Lots of " after " pictures

Ta Da !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

xxx

Before and After with Annie Sloan Paint

I still have to wax the pc - and put handles on it - but this transformation took me a total combination of
15 minutes so far - 10 minutes last night - and 5 minutes just now.............

before

after



 Looking for the perfect handles - and will post the complete finished look

xxx

I think I love you

I'm sleeping - and right in the middle of a good dream
like all at once I wake up, from something that keeps pounding at my brain
before I go insane, I hold my pillow to my head, screaming out the words I dread,
I THINK I LOVE YOU..................

this is going to make my life so much easier - I want to paint everything with it - my furniture - my walls -
my floors, my dog, 

Annie Sloan - where have you been all my life?

xxx

A sneak peak -

Here is the before of an antique bureau I picked up -

I received my Annie Sloan paint tonight - and I was too exhausted to do anything so went to bed.......
that lasted about 20 minutes - before I crept up and opened a tin - just to see how it was to work with

5 minutes later the body of the dresser was painted..................incredible.

NOW- I can go back to sleep!

xxx

In a perfect world.......................

I would buy every one of these pieces...................and just stare at them all day long, they all come from one house - must be an estate sale - and are available on Craigs List...........I won't even talk about what each piece costs ( if a picture speaks a thousand words - you could imagine )

and lastly this stunning - beautiful - gorgeous - make me drool - desk - and the only piece that is even
remotely affordable - I soooooooooooo want this

I wonder who lived amongst such beauty, did they appreciate all of this or did they take it for
granted -
Everything looks like it is in such incredible condition that they must have been loved very much.
The lines - the graceful curves - the antiqued colors - I would even try my very very best not
to paint anything .
Some girls dream of diamonds but this, for me, is what dreams are made of.............
 xxx

Another pc sold ( I think )

Still need to finalize price - but I think she has a new home.....................

Craigs List appears to be a much better selling forum for me than Kijiji for some reason.

I really have a lot to sell at this point but this week has been encouraging - wish me luck
xxx

Criminal at Large

John is in Europe this week - and I was just too lazy to walk down to the market to get my flowers ( even
though I did walk to my hairdressers and back - which was about 7 miles in total - very very proud of myself!!!! )
So I decided to steal from my garden - this is my first attempt at drying hydrangeas - I am in love - the different shades look soooo pretty - I think these will stay for a long time,
And I say steal because it is in fact what I have done - my neighbour split in with us to purchase these plants so technically they are only half mine - I literally went out in the middle of the night in my housecoat with snippers.................and because it was the middle of the night there were slugs on them, ughhhhh.
I had already bought 4 dried hydrangeas - so only added to what I already have.
Am I completely nuts?
Yep, that would be me

and if that were not enough I ran back out again and cut these from a bush that we just planted ( and of which the costs were also shared )

Is it ok to commit an act of petty theft if it makes your heart happy, lol
I even had the thought of taking snippers when I take Soda out for her walk late at night
and snipping here and there, can you imagine?  Would that make her an accomplice?

My new best friend ( power to the people my friends )

If you see me walking around your neighbourhood - be careful, be very very careful.

Do you think I could actually blame Soda?  Hmmm, she looks a little guilty to me

........................Tell it to the judge, lady.

xxx

SOLD!!!! So long, farewell, au revoir.............

They are picking it up on the weekend - I do not have a before pic - but this pc turned out so lovely - I hate to part with it ( I get an abnormal attachment to things I work on - a lot of love goes into these - and it is
sad to say goodbye ) Hard to believe this was a 70's bright orange - with ugly brass handles, isn't it?

Let me see - I think I only have another 10 pcs to go, lol

xxx

My hallway Doppelganger

I was going through some paint blogs for a prospective client's home - and came across a blog called
HOUSE PAINTING TUTORIALS - 

Breaking Up a Narrow Hallway with Paint Colors

by Em
(Brooklyn, NY, USA)

look at all the details - everything is almost identical to mine - right down to the bead board - and the door at the end of the hall way ( look down - look way down )

my bedroom is on the opposite side - otherwise this is the same - amazing!

HERE IS MINE
I chose to wallpaper one side to break it up even further -
these are really very long halls

unbelievable - since I am in Montreal, Canada!

The next Union Jack?

I found these 2 pcs online and think I am going to attempt my Union Jack on the taller of the 2 -
( I actually love all the detail on the smaller one - and do not want to mess that one up on my
first try at something )

Not sure if I will go with the traditional colors of the flag yet - may go light grays instead -
will see where my brush takes me I suppose.............

xxx

BRITISH INVASION PART 2

I am hooked on yet another thing I suppose - cannot get enough of these................

Design Sponge

And Elizabeth from The Melon Patch sent me this one.............

Created by Tres Cher - it's an old pallet!  Ingenius.

And finally this was listed on Craigs List ( in the States - for 100.00 can you believe it? )

My God - the fantasies these arise in me are frightening............went to sleep last night
with my brain frantically trying to figure out which pc of furniture to tackle this on.

xxx

BRITISH INVASION................

One of the blogs I follow, Lindauer Design, hand painted a Union Jack on an old coffee table - and I have fallen in love................( I fall in love with every piece they do ) I love that the colors are not traditional -
I love that it has been distressed and looks like an antique pc, and I especially love the fact that something
like this would be very fitting in my home because John is from across the pond. Very inspiring - my creative
juices are bubbling - this is definitely a future project - perhaps more gray than blue but still.............

Miss Mustard Seed - ( another favorite ) created this one

and now looking at this I really love the traditional colors as well - and the antiquing is perfection.

Blogger Flea Market Trixie created this small foot stool - again non traditional color - lovely

and lastly the blog French Provincial Furniture created this masterpiece -

as much as I love the distressed look - I adore the clean paint line of this one...............

There are some seriously talented people out there, that I plan to steal ideas from -

I have so much furniture to paint - I just have to figure out which one will become my
ode to England.

xxx

FLOWER POWER

I usually buy flowers every week for the house - last weekend I selected several different types and made the following arrangements - everything in total came to 30.00 - amazing

                                                                   

entryway

living room

                                                                    

dining room

                                                                       

bathroom

 
                                               

                                               AND GERBERAS FOR THE KITCHEN

(in a leftover wine bottle lol )

  



 I love having them to look at wherever I am in the house, it's like everchanging artwork -
at an incredible price.  Took the pics a few minutes ago - so they have been in vases for 6 days now and still look like I just bought them!

Take time to smell the roses..........................
xxx                                      

                          

Offer accepted for the " secretary " desk - it's MINE

She is all mine!!!!!!!!!!!

This has a perfect spot in my home and will not be sold - it is so pretty - John and I keep walking by it and
stopping for a moment to look at it, again and again.

Here are some gorgeous secretaries that inspire me to do something really special...........

and finally my favorite of all...........

and although this is much more substantial than my little one - this is the finish I am going for - an
antique white/gray...............

xxx