Monday, July 29, 2013

Stripes - Grey and White Side Table

Last week I shared a duck egg blue side table that I'd painted ready for Avoca Beachside Markets. This week I have her taller, and stripier, sister.

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As I was working on her everything seemed to go wrong - I'd set up a bunch of activities for Harry (2) so I could do a final coat of white paint, but the only thing he was interested in was what I was doing! When I wasn't watching he was running his fingers across the paint, making lovely little snail trails everywhere! Then he lent on the table and had paint smudges all over his shirt. So I gave up.

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And in that moment when I walked away, while watching Harry jump on the trampoline and we played in the garden, I realised that stripes would be perfect for this little white table. So I added them during his sleep time and I couldn't be happier.

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I guess some things just need to be left for a moment! This table went home with a lovely lady I met at the markets over the weekend. She told me she loves everything french, and grey, and though this was perfect! I love it when people fall in love with something I've reworked, make the hours in the garage, the trek out to market and all the related guff worth it.

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This month's market will actually be my last one for a little while. I have a great new project to get started on (more about that soon) which will mean I can't make the August or September dates. Will keep you posted about when I'll be there again :)

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Thursday, July 25, 2013

Side Table Love

It's not really a secret around here that I like blue. Or that I liked distressed. So this girl really is a no brainer...

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I just can't help myself. I look at all the lovely colours available, even the ones I have on my shelf, and still I go back to blue. And if I wanted shiny new looking I could get it from a shop - give me a bit of character any day!

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I picked this girl up from the auction house near me, and she's actually been sitting raw in my lounge room for a month or so. But as I'm getting ready for Avoca Beachside Markets, and also had to clear everything from the house while the bamboo floors were laid, it was finally her turn to get a makeover. As much as I like her I've decided to take her to the market.

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I'm other news I've decided only to do the market four times a year. I just can't get enough stock ready to do it every month, and while my sister never complains, asking her to come up from Sydney every month to help me is hard. We do have a lovely day, and get to meet loads of people, but it's hard going without a truck and while my children are small. And it's so cold in the garage during winter!!! Last night I got all organised, took one step into the garage and raced back inside and in front of the heater! Things may change next year when Harry is at pre-school two days a week, but for now I'm looking at two more market dates for the rest of the year. You can always find pieces for sale here, or on my Facebook page.

One day when I have a shop (just putting it out there, because you know, you never know!) I will have a studio attached that is nice and warm and I can work there and show finished pieces and have a crafty painty kind of group... and a million other things. One day.

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Thursday, July 18, 2013

Our Bamboo Floors...

If you've been following along you'll know that I've been getting new floors laid at home. When we bought our house nearly three years ago the cream tile and carpet were not my cup of tea, but the space was amazing and I knew eventually we would replace them. We chose bamboo for a couple of reasons... it was  great deal cheaper than traditional hard woods, it's a more environmentally friendly option (faster growth cycle than timber) and it looks great. We had simply gotten to the point where the floors were a real eyesore and something had to be done. Don't talk to me about saving a little longer to get the more expensive product... if you had seen our carpets you would understand!

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Last week at my place

The process has been the usual kind of frustrating experience. Ours was not the most straight forward job; we had a combination of tiles and carpeted areas that needed covering (meaning the floors had to be leveled, shown in the picture below), tiny little skirting boards that would all need to be replaced, a dishwasher that filled the space and meant boards couldn't go underneath, and doors that needed to be cut down. Loads of lovely challenges and what I would have thought were dollar signs hanging over my head, and which I thought would mean people would be jumping at the work.

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Leveling the floors

I visited four different stores to get them to come out and provide quotes. The first came out and realised it was all a bit too hard for him and tried to convince me to only get half the space done (just the carpeted area, and not the tiled ones) and in the end, didn't ever produce a quote. The second one tried to push a different product (vinyl, not what I was looking for) and then emailed me what seemed to be a random figure without explanation. The third was over an hour late to visit and then kept talking about how difficult it all was. Not a single one followed up to see if we wanted to go ahead.

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Half bamboo half cement, something I was getting used to!

The guys we went with had just amazing service (and they aren't paying me to say that). I expected Harvey Norman to be way too expensive and really not care about our sale but I couldn't have been more wrong. They were here when they said they would be. They actually knew alot about the product. They answered our questions. They followed up to find out what we thought about the product and about the price. We told them repeatedly how different the experience we'd had with them had been to all the others, and this swayed our decision in the end.

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Skirting boards and trims still waiting...

Unfortunately, installation has been awful. The combination of perpetual lateness and finishing early has been truly frustrating. If you tell a Mum with small children you will be here at 8am during school holidays, so she madly races round getting people ready, furniture moved, cars relocated and the children ready to go out for the day rather than be under the tradies feet, and then arrive at 10am - things are NOT starting well. If you then leave at 12 noon because 'that's all you can do' things are getting worse. And then when you don't finish in the five days you say you will, well, what can I say.

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Entry

Today was supposed to be D-Day, but since I had other appointments during the day (ok, we were going to The Wiggles at 9am), I wanted to be sure he was coming when he said he would (7am) and be finished when he said he would (8.30am). Of course what was 'max 2 hours left' suddenly became '4 or 5... will have to see mate' so it' still not finished.

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That needs painting...

I'm so in love with the finished product but I find it hard to recommend the business when the installation let them down. I KNOW its subcontracted out. I KNOW we could have jumped up and down during the process. I remind myself that it is livable right now and that I am lucky to have all I have (and chocolate helps too).

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So tomorrow, at 7am, the installer should be back to finish. Oh, and give me his bill... If you see smoke coming from Chittaway Point on Friday night I will have spontaneously combusted because it still isn't finished. Cross fingers!

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Aubusson Blue Desk

This last week or so has been crazy. Getting our floors leveled and new bamboo flooring laid was always going to be a big project, but even with school holidays (so my husband was home throughout) living on the cement slab, or the newly poured cement, has been a 'challenge'. A five day project became six days and counting as it's still unfinished. I have no doubt it will get finished, given we haven't paid for installation yet, but it feels like it's dragged on FOR EVER!! Hopefully Thursday will bring an end. In the meantime...

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So what I have actually finished is this Aubusson Blue Desk :) I picked up this Annie Sloan colour by mistake - in my rush and crazy kid wrangling I was intending to get Napoleon Blue but came home with this one instead. And I'm so happy I did... it must have been meant to be.

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After spending a bit of time sanding the table top I decided I loved the grain and wanted to let it show through, but avoid any kind of orange pine reference (it's probably becoming a phobia). So I used a very light white wash (made using my Annie Sloan Pure White). I think it gives it quite an aged look with I love.

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The knobs I've had for ages - purchased online for a writing table that they just weren't right for. I think the bleached white colour looks great against the blue, and I love the floral piece on top.

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One of my Facebook friends suggested this would be perfect for extra kitchen bench space and I agree - very farmhouse kitchen in my mind. She's very lightly distressed, just enough to show  contrast.

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Monday, July 8, 2013

Vintage Vanity or Writing Desk

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I was so excited to pick up this desk, I loved the legs and the arch in the middle, the lovely legs, even the drawer pulls. The man selling it was moving his parents to a retirement village and it was one of the last pieces to go - lucky me! That said, if you remember back when I shared the before photo you'll know there's a story that comes with this girl! When I arrived to collect her I had misjudged her size and spent an hour or so freaking out about getting her in the car. Here she is before...

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The desk was a good price because the original featured a framed mirror, but the frame had broken - see that piece sticking up on the right hand side in the picture above? On the left it was twice as long, and was definitely not going to let me get her in the car. Long story short, I looked around and the only thing for it was to knock on someones door and ask for a saw, and and cut those things off!

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The poor man that lent me his saw must have thought I was a crazy woman. I arrived on his door step, tears streaming, with a two year old (who'd be chasing his cat), and asking if I could borrow a saw. Thankfully he handed it over. Actually, he offered to do it for me, but honestly this was an elderly man and I couldn't let him.

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So after all that to get her home, I've used Annie Sloan Pure White and Duck Egg Blue on this girl. She is distressed, though not heavily, just enough to highlight her features. I haven't filled dings or scratches, this girl wears her age beautifully ;)

I did initially plan to leave the drawer fronts original wood, however they were quite uneven round the edges so decided to work with it. Painting and distressing those edges has worked beautifully.

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Work started today on our new flooring, hence the photos of this desk on our driveway. Our house is a construction site; DK and I have just pulled the lounge out on to the cement slab ready for tonight and then we'll put it back in the garage in the morning. Almost everything else is crammed into bedrooms, bathrooms, or the laundry.Hopefully I'll have something other than a cement slab to share soon :)

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