For the longest time I’ve been wanting to paint a piece of furniture bright Kelly green.  It started when I found this Reed & Barton color glazed silver bowl from the 1960’s in a thrift shop for a dollar.  A dollar for this beauty!

So I wanted to bring this fun color into our home and once I found the perfect piece, this small campaign desk, off to the paint store I went to color match it!  Here’s the  desk I found at (of course) a thrift store for $40 – the hardware alone is worth that to me, but the added benefit was this desk with faux bamboo legs that would tuck nicely into the kids study/art/craft playroom.

Before:

After:

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I love a great challenge!  Last week Katie and friends announced the second Pinterest Challenge (Fall Edition) and since I missed it the first time around, I decided to hop on board this time.  A few weeks ago I had cozy accents on my mind, specifically sweater pillows.  Pottery Barn has made versions of these in the past and there were a few DIYers who came up with their own interpretations too. I loved Megan’s version from Brassy Apple so I pinned it. (Don’t you love the ability to comment on Pinterest too?  Thanks Julie, you made me laugh!)

I also loved Megan’s button center and floral accents too!  I went down to my local Goodwill and saw at least a dozen sweaters to choose from.

I bought the center one for $3 bucks and brought it home.  Then I pinned this:

And a few days ago I made this! 

The flower is a lapel pin I’ve had for awhile that suits the pillow perfectly. 

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My little sis pesters me about furniture because she’s always looking for great finds and she knows if she gets me talking about old furniture I’ll ramble on for days. Sis has been looking for a small sideboard or buffet, so when I stumbled upon this antique at a thrift store last week for $75, I quickly snatched it up for her. I liked the size and solid structure with its dovetail joints, plus it had no major damage. But it was a little sad looking and definitely in need of new stain, or perhaps even paint.  

I was on the fence about whether to paint it, but thought I’d try to restore the wood first. I had heard about a product from several antique dealers that breathes new life into tired old antiques and doesn’t require the typical strip/stain/poly steps that are required to fully refurbish wood furniture. The product is Howard’s Restor-A-Finish and I thought this latest vintage piece was the perfect candidate to give it a try.

I followed the instructions and used a very fine grade steel wool (level 000) to wipe down the buffet in the direction of the wood grain, then applied two coats of the Restor-A-Finish. I also pulled off the acanthus applique attached to the back because it was bugging me, then replaced the center hardware and broken pulls with new ones lightly coated with Rub N’Buff in ‘Antique Gold’. 

Here’s a peek at the easy transformation that took about an hour.

Before:

After:

Not bad!

I grabbed these three products at my local True Value Hardware to see how well they’d perform on this buffet.

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Hey all, happy Friday!  Y’all know I have a weakness for French style dressers and can’t resist a good one when I spy it, especially at a thrift store!  I thought I’d share a quick little dresser makeover I finished up this week.

I spied this vintage dresser just as it was coming in the door at a local thrift shop. The wood was damaged in places, but it’s a well made piece and solid wood.  Wood putty filled the cosmetic flaws, and two coats of AS Chalk Paint in a custom mix prettied it up in a shade of barely gray almost blue.   

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I have to say thank you to all of you for your suggestions on what color to paint the faux bamboo chest I scored last weekend while out thrifting.  Quite frankly, it’s one of those pieces that would look really good in any color, but there were a few comments that coaxed me toward peacock blue. 

Ooh, rich bluey-turquoise . . .

Make the gold hardware pop, yes that’s a must!

Yes, me likey colors of the ocean, thanks for reading my mind Andrea.

Amen sister, peacock is da bomb. 

So I busted out of my ‘just paint my furniture white’ box I fit so nicely into, and pulled off a bold shade of glossy peacock blue.  You saw the faux bamboo chest a few days ago that I dragged home from a thrift store. 

Check out this hottie now:

Now that’s what I’m talking about!

I love it, don’t you? 

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