Mini Makeover....

This weekend we made over a little spot in our (tiny) kitchen that had hitherto been an eyesore.

Ever since I saw Cherry Menlove's gorgeous open white shelves I have hankered after some of my own but the problem was where to put them.

I also really disliked the cooker hood and splashback we had above our range:

We used to have a stainless steel range that matched the hood and splashback, but after that finally gave up the ghost we found this fab Aga-like Leisure range on eBay for the bargain price of £150 and for well over a year I have put up with the mismatch (some kinds of mismatch are NOT good!!)

I got to thinking about what we could do to prettify this area of the kitchen - this involved laying in bed at night hatching all manner of plans - 99% of which are rubbish in the light of day - and decided we should remove the hood (we never use it as its not connected to the outdoors and just "extracts" back into the room) and build some sort of unit or shelves.

Then came the persuasion of Mr G.

It took weeks.

And in the end I had to put my foot down.

So on Saturday I marched him to the wallpaper shop, we chose paper and on our return the hood came down and the paper went up:

Already looking soooooo much better!!

The conversion of Mr G to all things floral, vintage and shabby chic was proved complete when he came up with the idea to paper the back of the plate rack.

On Sunday, off we trotted to B&Q where - following a brief hiatus for a row over fairy lights - we got the material for the shelves.

Mr G got down to one of mans most hated tasks - erecting shelves:

I was beyond excited!! I danced about waiting for the moment when I could fill them with pretty things:

I've ordered new Cath Kidston labels for the flour jars!!

We're sooooo pleased with how they have turned out - Mr G went as far as to say it's his favourite makeover to date - which is high praise indeed considering he was against doing anything in that area.

I still dislike the stainless splashback and will now work on getting Mr G to tile over it - resistance is futile.....

Hugs,

S x




 

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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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First Ta-Dah of 2012....

I gave our dresser a makeover:

It was "factory done" in buttermilk paint with orange pine and was nice enough but not properly shabby chic, the factory finish looks rubbish compared to the finish you get with the chalk paint.

So I mixed my own shade of periwinkle blue to match the little flower in the Cath Kidston paper using Annie Sloan's "Aubusson" and "Original" and set about it with my paint brush.

I really fancied a blue dresser and it's turned out perfectly!! Notice I managed to do away with the old xBox and TV that was on there spoiling the look!!

I hope you are all taking care in this vile, vile weather....

hugs, 

S x

More Fugly To Fabulous....

I've been keeping this one as I thought you all be tired of my furniture painting obsession!!

We have a computer hideaway that we got off eBay a few years ago for £40 (it was originally Ikea and plain pine) - I painted it cream and it looked like this:

It was looking a little worse for wear so I gave it the Annie Sloan treatment - this time using Provence with a wash of Old White ( a little paint mixed with water, paint on and immediately wipe off), lightly distressed & then clear wax. I then changed the fabric behind the glass:

I love it!! I was a little "Wooooo it's a bit bright" before the wash of white but it looks really nice now.


We've had a really busy day today sorting out H & W's room and collecting a high sleeper. Tomorrow we have wardrobes to collect for the boys room and then a sideboard in the afternoon that will go next to the computer hideaway above.


So, lots more future painting opportunities!!


Have a lovely weekend!!


hugs,


S x

Vintage Feedsack Fabric Hearts....

A while back I was lucky and won a giveaway over at Sal's Snippets, Sal sent me a lovely little pack of assorted 1930's feedsack fabric:

With it I have made this picture for our bedroom:

I used a template to cut out hearts, arranged them on some white linen-like fabric and blanket stitched around them before stretching it over a canvas.

I'm really pleased with it and very taken with the lovely fabrics, would love a stack of FQ's so I can make a quilt!! Thanks so much Sal!!

I have painted more furniture (!!) but I will spare you that for today as I am sure you are all bored to tears with it by now but if not I have made a page dedicated to all the transformations - Fugly To Fabulous which will be a permanent fixture in the menu bar above.

Thanks for all your wonderful comments, I can't tell you how much they mean to me - especially as I failed art and textiles miserably and have never been very good at anything, I still believe wholeheartedly if I can do it anyone can!!

hugs,

S x

PS I'll sort out a tutorial for how to Cath Kidston up (as Mr G calls it!!) knobs in the next week or so....

Drawers & Bedside Table - Makeover Time!!

If you visit my house at the moment make sure you don't stand still too long as I am liable to give you a coat of paint!! 


On Saturday I gave a chest of drawers and a bedside table a little makeover.


This was the chest of drawers before:

It was a cast off from my sister and I had painted it cream. This time I mixed my own colour using 2 x parts Annie Sloan Old White; 1/2 part AS Duck Egg and 3/4 part AS Provence. I love. love, love how it has turned out:

Please excuse the ratty carpet, we're hopefully having white boards next month....

I really love this paint, so much so I feel bad about telling you all I was a bit disappointed after painting the little shelves!! It's lovely to work with, goes on in one coat and distresses like a dream with the help of a foam sanding pad.

I redid the knobs by decoupaging them with Cath Kidston flowers. I had done them before when the drawers were cream but the cat (yep, the cat!!) had chewed the decoupaging off!!

The bedside table I am not loving quite so much, I should have painted it white first I think so when I sanded it back some of that showed as well as the pine:

I have a computer hideaway cupboard to paint today. Much of our furniture is painted so I am busy re-doing it all in Annie Sloan!!

In other news, W called this morning to say the campsite they are at is fabulous and he is having a good time - I thought he sounded a tad subdued but maybe that's just me being a neurotic Mummy?

Do you know I told my Mum I was expecting for the first time and she said "You'll never have peace of mind again" and blimey, she was right - I have worried about these boys since the second I found out I was expecting them!! 

Hope you've all had good weekends....

hugs,

S x

Tea Trolley Ta Dah!!

Hello all!!


I have spray painted the tea trolley that I got last week - it was a nightmare job, the spray paint was HOPELESS, and refused to spray for more than 20 seconds at a time and I had to keep taking the nozzle on and off until I was cursing it!!


I've also used some wallpaper samples leftover from the patchwork wall and Mod Podged them onto the trays - I'm not entirely happy with it as it has wrinkled a bit in places so I'll look out for some oil cloth I think to replace it in due course:

Apologies for pic quality, light is not good in our lounge

I've also been doing lots of painting with my Annie Sloan paint, I bought another shade on Friday - Provence and will reveal all tomorrow!!


In other news our youngest W (on the right, H is on the left):

....has gone on his holidays today with his friend R - he only left a couple of hours ago and I miss him already!! 


We really agonised over whether to let him go (they have gone camping in Dorset with R's whole family) because I knew I would worry the whole time he is away; will he be OK? Will he talk to strangers? Will he get swept away to sea?(!!) Will the parents drive carefully?


In the end I decided that I mustn't let my anxieties hold my boys back but I don't think I'll settle until he his back home in a whole weeks time!!


Things are not helped by the fact I got lost on a school camping holiday when I was his age (11yrs), my friend and I got separated from the group and we were lost all afternoon - I've since discovered that the beach we were lost on for much of it trying to find a way back was the one in Norfolk that is notorious for people being washed away!!


I must confess, I am struggling with the whole boys-growing-up thing, they seem to change before our very eyes now and I so miss them being tiny - I am feeling super broody much to Mr G's disgust!!


Anyway, enough "whittling" (as my Mum would say!!) for now!!


Hope you're all having a lovely weekend....


hugs,


S x

I'm Convinced!!

You may remember my post last week when I told you I was a wee bit disappointed with the Annie Sloan chalk paint after using it for the first time to paint the dinky shelves my Stepdad made me?


I did say that I would reserve judgement until after I had painted a larger piece - yesterday I tackled our sideboard and I can now tell you I am a fully fledged member of the Annie Sloan Appreciation Society - I love it!!


I think the fact I wasn't blown away by it after painting the shelves was partly due to not having the right tools - I have since got some better brushes and sanding blocks - and also the shelves are a made a little rustically and so were perhaps not a good piece to form an opinion on.


The sideboard was originally (several years ago) from a charity shop for £10. All the veneer was peeling off the top so I removed it and painted it with regular emulsion.


Before:

After:

I painted it with Duck Egg, did the top in Old White and then dry brushed some Old White on before waxing with clear wax and then distressing using foam sanding blocks - these were much, much better than the sandpaper I had previously and the distressing was much easier.

I love the colour but it's not exactly what I would call "duck egg" - not enough blue

One of my concerns over the AS paint was the price (currently around £16.95 for 1L) but when you consider I painted the above with one coat, whereas normal emulsion would probably have needed three then I think it doesn't actually work out as expensive as it may seem.

The chalk paint dries so quickly that the whole thing was done and dusted in around 3 hours too.

So, after initially feeling a tad disappointed I would now wholeheartedly recommend this paint and I shall be buying more colours for sure!!

hugs,

S x

Linking up with: The Shabby Nest

I've Joined The Annie Sloan Club - But I Hardly Dare Admit Something....

....*whispers* I'm yet to be convinced :-0

I hardly dare admit that as I am yet to find anyone in blogland that doesn't just love this paint. In fact it was the rave reviews of everyone that urged me to take the plunge and order some.

I have just painted one small item so far, so I am going to reserve complete judgement but so far I am a wee bit disappointed - Mr G says I fell for all the hype and it was bigged up to such an extent it never stood a chance!!

I ordered Old White, Duck Egg and a tin of clear wax. My Stepdad made me some rustic looking shelves to hold my trinkets in the bathroom and so I set about painting them.

First of all upon opening the duck egg blue I was surprised as it was very green, hardly a hint of blue at all and not like the duck egg our kitchen & conservatory are painted.

I had read reports that the paint was thick but I found it to be a nice consistency, highly pigmented and it went on really well. You can tell it's expensive paint from how it covers so nicely.

I painted the edges of the shelves with the duck egg. It dried really, really quickly to an extremely flat, velvety finish.

I then went over the whole piece in the Old White. It covered well and dried quickly.

Then came the bit I found disappointing, I had read that it was really easy to sand and distress but I must confess I found it no easier than regular emulsion - you still needed to use plenty of elbow grease and work up a sweat!! One thing I found a definite downside was the mess - as you sand it creates clouds of chalk dust which is not ideal when (due to Mr G filling the garage with his RC paraphernalia) you only have the house to paint in.

Then came the wax. Annie Sloan recommends using a wax brush, but at £29 each I settle for one rag to wipe on and one to buff - the wax did bring the finish up from a very flat one to a slight sheen but again I was just not loving it like everyone seems to. I had read reports of how smooth and professional a piece would look with wax, but again I couldn't see a whole lot of difference from regular emulsion.

Don't get me wrong, it looks nice and I am pleased with the result, but after painting lots of furniture with regular emulsion I thought the chalk paint was going to be a revelation and it's just (so far) not.

I will report back when I have painted another piece, I have a bedside table and a mirror to do as well as a couple of pieces I'd like to redo that are already painted.

Here's the finished resulted (which I love, but I think I could have achieved similar with the cheaper paint I usually use):

The new fabric for the dressing table has arrived too:

The stripes are a bit further apart than I had thought but the colour is much better, more duck egg:

I still can't do anything with it yet as although my sciatica is much improved, it still hurts a bit to sit for any length and generally aches and I am afraid of "running before I can walk" and making it worse again, despite the fact I am B-O-R-E-D-!!

hugs,

S x

PS A couple of you have asked how I did my banner, it's a bit hard to answer as I did it in Photoshop - I don't really know how to use Photoshop, I just spent time playing with the photos I liked, resizing them and then copying and pasting onto a bigger "background" then added the text and border. It's a bit like saying I know how to drive to Gatwick but I couldn't direct you if you know what I mean?

The Transformation Begins....

Today I went to Fabricland to buy the fabric to cover my vintage dressing table. I had perused their website and there were several possibles although I really fancied stripes so the table looked like the Cath Kidston dressing table that originally inspired me.

Our Fabricland is tiny, crammed full and always busy so I have to confess I don't enjoy shopping in there as much as one would think and typically they didn't have anywhere near as big a selection as online.

After much deliberation I chose this:

I had decided on the pink when I saw it online, but in reality the pink was a bit coral/salmony (not a shade I am fond of) so in the end I went for the blue.

I also selected some other bits and bobs, proffered my debit card and the darn thing was declined. There I stood with everyone eyeing me up and down (they obviously thought I was going to have to do the walk of shame) but I *knew* I had money in there so I telephoned the bank (thank goodness for mobiles).

Yet again the bloomin' bank had put a fraud hold on my card - they seem to do it at least once a month and it drives me mad!! It usually happens because I have made a few small transactions through Paypal and that flags up as suspicious - it's soooooo annoying!!

So I was in the store an hour before I sorted it all out.

I came home and have made a start, the top is re-upholstered and it was a NIGHTMARE!! Really tricky, took ages and now my sciatica is playing up a treat!!

I will hopefully have more piccies to share with you tomorrow....

Don't forget to enter my giveaway here!!

S x

Vintage Gorgeousness!!

A few weeks ago I was perusing HenHouse, one of my favourite blogs when I saw a picture of the most gorgeous kidney shaped dressing table (here, fifth photo down).


Well, the lust began and so I scoured eBay for something similar and yesterday took delivery of this little baby (pics from the eBay listing as camera flat yet again!!):

Isn't it just gorgeous? Apparently it was purchased in Harrods in the late '50's/early '60's so is probably the poshest item of furniture in the whole house even though it cost me just £61.

And look at all this storage:

 

It's now in pride of place in our bedroom. I do intend to recover it, Cath fabric would be lovely but not at £18 per metre (I'll need 8m!!) so I have found this alternative at Fabricland:

At £3.29 per metre it's a bit more reasonable!!

I hope to remove the braid and reupholster the top and drawer fronts (which on inspection look as they have already been redone at some point) and then use the existing skirts as lining for the cotton above (to give them enough poufiness!!)

May I just say before I go, thank you so much for all your kind and supportive words regarding the post about my dream - you ladies really are fabulous and mean a whole lot to me!!

hugs,

S x

Another Busy Weekend - Painting & Papering....

Hello, my lovelies!! I hope you have all had a nice weekend?

We've had another weekend of DIY - well, I have Mr G was out all day yesterday RC car racing so he only had a few hours of it.

We went to a car boot on Saturday and I got a lovely large ceramic lamp base (which I have forgotton to photograph for you) for a £1 and Mr G got a couple of bits so he is rapidly becoming a fan of the old car boot sales.

Then in the afternoon while Mr G was out playing with his motorbike I made a start on painting the lounge white - it was a pale biscuit colour and I ummed and ahhed over various creams until I decided that plain old white was the way forward due to so many of the gorgeous shabby chic interiors having a white base and the colour added with soft furnishings and a splash of wallpaper.

Now, please remind me if I ever consider buying cheap paint again that IT'S NOT WORTH THE SAVING - I foolishly fell for the Wickes ad that says that professional decorators reckon their paint is super. It is not. It is thin and patchy and going from pale biscuit to white took several coats. Had I stuck to my gut feeling and bought Dulux or Crown it would have been a one coat job.

Before:

After:

Do you think it looks better? I'm much happier with it.

The cupboard we made over is fitting right in - I forgot to tell you that when we got the cupboard home I realised what I was that it reminded me of - The Marvellous Mechanical Mouseorgan off Bagpuss!!:

See?!! It just needs a set of pipes on the top!!

I have been having trouble sleeping lately and that is when I come up with all kinds of ideas, some of which are still good ideas in the morning, the majority of which are not but it was Saturday evening I thought of doing the old patchwork wallpaper routine in the porch which until now has been dull, dull, dull:

Now I love, love, love it!! You may remember I have done a similar effect over the bath  - this time I chose different papers. The beauty of this method of papering is it is free - I just waltz into B&Q bold as brass and take 3' "samples" of all the papers I like!! Does that make me a bit naughty?

S x

Edited to add: The wallpaper I took was from the rolls that are already open to enable you to take a sample, I wasn't just opening random rolls and helping myself!!