. I was fortunate to get a warmer day to paint outside last week.

And after three hours work here is the finished product!!! 

I used scraps from a painter's drop cloth for the fabric on the chairs.  Then I used masking tape to tape off and paint the stripes and stenciled on the laurel wreath and year.  I wanted them to look like they were recovered with an old grain sack.

Wish I had room to keep them!!!

I'm linking to Primp Your Stuff Wednesday, Furniture Feature Friday, and Frugal Friday

Another Vintage Scale!!!

I was at a friend's house a few days ago and saw this scale sitting on her table.  She was just getting ready to go to a show on the weekend and was going to take this scale to sell in her booth.  I absolutley loved everything about it and bought it from her.  I have never seen one like this before.  I love the patina, the wood top, the lettering on the side.....everything.  It is large too.  And for $40 I couldn't pass it up.

It resides on the "new" dresser I added to the living room. It really compliments and helps break up all the white.  A friend was at my house last night and spied it sitting there.  She asked if it was for sale.  I told her this was a keeper for me.  My collection of scales is now at four!!!

I'm linking up with Show and Share Day

A Beachy Dresser Redo

I purchased this dresser off Craigslist for $40.  It looked good in the picture below but the finish was pretty rough but it is a solid very heavy piece.  I sanded, primed, and painted it white.  Then I heavily distressed it and dry brushed it with a light grey color. I sprayed the handles oil-rubbed-bronze.

I love the beachy coastal vibe she gives off.  This one sold right away!

I'm linking to Transformation Thursday, Furniture feature Friday

Two Matching Beauties

I picked up this set of two antique dressers on Craigslist.  The white paint had yellowed and paint was peeling.  I sanded them and gave them a coat of primer and bright white paint.

They are both keepers!!!! 

I dry brushed the shorter one with a light grey color and added glass knobs (I need to get one more).

It replaced this small table in the living room.  I love this table and this look but I needed storage.  The girls and I have mountains of piano books and sheet music that was piled on the floor next to the piano.

The taller dresser I left bright white and swaped with another dresser in my daughters room. It holds more clothes and is cuter that the one that she used to have. I'm loving both of these new pieces.

I'm linking up with Furniture Feature Friday, and Frugal Friday.

An Awesome Find: A Kitchen Light Fixture

I went to a yard sale just down the street from my house.  The first thing I noticed was this light fixture sitting on a table.  It was only $10. I love the industrial feel to it. I debated on spraying it an old rubbed bronze to match the finish on the fixture over the dining room table but I decided against it.  I installed it myself a few days ago. I couldn't be happier with it.  I love the look and it was a steal!!!!

I'm linking to Transformation Thursday.

The Elephant in the Room and a Vintage Scale

Remember the elephant in the room? It is finally done! It was a nightmare but the orange door is gone.

I wanted it to look like an old paneled door so I used strips of wood left over from the kitchen cabinets to create four rectangles down the door.  I mitered each of the pieces before glueing and nailing them down.  I filled the corners with wood putty and sanded them smooth.  I primed it by hand because I had just enough primer in the bottom of the can.

I had to piece the three bottom horizontal strips because that is all the trim I had. Once I filled with wood putty, sanded, and painted I couldn't even tell they were pieced.

Here she is primed and ready to paint.

This is where it starts getting frustrating.

I didn't think the door should be white since the kitchen was so white so I sprayed it with a grey oops paint from Home Depot.  It looked great......outside.  I took it into the kitchen and propped it up. Ugggg.  It looked like it had a dark green tint to it.  It clashed bad. No wonder it was an oops paint.

.......So I sprayed it a very light grey blue.  I love this color on furniture I've painted.  And since I'm going for blues and greens in the kitchen it should look great.  Right?  I brought it in and propped it up and it looked waaaay to bright.  It didn't look good with the wall color.  So I dry brushed over the blue with white.  Still didn't look good. Hmmmm.

Fine.  White it is.  I glazed it with my good ole Ralph Lauren tobacco glaze.  It really looks like an old door now!!!!  I can't wait to have hubby hang it!  Whew.  Two days of work and it's finally done. 

Hubby added the hinges as I was tinkering around the house.  Pretty soon I came back to the kitchen to see an orange door hanging in the kitchen........WHAT??????    Seriously.  "You did the wrong side of the door.  I'm sorry honey.  I can't flip it because of where the door knob and hinges are located."

You know that Leann Womack song that says "It's like someone takes a pin to your balloon."  And the opening scene in Despicable Me where Gru pops the little boys balloon. That is how I felt.  I didn't care what the door looked like on the other side at the moment. I just wanted to have a pretty kitchen door.  Besides that, I was out of wood strips.  My husband felt my pain.  He told me he was sorry several times throughout the day.

I still had some wood sheets left but I didn't want to ask my neighbor to back her car out of her carport so we could pull her table saw out and cut more strips. (The motor died on our table saw building our addition). Then hubby had a great idea.  "Let's cut out the rectangles with a jigsaw.  Then you won't have to piece them and miter the corners.  That will save you a lot of work."

I didn't marry my husband soley on his good looks.  He is a smart man.  I took four sheets of wood and measured and marked the rectangles. I brought them in and gave them to him.  "Here you go."  He looked at me like I'd gone mad and replied, "We don't have a jigsaw."  WHAT???  "Why did you suggest it then."  He said, "I thought we'd buy one when we go to the hardware store in a couple days (25 miles away)." 

Long story short......well shorter......

We bought the saw, hubby cut them out, and I refinished the door.  This small project took a week to complete.  Have I ever mentioned I am not a very patient person. If there is a bright side to this story I have a pretty door in my laundry room and we now own a jigsaw!

I found this vintage scale at a yard sale for $7. Love.

I'm linking with Show and Share Day, Frugal Friday, Primp your Stuff Wednesday, and Transformation Thursday