Before and After hutch - from 'lodge" to "beach"

Time for a change. This skinny bookshelf/hutch thingy has moved into the hallway for added storage. The finish is fine, here in the living room.....


But too dark for this bright room.....So it got a makeover with fresh coats of "toasted almond" paint and now holds my beachy momentos with plenty of room on the bottom for extra towels.


I'm keeping it close to monotone as I can and I love seeing my loved ones smiling back at me.....

Happy Independence Day

My $50 leather club chair from craigslist

Wheee! I love a good bargain! I spotted this on craigslist and jumped at it. Yes, it comes to me already distressed. I think there are leather kits for for putting the color back on where it's been rubbed off.


I have been looking for a leather club chair for quite a while and I had to drive an hour to get this one. Check out that great wood trim and nail heads. I haven't got to clean this yet. I can see some old, white wood polish in the grooves.


It's huge! I can even sit sideways with my legs dangling off the arm. This is going to be so comfortable to curl up with a book during the winter nights.....


And the color is just right. (well, if you overlook those rubbed spots!) But I don't mind this distressed look at all. This chair is sooooo heavy! 2 people can barely lift it. (If one of those 2 people happen to be me.)


Tell me what you think..... should I get a kit and color the rubbed off spots? Should I leave it alone? Does it look too shabby?

Before and After dresser.....

I have a very nice chest of drawers that came down from Mr Artistic Shoestring's family and while it is a very heavy and sturdy piece, it had seen decades of wear and tear. (I remembered to take a pic only after I had removed the drawers and had started priming them.)


My choice was to either strip and stain ....or prime and paint. I went the easiest route and Ta-Da!!!


I love the way it turned out and can see and appreciate its trimwork and curves, along with the vintage hardware. The paint is "toasted almond" by Olympic Premium, sold at Lowe's.


I'm linking up to Between Naps on the Porch's Met Monday. Click on the butterfly to see more "Before and After" posts from creative bloggers:

My hanging gerranium

Just planted this guy and it will fill out nicely.

I think there is something special about flowers hanging right outside your window - they are up at sight level and easy to enjoy.

Tea bags for roses

I read where tea is good for roses. So I threw my used tea bags in a container in the freezer and waited for spring to plant my rosebush. I'm using them, still in the bag, as a top mulching. We'll see how it works and I'll report back later in the summer about this technique.

Curb-shopped area rug

Can you believe that someone just threw this out? It's perfectly good and I'm setting it out on the driveway to wash it with a hose and some shampoo. It's under a tree and the sun is setting, so I don't worry about the hot sun on it.


I'd say it's about a 5x8' rug. Love the deep red color!

I saved it from a landfill and I'll use it for a long time. That's living life on a shoestring! Love it!

Potting up some plants...

This is the best side of the house for planting because of the southern exposure. (The brick patio and the stone-walled garden were made from recycled material gotten from another Freecycle member.)


This is my first attempt at food growing. I have tomatoes and peppers here and a zucchini in the back yard. Planted some marigolds because I heard that they keep some insect pests away because of their aroma.


I've potted some sweet basil, boxwood basil, thyme, rosemary and cilantro. Oh, and a pot of a sweet potato vine. In the back is a coleus that I will either plant in the ground or in a bigger pot.


Cleaned and refilled the hummingbird feeder. And I'm getting my first rose on the Knockout Rose bush that I planted last week. The metal headboard that the greenery is climbing on and the birdbath were both from Freecyle.



Another Knockout Rose bush planted in the front yard. This is going to look so sweet in front of the picket fence section.


Got this nice potting table on the curb a couple weeks ago. The wagon wheel was a gift from sister KK and the folding door in the background was a curbside find.


Now I need some plants for my shady porch. I'll check in with Freecycle to see if any generous friends with give some to me....

Before and After linen cabinet

For those of you who can't stand wood furniture being painted - look away now! You've been warned....... ;-)

Got a 14" deep cabinet from Craigslist that had a dark brown stain. This isn't a valuable piece, no dovetailing or important wood. As this is to sit in the hallway, the dark color just didn't work. It's ok as is....but I wanted something more rustic.

So I painted it gray and antiqued it with dark stain. The glass had to go because the door needs to shimmy into place and the glass would keep the door too straight to close. Bummer. I took off the top decorative thingy and have saved it for another project down the road.


I stapled on a thick fabric scrap that I already had. I actually like fabric rather than glass because of the warmth and tone of fabric - and more decorating possibilities.


Then I stood back and lived with this for about a day and decided that it was still too dark for the hallway and besides, the wonderful carved details were lost in that darkness.


So I started adding some blue and cream paint and more stain on top of that......


Ahh, now the details are showing up. See the little balls of cream on blue shells? All nicely carved. The staining helps show the depth.


I added the wooden flower because it seemed to need a little something there. I smoothed out the stain with a little more paint to even out the panels.


What a change in personality! This will give me more linen storage, right outside the hall bathroom, which has a gray and white toile decor. Sorry for the low lighting - I had to stand in the bathroom to get the full picture.




A great spot above to display my small collection of vintage Blue Willow Plates.


And what a nice coincidence that I had a plant container with blue vines, just like the fabric!

This is one of my favorite statuettes - a small boy and his dog is so sweet. Set on vintage books.


Nice gams....


I'm linking up to Between Naps on the Porch's Met Monday. Click on the butterfly to see more "Before and After" posts from creative bloggers:

Blueberry peach cobbler recipe

This is very tasty, with lots of syrup on the bottom to spoon over the scoop of ice cream!

Ingredients:

* 2 cups self rising flour
* 2 cups milk
* 2 cups sugar
* 1 stick of melted butter
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 large can of sliced peaches in syrup, undrained, about 28 to 32 ounces
* Some blueberries - 1-2 cups, either fresh or frozen

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350°. Put melted butter in 13 x 9 pan. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, milk, vanilla extract; stir until blended. Pour batter into pan and top with the peaches. Cover with foil (so the juice doesn't make a mess) then uncover after 15 minutes to brown. Bake at 350° for a total of 30-60 minutes, depending on the size of the pan.

Before and After pillow

Got this pillow off Craigslist for $5 because I wanted to personalize it for my daughter's new, pinky bedroom. I was attracted to the black ribbon and sequins adornment. This is the Before:

And this is the after. I tea-stained it, sewed on pink heart-shaped buttons and added embroidered, iron-on lettering and a jeweled crown.

Looks fab on her pinky chair and she loves to see her nickname on it.
I'm linking up to Between Naps on the Porch's Met Monday. Click on the butterfly to see more "Before and After" posts from creative bloggers: