Annie Sloan Paints

If you haven't already heard of (or used) these paints - you'll want to peek at this.

These paints are so chalk-like, vintage, antique, and wonderful. To me, they take me to a comfy, cozy, and warm place. I hate to have to admit that I haven't tried them yet - but I've yet to see a project painted with them that doesn't look fantastic. They are on the top of my "must try" list and some of her books are on my Christmas Santa list!

Take a look at Annie's blog for some grand inspiration. Below are some other photos I've seen of some fantastic furniture makeover projects.

White Day

I'm in a white mood today.

I'm not quite sure what that means - it's just a feeling.

Maybe it's coming from my virgin-white thoughts (Ok. Not.) or maybe it has more to do with me painting more furniture white.

In the middle of my not-overly-huge living room is another furniture paint job in progress. I'm painting more coats of popcorn white on a desk that I purchased a couple weeks ago for $15. It will go in my son's room (that I'm now using as my computer and wool room). I'll show you a photo of the desk when I've finished with it and have it in place.

For now, maybe you'd like to see a picture of a white metal flower that sits happily outside my house on this spring-warm-60-something-degree day.

Trash to Treasure

I love picking up old, worn, used items and transforming them into fresh, new, useful items.  For anyone who knows me - they know I have many projects awaiting their turn in the renewal process!

I finally put my mind to a multi-drawer cabinet that I picked up about two years ago. I thought it would be a great piece to store many of my little-sewing/crafting items. I had great visions for it - but it had a long way to go. It was adorned with many stickers, newspaper clippings and hand-writing from many years back.

After first removing all the handles, I primed and spray-painted them along with all the screws. Unfortunately, there were only two screws used for each four-screw handle. Oh well, I decided not to let that bother me. After all, it's an imperfect world.

The drawers were numbered before I removed them so they could fit properly back into their designated spots (lesson learned from kitchen cupboard project - I still have two that don't hang correctly!).

Approximately a quarter of a container of light-weight "filler" was used to fill in the multitude of random holes all of the cabinet and drawers. I wonder the purpose for all of the holes...there were an awful lot of them...guess I'll never know. Truth be known, I love using filler to fill holes, scratches and notches in wood. I could sit and "fill" for hours. Really. It's probably weird, but it's true.

A couple hours were spent with a razor blade in my hand scraping off yellowed pictures and newspaper clippings that were very securely glued on multiple drawers and sides of the cabinet. (There was a part of me that felt bad ruining these old, precious, glued-on pieces - so I took photos of them to make me feel better about it. The "Happiness Doesn't Come in Pills" clipping was so cool. Of course, I don't know, but I really think that these were put on in perhaps the 50's or 60's!)

A nice sanding of all of the surfaces prepared them for the next step - the primer. Have I mentioned that I love power tools? :-)

I applied two coats of primer to the drawer fronts and the cabinet. Two coats of "popcorn" white were then applied to finish the pieces.

Handles back on - drawers back in - POOF - job done! I have to say I'm happy with the finished piece. I have yet to fill the drawers, but believe me - it won't be a problem!