Shabby Chic Bedroom Furniture

This furniture I purchased in Christchurch, and shipped to Australia in its 'before' state.  

It is quite common in NZ, and although I haven't seen any here, I am sure it is around.

The handles were all intact, and I quite like them. I think they suit the style of the furniture, so I left them as is.

I was going to paint the furniture off white, but then when I went to buy some paint (I had to leave my extensive paint collection in NZ as the removalists wouldn't ship it), I found a gorgeous baby blue mistint and had to try it out.  I am glad I did, here is the end result...

I did the body of the drawers in the baby blue, then used white on the drawers.  I really like the contrast.

Over the paintwork I used a clear beeswax, then a dark oak wax sparingly in places to give it a bit of an aged look.  Doing the clear wax first helps to limit the dark wax 'grabbing' the paintwork too heavily, and makes it much easier to remove if you apply too much.  Trust me.  I have learnt that from experience :)

This set has been sold.

Shabby Chic Retro Kitchen Chairs

Yeah, Shabby Chic and Retro in the same sentence sounds a bit odd, but that is really what I think these chairs are.  Back in Rangiora, I had collected a set of four and a pair that were a similar frame shape.  I had them tucked away, tempted to keep them, but prepared to let them go if a buyer came along looking for some.  

I don't have an actual before photo of them all, but some were like this:

When we decided we were moving to Australia, the time had come to do something with the chairs, as it would be my last opportunity to have my lovely upholsterer man work his magic :(

I had purchased some gorgeous pink rosebud oilcloth months earlier, when we were away on holiday, with the plan to use that on the chairs.  The trouble was, I had only purchased 2m of it, and each chair takes 0.5m.  Problem, but not for long.  I devised a plan.  I'll let the pictures do the talking now...

I am thrilled with how they turned out, and actually pleased that I had to think of a solution when I didn't have enough of the pink fabric.  Polka dots make everything cuter in my book!

These chairs are a definite keeper, but if you are local, and have some like this that would like a similar makeover, please contact me.

I am sharing this post over at
All Things Thrifty - Share your chair transformations

Christmas Raggy Wreaths - 2011 Series

Last year, I gave these a go for the first time.  They turned out very well, and I loved making them.  I made them in small quantities to keep them original and unique - no mass-production going on here!

Here are some of last year's models (all sold):

And here is the first batch of this year's:

I currently have 4 available, and they will be for sale soon on my trademe listings.  I will post them to anywhere in Australia or New Zealand.