Boiling Frogs....

Hello again!! Two posts in two days, blimey!!

Mr G has flown to Geneva for a meeting and I've been bored and lonely so I just wanted to show you a couple of things I finished yesterday.

I made myself a new sign for my girl cave:

I also gave a mirror my Stepdad had given me a makeover - he kindly gave it to me to sell, but yet again I've ended up keeping the thing he's given me to sell on.

It was dark, dingy wood and had a rusty chain so I set about giving it a coat of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White and then a layer of Duck Egg. I soaked the chain in some vinegar and then scrubbed it to remove the tarnish and after sanding and distressing I added some gold Rub And Buff:

I love how it's turned out!! Because it was to be hung by the chain, I used an idea I had seen in "Period Homes" magazine (that I buy even though we live in a 1970's semi!!) where you drill a hole, insert a rawl plug and then screw in a drawer pull or knob to use as a hook.

I must tell you what Mr G said after her hung it for me, I was saying how nice it looked and he agreed and then he mused "It's like boiling a frog isn't it?"

"What is?" says I....

"All the shabby chic/vintage/floral decor we now have spread around the whole house, if you'd tried to add it all at once I wouldn't have had any of it. But you kind of sneaked it in, gradually" he said "You couldn't add a frog to boiling water as it would jump out, but put it in cold and gently heat it up and it'll hardly notice what's going on"....

I must admit I laughed my head off at this as it's EXACTLY what I've done!! I started off with a bit of Cath Kidston and shabby chic in the bedroom and then gradually spread it around the rest of the house too!!

"I can't remember what it looked like before it was all shabby chic can you?" I said

"Yeah" Mr G said "It looked crap!!"

I think you could say the assimilation is complete!!

Hugs,

S x


 

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A Bit of TLC For The Kitchen

Hello my lovelies!! How're you doing?

This past week we gave our kitchen work tops a bit of a overhaul. We had the kitchen in nearly five years ago now and I still love it, but the oak butchers block work tops were looking sorry for themselves.

Getting them oiled was all a bit of a rush before they were installed and so they weren't as water resistant as they should have been and had gone all black and mouldy looking round the taps and sink area. No amount of scrubbing would make them look better and it made me dislike the whole kitchen.


I got a quote to have them replaced with some engineered stone or granite -£1800!! The whole kitchen only cost £3500 in the first place.

I lay in bed and suddenly had the idea that perhaps if we sanded them, stained them and varnished them it would hide the damage (I don't know about you but I often have fantastical ideas as I am falling asleep but 9 times out of 10 they are ridiculous in the light of day - this was one of the rare good ideas!!)

I emailed Ronseal and to ask if any of their products would be food safe and they advised me to use their Colron Refined Wood Stain and either Quick Drying or Diamond Hard Varnish.

Once we got to Homebase we saw the sample of the shades and realised that we could perhaps skip the staining part as the varnish came coloured and the Dark Oak in the satin finish (so not too shiny) looked perfect.

We gave the tops a quick sand with 80 grit sandpaper using an orbital sander then went down to 180 grit to give a smooth finish and then slapped on the varnish. We chose the Quick Drying and I'm pleased to report it had virtually no smell and was touch dry in 20 minutes. Two coats was all in took:

How good do they look? I wish had a close up before to show you - you can see it if you zoom in on the pics in this post - not only has it hidden the horrid mouldy looking bits, but the whole surface just looks better, a nicer colour and more nourished (despite oiling it always looked "dry"):

As you can see in the above pic I've been making bunting again!! Mr G is not impressed, but I love it!!:

I used some scraps of Cath Kidston Fabric and sewed it onto the lovely Sass and Belle ribbon the boys bought me for Mothers Day.

Now Mr G and I keep walking in and saying "I can't believe how much better it looks" and "Why didn't we do it before?"!!

In other news I've been feeling a bit under the weather the past couple of weeks or so - I managed to crack my tooth clean in half and had to make a dash to the dentist. She thought she could save it and so filled it with some semi permanent stuff but it has been giving me trouble - feeling ouchy when I eat and I've been having headaches which set my health anxiety off a treat.

It's still not great, I'm going back this week and I think I'll just ask her to whip it out!!

Also, I've finished my first ever crochet blanket and will ta dah it next time!!

Hugs,

S x

 

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Mr G's Handiwork - A Before and After....

I mentioned yesterday that this weekend I had put my foot down and insisted that Mr G replace the shelves that collapsed ten MONTHS ago? 


The room they are in was the dining room before we had the conservatory put on across the back of the house and had become a sort of "none room" - it has the computer cupboard and other than that was a bit of a waste of space.


This what it looked like (you can see the remnants of the old shelves still on the wall):

The cat tree went on Freegle (Jasper and Bear hadn't used it for 2+ years, until the minute I put it on Freegle and then they were obsessed with it!!) The radiator beds have been ditched (they now have a beanbag sheep next to the conservatory radiator!!) and Henry the Hoover (which we have had since we moved in together in 1995!!) has been rehomed under the stairs.

We then gave virtually the whole house several coats of white paint and this weekend I finally got my shelves:

The radiator cabinet came from eBay for £25 and the shelves are homemade from MDF (which B&Q cut to size) and moulding trim on the edge. The shelves cost about £47 including screws and No More Nails, etc - I nearly keeled over as that seems loads for us skip divers who are used to buying things at the tip for a fiver!!

The chairs are the ones we upcycled and have for sale - I must confess I rather like them where they are but Mr G says they have to go!!

I like the wall of books look really and our small collection hasn't filled the shelves as much as I thought (there looked a lot more when they were spread in piles all over the place!!) but I kinda like the books and knick-knacks look. I have a stack of books in my sewing room but they are all my craft ones so I need them to hand up there. We use the library a lot so I guess that's why our collection is a bit feeble.

So, after 10 months the "none room" is looking a bit more like a "proper room"!!

The TV cabinet we sold is off to it's new home today, fingers-crossed she likes it, I must confess I am a bit nervous, ooooh and we have sold the little rustic table today too!! 

hugs,

S x

PS No idea why Blogger insists on putting double-spacing between my paragraphs, drives me mad!!

Oooooh, I've Been Featured!!And Other Random Musings....

Hello my lovelies, hope you've all had a smashing weekend?

I'll tell you about ours but first I have to tell you that my Union Jack bureau has been featured on a posh US blog, I'm proper chuffed as Shaunna is a real furniture painting guru!! 


It's funny because Mr G and I both LOVE this piece now (Mr G says he hates the term "piece" and so always employs a sarcastic tone of voice when using it) - halfway through though we both thought it was hideous!! It looks really good in the boys room (I'll have to show you later as the camera is flat).


And, we have sold our first "piece"!! The TV cabinet:

We got £75 for it so we're delighted!!

This weekend was busy, on Friday Mr G had to fetch my Mum's carpet as we are having it for the stairs and landing and she wanted it out of the way - not that we have any more room for it, it's currently in the garage in the way of Mr G's motorbike and the underlay is in our "posh" (as opposed to our "horse") car.


Saturday, we went to the last local car boot of the season, we got a nice bowl with roses, a pressed glass cake stand and two huge candlesticks that are just begging to be spray painted!!


After that it was B&Q to buy MDF as after 10 months of waiting for him to replace the shelves that all fell down when the cats did "wall of death" on them I put my foot down and insisted that Mr G perform his husbandly duty.


Home for lunch, then out to do the ponies before back home for shelf hanging and painting. 


Mr G went RC racing yesterday while I did more painting and then W and I watched "Poltergiest". Now this was the first "horror" film I ever watched, I was about 12 and it terrified me. In fact it still scares me now!! 


I regard watching a horror movie you are a bit young for as a rite of passage and I wanted W to watch the same one as I had. However, W's conclusion (although he did watch it from behind a cushion "just in case") was "It wouldn't scare the skin off a rice pudding" - he was singularly unimpressed!! 


This week is the first full week of school, W started senior school last Tuesday but the whole of year 7 went off on Weds for 3 days of camp. Today is the first day they have to walk home together too. I feel a bit bad but Mr G insists unless it's raining they should walk - it's 1.2 miles -


oooooh, they've just got in and are moaning their HEADS off!! They are not happy and W says "I'm never walking home again". Oh dear. 


Mr G is adamant and says I am a big softie - he says it's saving petrol, eco-friendly and good exercise (neither of the boys are sporty in the least).


Anyway, apologies for the lack of photos this post, will have to make it up next time!!


hugs,


S x