Back into it

and currently working on some bar stools for a client...the first time I have painted furniture that already belongs to someone else....so far all is going well, so not too nerve-wracking!

Here is what they looked like before:

Tidy....plain....dark....in need of something....client decided she'd like them lighter but not white or cream so we went with a colour she had already used in her home, Resene Sisal.  

Here are some work-in-progress shots:

In case you were wondering, the real estate magazine pages under the chairs are not to protect my paint drop cloth (that is well beyond help!), they are so I can spin the chair frames around as I paint them :)

I am working inside today because it is raining so hard, and really cold too.  Too cold for paint to dry properly in the garage....much more comfortable inside!

This week

my daughter turned 6, so I don't have any new furniture projects to show off. 

I'll always be a Mummy first and a furniture-upcycler second....next week I'll be right back into it!

I just love that look of sheer and utter joy on her face in this shot!

Retro Office Chair...time for the reveal!

My lovely hubby picked her up yesterday from the upholsterer, and I am thrilled once again with his fantastic workmanship (upholsterer, not hubby, lol).  I am thinking though that she needs some new white feet, and I am still undecided on whether or not to do anything with the metal pedestal legs...I do quite like them as they are.  What I will be doing though, is adding some trim to cover the little staples at the top of the oilcloth on the back.  So here is a reminder of what I started with...

And here she is now...

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Also this week

I completed a project for my own home that has taken quite a while.  I bought this little sideboard/cabinet/not sure what it is called maybe even a year ago, to sit the TV on in our bedroom.  I washed and sealer-coated it pretty much straight away then got bored with it and really wanted to have the TV set up on it, so it stayed like that.  Then it became redundant when a couple of weeks ago I did this. (sorry, you'll need to scroll down to the bottom of this link to see what I am talking about).  I was sure this little cabinet had a use so I thought I'd paint it up and then see what it said to me.  I was so excited to have some renewed energy for this piece that I forgot to take a before shot.  This is the best I did:

By that stage I had already painted the insides in a duck egg blue/green (Dulux Punakaiki).  I always paint the insides of cupboards, as I feel that even though you can't necessarily see them, it gives a nice clean fresh feel to a piece, which is important to me, since they are second hand and mostly very well-used pieces.  So I had thought that maybe I'd do the inside duck egg just for a wee surprise and then paint the outside cream (my cream of choice, Dulux Cape Colville).  But that paintbrush with the duck egg on it just didn't want to jump out of my hand and before I knew it, I had this:

Ah well, I love this colour anyway.  And by now I had a plan of where 'she' would go...next to my husband's side of the bed as a bedside cabinet/nightstand.  It has lots of storage space and importantly, room for books to be stored.

I was pretty rough with the sandpaper on this piece, and I love how it turned out!

I even did a wee surprise inside the drawer using vintage wallpaper - not very manly, is it...but my man is very secure in his masculinity and doesn't care one bit (in fact I don't think he even notices frilly details like that!)

And it doesn't match at all what I have just put on my side of the bed, but I don't mind at all...

A vintage oak tea trolley that I bought at auction a few weeks ago.  I am thinking about painting it white, but for now I am quite liking it as it is.  See the tiny wee blue thing in front of the tissue box?

It is a Marguerite Daisy that my three year old son picked out of the garden for me this morning.  He showed it to me, then said 'I'll put it by your bed for you' and I thought no more of it till I went to take some photos just now.....my sweet boy xxx

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Finally I got some feet for my retro chairs

and hauled the lot inside today for some photos.  They are now up for sale on Trademe.  Miss almost-6 wasn't happy that Mummy was selling them, she thinks they are very cool and that we should keep them...sorry, honey!  Much as I love the colour, they just don't go with my kitchen walls...

And I love the colour (Dulux Benmore Half) of my kitchen walls, 2 years after I painted them (which is a good effort for me!).  I would have posted a photo of my whole kitchen, but it still has the dining suite taking up most of the floor, and there are Polly Pockets all over the bench :-/

So here is a photo of the dining suite with its 'socks' on...

I am so pleased with it, and hope it goes to a good home, I am sure it will, the buyers will have good taste, that is certain :)