Desks, Desks and more Desks

After looking through pictures of my recent finished projects, I've realized that I seem to be drawn to desks. Apparently I must really like desks because I sure have painted a lot of them over the last few months.

This fun & funky mid-century desk, I painted in this great "avocado green" certainly a throw back color but I think it fit this little desk perfectly.

 

This cute little desk got a coat of creamy white and some distressing to bring out her simple little charm.

 

Ooh La la I just love me some French Furniture! This piece was in rough shape when I got it, but a little TLC and some "French Gray" paint and she found a great new use as a make-up vanity in my clients home.

I even managed to get my hands on this old sewing desk....she was painted in a creamy white and distressed for that "shabby" look at was purchased by a client for her daughters first sewing machine. I love hearing what my pieces of furniture are going to be used for. It makes me happy!

This vintage children's desk was not much to look at when I found it. The top was pretty much ruined, but with a little creativity, I was able to turn the top into a chalkboard and painted the bottom a great "barn red" color and this little desk was given a new life. My client purchased this for her son who has "special needs" and she has already called me and told me how much he loves writing and practicing his numbers on this piece! :-)

 

Finally, this little secretary was painted Gold when I found it. with a little elbow grease and some new glass knobs, she cleaned up pretty well.

 

 

There is something so sweet and charming about a desk. They make me smile and I love giving pieces that people throw away or donate a new chance at life! I LOVE what I DO!!

 

Happy painting!

 

Kris

Old Buffet

OK...this antique buffet has a story behind it. I found this piece almost a year ago. I was strolling thru the thrift store and I was just about to leave disappointed that I hadn't found anything and when out of the corner of my eye I see this "beauty".....I gasped or maybe even squealed and literally ran over to it. I asked the manager..."Is this for sale?" "Well, we were going to send it back to our warehouse, its in too bad of shape to sell" "What!!" I said..."oh no, no, no! I MUST have it" he said, "OK" and I'm pretty sure I hugged him and told him I loved him!!

I brought it home, and although it did have all of its original hardware, he was right...it was in really bad shape. I parked it in the garage and that's where it has sat for a long, long time. FINALLY, I put my big girl panties on and decided it was time to TACKLE the beast! I consider myself a pretty handy gal, I can pretty much fix anything I NEED to, but what have I gotten myself into???

 

I started by removing all the hardware and gluing all of the wood that over time had started to separate and crack. Then I filled in as many of the holes & cracks with wood filler as I could. The ones that were too bad were just going to have to add "character." Once it was "repaired" ( I use this term loosely) I tried to figure out what color I was going to paint it. This is always the hardest thing for me because color makes or breaks a piece of furniture. So after much deliberation, I decided on gray. Not just any gray will do, I got out my measuring cups and decided I needed to "create" the right gray. After a few minutes of "a little of this and a little of that" the perfect gray was achieved.....After a few coats of paint, some slight distressing (not that it needed much help in the distressing) and a coat of wax.....HERE SHE IS!!! BEAUTIFUL huh??

 

I LOVE this piece of furniture! Like, literally LOVE this! The kind of love that made it almost impossible to sell it. Luckily for her, the first person to contact me about buying it,  happen to be a friend of mine so I "let" her buy it and take it home. Only after a thorough check of her background and references ;-) she assured me it would be loved and well taken care of, so with a tear in my eye she left me. They say that there is really only one true love of your life.....Is this true for furniture too? Time will tell, maybe tomorrow I will stumble across another love!

Happy Painting.

IS bigger always better?

Howdy y'all,

Can you believe that its already the middle of February? Gosh.....time sure does fly when your having fun! As usual, I've been a busy little bee and gotten lots and lots done. The first weekend in February, I moved into a bigger space down at Merchant Square and with that move came lots of changes. I loved my little "corner" down at the shop....I made it completely "me" it made me smile every time I walked around the corner and saw it, however I was finding that I needed a bigger space to showcase more of my furniture pieces, so when a bigger space became available, I JUMPED!

Here are a few pictures of my new space......isn't she lovely??

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a TON of work to get everything ready and stocked for the first big weekend of the month which also happened to be one of Merchant Square's biggest flea market & sale days, but it was WAY worth it! I've already had to re-stock my space....TWICE!! I'm truly blessed to have found something that I LOVE to do and that supports my shopping and crafting addictions. I thinik in this case, bigger is better! I LOVE my new space.

 

In addition to re-stocking the shop, I've also been able to get a few pieces done for clients and customers.

 

This buffet was in great shape and I really wrestled with even painting it, but unfortunately in my "business" unpainted just doesn't sell....so I only painted the bottom and left the top with its original wood showing and I think it makes this piece amazingly "rich" looking. 

 

This 1980's Heavy oak dresser got a black paint job and some slight distressing around the edges and she was stunning when all done.

 

I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and thanks for stopping by.

 

Kris

Face Lift

So I've decided to change the structure of my blog a bit. I've also started a website but while its under construction, I'm going to be using my blog as my "portfolio" so to speak. Check out some of my latest projects and don't forget to come by and visit Booth #58 at Merchant Square in Chandler.

 

 This Cute little desk wasn't so cute when I found it. I tightened up the legs and did a little repair to the top and painted it a great blue color and distressed it and I absolutely LOVE the way it turned out!

I've found over the last few years that I've been re-doing furniture that you really have to have an "eye" for ugly things...well, ugly things that you can make pretty again. If you are out and about looking for furniture to re-do the chances that you are going to find something that is in perfect shape are fairly slim...so if you are thinking of maybe trying to re-do a piece just make sure you are open to the "ugly ducklings". Personally that is where I find the most "reward" in finishing a project. Take a look at some of these "Beauties" I've brought back to life.

Picking the right color to paint something can also be a really "tricky" part to this whole process....but once you find a great piece sometimes you really need a great color....look at these colors!

This Dresser was in HORRIBLE shape when I found it. But I LOVED all the detail it had. With all that dramatic detail in the drawers and such, I felt it could handle a "dramatic" color.

This piece was certainly NOT a head turner. But with a little paint, I think she cleaned up real nice.

LOOK at this color!! I think I'm in LOVE....I just love the way this color makes the detail on this Mid-Century piece just POP.

I hope some of these pictures have inspired you to get out there and find some ugly stuff. Have a great day.

Love,

Kris

Busy Girl

Happy Halloween, Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year......

OK, so now I've made up for all of the holidays I've missed since last posting on this silly little blog of mine. I've been a very busy girl and don't even know where to begin to bring you all up to date on what I've been doing.

You may remember me posting about our basement flood....YES, it did flood. No, it is not fixed yet and NO nothing is covered by insurance...we did managed to get everyone situated into bedrooms so my kids are no longer using my dining room as a bedroom. That is a HUGE relief but, I did have to "give up" my office/craft room for the time being so that has certainly cut down on my "crafting" but the painting side of my business is going strong.

In June I moved into a space at Merchant Square in Chandler. I was sharing this space with a dear friend of mine and it was wonderful. We both were doing so well that we decided to each get our own space. So I kept the larger one and Tana moved into a little bit smaller one just a few booths down from me. I took over this space on my own in August and have been staying very busy just trying to keep it stocked. Here are a few pics of some of the items I've recently had in the shop.

The shop is a great place to be able to display and sell all the things that I craft and paint. If you haven't been down there yet, you really need to go check it out. There are over 100 vendors and some pretty amazing things down there.







Besides being busy working on things to take down to the shop, I have also been doing a lot of custom pieces for clients and also selling quite a few pieces on Craig's List. Here are a few of my recent projects.

This blue desk has been one of my favorite projects so far. When I found this thing, it didn't have its legs attached and was in really bad shape. It was definitely a challenge but I absolutely love the way it turned out.

This sage green dresser was alot of fun to work on too. When I picked up this thing, it was the typical 1980's laminate oak...a little paint, and some fun waxing techniques and this beauty was ready for her new home. My client that bought this piece is using it as a entertainment center for her TV.

 This gray piece was definitely one of those pieces that I struggled with. Shall I say, I had buyers remorse. I purchased it along with several others all in one day and I hadn't really had a good look at it until I started to work on it....but the good news was that it was solid wood and all the drawers were dovetailed and in good working condition. So, I sanded the top down, primed and painted this beast in a great gray color and then used a oil based lacquer and made it really sleek and shiny. I also painted those purple lamps and added some really cute shades and this baby sold in only a few hours after posting it on Craig's List.....I guess the lesson learned that day was that you just never know what some people are looking for....

This blue piece was part of a set I purchased and let me just tell you, this thing was HUGE!!! Not only did it weigh a ton, it was really long and had just the most beautiful detail. I painted this in a great color I found at ACE on a "free paint Saturday" called "King's Canyon" and I love the way this one turned out. After I painted it, I used a wax technique and it completely changed the look of the paint. I love it and so did the client that I sold it to. She is using it as a "Buffet" in her dining room.

I certainly am staying busy, but then again I really don't know how NOT too stay busy. I guess if I'm not painting or crafting, I would be doing something else....I'd love to hear about any furniture make-overs you've done...drop me a comment. Have a great day...painting away!

Love,
Kris

I love the smell of paint in the mornings

Even though I'm still recovering from our basement flood and the Arizona weather has been 110+

I've still managed to be able to get some painting done. Here are some of my latest projects. Oh I love the smell of paint in the morning!



This was a custom piece I did for a client who wanted it for her son's nursery! Once she had it in the room and added all the accesories, it looked amazing.

This was a set I got at a local Flea Market

I painted both of these pieces in a "Cottage White" and then Painted the drawers a "French Gray" I added glass knobs from Hobby Lobby and I think they look Romantic but still a little Whimzy

 

This piece went from Drab to Fab with the addition of a little "Peacock Blue"



This Piece has amazing curves and lines. Its a great Mid-Century piece but was missing its WOW factor.

Now it won't be looked over it will be looked at!



Thanks for stopping by,

Kris





"MOM, I don't want a basement anymore"

"Wow it has a basement" that is what we were all saying when we looked at our home a little over three years ago. "Cool" my kids all said. Well, isnt it funny how opinions can change!

Exactly 3 weeks ago today my husband and I were awoke at 3am by my 8year old daughter saying that something was dripping on her. "What did she say" my husband and I both shot up out of bed. We ran down to the basement which is where 3 out of 4 of my kids bedrooms are along with a huge playroom, a bathroom and several storage rooms and we were met with about 3 inches of standing water. Not to mention the sound of running water. "Look mom" and as we looked into my daughter's room we saw that her ceiling was leaking water.

We quickly woke up the other 2 bigger kids and we ran outside to see what had happened and noticed that the entire yard and patio were flooded as well. Apperently the irrigation gate had been left open and when the neighborhood was getting irrigation during the night it came through our gate first.  

Where do you start when your entire basement is flooded, your patio is flooded and your yard is flooded? What do you do with the water? Well....My 13 yr old son and I at 3:30am ran to Wal-mart to get push brooms and the girls started trying to get everything they could off of the basement floor. When Preston and I returned from Wal-mart and saw what an incrediably HUGE task was in front of us, I stopped and prayed. I asked the Lord to help me know where to start. I was quickly reassured and it was if the Lord told me exactly what to do....I sent out an email onto our church Prayer Chain and within a few hours we had several people showing up to help. Members from our church youth group came and helped us bring everything up from the basement. We had boxes and bins to pack things into. We had water bottles, donuts, etc...What an amazing gift! I had friends show up and help with the loads of wet laundry. This... all before noon! By that night we had over 350 gallons of water pumped out of the basement and the entire basement cleaned out. The carpet and pad ripped up the old tile under the carpet up and the drywall tore down. We had fans and huge drying equipment brought in. All of this was done by friends and was done free. We didnt have flood insurance and because this was caused by "irrigation" nothing is being covered by insurance. (We have it now!!)

At several points throughout the day, I just stopped and looked around and was so overwhelmed! Not just by the magnitude of what was happening but by how blessed we were to have such a huge amount of help. I told my kids (several times) that this is why it is so important to have friends and a church family. For times like this...

While things are still fairly "tore up" and the kids are still living in my dining room, I am still so grateful for the love and support that we have been shown over these last few weeks. It is going to be a very slow process of getting the basement put back together one piece of drywall at a time. My kids are anxious to get back to the way things were and keep saying, "Mom, we don't want a basement anymore. Can't we just fill it in with dirt?" Gosh, I wish it was just that easy...

This is the room where all the water came in from. Through ceiling and down through the walls.

All of the built in cabinets are now gone :-(

We Had so much Help! What a blessing

We had just paid to have these wood floors installed into two of the bedrooms. Guess that was money NOT well spent!!