Lucketts Be a Lady Tonight

This weekend I popped up to my old stomping ground, Washington, D.C. to surprise my bestie for her Law School Graduation weekend! Eee! I love a good surprise! Anyhoo, I was super pumped that the next day we found ourselves on our way out to Luckett's, VA to visit Luckett's Antique Market! I've heard read its praises sung by loads of people across the interwebs, so here are some of my favorite "inspiration" shots from Lucketts

You cant tell from this picture but this table has lovely finials and industrial cubbies filled with goodies like lavender soap and knobs.

Paris baskets! Do I smell a DIY?

Digging industrial/library. Can't ya tell?

This would be so lovely for  a greenhouse/terrarium

This was definitely one of the highlights, being able to visit Miss Mustard Seed's pavilion and see her AWESOME work up close! Unfortunately there was a gigantic wasp that was also visiting MMS, so I high-tailed it outta there. Freakin' hate bees.

Knobs!

I love this vignette. Its so old-timey and rustic and industrial

Wouldn't these pallets be awesome as a coffee table?

Probably one of my more favorite pictures- old cosmetic tin on a vintage mirrored tray

I have an addiction to suitcases

That pretty much summarizes my day at Lucketts! Thanks to the girls for an awesome weekend, and I'll have to come back up when I can actually BUY something there!!!

Four Words

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. You've heard of this, right? If you have not; it is this paint, right,  that gives you this rich, purty color AND 1. you don't have to sand, prime, or anything. Just slap it on, let it dry and distress to your heart's content.  Say whaaat!

It is Le perfect for an easily distracted individual such as moi. I can slap on a coat when I get a surge of inspiration without having to do all that stupid prep work. Prep work is no fun. I reupholstered this chair that I got at Goodwill:

 

Close up shots! 

Everyone is going OOON and OOON about chalk paint, and you know what, they should. I am sooo on that bandwagon. If you're going for the distressed look, look no further. The folding chair was done in the first color I ordered, Paris Grey (are we surprised?)

I have since ordered Aubisson Blue and Old White. Everything is getting painted. It adheres to everything.  Plastic, other paint, metal, wood, veneer, toothpicks, meatballs. You name it.

 I'm gonna mix and match these things like it's my job. 

On house news, I haven't updated you because there's nothing really to update. Still working through the process, so we shall see! 

your delightfully delinquent blogger bud, or DDBB: 

Does this not look wonky?

Well, it totally does, right? Gaaah! I tried to do the stretched canvas approach, whereby I streched the fabric across the opening on the back and stapled it in place, and used the gimp trim to cover up the staples. Bad idea. 

So, I cast that chair aside (for now) and focused my attentions on my pretty distressed gray chair of the set. Yes, this one chair is different from the rest of the set. I was in an experimenting mood. Don't judge me! 

I love how this gray chair turned out. The patina is just too pretty for me to paint over to just plain white. So I kept it. And decided to try another method for upholstering the back since the caned back was busted through. 

Oh, hey, what's that? Yeah. Totally looks like a chair. An awesome chair. Woot woot.

It's not trimmed, but is this not so much better? Forget what I said about using cardboard to upholster over a caned back. Well, no, don't forget it. You could still use it for simple shapes, but this is WAY easier when you have a fancy shape that you need to get exactly freaking right or else it just looks like it belongs on the short bus. Like this guy: 

Blerg. Anyone know how to remove trim that's been hot glued on? Anyone?

I'm working on the full tutorial on how to make your upholstered caned back NOT suck, but the gist of it is: 

You need batting,  your fabric, scissors and a glue gun and that is it. 

If you've got spray adhesive it makes things that much easier for you. I used staples at first. no. don't do that. Not necessary. Glue gets it so much more precise every. single. time.

P.S. The wonk-ified chair is the back to my ikat upholstered french chairs! I'm totally gonna do it, you guys. I have 3 of 4 chairs in various states of non-matching-ness, so I really ought to quit typing and start upholstering.

Toodles!

xo,
Margaret

Chalkboard Buffet

I had such a blast working on this piece. It was a super ugly 70's server, but I saw huge potential when I saw its fold out top: 

I love the versatility of it. You get lots of room when you need it, with little big impact on your day-to-day space. I wanted it to have a really worn look. So the word of the day working on this was "bejesus"As in, " I'm going to distress the bejesus out of this thing". I really took that mantra to heart. 

 The funnest part? The fold-out chalkboard top! Please forgive me, I had no chalk so I couldn't write a fun little message for you. But I just love the idea! You can change it up for any occasion, which is my opinion of ideal entertaining-ware.  Buut I'll probably just write inappropriate things. Like "poop". 

 Extreme close up! Woooah!

Ain't she pretty?

If this post were a president, it'd be Abraham Linkin:
A Beach Cottage
Miss Mustard Seed

xo,

$5 Chevron Side Table

Happy St. Patty's Day! I have to say I am ashamed. I am Irish and totally forgot. However, I chalk that up to going buckwild in the name of good St. Patty this saturday past. 

I got this little guy for $5 at a thrift store some MONTHS ago, and didn't know really what to do to jazz him up. 

And then when my Valspar free paint sample arrived, it came to me! 

Chevron!!

Also, are we noticing a color gravitation? 

'Cept here's the thing, I really stink at measuring and consistency. Kind of two things you need when doing chevron. I, on the other hand, respond very well to tracing. I very much like not having to think too much about what I'm doing. 

So I cut out this here triangle. 

And traced it out on the tabletop. (Jasper is helping)

And taped it off (not pictured) 

And painted it (not pictured) Trust me, really not that interesting. 

Done! Whee! 

And it doesn't suck! Ah, the luck of the Irish! 

xo, 

If this post was a president it would be Abraham Linkin:
Shabby Chic Cottage
Miss Mustard Seed
Chic on a Shoestring Decorating
Sisters of the Wild West
Primitive and Proper 
The Shabby Nest

Anthropologie Hack Candidates

Guys. What a haul I had last night at Goodwill. Seriously. I just found out it was open 'till 8 p.m. (score!). I got a couple of nifty knick nacks to aid in my upcoming St. Patty's/ Easter Decorating. But the crowning jewel of my finds is this FOLDING CHAIR. 

This may not seem that exciting to you, so let me explain. I have been wanting to go Anthropologie hack on these chairs for EVER. 

Yeah you read that right, almost $200 smackers for a FOLDING CHAIR. Oh, did I mention that my goodwill folding chair cost $3.49?? BooYAH! 

AND now that I ordered my sewing machine, I can make matching double welt cording. Mwahaha! 

P.S. I like how that picture makes my flip flops look dainty. My size 10 feet are anything but. 

I also got these mirrors: 

For a grand total of $15 buckaroos. 

They each have a different pattern on them, and they're all in great shape! I was thinking about maybe trying to make it look like aged carved wood to tie in my cherry wood dining table (seen peeking through) and do an acid-eaten mirror thing: 

What do you think? Should I go the weather-beaten wood route, or do it some bold color like teal and glaze them? 

xo,

Weekend Finds! Hint: It's a pup!

Hi. Remember me? Yes, I know I've been MIA the past few days, but that's because I am a new (chihuahua) mommy again! 

Everyone, meet Jasper! aka DJ Jazzy Jeff. He is a 6 lb 14 oz  3 year old Chihuahua Mix that we adopted over the weekend as companion and annoying little brother to Cali, our 10 lb (probably more) 3 year old Chihuahua Mix. 

Awww! 

This is Cali hiding from her new playmate. 

Can I just say that rescue dogs are the sweetest? They are so grateful to be in a warm, loving home and they will pay you back tenfold in love! 

I will be back soon with more gratuitous pictures of puppies! You know you're excited. 

xo,

Different Glazes for Different... Phases?

Woohoo! Thursday! 

Lately I've been fooling around with glazes. I really like how a glaze can add depth and, depending on which one you choose, can totally change the look of whatever your item is. 

Remember my candlesticks from my weekend finding? 

Before 

After

Before you start hitting your computer screen- yes they are different colors! I painted them my super pale gray "oops!" paint that I used on my art-deco side tables and then distressed them. THEN I 'glazed' the right stick with regular old dark walnut stain from Minwax that I had lying around. Pretty much I just wanted to see what would happen. As you can see, you get a whole heck of an all-over color, since the stain is not water-based like a typical glaze, you have a much harder time wiping it off, and much more stays on. BUT, as you can see compared to the unglazed 'stick, you can see a lot more of the detail of the actual piece. I personally prefer the one on the left. I think I might try a black water-based glaze to give it some depth in the cracks, but not all-over color.

These poor chairs. I was also experimenting with glazes on THEM this weekend too. I must have been really obnoxious as a child with all this curiosity. I couldn't get the detail by showing the whole chair, so the first two are of the top, second two photos are of the legs. 

Unglazed

Glazed

Unglazed

Glazed

I know what you're thinking. Margaret, aren't these the same chairs that you were just talking about totally re-re-doing yesterday? Yes, yes they are. I told you I was downright nutty. I did these when I was thinking about making them into the french-country-ish style. I think I have since decided to go bold with them. Go big or go home!

What about you guys? Any good tips to share on glazing/finishing? And color combos or formulas you've found to just hit it out of the park when you're going for a certain "look"?

xo,