Tag Archive | furniture

I Can’t Adult Today

At 51 years old, I guess it is about time that I start figuring out what its like to be an adult! I can remember so vividly being a child and wishing that I were a grown-up. It seemed as if I would have to wait an eternity to gain the ‘freedom’ of adulthood. It didn’t register to me that with freedom comes responsibilities. Now, at my age, I am still waiting to feel like a grown-up, even though I look like one in the mirror, and I would really like to share the burden of responsibilities with someone else.

This week, I worked with a friend’s daughter painting a dining room table. I remember her as a six-year old and now she has just purchased her first home. I just don’t understand how that happened – in the blink of an eye. And yet, I am still waiting to feel like a grown-up!

I think that she was pleased with how the table turned out even though we ran into a few glitches. It got so hot in the garage that I had to move to Plan B and put everything inside. Thank goodness my husband is a patient man and can deal with a bit of disorder (a.k.a. absolute chaos).

I don’t know, would an adult think it was acceptable to function like this in the living room for over a week?

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I would have to say that it was all worth it – maybe tomorrow I can be an adult!

With Love,

sunflower

—-Praying for JWR—-

The Days that Time Worked in my Favor

Jun18

At the beginning of any extended vacation time from work, there is a spring in my step, an unrealistic to-do list of Pinterest projects to try, and a feeling that the world is at my feet because time is on my side. I can easily organize the responsibilities of laundry, cooking, and cleaning with a lighthearted attitude. I am so sorry for those that have not been able to feel that luxury of ‘time’ every once in a while because the opportunity to refresh is so important for one’s health. FullSizeRender (3)

This weekend, my husband surprised me with a road-trip for my birthday and our anniversary. Our definition of road-trip is: get in the car and drive to some undetermined destination.

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We spent two days driving to small towns, roaming around, talking, and laughing. Letting go is good and we both know that we have got to take these mini-vacations more often. We have decided however, that Siri will always travel with us in case we need assistance with gas station locations, hotel choices, and restaurant recommendations (that is a whole other story and one that we will laugh about together for years to come).

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With Love,

Penny

On the First Day of Vacation, My True Love Said to Me….

Jun14

“I really need you to come down and help me with a food drive that we are having at work from 10:00-2:00” Grrr! Those were the words that my husband said to me on the morning of my first official vacation day. He is such a romantic….literally, my heart just fluttered at his request. So…. in 97 degree heat, we trudged downtown, bagged canned goods, loaded them into vehicles, and delivered them to the local food pantry.

Honestly, it was a great experience, and I enjoyed working alongside with the people that he works with day in and day out. They all gave up their Saturday to participate in this gift of service, which says a lot about their sense of community and loyalty to their employer. I was especially impressed by two high school students that were working at the food pantry . They brought shopping carts out to us and helped us load and unload all of our bagged items. Both of them were so willing to help and truly shared their sense of service with us. In a world where the media portrays the negatives of our society as ‘the norm’, it was so refreshing to see ‘norm’al teenagers working for a cause.

With Love,

sunflower

It’s Time For This Old Desk

May3

desk

Happy Tuesday and welcome to the month of May! I am hoping that all of our April Showers bring May Flowers, because here in Texas, it has been a spring of showers. Meanwhile, I have really been enjoying working on some indoor projects. I purchased this desk at a local resale shop a little over a year ago. At the time, it was painted black and white so I just basically sanded it down back to the natural wood and left it to cure for a year (I usually let things cure when I am distracted by another project).

….month after month passes and the desk is still curing…….these things take time….

As luck would have it, my daughter-in-law began applying for teaching jobs at elementary schools in the area once she completed her certification process and miraculously, the wood on the desk finally was ready to be refinished. Ha! The timelessness of certain works of art are just fascinating to me! Seriously, I am really happy with the way that it turned out. I love the dark walnut stain and the polycrylic finish in satin. Now, when Kori gets ready to begin her first year of teaching, she will have a special desk in her classroom for students to sit at while they are reading independently.

Timing is everything!

sunflower

A Lesson in German

Apr13

Happy, happy Palm Sunday! Here in Texas, spring is in full bloom and Mother Nature is really working overtime as we are expecting some severe weather – yet again.

We have this beautiful piece of dark walnut furniture from Germany that my mother-in-law gave to us. It is actually called a Kuchenschrank, or Schrank (pronounced Shrunk). It simply means cabinet, but there is nothing simple about it. It is fairly ornate and it takes up my entire dining room wall. I won’t even repeat the words that my husband used when we were moving that thing into the house twelve years ago. We both agreed that we would never move again, just because of the inconvenience of dealing with that one piece of furniture.

It is so dark and overpowering that it really has been in need of some updating. I knew that I didn’t want to paint it, but I have been putting a lot of thought into sprucing it up with some pops of color. Everything else around me is so springy-looking and splashed with shades of blues and greens.

My idea – find a light, spring colored fabric to work with and use it as a canvas for my dishes and keepsakes!

I found this fabric at Walmart and purchased four yards of it.

This thing can also be quite a dust collector! I did feel a huge sense of accomplishment after I dusted it all and washed all of the glassware….

I used quilt basting spray to adhere the fabric to the wood. That is some great stuff! It is not permanent at all so if I get tired of the fabric or want to go back to the original wood, it is noooo problemo!

I really like the way that it turned out. My husband usually just rolls his eyes at me when I start a new project, but that man of many words actually said, “Wow”!

I even had enough fabric left over to make a couple of pillows! Whooo-hoooo!

With Love,

B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L Day!

Mar29

Yesterday’s storm has passed, but it certainly managed to leave its mark! Amazingly, today the weather was absolutely beautiful. Fortunately, it was Saturday because it would have unbearable to work inside all day. When I went outside to assess any damage, this is what I found!

My Iris are Blooming!

Spring is finally here! I did spend the day mowing, raking, and trimming some hedges. Despite feeling sore from using muscles that have been hibernating since last summer, it feels so good to be able to look across a freshly manicured front yard. I love watching the new growth on the trees that have been dormant for what seems like forever!

I would like to share another new project with you. My husband brought home two, old dressers. They are unusually small and narrow; so initially, I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do with them.

See what I mean – they are short, narrow……oh, and I forgot to mention, FILTHY!

After a bit of planning, I scrubbed them down and painted them with the leftover black onyx paint that I had…..I just love that color! It is like the little, black dress that you can accessorize with ANY COLOR YOU WANT!

Ooh, Lah, Lah!

I love the way that they turned out! I got the new drawer pulls from Hobby Lobby at 50% off. So the total cost of this project was $20.00! How cool is that? Plus, the drawers are not spacious, but they do provide a bit of extra storage space and one can never have enough storage space!

There you go – a beautiful Saturday and a money saving project all in one!

With Love,

“In Like a Lion…..Out Like a Lamb”

Mar28

March is almost over!! WH-A-T, surely not! I am very concerned that at 48 years of age, I have become like an adolescent child on summer vacation – the days between the beginning and the end have all become a blur! Actually, I realized today, that while everyone else is transitioning into the month of April I am still transitioning into the year 2014! Okay, okay, so lately I guess that I have not been too quick on my feet. Jeepers! Where does the time go? I would really love to say that I have been super productive this month and therefore I have lost track of time (mmmmmhmmm. that’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it), but really, it all boils down to that famous quote:

The road that is covered with huge boulders or obstacles was truly paved with good intentions!

(I may have done a bit of altering to the wording above to fit my own experiences and age)

The month did come in like a lion…. but, if you live in central Texas, it is not going out like a lamb. We are expecting severe weather throughout the remainder of the week. In years past, at this point, I had already planted my garden, pulled weeds, and replaced mulch by now! I had even sanded pieces of furniture that were in desperate need of a seasonal makeover. I had refinished the deck so that we could do most of our evening meals outside. ALAS……this year- dad.gum.it, No Such Luck!!! In other words, this weather is not in alliance with my Obsessive Compulsive Personality.

♥Gracie has been waiting patiently to dig in the garden!♥

(by the way, she loves relaxing on my drop cloth pillows –

and, I love the fact that she thinks that they were made just for her)

I want to share a project that I did! Actually, other than the cost of paint, this project was FREE! I just love it when all of the stars are aligned in my favor and I find a real treasure sitting out by someone’s trash dumpster. This table had really been through the ringer, but it had soooooo much potential!

After sanding it down, I painted the base with Valspar’s Black Onyx (paint and primer in one) I couldn’t bring myself to paint the top because the wood grain looked so pretty after the years of wear and tear had been sanded away. So I stained it with Minwax’ Dark Walnut. Before sealing it with Polycrylic, I mixed up just a bit of the black paint with some antiquing gel and rubbed it across the top! I am very happy with the way that it turned out. Also, did I mention that it was FREE??

I made a burlap runner to go across the top – throw on a white pitcher with some flowers and it is enough to make a person stand back, admire it, and feel pretty proud! I wish that my pictures had turned out a bit better. I was so pleased with how this one turned out that I made another one for my son and his wife (one of my favorite couples I might add.)

Aren’t they precious?

With Love,

MASTERS’ REVEAL – Not Golf… Bedroom

Mar16

My husband is a golf junkie…actually, he is a sports’ junkie. I am a craft/decorating junkie!!!!! So, when he and I carry on a conversation about the master – we could be talking about two totally different topics. I am envisioning a master bedroom redo and he is thinking about working on his golf swing (After all, he might just be invited to play in a tournament with Phil Mickelson any day now). Sometimes meeting in the middle is a bit of a challenge. Luckily, we have more than one television and compromise is the magic key! When a big game/tournament is on, I can go into another room and get my fix of DIY television (Martha Stewart is also waiting for my creative advice)!

Let me get to the point! The furniture in our master bedroom is from the 1980’s. It has been in serious need of an update. Now don’t get me wrong,to me the 80’s were not that long ago and I don’t feel a day older than I did in the 80’s. But……….all good things must come to an end! My 80’s hairstyles and fashionable clothing had to be updated and though the ‘structure’ of my 80’s furniture is good, the surface has been calling out for help!

I wish this picture of my headboard was better. I had actually started sanding it before I thought about taking a picture.This headboard was so top heavy it made the room seem off balance. Golf Analogy – The Perfect Swing Requires Balance!

We removed the entire top portion and painted the bottom in black onyx eggshell/satin. I really like Glidden High Endurance Paint and Primer+One from Walmart. Now, I haven’t had a lot of experience with different paint brands, but I have had a great deal of experience with living on a budget. I like ‘high endurance’ and I like ‘paint and primer in one’. I did the top in Minwax Weathered Oak. After two coats, I wanted it a bit darker to blend better with the bottom so I mixed some of my black paint with antiquing gel and did a single coat across the surface. Happiness!

Golf Analogy – It’s a funny thing, the more I practice the luckier I get.
– Arnold Palmer

The headboard is now more streamlined – gone is the big 80’s hair!!!!! Ooops! I mean woodwork (isn’t it interesting how hairstyles and clothing styles follow furniture styles – or visa versa). Oh, by the way, I put things in place for a photo shoot last night at 10:00, so my decorating was quick and simple. Major accessorizing will come later.

I used the same black onyx on my cedar chest…

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and on the dresser

Okay – I couldn’t resist – even on the dog’s bowls!

The only piece left is the chest of drawers that the television sits on! Yikes – I am still contemplating the meaning of compromise as I develop a strategy so my husband can watch his sports when the T.V. is on the floor! Sleeping bags were really popular back in the ’80s right????

Golf Analogy: Golf is not, and never has been, a fair game.
– Jack Nicklaus

With love,

Creatively Blue

Happily Creating My Way Through The Stresses of Life

Tag Archive | furniture