Friday, March 7, 2014

Old stuff, huh? What about old ladders?

 Who doesn't subscribe to HOUZZ? If you don't you should consider doing so. Especially if you own your home. They curate the best ideas on a number of subjects and I always learn something or am inspired or amazed. I jab Mr. Bad and say 'Are you awake?' and show him something he can't possibly see because he doesn't have glasses on. I always look at HOUZZ before I get up; it's a ritual. (Jabbing Mr. Bad Rabbit is a satisfying part of that ritual.)

But I never ever expected "Old Stuff Day." Did I just miss something? Too bad it's not a paid holiday. How else can you root through boxes of junk stuff if you don't have the day off?

March 2nd, people, write it down.  Had I known I would have rushed out and bought something old. I would have been glad to celebrate, celebrate, dance to the ......... Oh. That was the day of the big flea market in Medford. I DID buy some old stuff.


For reasons unknown I was barraged with Old Ladder links during the week of Old Stuff Day. While these distressed ladders are indeed 'old stuff', I think they deserve some singular attention.

So, while I'd rather celebrate 'Crusty Old Ladder Week', I propose we have a "Repurposed Ladder Day."
Yep. 
That's what I think we need. Old doors and windows have had all the glory for far too long.

• • • • • • • •

Here are some of the links I perused the last few days. I'm very inspired! Don't tell Mr. Bad Rabbit but I'm now eye-balling an old ladder down in the barn. It's attached, going up to a loft that I don't think anyone has set foot on in 20 years. If anyone is suddenly compelled to go up there, they can use an aluminum ladder. Right?

It resembles the one below. It was getting dark when I took the pictures so they are grainy but check them out at the end of the post. That ladder is MINE, baby.






The ladder I'm going to remove from the barn:



http://www.oliveandbranch.com#sthash.BktD1RAi.dpuf
http://www.oliveandbranch.com#sthash.BktD1RAi.dpuf
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Thursday, February 20, 2014

Doing, undoing, redoing .... somebody stop me!

When we last saw my little cubby ...


it was drab green.


And it held up a clock along with The Other Green Box which I never got around to finishing. Yep. I've ignored that weird monster-hand shape for years. (It's getting repainted soon, too.)

I have some Beckley Coal from Ce Ce Caldwell that I've been wanting to use and I found myself looking at the little green cubby, thinking "Hmmmm." It needed changing and I could test the paint on something small. Besides, I've been doing small projects lately. I think my body wants to slow down for a little while.


Hel-lo white cubby.

After painting the Coal I rubbed willy-nilly with my favorite little tool, the Wax Puck. Seriously, it works better than a candle. Then Behr (oh, HUSH) Swiss Coffee went over the black and now it's distressed and ready to sell.



Small thing that needed changing #2. 

The table that became my life's work.


It's a nice little table that had something very unfortunate happen to it.


Run away screaming.

Which is worse: Martha Stewart pink or a glued-on peacock feather? Oh, and if you thought I would improve it on the next go-round, you are sadly wrong. No, I decided to paint it a Martha Stewart dusty teal color that looked baaaaad. I tried a couple colors and glazes to hide that but nothing worked. So I gave up and stuffed the table into my storage room. Bye table.

Then one crazy day I decided to re-attack with renewed vigor. I started stripping that latex paint.


I live for moments like this. 

Imagine the entire table covered with layers of goo. Back into storage it went.

Months later I was In my storage room looking at it and I just couldn't help myself. I brought it back to the house and started sanding off the rubbery paint.


What I found under the mess was really pretty.


It took weeks of now-and-then sanding to get the latex removed.



The result was a pretty little aged table with about 300 man-hours of work into it and how do I expect to make a profit on that?

Huh? Exactly how? sheesh

What I learned from this (and a few other recent veneer labor intensive projects.)

My name is Daena and I don't have woodworking skills nor the tools that go with those skills. 

I had to make a simple rule for myself.

Don't buy it if it needs hours of work. 

If it jiggles and is peeling, just walk away. If chunks are missing, walk away. Even if it's free, walk away. If the seller grabs it and chases you to your car, just run faster. Or whack at him with your cane.

I'm proud to say I walked away from a cute little table with severe issues. Poor thing. But it wasn't up to me to save it.





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Tuesday, February 11, 2014

A look at everything. Life is good.

Yesterday I was sitting in my chair under the ceiling fan watching some hairs float down. I'm loosing my hair in slow-motion. Last time I went bald it was there, then it wasn't, then we dyed the peach-fuzz green. Now I wake up and check how much pink skull is showing. And it's always more.

Somehow that lead me to thinking about one of my high school buddies. He lost his wife last year and is devastated. His grief breaks my heart.

On the other hand, my other best buddy from high school has made it to the Westminster Dog Show with her fox terrier. I'm so happy for her I could burst. I'll be glued to the TV.

Such a wide range of emotions in the length of a minute. Our hearts can stretch in so many ways at once.

I was going to post about something else entirely but thinking about life made me look back on the past year. I was looking at old posts and decided to do a before and after because, really, it's a chronicle of my 2013. And it's much more colorful than 2013 spent in the Infusion Room, right? And all those pesky blood transfusions? Dull. Always red, no variety.

Besides, my passion for painting furniture is a major part of my own fight.

So here's my recap of 2013. I'm going to do it backwards -
after and before.

My card catalog table (which I regret selling) started out ......

like this.

My tuxedo high-boy started out ....
 

metallic blue.

"Who you gonna call?" Walter looked like a cartoon ghost.....

Who could ever forget Walter? I still overhear people referring to my booth as "where that clock was." He's another piece I wish I could have kept but there was just nowhere to put him.

I called this old, old, old jelly cabinet 'My Nemesis' and for good reason. Everything on it fell apart as I worked on it and it took 9 days to get it finished.

I learned a lot from this project. Never, ever buy a piece of furniture that has strapping tape around it.

I fell in love with this really odd file cupboard ....

It started out dirty and awkward looking and became cute.

This was a nice little change ...
 

Sometimes a piece just needs some POP.

Ha ha ha ha ha. Heart thing. You make my heart sing.

Mr. Bad Rabbit thought this was by far the ugliest thing I'd ever dragged home. Maybe, but the joke was on him after the transformation!

Love that red!

It's upside-down because the top was soooo warped. It stayed this way for about a year.

 I kept this one. Mine.

Mine.

When I brought this home Mr. Bad looked at me like I'd lost my mind. The picture doesn't show what bad shape this cabinet was in. The whole thing jiggled and wobbled and veneer was peeling off.

I love empire furniture and this secretary was meant to be mine. Except it's not. I sold it.

Ick. Can you imagine? Who would even attempt this? I thought I'd be taking off veneer for the rest of my life.

I'm off to a slow start this year. I haven't been painting much furniture, instead I'm doing windows and doors. And frames. It's nice to slow down just a little.

Oh, and I started needle-felting! A post is coming soon.

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Friday, February 7, 2014

Oh no. Here we go again.




I've always said I like industrial decor but felt my wall to wall carpeting didn't lend itself to that look. So I did painted wood furniture, which I love. Or I wouldn't be here right? That's what I do, I paint wood.



I was never quite satisfied with one wall, no matter how I changed it. I always thought it was too shabby and too whatever. Real life never seemed to match my white vignette photo (above). Ever.


Exhibit A.
The sum of these parts is Too Much.


Exhibit B
Less is more. Now I'm happy. Happyish. I love my white doors and my clock and my red horse and my old cupboard door but putting them all together didn't really excite me.

Then I went to a sale and - be still, my heart - there was an industrial window that I had to have. Or I would die. Seriously. It came home with me and two friends helped me lift and move stuff to make room. Actually, it was more like 'Get. Out. Of. The. Way. We'll do this.'

And then my industrial dreams came true.


It's a work in progress. I'll move things around and try other items. Those little mirrors aren't right. I have some old post office box doors that have never been displayed .....


I'm trying out my crusty old Delco sign. The jury is out.


The handles and patina make my little heart soar.


The buffet mirror was going to be a test but a big molly bolt had to be used, so the mirror stays. At least until I feel like repairing an above-my-reach hole in the dry wall.


The view from the kitchen. I think its the brick that makes the window work and it pulls in the Delco sign. I love that window. Too bad they only had one. And lucky me for seeing it first!


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