my practical journal
I never pass up an interesting piece of wood. The message on a wooden sign can always be changed. The Margaritaville sign is fun and colorful and perfect for the tiki bar. I removed everything and sanded the anchor. I painted, distressed and added rope. You can find pieces like this at yard sales, Goodwill and just about any re-sale … [Read more...]
It's hard to believe that we rented a building in mid-March and opened the store Nostalgia on April 5th. Especially when I look back at the before pictures. Many, many years ago this was a beautiful grocery store, and then it was remodeled several times. We don't have anything against tile, but it just didn't represent the homey … [Read more...]
You see these style sofa tables pretty often in the used furniture world. Drab and dated, so you probably just walk on by. I decided to use Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint in Grain Sack, to liven it up a bit. I am a dare devil and did not use the bonding agent. I do live on the edge. It … [Read more...]
Making a natural switch in my kitchen. I was recently given the opportunity to make the switch in my kitchen, to trade out my usual kitchen products for the ECO friendly cleaning products from The Honest Co. My efforts for being green have been to use non-toxic paints and recycle furniture. So using natural cleaning products was a great … [Read more...]
I know everyone loves a brown stained piece of wood furniture. I believe that you should use your fine china, sit in the fancy living room and paint brown furniture, if you want to. And I believe that if you love a color, and its green like this custom mixed La Craie or blue or yellow, then make a statement! Don't be afraid to use … [Read more...]
I paint a piece of furniture. Step back, and look at it and decide it needs a little something extra. Like a stripe :) This piece would have been fine just painted white, but I wanted it to make a more casual statement. I think the distressed stripes did just that. A solid blue desk would have been just fine and maybe a little … [Read more...]
I know you've heard this over and over from me :) From boring brown to light and bright! Here I go again... What can I say, I just like light, bright and refreshing. As you can see she started out kind of ho-hum, but functional. After I painted and distressed, I decided to add a more interest. I created a glaze that I called … [Read more...]
This makeover was so much fun. The piece was in terrible condition. It smelled bad and looked bad, but it is very sturdy. The lines are perfect. It's one of those pieces that you are always looking for. No matter what's wrong with it, you think you can bring it back to life. This sad piece had been in my storage shed for a … [Read more...]
Thank you Cutting Edge Stencils for the wonderful giveaway! Thank you to everyone that entered and left all the inspiring comments! and Congratulations to: Alisha H. is the winner!! Last week I shared our latest adventure (click), and while the store has a "Winning" exterior, look at those awesome lights! The interior … [Read more...]
One of the easiest ways to transform any surface is with paint. Add a stencil and you take it up a notch. I had this cute funky table but brown just wasn't showing off her personality! I painted the table with an aqua oops paint from my stash, used a linen colored craft paint and a stencil from Cutting Edge! Thank you Cutting Edge for … [Read more...]
