Oak Table Before & After

I've been working on this beast for weeks!!!

This oak table was probably the most challenging, and rewarding piece I have ever done.  It took me many, many attempts to get it right, but when I finally did, it was worth all the elbow grease.  This beast is a beauty and I am so proud of it!!

For the top of the table, I sanded the wood down with my orbital sander using 80 and 120 grit sandpaper.  It worked, and got all the honey colour out, but unfortuantely, the orbital sander left little swirl marks in the wood.  So, I resanded the table (for 3 hours) using just 220 grit paper.  This worked again, but when I put my stain on, I got mega streaks.  I think the wood was actually too smooth, and was just not happy about being stained.  So, back to square one.  But this time, I treated myself to a brand new sander.  A Dewalt 1/4 sheet sander that was just right.  I sanded the beast down one more time with 150 grit, and then 220 grit, and gave her a thin coat of Minwax Pre-Stain Wood Conditioner ... this prevented all the nasty streaks I had previous.  Then, 2 coats of stain in Minwax Jacobean  and finished her off with 3 coats of Minwax Polyurethane in a Satin finish.  The end result was gorgeous.

To tackle the bottom, I did 3 coats of Annie Sloan Old White, gave it a light distress, and a thick coat of wax.  The kids and I also made a trip to The Painted Bench in Oakville to pick out a special knob for the little secret drawer.  I was thinking of getting a pretty mercury glass, or painted ceramic knob, but Grace spotted the birdie, and I couldn't resist!!!

This was the last piece I had to finish to complete a entire dining room.  I'm looking forward to seeing all the pieces together.  Will post pics of everything soon!

Telephone Table Before & After

I had a wonderful new client bring this awesome telephone table to me this month.  I believe it belonged to her Grand Mother and it has got to be one of the coolest pieces I have done!  I just love how the chair swings in and out from under the table.  So cool.  Anyway, she says "I want it black, but I'm not picky".... 'not picky' is music to my ears!!!

As I am painting a piece, I often find that the piece sort of tells me how it wants to be finished. Many times, I plan on just flat out painting the pieces, but once I get a few coats on, it just screams 'distress me'.  Or the other way around.  I've distressed a piece and gone back and painted in the distressing for a clean feel.  Same thing happens with colour all of the time!!  In fact, I just did a lamp in a gorgeous Nautical Blue... It looks horrible, and I'm planning on redoing it in black.  Although I'll probably stare at it for a few months before I actually get to it.

Before Pic...

After...

Kid's Bathroom Reveal

It has been a crazy couple of months around here.  We have had people in and out non stop.  It got to the point where I actually knocked on my own bathroom door before I went it.  Thankfully, we are starting to see lots of progress on this place.  The yard is almost complete, the deck is built, shutters are up and we finally finished one bathroom.

Remember what it looked like???

And here is the design board I put together.

And here is how it finally turned out!  So hard to take pics of a tiny bathroom.

Seriously, I did this bathroom for dirt cheap by purchasing everything at big box stores.  I'm saving up all my Pecos for my custom, pimp kitchen.

Colour: Benjamin Moore Grey Owl

Vanity & Mirrors: Costco

Light Fixtures, Plumbing Fixtures, Towel holder: Home Depot

Tiles: Factory Tile Depot, Burlinton

Accessories: Target

Emperor's Silk Buffet

I bought this stunning buffet from The Painted Bench eons ago and had planned to paint it Arles Yellow.  I had it in my dining room for months, and just couldn't get the guts to actually paint it yellow.  So, I went with red instead.  Ha.  Funny how I have no issues painting anything red, but yellow scares me.  

I'm happy with how it turned out.  In my house, you can never go wrong with red furniture.  I think I'll actually keep this one!!! Gasp.  I know, I'm actually keeping something (until of course, someone walks in my house and asks to buy it, which happens with most of my pieces)..

Anyway, here is the beauty's make over.... 

Yes, I paint in my dining room!

Kid's Bathroom Reno & Design Board

Renovation on the kids bath is completely under way!  It's so exciting to finally get these bathrooms done!  I can't believe we've been in this house for almost 2 years.  Time has flown by.  Usually my entire house is done and decorated within a year, but this time around, we are taking our time.  After all, this is our 'forever' house... haha how many times have I said that?!?!

Anyway, here are some "before" pics of the kids bathroom...

And here is the design board I did up for the bathroom...

I really want this bathroom to be fun, fresh, and kid-friendly.  I bought this awesome vanity I found at Costco and sort of used it as my jumping off point.  Then, I found that adorable shower curtain from Anthropologie and  went from there.  

I purchased all of my tile from The Tile Depot in Burlington, and the light fixtures and faucets are from good ol' Home Depot.  

The room is gutted right now, but tiles are going in tomorrow... stay tuned!!

Corner Hutch with Chalk Board Paint

Here is a peek at a corner unit hutch that I just finished.  I painted it in Annie Sloan Old White, with a bit of distressing and 2 coats of clear wax.

The owner loved that it had lots of storage, but didn't like the clear glass, so we decided to do the doors in real chalk board paint.  I love how it turned out, and now when she hosts her skin care home parties, she can write what ever she pleases on the doors. Such a great idea!!

I didn't want the orange stain to come through when I distressed, so I did a coat of Graphite around the edges before the white.

And here is the finished product!!

To finish the doors in chalk board paint, I used 2 coats of Kilz primer directly on the glass and then about 5 coats of chalk board paint.  I applied it with a brush.  You get a few brush strokes, but it works better than a roller.  The roller leaves horrible air bubbles.

I am OBSESSED with finding pretty shelf liner!  haha

Telephone Table Before & After

I just finished working on this fabulous telephone table for a client of mine.  The colour is Annie Sloan's Paris Grey.  How gorgeous is this piece!!!  I just love it and wish I could keep it!!

Here are a few Before and Afters!!

More Before pics.... (mind my horrible, dungeon basement workshop!!)

And some more After pics...

I have 4 other pieces that I am finishing up in Paris Grey.  Will post pics when I'm all done!!