My Grandmother's Side Table Gets a Re-Do

I adored my grandmother.  We were really close.  She's gone now, but to tell the truth, it feels like shes still with me.  I generally know what she'd say about things, but I have no idea what she'd say about seeing her side table painted.  She took a paintbrush to many of her things over the years, so hopefully she'd like it.

The table was one that she had in her den as long as I can remember.  I used to love to dust at her house and this table was a fun spot for that.  Thinking back, I don't actually remember anything being dusty.  I just loved moved her treasures around and hearing her talk about them.  Unfortunately, that love of dusting didn't last into my adult years.

Anyway, back to the table.  It had seen better days.  I am in a phase where I'm looking at everything I own and thinking, "Use it or lose it".  This table was not being used.  I was NOT letting it go.  In order to keep it, I needed to make it pretty and put it in a spot where it would make sense.  I'm proud to say, I did just that.

I love color and thought about all sorts of colors I could use.  In the end, I went with white.  It just seemed right for this table.  When my grandmother had this table, the bottom shelves were always filled with books and magazines.  At our house, they are holding the sofa pillows.  Hubby always tosses them off to give our dogs more room on the couch.  That's the sad situation at our house.  Dogs trump wife.  I put the pillows back on.  Now, they are stored on this table and I can access them when I want.

I put a piece of glass on top of the table.  This was a piece that I had in the attic.  It almost fit.  Hubby got a new piece for me that fits perfectly.  I don't have a photo of that and I'm just too lazy to take another.

This project was completed a couple of months ago.  I have been really bad about posting lately.  I'm playing catchup.  Looking at this photo reminds me of things that have changed and are changing.  My current project is making a slipcover for the loveseat.  The worst of that is finished.  I just need to finish the cushion covers.  I need a day where energy and motivation combine.  :-D

Organized Paint Hoarder

I organized my paint by color the other day and realized, I am a paint hoarder.  I obviously have a problem.  I've been painting lots of signs over the last year or so and there's always another color I need.  My first thought was to ban myself from buying any paint for at least 6 months.  I panicked just thinking about it.  What if I ran out of my favorite blue?  So now, I'm making deals with myself.  I can restock tired and true colors, but seriously, I need to use what I have.  A whole wall of paints???  It's ridiculous!  Sigh.  Maybe organizing is the first step to getting a handle on my addiction.

This paint wall is in my attic storage room.  I have attic access right off of my loft craft room, so this is very convenient.

The Chippy Red Chest

I was able to breathe new life into a red chest with just a little sandpaper and some new knobs.  Quick and easy!  The result is a very quirky little chest that we are using as a coffee table.

Before it was more of a solid red.  I didn't take good before photos.  I got going before even thinking about photos.  I remembered after I had already started sanding.  I hadn't done much on the drawers yet, so you can sort of get an idea of the red before look.

The black knobs wouldn't do.  I found these red ones at Hobby Lobby.  They weren't my first choice.  They didn't have 6 of the ones I liked best.  Sigh.

The photo above shows some of the old knobs and some of the new.  I did replace all the knobs.  What didn't I do?  Take a good photo of the chest all set up in the room.

Color Play in My Booth

I am planning to make 2013 very colorful, especially in my booth.  I've already started the transformation with the signs at the top of my booth -  188  is on a very large chalkboard-ish background.  There's no mistaking my booth number!  The letters on paint cans with colorful coordinating tissue paper is such a fun way to pump even more color into my space.  It just makes me happy to look at it.

I also did a little rearranging and color grouping.  First I pulled some things out - especially the remains of my Christmas decor.  Most of my Christmas things sold, luckily, but I had brought in a few things to keep the holiday look going.

The showiest of the color groupings turned out to be the pops of yellows, golds and oranges on my corner cabinet.  Talk about cheerful!  That sweet corner cabinet isn't likely to escape anyone's notice now!

I'm working on some signs and hope to have them ready to hang on the wall soon.  Meanwhile I wanted to use the wall display space in a way that was fun, yet easy to take down.  I displayed my vintage albums.  Wow.  I really like them there!  *Oops - That top one needs to be moved down just a bit.

I moved the bamboo etegere against the wall.  I was able to hang the wrought iron planter on the wall inside the big shelf.  That's going to work well for some upcoming plans for this space.  The white cabinet to the left of the etegere is just for storage.  Still, the white is bugging me.  Clearly this cabinet needs to be a fun color - turquoise maybe???  I usually prop a large picture in front of it so it's not so noticeable.  Unfortunately, I have nothing to prop there at the moment.  I made do for now by just tying a burlap bow on the handles.

The shelf with the multi-colored backgrounds was way overcrowded.  I thinned it out and grouped a little bit.  Three things sold off this shelf before I could even finish.  See the holes?

Last, I changed the retro and wood table theme to green and turquoise.  Lousy picture.  It is much prettier in person.

Stop by and see it in person if you can!  Lots of the vendors at Rockin' B have been changing their booths and bringing in new things.  It's really looking great.