Broad Strokes

My friend Theresa asked if I'd paint some furniture to sell in her charming store in downtown Falls Church, VA. As you may know, I haven't painted furniture since the week of Jack's accident. It has just seemed so empty and meaningless to me.

I wrote toward the end of my book about noticing Margaret get excited last summer just seeing me carry old paint cans up the stairs at the old house. She was hoping I was up to my old tricks, most likely because that would somehow take us back to at least SOMETHING being the way it was before.

I wasn't sure if Theresa's appeal for "help" was along the lines of the Dowager Countess of Grantham and Mrs. Hughes constantly digging up causes and people for Isobel Crawley to assist as a means of getting her interested in something other than the blackness of her grief, or whether she genuinely was backlogged with painting projects.

Either way, with her encouragement, I stepped away from the computer for a few weeks and picked up the paintbrushes. It felt awkward. My brushes had grown stiff, so I had to buy new ones. It was a different kind of paint, not what I'd used before, and I didn't know if I'd find a rhythm with it.

Margaret sat on the leather couch as I spread flattened moving boxes out on the family room floor to protect it from spatters. We watched American Idol and Downton Abbey as I opened a few cans and started testing the paint. I talked about how it was different, how I didn't know if this was going to work out at all. After a while, she asked if she could try her hand at painting a little too, so I gave her some pointers and let her pick the color for the next piece. We sat on either side of a tiny doll cradle, painting it together, talking about our TV shows.

My pushing through fear to write a memoir did not impress her one bit. Blog conferences and the new business cards I bought (but am too wimpy to hand out) that proclaim, "Anna Whiston-Donaldson, Writer" don't merit a second glance.

But the back and forth of our brushes, and seeing me do something that links us both to an earlier time-- a time when we were yet unscathed by a level of pain and longing so profound that despite my best efforts still rarely forms words between us-- felt good to her.

And to me.

 

 

Before and After: Pier Chest

My computer seems to be happy tonight, so I'm putting up another post while I can!

Found this Pier Chest on the side of the road. Peach paint, except for 2 drawers that had goopy brown paint. I was afraid that some of the hardware was missing, but was thrilled to find it in one of the drawers. Yay! A big THANK YOU to whoever was throwing it out.

This was the perfect time to try Annie Sloan's Chalk paint for the first time! I used Duck Egg.
No priming or sanding; I just painted 2 coats on with a brush. Then, I brushed wax on 2 of the drawers, but I didn't like how it looked kind of streaky and weathered, so I just painted another coat of paint right on top.

It left a lovely, matte finish.

I sprayed the hardware with Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint.

I like how it looks like it is smiling at me. What do you think?

Linking up to Piece of Work Wednesday at Primitive & Proper.

The New Object of My Affection

So last week I showed you a great console table at my local thrift shop. It was about 4 feet too long for my home, but I hoped you might like it. On my next foray, I found a very similar one, which although still not sized perfectly for my 1969 estate, would be a better fit. And at $18.75, how could I resist?

She's very sturdy (Drexel) and reminds me of the parsons-style dining table we had growing up. I loved the pattern of her veneer, but knew I was going for a sleek, white look.

I was hoping to replace this little dresser-turned-console that I got out of my friend's trash, because it was starting to fall apart (again):

Here is the new console before I painted her. Love!




I was NOT impressed with the quality of the off-white paint I used, but it could have been the humid painting conditions of July 4th weekend.

After:

Because of my stellar photog skills, you can choose between no flash and blurry:
Or with flash and stark:

Reality is somewhere in between.

Do you recognize those little silver stools underneath?

Yep, there's the crazy leather one I found a few months ago:

And his new buddy, Naugahyde Nate:

Silver spray paint did the trick. They look tiny in these photos, but are a perfect size for pull-up seating.

The two blue lamps (Crate and Barrel) came down from my little-used living room.

So there you have it, some family room freshening!

I know I probably show you far too many pictures of this room, but considering where it started, I can't help myself:

2003:

2005:

2008:

2011:

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

(Linking Up to Good Life Wednesday) and Piece of Work Wednesday!

Girl Just Wants To Blog; And, What I Will NOT Paint White

So many forces have conspired against my blogging this week: a crashed computer, the start of summer break, health concerns for one of my kids, and that little thing called my day job.

But the computer miraculously works today, one of my kids is deposited in Cleveland, Ohio to hang out with her cousins the rest of the week, the other is parked in front of video games with a friend, and here I am!

No projects to share today, but I thought I'd piggyback on something I saw on another blog and share with you:

"What I Will NOT Paint White-- or Aqua, or Black, or Yellow!"

So you know my spay paint trigger finger is itching to do some furniture transformations, but lest you get the idea that nothing in the house is safe from me, I thought I'd share some pieces that are staying au natural:

Please don't think I'd go all Judgy-McJudgepants on you if you have painted similar pieces. I do not consider furniture sacred and, well, I'm not a man. Men tend to think that if you paint "Real Wood" you are committing a cardinal sin. I say, keep your Oak bric a brac to yourselves boys, and get out of the way of my paint brush.

First up is my mom's desk where she used to sit and write letters on her personalized stationary. Our big yellow desk phone sat here as well, so I spent QUITE a bit of time there during my teen years chatting with boys, before chatting meant something different.

The top folds down to make sort of a buffet surface.

Now the desk sits in my little-used living room. The proliferation of stuff on and around it belongs to Molly, otherwise known as "Mrs. See," as she conducts her imaginary school room here. She uses white boards and markers, hall passes, the works, to whip her imaginary students into shape.
Work Hard but...Have pleasure doing it!

This year her class learned all the state capitals and the presidents! Some day this desk will be clutter and dust-free again, but for now, I'm glad that Molly can sit at the same desk as her grandma, and name-sake, she never met.

Next up is this cabinet:
It's not super-sturdy. One of the legs is just for show. I like how it has been that way since my grandparents gave it to my parents more than 40 years ago. I guess no one is in a rush to fix it.

This used to be in my dining room growing up. The back was lined with wild 70's wrapping paper that looks very similar to some of the fun and funky wallpaper patterns that is coming back into style today. I like how my mom wasn't afraid to jazz something up a bit to fit the style of the day. I store candles and linens in it.

And then there is the "Swan Table."

I think I may have shared it with you before. I used to love to sit underneath this table when I was a kid. Family lore has it that my grandparents bought this at an auction or junk shop somewhere.

Supposedly it had been in "Some fancy embassy in Washington." My grandparents drove hours with it strapped upside down to the top of a sedan to get it to my parent's house. Before my grandfather re-finished it, the beautiful carvings were completely hidden by stain.

So there you have it! 3 things I will NOT paint white.

P.S.

This post has me hankering to rearrange my blah living room to make it more user-friendly. Suggestions welcome! And yes, I see that the coffee table is WAY off center in this picture. Aargh.

P.P.S.

I can't find my followers anymore! They don't show up on my sidebar and I miss them. Thoughts?

5 Minute Friday Furniture Fun

Saw this little leather bad boy at the thrift shop for $4.00 and thought it might be a good place to rest my feet when the rest of the family is hogging the ottoman/coffee table. The problem? Do I need to say it? U-G-L-Y, you ain't got no alibi-- you ugly! With its funky paint job I hesitated for a moment, wondering whether it could be some valuable Middle Eastern prize that could fetch a pretty penny on Craigslist. But an itchy spray paint finger cannot be stopped. 5 minutes later I had a silver sensation. Tom really hates it and made some reference to our house turning into David Bowie. Does that mean the house looks like David Bowie the person? Or does it look the way David Bowie would decorate a house? Whatever. Now this perfectly imperfect little pouf resides under my coffee table/bench/boyfriend in the family room. You can read about how we got together right here. Sorry about the blurry iphone pic! I've lost my camera somewhere in the house, possibly in the David Bowie Sparkle Room.

Furniture Transformations

I have two projects to share today.

Found this little table on a trash heap on a very rainy day. The top is still a little ripply because of all that rain. Primed it, spray painted it Winter Gray, and tried a little distressing with sand paper. I think it's super cute. It needs a little more gluing of the bottom shelf before it hits Craigslist. What do you think? Bedside table? I hope I can find someone to love it.

I bought this desk for $11.00 at the thrift store. What a deal! It's almost 6 feet long and oh sooo heavy. The top was pretty scratched up, but the handy little sander I bought for with birthday money (Thanks, Aunt Betty!) worked like a charm.



Tom primed and painted it for me with a semi-gloss latex we bought to match Heirloom White. The hardware got a coat of Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint.

I promised Tom I'd try to sell it, but I lied. I don't think he minded. Now it sits happily in my office where all the "blog-magic" takes place. Hee. Hee. I need to get metal frames to hang files inside the drawers. My desk chair is the suede one I found in the trash last year and spray painted. Yep, the suede and all. It sure is easier to take risks with things when they were headed to the dump anyway.



My old desk, which I've had since I was twelve, will have to be the one to find a new home, maybe after a fresh coat of black paint.

Martha, I Hardly Knew Ya

Just got my new Home Decorators Collection catalog. I love to look through all of the furniture in there that ranges from Mission style simplicity, to Rococo (!), to wacky pieces like the unforgettable "chair shaped like a hand." HDC fits the bill for inexpensive furniture in pretty much any style. All items need assembly, which helps keep prices down. I am more of a peruser than a buyer because I live in a house full of chairs and am trying to get rid of things, not add things, but I really like some of their items.

Imagine my surprise when I saw a lovely new collection on the cover by Martha Stewart Living! Now I know Martha has her upscale furniture line, and that she tried a line at Kmart, but this is yet another collection. There were some really cute items like this bedroom set:




And this side table comes in lovely colors plus an unfinished version you can paint yourself:

Her rugs are gorgeous, too.

This dresser is lovely, but at $799 plus shipping, doesn't that seem quite steep for something that comes Ikea-style flat in a box? Just imagine the arguments my husband and I could have trying to put THIS together:



Oh, and one more thing. This desk has some little vases on it that Martha has dubbed ...

"Menage a Trois Glass Bud Vases."

Really, Martha? In all of your infinite wisdom and experience, you couldn't come up with another way to describe them?

Famous Last Words

In an effort to not turn into Fred Sanford, I put some of my grandpa’s old furniture online to sell. Imagine my delight when my first customer pulled up today, reeking of smoke. I guess my point about the furniture having always been in a smoke-free home wasn’t what reeled him in.

He was a creepy, thin, middle aged white man, with glasses and a quiet demeanor. Why didn’t I just suggest a serial killer on my posting? I kept mentioning how the furnace guy was on his way and how Shadow had a very aggressive streak (as she tried to lick his face).

On a positive note, he had a pick-up truck, not a panel truck, and he didn't tell me I looked like I had soft skin. Anyway, he left and will decide later today whether he wants the furniture (which I’m pretty much giving away). In the event that I am not heard from again, please tell Tom that this guy’s cell phone # is in our phone, I have an email trail, and it’s been a really wonderful life.

Thank you.