I purchased this settee about 5 years ago and it’s completion is long overdue. I thought it would be a perfect second project for an upholstery class I was taking at the time. WRONG! Would you believe I actually moved this baby, by myself to and from class? How crazy is that?

As you can see it was in terrible condition. I striped it completely, right down to the finish on the legs. I refinished the legs, applied new webbing and retied the springs. If I took pictures, I can’t find them. After partially tearing a ligament in my thumb tying the springs, it has been sitting in my basement and garage, unfinished, ever since. Suffice it to say, I was a bit over zealous choosing this as my second class project.

Determined to clear out my garage, so that it can actually be used to park a car this winter, I decided to turn it over to a professional, and this is how it turned out. I already had the fabric, a light neutral linen, which I had purchased some time ago. I have a weakness for fabric. If I see something I like, I buy it in anticipation of that next project.

The seat is so tight you can flip a coin. Honestly, I would have never been able to achieve such beautiful results. Some things should just be left to the professionals, don’t you think? Simple chairs are more my thing.

This post is being linked to:

Between Naps on the Porch: Metamorphosis Monday

Brambleberry Cottage:Time Travel Thursday

The Shabby Chic Cottage: Transformation Thursday

Mustard Seed Creations: Furniture Feature Friday

Funky Junk Interiors: Saturday Nite Special

Not bad for my tiny little garden. The tomatoes and peppers have been plentiful. Surprisingly, the eggplant didn’t fare as well. Last summer, when I planted them in pots, I produced so many that I was giving them away. Go figure. And after following the instructions explicitly for my blueberry plants, they just didn’t thrive. The company I purchased them from said they would replace them, so I will give them another try. Honestly, I can’t say that I have been overly attentive to my garden but it sure is serving my family and I well.

How about you? What’s growing in your garden?

Have a wonderful weekend!

Speaking of inspiration, one of the things I instantly fell in love with, was London’s architecture. The buildings there have such presence with their ornamnentation and detail. Balconies ordorned with flowering window boxes were breathtaking and made my heart sing. As I walked from neighborhood to neighborhood, my jaw would just drop at the magnificence and overwhelming beauty. Here is a sampling of the eye candy I had the pleasure of seeing:

What do you think? Have you ever experienced architecture that stopped you in your tracks, compelling you to be in the present moment so that you can take it all in?

This mirror was a road side find that has been sitting in my garage for some time. I was thinking of using it on my striped accent wall, so I thought I give this one a makeover.

I used a jig saw to cut off the damaged sections of the trim, leaving the side sections that were still in tack.

I sanded, primed and painted it a glossy white.

I apologize for the terrible picture. It had just started to rain and I have yet to master the correct way to take a picture of a mirror. Is there anyway to take one without being in it or masking out the reflection? If anyone has any tips, I would welcome them.

Haven’t hung it yet because I can’t decide if I want to use it or the round one below on my striped accent wall. Either way, I want to surround the mirror with a lot of frames that I painted glossy white too. At first, I was going to use all oval of circular frames but they are so hard to find so I thought I mix them with some rectangular ones as well. I just love the look of a wall accessorized with frames.

Here are two arrangements I came up with so far. I thought it best to experiment in Photoshop first.

As I acquire more, I will continue to add more. What do you think?

I’ve been away from the creative party circuit too long, so I am linking this post to: Between Naps on the Porch: Metamorphosis Monday,Domestically Speaking: Power of Paint Wednesday, The Shabby Chic Cottage: Transformation Thursday, Mustard Seed Creations: Furniture Feature Friday and Funky Junk Interiors: Saturday Nite Special.

Mr DIY started building a bed for No. 2 son about 3 years. He didn’t like the way it came out; ahe joints weren’t up to his expectations and he wanted to chuck it and start over. He even attempted to stain it and, well let’s just say, that didn’t help matters any. So it sat and sat in the basement, then the garage. I decided to make lemonaide out of lemons, work some DIY magic and rework the design since perfection is truly overrated and the bed is solid and very sturdy.

I started by removing the Colonial Maple finish. I have worked with a lot of stain hues, but I don’t quite understand Colonial Maple. It could be me, but the orange tint is unattractive. I have tried it on various types of wood and it have never had good results.

Here is what it looked liked before:

and after sanding:

It still had an orange sheen that would not go away. I even tried to bleach it out and had no luck.

Next, I applied a dark stain with the hopes that the orange color would disappear. No luck, the orange hue continued to stand its ground and was visible just enough to annoy me. So I turned to paint. I watered down some chocolate brown latex paint I had lefteover from another project. I brushed it on and the orange hue was gone, with the wood grain was still visible, resulting in a stained appearance. I did add some streaks of watered down black acrylic paint to further enhance the wood grain. This is what it looks like now:

I am almost done applying a satin polyurethane finish. Unfortunately, my PDD caused me to have a little mishap, perhaps you can help me with. Multitasking the other day, I forgot to wash out the brush I was using. Does anyone know if it is posible to remove a water based polyurethane from a brush after it has dried? Turpentine, denatured alcohol or mineral spirits perhaps? I invest in good brushes so that I can reuse them and would love to save this one.

Have you ever used paint to create a faux stained finish?

Between naps on he Porch: Metamorphosis Monday

Domestically Speaking: Power of Paint Wednesday

Funky Junk Interiors:Saturday Nite Special

Mimi Kirchner Original Dolls

These colorful folk art designs made me think about the simple life of yesteryear.

Orangy Porangy

Don’t you just love the vintage fabrics?

Something tells me the designer, Natalie, is passionate about the color orange!

Wicked Mint

As usual, I always stop to admire pillows.

And these graphic dish towels are so pretty, I’m not too sure I would actually use them for their intended purpose.

DeLong Ceramics

I was drawn to Denise DeLong’s New York scenes like this one depicting subway life.

And her tile and cleat colors are absolutely amazing and the cleats can be used for hooks, door or drawer handles.

Number 2 son immediately gravitated to the robot and UFO T-shirt designs of Intl. Robot

I had him pick one out for himself. He thanked me with a big smile.

And there he is sewing away at the Burda booth. They offered free “make it take it” projects. He made a drawstring bag. The vendors were impressed with his skills. This is not his first time using the sewing machine. I bought him an inexpensive one because he expressed an interest in learning to sew; I have to say he is a natural. Yes, boys can learn to sew too.  Do I detect a smirk on your face? Just think, Pierre Cardin and Calvin Klein. Yes both of them learned how to sew.

While Number 2 son was sewing, I spoke briefly with Glenn of BagsforThePeople.org. This non profit combines sewing and environmental conciousness by inspiring people to make and use reusable bags. I had stumbled upon the website, a couple of weeks prior, through one of the many blogs I read. It was nice to meet the person behind this environmetally friendly business venture.

Overall, it was a fun day! The weather held up and parking was effortless. For those of you not familiar with New York, that is a rare occurrence.

This was a relatively easy makeover. I sanded each piece to give it some tooth before priming them with Zinsser primer. I painted them with the same color, Behr Cinnamon Cake which I have used for all the other white pieces in my home. I do that because it allows me the flexibility to switch pieces around from room to room. I replaced the hardware with glass knobs as well as the panels in the lower doors and added swivel castors to the bottom for easy portability.

Here are some closeups.

And opened up:

I want to embelish the panels in the lower doors and add some color to the back of the unit but I am not sure just what to do. It’s the fine details that always seem to get me.

Regardless of the details, this multi-functional piece, key to small space living, replaced two dressers, I was happy to relocate elsewhere. It houses our clothing, small television, books and binders, among other things and is the perfect solution for keeping everything orderly and neat. Well, almost anyway. In the interest of keeping it real, this is what it usually looks like behind the closed doors.

Isn’t that the purpose of doors anyway? To hide all the untidy places lurking within our homes. How about you? Do you have a multifunctional piece that hides your little messy secrets?

I am in the mood for a great party, so I am linking this post to:

Between Naps on he Porch: Metamorphosis Monday

Tools Are for Women Too:Modern Craftswoman

Reinvented: Trash to Treasure Tuesday

Domestically Speaking: Power of Paint Wednesday

The Shabby Chic Cottage: Transformation Thursday

Mustard Seed Creations: Furniture Feature Friday

Funky Junk Interiors: Saturday Nite Special

The Renegade Craft Fair is this weekend at McClarren Park in Brooklyn. . I went last year and enjoy all the handmade eye candy. I can’t wait to go and hope the weather cooperates. There is rain in the forecast. If you live in the area, it’s worth a visit.

Once upon a time, about three years ago
A dining room table was thrown away with no legs to go

A DIY princess spotted it from the corner of her eye
Immediately, she thought of the landfill and said “ My; oh my”

Hauling it home, admiring its potential beauty
She knew with her magic she could make it a cutey.

Stripped, sanded and stained returning it to it’s former glory
A beautiful table top I now have, for the rest of this story.

What will I do for the legs?
Perhaps Ebay or Craig’s?

So she searched and she searched with all her might
Until she found some that she thought would be just right

When they arrived, so excited was she
She finished them right away, happy with glee

Ready to assemble, the fairytale turned nightmare
She thought to herself, this is quite rare

After many attempts, the legs just wouldn’t work
She had to contain herself so she wouldn’t go berserk

Sad, disappointed and not ready to give up, it was time to let it be known
By soliciting the help of her woodworker prince to make a design of her own

When these newly designed legs presented more attachment issues
She couldn’t believe it and reached for a tissue.

Saddened with grief and wallowing in desperation
She knew a thrift store would be her only salvation.

Off she went, quickly spotting a battered table
With a base that she hoped would be able.

$24.99, oh what a deal!
Her disappointment turned to excitement, she just wanted to squeal.

She carted it home, adjusted and refinished the base
Hoping all along that this will be her ace

The table is now finished, sitting in her dining room a tad too big
But she was glad it was over and did a jig

Sitting pretty, spared from the landfill, she has learned a lot.
When she finds a more suitable one, she will donate it on the spot.

Plan A: Ebay purchased stained a dark walnut shade.

One of many attempts to attach the legs. Okay, time for Plan B:

The legs I designed and my prince made from plywood.

I painted them chocolate brown.

Attachment and leg clearance issues followed. On to Plan C:

Found this table base at a thrift store.

Removed chipped laminate with a heating gun.

I gave it a good sanding.

After I stained it, this is what it looked like. Having worked with Poplar, I should have known better; this type of wood is meant to be painted, not stained.

So I worked some magic with brown paint and glaze to unify the color and then applied walnut stain on top of the paint/glaze layers to achieve the look you see in the photo of the finished table.

Side detail of the table. I like the carved design.

Close-ups of the finish. I used various shades of stain to create a subtle striped design.

And finally, the finished table.

The End

I am linking this post to :

Between Naps on he Porch: Metamorphosis Monday

Reinvented: Trash to Treasure

A Soft Place to Land: DIY Day

Domestically Speaking: Power of Paint Wednesday

The Shabby Chic Cottage: Transformation Thursday

Mustard Seed Creations: Furniture Feature Friday

Funky Junk Interiors: Saturday Nite Special

First Anniversary Giveaway ends March 29!