Television Console

Yes, I'm alive :) I have just been cruisin through my projects...trying to finish what I start...sometime it doesn't work that way though. So a few weeks ago, I sat staring at this china hutch,
I got from a yard sale, and It just wasn't doing anything for me, I painted the outside a creamy white, and the inside a robins egg blue color, and then stopped...It sat and sat.

Until I decides to chop it in half...mmmmhmmm. I took the top part of and finished the bottom to become my new t.v. console.

On the top, I wanted to add a bit of detail, so I used a art piece that had been lying around, and sprayed it with an espresso color, leaving the design...sanded and glazed the whole piece. Added some different hardware, and VIOLA!

I left the center cabinet door off, to house the cable box, and WII.
..and I rather love it!


Here it is, with our massive t.v atop it...may or may not stay...but for now, its a nice addition :)

Hope to have more to share soon!

Refreshing Mantel Revamp

So I'm on a trip...trying to satisfy my craving for all things white!
I have two young boys...so alot of white is totally out of the question for me.

I have been debating with myself whether or not to paint my kitchen cabinets a creamy white, and distressing, or glazing them... When I mentioned the idea to my hubby....he was like "serious?"he had a smile on his face...so this might be something he'll let me take on the future. (hopefully near future)

So in the meantime...I'm trying some other things. Like...

My new coffee table...



And I painted my mantel.


BEFORE

AFTER
I totally love it...but it didn't serve its purpose, I want to paint the kitchen more now?

Should I flip a coin? lol

Center of Attention-Coffee Table

I'm gonna try this one out for a bit....I love that it has some storage...and It seams that every toy in this house get drug out of the playroom and into the living room at one time or another...and now I can load up the drawers, and close them away :)

I have had this piece for a while now it has been in the center of my garage taking up quite a bit of space...I had no clue what i was gonna do with it...whether I would keep it or sell it?

I got her for free on "Freecycle" the couple who had it also had a couple kittens who scratched the heck out of the top...they tried to sand the scratches away without knowing not to sand too deep... because the veneer top is only so thick... they ended up with a big patch of "not real wood" right on the top...and thats when I came in :)
Heres a pic before... (my lil guy...had to get in the pic)
I have been on this kick lately trying to talk myself out of painting my kitchen cabinets white with a glaze done to them them...my kitchen and living room is pretty much one big room... I'm thinking it will make the kitchen look bigger...but I don't want to do the work :)

So on a whim I decided to repaint my mantle (coming up later) and to paint this table an crisp creamy white with a brown glaze, and sprayed the hardware ORB!...hopefully this will fulfill my obsession right now?
So here you have it... I really like her...

I think I'll keep her around for a bit ;)

Ima Party Over here!

Art Work made from Love

I have been holding off on posting this...only because I didn't want to spoil the surprise...

My cousin Jesse just married his love, Celestina on September 11th, 2010. The ceremony was beautiful the bride even more...and the groom was the happiest I've ever seen him(and didn't look so bad himself)!
When Jesse and Celeste got engaged, they had their engagement photos taken...they are all amazing, but this one stood out to me, I can feel their love just by looking at them, looking into each others eyes...
When I was trying to figure out what the heck to get them for their wedding...I started browsing through their pics, to maybe get an idea...and it worked. I decided on a custom piece of art done by yours truly.


Here is the original photo...I just love it!
And here after tweeking it a bit with PICNIC.(great site by the way)

I printed out my tweeked version, then traced it onto contact paper.Broke out the ol trusty exacto knife and cut out everything that was black in the tweeked pic.
After making a little trip to Home Depot to pick up the right piece of wood, to do this project, I first cut the board to size, in this case I have to ship it so I chose 8x11. I adhered the contact paper to the wood.

Then spray painted the whole thing with black paint.
After the paint dried I peeled off the contact paper (almost the funnest part, if you know me...you know I love to pick) And voila! a customized piece of art...inspired purely from their love for each other, and my love for their awesome little family! She just received it in the mail...and loves it...Yay! I'm so happy!

I entered my little project over at the diyclub.com Check it out!

Curvy Television Stand

I have been working on this piece off and on for a bout a week or two. I am super excited because first of all its done....and second it looks great!

I have a client/friend that purchased a dresser from my first sale, you can see here , and she said she really needed a t.v. stand, that looked like a piece of furniture and wanted it painted black...So I had been on the hunt.
...and came across this China cabinet. It was 2 pieces, and the bottom piece was PERFECT for Sarahs t.v. stand, I sent her a pic, and she thought so too...so Off I went to transform this little guy.

Painted him black first. Kept the original hinges...sprayed them black than srpayed them lightly with an ORB...and metallic brown, to add a bit of depth. Painted the inside a warm caramel color also.

Then decided to do a little something different...Sarah was all for it, so I did it. I glued wrapping paper to the top...and the glue caused little wrinkles all over, so I smoothed it out, took a rolling pin to it, sanded it a bit, and once I was happy with the whole texture (similar to leather)

I glazed the whole top, with a warm caramel color....Looks awesome if you ask me.
Close up!

I deconstructed the top drawer keeping the front only, and added a shelf to the drawer slot...

I added some hinges to make it open down instead so that it would be easier to access her cable box and or dvd player... drilled a whole in the back for the cords, and VIOLA!!!!!

Sorry for all the pics, I just love it! Hope you enjoyed seeing it be transformed into a gorgeous t.v stand!

Places I'm Partying!

Peek-A-Boo Dresser

Okay!
This dresser, is adorable. If I do say so myself :)
She started out like soooo....
Boooring....
I primed her with Zissner 123... Then gave her a few coats of "Cotton Whisper" by Behr...my new favorite white!

On her drawer fronts. I applied a pink color (can't recall the name, but it was,something Piglet by Disney@ Home Depot). Then I added a few top coats of "cotton Whisper" over the pink... I was really inspired by a table that Angie over at All MyTreasures is currently working on...Go check it out!

Then I sanded lightly on the drawers to let the pink peek-a-boo through...LOVE IT!

I used the existing hardware, and spray painted them Heirloom White....very close to the dresser color...so they don't stand out too much...just kind of fade away!
Here she is all finished...and ready to find a new home!

I'll be partying over here...

Curvy Desk Revamp

I picked up this piece a while ago...but have been a little slow getting her done...that and there were a few bumps along the way...just for the record, I hate bumps...

Here is the before...




She started out a cherry wood...with a super shiny finish, and gold hardware...

I used a lacquer stripper (not sure of brand) to strip the top, and get it ready to be stained... it worked great!
Here she is with a fresh coat of dark walnut stain...gorgeous grain by the way...I wish I knew what kind of veneer it was?
Next I taped and papered off the top, to get her ready to prime...
K...that was fun...only heres the bump I was telling you about...Drips...yep ugh! I'm a new user of a paint sprayer, and I found that is works better, when I water down the paint a bit...well this time, I must have watered it down too much :(
Pretty huh... so she sat...and sat...and sat...until, my lovely hubby stripped her down, so I could start virtually all over, I love that man :)

Here she is all stripped down...again ready for some primer.

and here she iss all primer and ready to go, I did about 2 coats of primer...just to be safe...and I waited like a 1/2 hour between coats...so there would definately be no more running!
I found this really pretty creamy white color called "cotton whisper" to paint the base, and then came up with my own little concoction for the glaze technique....I love it!


Last but not least, gave the hardware a couple coats of ORB! And topped it off with a coat of poly... and shes done!

So sorry I was gone for so long. Thanks everyone for your great support! I hope all is well with everyone, and I can't wait to hear what you think of this revamp :)

Places I'm Partying!