Cute Little Settee

My friend Beth emailed me and asked if I would like to drive to a local antique mall and look at a settee that she saw on Craigslist and me, being the "junk-oholic" that I am, tagged along with her. Beth is a photographer and was in search of something light weight that she could lift and carry by herself to use as a prop in her photo shoots and this little settee was perfect for the job.

Beth loved the piece and planned to remove the old fabric and give it a bright new look with a fresh coat of paint. I convinced her to bring it over to my house and we would tackle the job together because my garage is set up as my paint workshop and I also have a pneumatic staple gun that worked great...after we figured out how to load more staples, that is.

Beth had already removed the old fabric at her home the night before "mission re-vamp the settee" which was quite the job as there were a GAH-zillion little staples that needed to be removed. Not fun. We started by giving the piece a light sanding and cleaned her up with some TSP. We then painted her with Frenche Farmhouse furniture paint in a beautiful color called Creamy Linen and lightly distressed. (I'll be writing a separate blog on this NEW wonderful paint a bit later so please stay tuned!)

We decided to run out and grab a bite to eat while the paint dried and on our way we stopped by Hobby Lobby to take a peek at their fabric selection. Beth had already purchased a very pretty piece of light tan crushed-velvet-like material, but it did have a bit of a sheen to it and she was concerned it might be too shiny in a photo. She found a gorgeous simple linen fabric at Hobby Lobby that matched the trim piece she had already purchased perfectly and ended up using it on the settee. It really did suit the piece much better.

This was my first attempt, Beth's second, at upholstery work on something larger than a dining room seat cushion so I was excited to jump in and get started, but also a tad bit nervous. We took our time and very slowly began the process of cutting foam, batting, and fabric to fit. Cutting the fabric was a bit nerve-wracking. Very, actually.

There was giggling. Lots of giggling. And chocolate. Lots of chocolate. Oh, and sweet tea. Gallons of sweet tea. The three must haves for a fun day of completing a project with a gal pal!

I have to say, in the end, ten long sweaty hours later, we were both very tired, but absolutely tickled with the finished project! (Yes. TEN hours...I did mention we were upholstery newbies, didn't I?) We learned a lot and would do a couple things differently next time, but over all it turned out great, don't you think?

Gratitude and Goofs

It has been a busy time since my last post! I have been very busy working towards turning my hobby into a small business a reality. I'm discovering something new and interesting EVERY SINGLE DAY and I am having so much fun in the process. I don't think I've used the right side of my brain so much in quite a long time. My creative juices are flowing - that's for sure!

 

I have been blessed over the past couple of months by meeting so many wonderful people who are willing (not just willing, but anxious) to share their knowledge, talents, abilities, advice, tools and supplies with me. You name it - my needs are being met by the most wonderful people. Believe  me when I say I most certainly intend to pay it forward! I can't express my thanks to those people - and you know who you are - enough.

 

Some days go by so fast it feels like I'm riding a roller coaster! From time to time I glance at the clock while working and gasp at how may hours have ticked by. This is what happens if you are doing what you enjoy. Time passing happily by is a blessing. On the other hand, the slowest part of my day is when I'm patiently waiting...for...paint...to...DRRYYYYY. That's another thing I'm learning - patience. Can I get an amen? Goodness. Patience does not come easily to me.

 

There have been some near disasters small challenges along the way, too. Take for example the cantankerous Dixie dresser that refused to cooperate. I sanded, primed, and painted and every single time pink stain (the color of Pepto-Bismol) would creep through my lovely shade of buttery yellow. So again, here we go, sand, prime, and paint only to have Pepto-Bismol return with a vengeance. I don't know what chemical was in the stain furniture manufacturers from the 30's and 40's used, but I do know this - It won't be conquered without a fight. I declare myself the winner of this particular battle.

 

Once I won the battle and the little Dixie dresser waved her white flag of surrender my hubby and I loaded her and two other small pieces in the back of his truck to take over to the shop. That thing was roped in tight! Everything was hunky-dory and we were tooling right along when all of a sudden my hubs yells, "Look out your mirror.... oops there it goes....WE'RE LOSING IT!"

 

Well, the "oops there it goes" was referring to the blanket covering the dresser. It oh so gracefully flew up in the air causing the driver in the car behind us to play a symphony on his car horn. Not helpful, dude. "WE'RE LOSING IT" was shouted when the dresser tipped in the back of the truck and bumped into the metal foot of a table. We pulled off the road and set the dresser upright only to find a slight mark on a drawer that nearly caused me to cry. OK. Maybe I did cry just a little.

 

Well, we went back home and I was successful at repairing the Grand Canyon sized mark slight damage to the drawer. It added more character, I think. I also blessed THE HECK out of that stinking little dresser and performed an exorcism right there in my drive way. I kid you not. Farewell little dresser. I hope you find the perfect home because you may or may not be welcome back at mine!

 

 

 

Then, there was today. This is so pitiful I'm almost ashamed to put it in writing, but since we're all kindred spirits I'll do it. (Insert *sigh* here.) I took the small feet off of a table I was about to paint to the kitchen sink to wash them off a bit. Filthy, they were. When I started the process there were FOUR, count'em, four feet. Remember that number because it will come up again later in this confession.

 

Once they were clean I went happily out to my spacious studio (nah, just my garage) and painted, distressed, and waxed the cute little table. I noticed there were only THREE feet, but my brain must have been starved for oxygen or something because I ignored the count. I honestly recall thinking, "Isn't that strange?" to myself, but it simply did not register in my little pea brain that one of the feet was missing.

 

Flash forward - After working for awhile I got hungry so I went back to the kitchen to get a bite to eat. I rinsed my dishes and then I casually cleaned the sink, put the rinsed plate and glass in the dishwasher, and turned on the garbage disposal. Remember the number FOUR that I told you about? The very important number four? Hmmmm.

Well, the horrible noise that came out of that garbage disposal froze me in my tracks. The sink actually shook and not in a good way. It scared me to death so I quickly switched it off and reached down in the sink hole expecting to find a forgotten spoon, a sponge, an earring, or an I-don't know-what, but what I pulled out was the poor missing mutilated FOURTH foot to my cute little table. There. Are. No. Words. It is yet to be determined who will win this particular battle.

 

Blessings, Y'all and thanks for reading along! 

My Very FIRST Blog Post

Well, I did it. I made up my mind to enter the blogging world. I'm nervous about putting my thoughts, ideas, and words out there for the world to see, but I'm gonna do it! I'm excited about the process and hope over time I'll be able to share my love for furniture refinishing and painting.

So...if I haven't already bored you to tears yet, keep reading and take the journey with me, won't you?

If you are reading this there are a few things you should know. With that in mind, I created a "top ten list" readers should remember while following my blog (in no particular order):

1. I am not an English teacher, a professional writer, editor, or proof reader. 
2. Sometimes I ramble without meaning to and when I ramble I will stop myself and try very hard not to ramble on and on and on about rambling all while continuing on with thoughts that would involve rambling to some degree.
3. I am not the best speeler. I mean speler. Spelunker. Dog-gone it - speller!
4. I tend to repeat myself.
5. There. Their. They're. I do know the difference, but I might not always choose the right word.
6. The same holds true for your, you're, its, and it's.
7. I am from the south and my writing will reflect that just as my speech does. I hope that's OK with all y'all, bless your hearts!
8. Sometimes I capitalize words that shouldn't be. Other than a period at the end of a sentence I sometimes neglect proper punctuation and I often have no idea when I should start a new paragraph.
9. I tend to repeat myself.
10. Please re-read number one above.

So there we have it! Pretty simple, huh? Well, we'll soon see.

In my next post I will get to the business of sharing what prompted me to start this blog in the first place and that is my love for finding neglected, broken and worn out pieces of furniture and reviving them with a fresh coat of paint! I'll share some pictures of pieces I've completed, tell you how I did it, discuss the products I'm using, and share some funny stories in the process. Until then I can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ChippedAndCharming.

Thanks for reading along and until next time have a blessed life!