Somebody stop me................

Picked this antique beauty up this evening.............it is really very lovely in it's wood tone - but
alas I will be painting this baby as well.
Can you see the keyhole in the top drawer?
And it has tiny wooden casters on the bottom

Stay tuned

I am awaiting a special paint " Annie Sloan " it's a specialty paint for antiquing furniture.............

Will post pics of finished product

xxx

and another find - but not sure if they will accept my offer yet

Loving it................

Wow - I am actually salvitating at this pc............
I want to take it home and marry it - I want to wake up everyday and say
good morning to it - I want to caress it - and speak gently to it - and........
ok I guess you get the picture?
But it will probably be on my " for sale " list ;(

xxx

Once again, wood lovers will have to turn away

OMG - isn't it gorgeous?
Just purchased it - and it is going to be painted ( and distressed ) in a white and parisian gray -

xxx

New Project?

Another Kijiji find - will call this morning to see if still available - I think it has so much potential.............

beautiful details that would really stand out with some antiquing................
looks like the top of the woman's bureau even has a fitted glass covering.
fingers are crossed for this one.

xxx

Before and after: Washroom

Almost there!!!!

Just some crown molding and baseboards and the mirror to be put up and I will be walking away from that room.................BEFORE

 and after.............

I will take one more once the moldings and mirror are up -

It is looking quite lovely............

This washroom cost more than just staging unfortunately for my mother........she needed to have the
tiles knocked down and and tub surround put in - and that cost roughly 5,000 big ones..........

For staging alone costs were as follows:

DRAPES - ( regular window curtains taffeta - lined - by Martha Stewart 50.00
SHELVES - kIJIJI find  35.00
Lighting - Habitat restore 35.00
Mat - 20.00
White spa bench - on loan
Accessories - 80.00
Paint - I mixed 2 left over gallons to create the color
Total - 220.00

On to the Kitchen next............stay tuned!

xxx

Flowers for a pretty lady...............

I hope she is happy now, for some reason she has clammed up - no comments either way,
but as I was leaving to pick up her flowers I could hear soft crying in the kitchen - one
of my cabinets thought I was going to leave her out............
She got this.

those pale green berries turn to yellow, orange and finally red..........

if the girls are happy
then I am happy


xxx

New Find

On Kijiji -   ( the dealer has a site called " sweet deals " and there are some amazing items.

Will have to hold on to this for a while - while I was bringing it down the hall it took on a life
of it's own and plunked itself right down in front of the bookshelves.........I tried to move it
but it's legs are firmly in place.........

And as I was walking away I swear it whispered " please get me a vase of flowers - I feel
naked " so I am off today to the florists - I showed ita couple of vases and it has already
selected one. ( not the one on the bottom shelf - it argued a bit about that but I firmly told
it it was staying )

Furniture speaks to me...........................
Literally lol

Royalty for dinner tomorrow night ( my kids )

I haven't seen my kids as much as I need to with all of this work going on this summer - a couple of stolen afternoons and evenings, not nearly enough ( I would say want to - but you know how it is when you're a parent - it is a real need deep inside )   I need to see their faces around the table - I need to know everyone is ok - and I absolutely need to see their smiles..................as much as I can dress up a table - nothing can adorn my table like them.  This is how I feel before I see them
and this is what they do for my heart

And next weekend we will need another fix of the " little ones " John's ( mine in my heart too )
granddaughters -

Because they have 2 grandmothers already - I decided we would be Lolli and Pop - and when they
say " Lolli " my heart just about melts into a colorful vibrant happy bowl of mush.

Happy wknd

xxx

Me and my brilliant ideas..................( yeah right )

So - I had this wonderful idea - I was going to take this wall

and do something magical with it - it's a small wall in my kitchen and the only wall that
isn't either exposed brick or covered with furniture and appliances............................
I decided I was going to paint a diamond pattern with contrasting colors - leaving what
was there ( a yellowish color ) and cream.

so here I started off ( no measurements - just by eye - because everything I do, I do well, right?
HAH HAH HAH

note how uneven everything is...........time to take all of this down and start over
have I learned my lesson and am now using a tape measure?  of course not

look at the 4th row down...............( keep in mind I think it was roughly 2 in the morning after
working all day at my Mothers - is that a valid excuse for stupidity? )

painstakingly...............

so does it feel to witness a genius at work?

this is really one of the most embarassing design projects I have ever done - somebody stop
me before I go any further - PLEASE.

ok so nobody stopped me and now you are going to have to witness this atrocity.

too bad - I asked - nobody listened.................
I cannot look at it, I literally walk into my kitchen and avert my eyes from it everytime
It looks like a bad 70's trip - every diamond is lopsided............
Somebody walked in last week and said " Wow - love your wall " all I can say is they
looked like a " stoner "

Stay tuned - have another vision - as soon as I have the energy to execute it!

xxx

Time for a vacation................

I NEED A VACATION....................

Think we will go somewhere next week - have no idea where - but need need need some time away, anywhere.

I am almost finished the bedroom set for the master bedroom - here are pics so far..........

Before

and almost after ( doors need to be finished ) but I am almost there!
again the cell camera does not do the color justice - this is a really beautiful antique
pale blue - although it looks almost white in the picture.  This wknd I am off
to purchase a decent camera.

I really love it - wood lovers please turn your head away.   ;)
will post pics from a decent camera as soon as I have one.

xxx

No sew - no frills curtain valance

I needed something something to dress up the master bedroom ( the one I am staging not my own ) so came up with this idea tonight................

I had some very thick cotton batting - stiff enough to stand on it's own which I had used for a headboard project..............so cut it to size.

Than I cut up some Toile fabric that I had also bought some time ago for another project ( one that I gave up on completely )

I used straight pins to attach it to the cotton batting - no sewing - love love love it................

and this is my simple fix for a temporary valance..............

I am going to attach it with a simple rod ( again using straight pins and some small pcs of fabric )

A pair of cream linen drapes will hang underneath it.............I think I may be able to take pics of the
finished bedroom tomorrow - just a little " tweaking " left to do.

xxx

salvation army - kijiji finds

Once again I forgot to take a before pic - so before the drawers were finished ( the rest already was )

I took a picture so you could see the color of the before shot at the very least..................
Check out the " serpentine " drawers - ( the curves )
Okay so this item I found at the salvation army - it is actually the bottom half of a buffet and hutch -
which I decided I would turn into a dresser...............

But where would I possibly be able to find a tallboy bureau to match since it wasn't really a bureau
in the first place,
Enter Kijiji - this is an amazing match really

note the " serpentine " detail on the drawers of this pc.............even the doors on this unit
match the doors on the bottom of the buffet...............

Primed................

and this is the buffet ( let's just call it a bureau!!!!!!!!!! ) almost complete,

I really need to get a decent camera because the color this was painted is really beautiful -

Will post pics tomorrow of the set completed and ready to go................

I have worked harder on my Mom's place than I have ever worked in my life, truly -
but it is looking quite beautiful.

A demain...............
xxx

FREE!!!!!!

Someone posted this on Kijiji Montreal by mistake - because location is Mississauga Ontario - but look at this beauty for free ( check out the beautiful legs - a diy dream come true )
For FREE!

Almost worth it to drive to Ontario for this ;(




xxx
 

Before and After - bedroom number 2

I am soooo tired.............

I do not have a before of the actual room - but here is the door - and the room looked completely like this -
luckily the room was painted before I got in there, but I painted out the dreaded wood trim everywhere -
and redid the floors with polyurethane - and then " staged " it................

So one bedroom - kitchen - bathroom left to do before I head downstairs into the basement.

in all it's glory.............

and now...............

I know photo looks the same - but trying to show the 3.00 ceiling light fixture.........lol

Here is a closeup of the wallpaper - the drapes are the same color as the bronze part.

So............


drapes, carpet, lamp are mine which I brought to my Mom's for staging
ceiling lamp was 3.00 at the " restore habitat "
desk was a kijiji find for 70.00
daisy artwork was 50.00
wallpaper was 80.00 for 2 rolls
small black artwork on window wall was 4.00 at the dollar store
paint 15.00 ( oops paint from Home Depot - sometimes it works!!! )
total cost was 225.00 dollars to do this room

cost to have a daughter like me........................priceless, ha

next room - master bedroom

have a good wknd
xxx

Staging bedroom #1 finished

I have completed one of the smaller bedrooms now ( except for some art work on the walls )

Here is the before

and believe me this room needed work..................

and here are the afters

I painted the walls and the baseboards ( which were all wood - not nice wood either - old
damaged faded horrible wood - the white baseboards bring the room into the new
millenium ) and I put a fresh coat of polyurethane on the floors - aren't the floors gorgeous?

A couple of details - traded out an old ceiling fan - for this pretty chandelier

and then found these fun curtains at Home Depot for 20.00 a panel - a steal - I think they
make the room

and that's all folks -

Furniture from yours truly ( all Kijiji finds and all for sale )
Light Fixture 45.00
Curtains 40.00
Paint ( lots of it ) 30.00
Primer 30.00
Dollar store this and that 10.00
Total cost to " stage room "
155.00




Room number 2 to be shown in a couple of days....................   I don't think I have a before
of that one - but I will try to remember to take a picture of the bedroom doors which will
tell you all you need to know

xxx