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Thursday, January 8, 2015

Lingerie Chest with Toile Motif

I found this little lingerie chest at the flea market.  It's not old at all. I liked the size, but the drawers were wood grained and the rest was black.  I found this new toile image I wanted to try out and this seemed like the perfect piece to try it on.  I learned a lesson on this piece.  The finish was extremely slick and although I sanded it down and give it a coat of chalk paint, the finish was still too slippery and when I went to do my reverse mod podge transfer that I usually do, the image pretty much slid off.  This was a first for me.  So I simply decopaged the image on in the normal way.  I like doing the reverse mod podge better because I get more of a hand painted feel.
I found several rolls of wallpaper border at a garage sale that had this wonderful French style relief on it.  The size was perfect for these petite dresser drawers.  I followed the directions on the package by wetting the wallpaper border and applying them to the fronts of the drawers but I found the paper lifting.  I'm convinced the original finish on the drawer fronts was too slippery as well.  Tacky glue came to my rescue and the paper is very secure now. 
I painted over the paper which is what the directions called for as well and it blends beautifully with the rest of the piece.
I did a little sanding to distress the piece when it was done.  The original color was black and in case any of my paint chips off it will just blend with the already distressed finish.  The hardware also got painted to tie in with the look.
Here is the piece as I found it.  I took the first drawer out and started painting and then remembered I needed to take a before photo.
Thanks for visiting.


I may be partying at...


Fridays            French Country Cottage       My Romantic Home        Miss Mustard Seed
   

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Guest Retreat

Last year was a crazy year which left little room in my schedule for blogging.  Our youngest daughter bought a place of her own which meant decorating and shopping to get her settled.  I'll be doing a blog post on her cute little townhouse very soon.  Her moving out meant that the room she inhabited for a very long long time needed a desperate redo.  This also took up a big part of the end of my year, but finally I am ready to share the results.
Her room was a generic white which she liked, but I was ready for some subtle color.  I chose a greige color from Dunn Edwards for the walls.  The bedding was stock bedding from Bed, Bath and Beyond.  Everything needed to be washable and pretty well indestructible as we know our grandson will be using this room when he visits.  However, I didn't want to do a child's room because he is only here around three times a year.
The closet doors are floor to ceiling and 12 feet across.  We replaced the cracked mirrored doors with paneled doors to blend with the rest of the house.
I found these two Home Goods style side tables at the flea market.  They don't match, but I like it better that way.  The pair came to $60.  I couldn't pass them up.
They were perfect for the room.  The lamps came from Home Goods.  Nothing fancy about them, but I like that they are plain and tailored.
This pillow was a find at Bed, Bath and Beyond.  It's perfect for this guest retreat.  In looking at this photo, I just noticed the pillow shams behind my dreamer pillow are different.  I find that rather odd, but I like it just the same.
A traditional magazine rack holds clean towels and wash cloths and a few of my favorite books for perusing.
I found this Hotel de Paris sign at the flea market, and these great photographs of old Paris hotels look like they are matted,but they are not.  They hang between two pieces of clear glass and the wall behind shows through.
This sweet little chair came from a yard sale.  I've had it for years and finally had it recovered with plain drop cloth fabric.  The script pillow is the finishing touch.
This is our daughter's Ikea bed that she left behind.  It was pine and I wanted to add more pizazz to the room with the black accents.  My husband wasn't crazy about having painted furniture in the house but now I think he likes how clean and fresh the room is.
I am kind of making this room a reminder of last year's fabulous trip to France that I took with my girlfriend.  She knew I was doing this room in black and white so she made me this wreath for Christmas as a reminder of our incredible vacation.  Isn't it darling?  I'm going to hang an antique French mirror above the chair and have this swagging the front of it.  

Thanks for taking the tour of our new guest retreat.


I may be partying at...


Wednesdays     Savvy Southern Style   Ivy and Elephants
                                           

Fridays            French Country Cottage       My Romantic Home