Big Catch Up !!

Can’t believe it’s 4 months since I updated my blog!! I am so sorry for not posting for so long L

I was ill with a few different viruses before Christmas, and was thankfully fully recovered before our trip to Venice. 

What a brilliant time of year to go when there are 50% fewer tourists than the warmer months. We flew out on Boxing Day and were there for 4 night, and it was really freezing and misty, but the mist added a mystical atmosphere and all the Christmas fairy lights made it look magical.

St Marks Square

I would definitely go back again at this time of year. Here are just a few of the 800 or more photos I took !!

Murano Glass

Arty shot ;)

It has been so cold over the winter months that I have not been venturing into the workshop at the weekends to paint, and I have only got back into it in the last few weeks. Just before Christmas I decided I wanted a change and sold my much loved welsh dresser. 

This was the first piece of furniture I painted, and after seeing the transformation it made me want to do more J

I needed something to put where it had been in the lounge so thought I would paint up this little cupboard I bought from a charity shop.

I wanted to try using Annie Sloan Emperors Silk again. I do love this colour but it can look a bit pink and bright, so I toned it down by ageing at the waxing stage by adding some dark wax over the clear wax. It is a much better shade now.

I also sanded down the top, but this piece is not solid wood so had to be careful not to sand right through the veneer.

Using clear wax on the wood has given it a lovely rich colour, and I treated myself to a new mirror to put on the wall above this (still haven’t hung it yet though!). These pretty tulips my friend bought me look lovely on it.

This next little side table has hardly any straight edges! beautiful curved legs and top. Can't remember where I bought this one. Seemed a bit of a shame to paint over this lovely wood grain.

First I gave it a coat of Old White, then a couple of coats of Paloma, then when I was sanding to distress I rubbed it back so you could also see some of the white underneath. 

I sealed with clear wax, and it looks really pretty now :) This table has now been sold to a lady who is going to use it as a bedside table.

Don't know if you remember the Greek Blue Porthole bathroom cabinet I painted last year? I listed it a few times on ebay and Gumtree and it just wouldn't sell, so I repainted it in Old White.

It is listed again with a low starting price. Sometimes you have to take the loss to move things on :( The shell knob alone cost me £3. Swings and roundabouts as they say !!

Now, here are a few more projects I am working on at the moment -

Claw foot coffee table & little drum table

Close up of claw foot

Repair to veneer using wood filler

Bedside cabinet I finished recently, which is now listed for sale -

Small pine dining table, and I am also painting a couple of pine chairs to match ;)

Painted in Provence

This next chair I am painting for a friend at work for her newly decorated bedroom.

It has been in the family for generations, and nice t think I am giving it a new lease of life. I have painted in Old White, and bought some nice grey polka dot fabric that will look fab in her new room :)

A couple of nice pieces I have waiting in the wings now, and I will post updates on their makeovers in  future blogs -

I had some fantastic news at the end of last year !!

My son and his wife in NYC are expecting a baby girl in May. I am so excited as this is my first grandchild :)

As if I haven't got enough going on with working Mon-Thurs and painting at the weekend I have now become addicted to knitting, and I will have a big bundle of tiny little knitted clothes to take across in my suitcase when I go across mid May. 

One of many !!

Let's hope the baby comes early and I get a cuddle before I come home !

Have a great week !!

Busy Recovering !

Well, the students all came back a couple of weeks ago and everyone has been catching the dreaded fresher's flu. I had it last weekend so didn't get any work done on my furniture. Poor Russell has it this weekend :( He is really sick today but insists he has to go in to work tomorrow as he has teaching sessions till lunchtime. 

I am feeling a lot better but still recovering so didn't get as much done as I would have liked this weekend. It didn't help that the clocks went back an hour last night and it now gets dark at 5pm!!
I did manage to get all six chairs reupholstered....Yay!!

The retro fabric I ordered was a bit uninteresting so I deceided to stick with my original choice of this nice 100% cotton fabric from the Imperial Fabric Collection called Sayuri. I removed all the old fabric and recovered carefully with the help of my trusty electric staple gun :) So, here are the tools I use to remove the staples from the old upholstery.

A sturdy pair of pliers, a staple remover, and in the centre is a sharp chisel as I find it easier to start working the staples out with this before going in with the staple remover. Any staples it can't handle I can pull out with the pliers. The staple remover slides under the staple....

The you push down to clamp it, then lever it out. They come out easily once you get a good grip on them, but it did take me ages to get them all out of 6 chair pads !!

Once they were all removed I took off the old fabric, but kept the black lining to put back on again.

If you are doing this make sure you allow around 4" of extra fabric all round the seat pad. Pull the fabric tight as you staple, and when you come to the corners make them as neat as you can.

You will end up with a lovely finish. I replaced the black liner and screwed the pads back into the chair frames.

So here we have the before and after pics, quite a transformation :) All the hard work paid off in the end and I am very happy with the end result. Now listed for sale on ebay.

BEFORE

AFTER

Now that I have sold my own shabby chic dining set and gone for a more retro look I decided to sell my lovely shabby chic corner unit. This one is painted in Annie Sloan French Linen, and to add a bit of quirkiness I painted the inside with a custon mixed contracsting pink. I will be sorry to see it go, but I do like how my decor constantly changes and is never boring !

I am looking forward to starting a new project next week, not sure what yet, but I have plenty of choice, if not a bit too much choice, as I have lapsed back into my hoarding/buying everything I like mode. I am actually finding it hard to find space in my workshop to work!
Next weekend is also Halloween ! A night out with work colleagues on Friday night, followed by a weekend of scary movies sounds perfect to me!

 Have a great week and a fab Halloween weekend!!

I am in love...with a TABLE !!

I am in love....with a table!!!

On Friday I sanded down the top of my new G Plan retro table. I discovered a little burn I hadn't noticed before and thought I could sand it away, but all I succeeded in doing was sanding right through the veneer :( 

Thankfully it's not too noticeable now that it has been sealed, and it is now in my dining room with my new chairs, and I think it looks amazing. Even Russell keeps saying "Wow, I love that table" :)

While I had the sander out I also made a start to the table I picked up last weekend. I thought it was solid wood, but it is actually veneer so I had to be careful sanding in case I sanded through the veneer.

A light sand removed all the marks and varnish. I decided to try something new with this one. I watered down some white chalk paint and applied with a brush all over the surface.

Then using a clean damp cloth I wiped the paint off leaving the white in the grain to give a lime washed look. It worked really well, and once dry I rubbed in some clear wax to seal. I will give it another couple of coats for protection.

I removed the seat pads from the six chairs. These will be reupholstered in a coordinating fabric. I decided to paint in Annie Sloan Versailles, and thought this John Lewis floral fabric would match.

Maybe a bit dark though, so I have ordered some nice retro fabric today from ebay, and I will decide once it arrives.

The chairs needed two coats, and after painting six chairs twice my arm was nearly falling off !!

The base and legs of the table will also be painted in Versailles. I may lightly distress.

Can't wait to see this one all finished, I think it's going to look fantastic! I should get it finished and up for sale next weekend.

The lady who bought the round dining set from me recently asked me if I could find her a plant stand, and paint in the same colour to match the table and chairs. I found this nice one last week. It needed a bit of repair, so I fixed it last weekend and clamped it up for the glue to fully set. I painted it yesterday, starting off upside down so as not to miss anywhere.

Once dry I will very lightly distress, then seal with Annie Sloan clear wax. I really like the wavy edge on top. It's a lovely shape.

We picked up the welsh dresser yesterday. It was tight fit getting it into the back of the X5, but we made it! Just have to decide on a colour!!
Today we got up early and went to the car boot sale at Weston. Even if we don't see much to buy I always enjoy the fresh air on a Sunday morning. I saw this fantastic retro japanese camping heater.

I haven't the foggiest idea what I am going to do with it, but when the seller said I could have it for £1 how could I NOT buy it!?! I also bought this retro look clock. If it doesn't work I will use it to dress my retro furniture for sale.

The only other thing I bought was a couple of atlases, one was 50p and the other 10p! I will think of a project to use the printed maps. I feel some decoupage coming on !

Sundays are never long enough for me, and it was starting to get dark around 6pm tonight. Thank goodness I have Fridays off work now.

Have a great week!