Chairs for Charity 2015

I finally finished my chair restoration for Chairs for Charity auction 2015.

Each year I donate an up-cycled theme decorated chair to a great cause. Chairs for Charity to bring awareness to L.A.M. My friend Carrie suffers from this lung disease and is a champion for getting the word out and raising funds and awareness of this little know affliction. You can read more about it here.

Below is the primed chair--it was a walnut wood color with this rose pink seat

 After priming, I used a couple of different stencils to get my flourishes on the back panel. I then used a chalk finish paint called Americana Decor in the "Yesteryear" color.  I will put my 2 cents in about chalk paint. I know there are many die hard Annie Sloan paint fans out there. I have used her paint, I even took a sponsored ASP class, and I love her paint. But at $40 a quart, the alternatives on the market are just as good. And there are a lot of recipes on the internet to make your own and several are not the right proportions and you can get some bad results. I have found the best "make your own" recipe is on the Lowe's website. You can buy their little sample pots (they will mix you any color you want). But for this project I was able to get this paint on sale at Craft Warehouse for $6.99 and I really liked the color.

Next was the waxing. I started with an antique color wax. I hated it! With the brown cast on the grey it looked dirty. So I mixed a clear wax with some black acrylic paint and waxed again and got the results I was looking for.

 finding the perfect seat fabric was not easy!

Sometimes it pays to walk back to the clearance area of the fabric store! I found this amazing remnant for $9 a yard. The bird was the perfect shade of grey.

 

So now the hunt begins again for next years chair!

French clocks Accent chair

This actually was my project for 2014 but only getting around to share it...
Each year I donate an up-cycled theme decorated chair to a great cause. Chairs for Charity to bring awareness to L.A.M. My friend Carrie suffers from this lung disease and is a champion for getting the word out and raising funds and awareness of this little know affliction. You can read more about it here.

I purchased 2 of these chairs from a local thrift store for $15 each.

Above is the primed chair--I forgot to take a pic of the original I was so excited to get started!

I used a chalk finish paint from the Lowe's recipe. Just love that it is so cheap to just buy one of the little 8 ounce jars in any color and mix up my own. This was a color called "Linen". 

After I did some random stenciling, I used a dark wax to get a nice aged look, let that dry, then lightly sanded randomly for distressing. Followed up with another light coat of clear wax and buffed.

I recovered the seat with heavy french script upholstery fabric--I only removed the piping of the old cover. Simply went over the top of the old fabric. Easy peasy.

The chair bid up to $125.00. Not bad for less than $25 investment!

Stay tuned for my 2015 chair--same design and a hint---this one is a very pale grey!

Joining in 

Doors....

I have always been fascinated with the uniqueness of doors. Doors are an entry way to a new or different view. Most don't notice the door, they only anticipate what is on the other side.

I keep my camera handy in our travels and snap a pic whenever I see one that is interesting...

  This was taken at the Oregon coast at an abandoned storefront. The weathered chippy and shabby coastal colors fascinated me. My hubby thought I was a little crazy

 I saw this door in Northern California. It had to be the narrowest I have ever seen. Just a little over 2 feet wide.

The tallest door that was an average door width.The handle looks low, but it isn't. This was taken at the restored Tallman Inn at Upper Lake, Ca.

A few years ago we took a southern Caribbean cruise that departed San Juan Puerto Rico which in Old San Juan is know for it's unique doors...

I loved how the doors were different on each floor of this building in San Juan

this last door is in Paris.
The photo was taken by Pam of the Plucky Maidens, she was gracious to let me borrow her picture

Hope you enjoyed my "door tour" I am sure there will be more in our summer travels to share with you.

until then.....

French cottage side table

Joining in on the party over at Etsy Cottage style blog, I thought I would share another of my refurbished finds....

 

 here is the "before" 

I  have not finished the letter holders:) that will be in a later post...

I picked up this table at a garage sale..it was wobbly with loose legs and the top was full of water stains. But it has dome much potential! I had to bargain a bit, the owners said it was in the family since the 1930's, but one of the grandkids took it to his college dorm and pretty much had destroyed it. They didn't want to spend the money to have it refinished, but it was also hard to let go. But for $20 it was mine.

the details are amazing. The legs re-glued, and new pads on the feet and a good sanding to smooth the top. I painted it a soft heirloom white and added an antique glaze.This was to be displayed in a local antique shop that I was consigning in, but the owner abruptly closed the shop, so now I will most likely sell it on craigs list locally since it is too hard to ship from my website.

I added a coupe waterslide decals to the top and sealed

Viola!  Vintage French cottage!!

French cottage hall tree refurbished...

Time to share!  During the summer months I really dive into refurbishing and re-purposing as may pieces as I can fit in.

This piece was a moving sale find for $15. It needed a bit of TLC and a few minor repairs. Primed and a coat of butter yellow paint along with an antique glaze. Then new fleur de lis hangers made this piece so very French country cottage style. The mirrors I simply flipped them over and covered the back side with old newsprint scrapbook paper. So if someone wanted to have mirrors again, the option is still there.

 

Want to see what it looked like "before"

here it is--we took it apart to transport it--

ugly YES, but I had a vision for it, and I love the finished piece!

stay tuned, I have several other re-purposed pieces I will be sharing soon!