Join me and the gang at Trade Roots on Herald Street downtown on Saturday May 25th 5-8pm for our Subway Sign Workshop.
This is a pic of one that I hung gallery style…I love the local flare – Next week I’ll post pics of a couple signs I made for two kids rooms. Really fun!
This workshop is a little different from the last…
- 1st Select your street names – (approx 6) Choose your favourite local spots, your favourite vacation destinations, all the streets where you have lived? It is endless. Send me your choices before May 15th;
- 2nd I’ll show you the technique and you set the text and paint it…don’t worry I’ll bring everything you need;
- It’s up to you…it can be cute, pretty, rough or industrial…and I’ll be there to walk you through the steps so you go home with a one of a kind sign that you love!
- Sign Up Here
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This week on USED VICTORIA I spotted this hutch …it has LOADS of potential..and the price…shut up!! Pic is the link as usual
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This weekend my client and I sanded the chalk painted furniture for the girls rooms that we painted last weekend. It was a messy business but when you have a small budget you gotta be prepared to work your butt off...and let me tell you this lady is a work horse! The whole process has been so fun!
And, on Saturday when it started raining we packed it in and went to Home Sense/Home Goods…I found this DVF coverlet that whispered to me that it wants to be a headboard…we’ll see…
I hope you had a great weekend and a productive week ahead. And don’t forget…if you want some help making the place you live a place you love…contact me. I can help!
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So I have finished my concepts for the two rooms and my fabric order has been placed. yay! One room is a little more bright, and the other a little more pink. To save money I have used some of the same fabrics in both spaces, and we are using the same chalk paint but on different pieces. If you’ve ever had two little girls, you must know the importance of having everything equal, but different….it’s not easy. But I think I accomplished it. Painting furniture this weekend!! Keep following along with the progress and email me if you have any questions!
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It’s April…that means it’s time for the Victoria Home Show. Here’s all the details. (Pic is the link as usual)
If you want some help making the place you live a place you love, Contact me…I can help. Let’s go to the show together!
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I’m gonna get down to a little painting and gardening this weekend. Maybe even another re-upholstery task. What Can I say….The sun is shining and I’m motivated.
What are you up To?
Here’s a cool vintage poster (undated) from Benjamin Moore…You see! Peeps have doing this DIY thing forever!
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Hi again, so glad you came over to check out my progress in the One Room Challenge! What is it? It’s 20 design bloggers finishing a room start to finish in 6 weeks. You can catch up on my posts here.
Holy Cow! It’s getting close to finished. The Girl Glam Apartment is totally coming together and this week I want to show you the dresser my client and I re-painted and installed as extra storage and a pretty perch for her TV! Here’s how it looks today…
I brought her some colour samples on a board and some inspiration pics…I think they scared her a bit…what is this crazy decorator trying to do? But after a few days living with the samples she decided on Peacock Blue Benjamin Moore 2049-40. Yay!
She painted the dresser and here it is delivered and ready to stain. Nice work Chiquita! (Good Tip: when you paint a dresser make some kind of temporary knob through the hole so you can open the drawers. I used wired twine.) Bah bad iPhone pic.
I don’t know what I have against flat paint finishes…but lately I have to rub something on top of everything I paint. I just can’t leave it be. My client was OK with this, I swear.
I found a blue water based stain and thought YES! So I tried it and it really popped the peacock into overdrive. So in the spirit of more is more. I rubbed that whole sucker with the blue stain. Not just the edges. The top, the drawer fronts..the whole enchilada. Too much coffee? Maybe…
You can really see the colour difference between the unstained top and the rest in this shot…Holy…Am I really doing this???$^$%&@$%&@$
Although the colour looks like electric Neon blue in the pic. It’s really pretty awesome in person. A watery effect. My client spray painted the handles with the same antique gold paint’s I used on her coffee table and I’m proud to say she installed them herself! I love working with people who like to get involved. Such a treat!!
And that’s a wrap. A few observations…since this is a very popular makeover for DIY enthusiasts.
Painting a Dresser 101
- Pay attention to the legs. If the dresser is too heavy on the bottom it’s harder to make it look pretty.
- You have to sand down to the wood for paint and stain to work.
- It is better to use a latex that acts like oil. I prefer Advance by Benjamin Moore.
- Don’t use wall rollers. It leaves a bumpy texture. Foam rollers = smooth sailing
Phew – that’s in the can. Next. The Tables we ordered from Overstock.com arrived (Yahoo they ship to Canada!), and next week is going to be all about side tables, gallery walls and lamps. I can’t believe it’s almost over already!
Here’s a list of all the other ORC participants. Pop over to their blogs and show some Love. We could probably all use it right about now 
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Thanks for coming back to check out my progress in the one room challenge! If this is your first visit (I’m so glad you stopped by) click here to see the first three weeks of my girl glam apartment project. This past week I tackled a coffee table that my client inherited from her parents which was actually made by her grandfather. It was a big heavy piece and I knew right away we needed to lighten it up if it was going to stay. Here’s how it looks today…
And here’s how it looked when it arrived at my house for a makeover…
I sorta kinda got a Moroccan vibe from the open work on the sides and I fer sure wanted to take the top off and replace it with glass, …. my client wasn’t exactly as sure as I was so I showed her an inspiration pic to help persuade her…it worked.
First thing I had to do was take it apart which was no easy task cause her grampa was very meticulous and built this table for a hurricane. I carefully removed the top and the bracing and decided that this table was going to live out the remainder of its days upside down.
After that I sanded and used wood filler on the holes and knicks….sanding and re-filling several times… It had a thick black enamel paint on it so I sanded the sides a little, but not allot, and then primed it with gray primer.
Next I was ready for the gold, and I wanted it to have some movement…not a flat gold so I used two colours of spray paint and used some craft paints too in order to get some variation in the colours. The product I like best is Rustoleum metallics in Antique Brass & Pure Gold and craft paints in Sahara Gold, Antique Gold and you guessed it…gold.:) I applied the spray paint like the Karate Kid and used my larger art brushes to apply the craft paint. it’s subtle…and certainly more effort…but it turned out really good.
I was nervous to bring it over to her apartment because I knew it was a sentimental piece but thankfully she likes it and the glass guy arrived on time so it wasn’t naked for long. here’s how it looked…
This was a fun, inexpensive and easy transformation. The table was free, and the paints were $20. The glass was by far the most expensive part at $185 incl taxes & delivery. If I were to do it again I would scour used furniture stores for a glass table and re-use the top. Turns out round glass is kind of a pain and we had to get it cut in Vancouver and brought over to the island…hence the price tag. we learn
Next week I’ll reveal the dresser I’m painting for under the TV…My client did the base coat painting and I’m going to try to take it up a notch with a distressed / stained finish…we’ll see how it goes.
Don’t forget to jump over to these ladies blogs and check out what they’ve accomplished this week! That’s where I’ll be:)…
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This week I’m engaged in a search for headboards…If I’m the one to recover and tuft them I’ll be sure to share the process on my blog. This one is a double,…a great candidate for a tween girls room…Pic is the link as usual
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Welcome back to week 3 of the One Room Challenge! 20 Bloggers, 20 Rooms and tonnes of creativity & fun! This week I’m crossing the tufted bench off my list. My client found it for $120 on Used Victoria and we selected a teal Chenille from Chintz & Co. to re-cover the damaged black velvet. Overall it was a pretty easy project and I think it turned out great!
Did I mention the LUCITE LEGS!!! Sexy addition to this girl glam apartment wouldn’t you say? The black velvet was nice, but I am obsessed with colour for her apartment and green and blue are pretty much the only directions she wants to go…so I am full on Blue and Green baby.
Here’s what I did…
I had custom buttons made at Capital Iron , re-used the strong thread from the old black buttons and bought a really long needle from the fabric store.
I first placed all the buttons and then started pulling them tight from the back. I worked from the middle out the the edges & I wore my winter leather gloves cause it kills your bare hands. Oh, and Santa if you’re reading this…I really think it’s time I got a compressor and pneumatic staple gun…don’t you? Yes, I did this with a manual stapler…I am accepting pity in the comments section
I had to fidget with the corners, a bit but I made it work. phew – another project done! Next week I’m going to finish the coffee table! No tools…just fumes. I am all over that! I hope Linda doesn’t read that…She’s very concerned about some of us reckless DIYers…I promise to work outside. Promise! And that’s cool with me cause on the west coast we have spring and green grass and sun and all that Jazz. Great outside painting weather for sure! Oh man, I hope Linda doesn’t read that either. Love you East Coast Ladies!
Check out what the other ladies have been up to this week…
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