Twins

This is a story of two sisters, chair sisters that is and their transformation from ugly duckling to fashionistas.  I stumbled upon the two chairs at a church rummage sale.  I had just come from a cool barn sale where I couldn't afford to buy one thing and on my way home we saw this sign for a rummage sale.  It was in the church's basement and the deal was you could fill a paper bag full for $2.00.  Wow I had never been to one before and after being disappointed in not purchasing anything at the barn I thought this might make me feel better.  As I was looking at the small stuff on the tables my dad came and told me there were some chairs in the other room.  I went in and saw two sad looking side chairs sitting there.

They were matching but one of them was damaged pretty good.  They were shield back chairs, very traditional but I didn't like the finish and the fabric, forget it, it was awful.  I didn't care about any of that but the one chair's back was missing part of the shield and I didn't know how I could fix that.  I thought maybe I would buy just one of the chairs but I felt bad about leaving the one there and splitting up the "twins".

 I asked my dad what he thought being he is an amazing problem solver, carpenter & woodworker.  My dad said he could fix it "no problem" he would just have to make a new piece and put it into the back somehow, "no problem"!  Easy for him to say, but it was just what I wanted to hear this way I didn't have to separate the girls. 

I got the chairs home and got right to work on the non damaged one while my dad got to work on the "damaged" one.  I immediately knew I wanted to paint them white.  They needed a makeover from the dark deary stain they had been for years.  My dad who is amazing worked his magic and rebuilt the shield back on the "damaged" one.  She was good as new and ready for her transformation.

After seeing them in white and how great they looked I thought they deserved something special on their seats.  I had found an awesome fabric at a thrift store a while back that I knew would be perfect.  The fabric was actually a table cloth from the 70's that I fell in love with.  I loved the colors and graphic and thought it was so funky.  It was perfect for the girls. 

Seeing them after their transformation I decided to name them "Twiggy" and "Pippa" as a nod to the 70's fabric they were wearing.  So now the girls are happy again with their new found funk and being as they are twins you can once again not tell them apart thanks to my dad.

Right now you can visit the girls at this really cool shop in Princeton New Jersey called "jane".

 If you are in the area you should check them out and a lot of other cool stuff.  Here's a link to jane  http://www.janeconsignment.com/site/.

The wait is over....

I have been hunting for night stands for at least 2 years.  It's not like I was looking for anything extremely special.  No specific style or size requirements, just two matching tables that were well built, had storage and were affordable.  They didn't even have to be vintage, I was looking everywhere I even started to shop for new ones. 

After 2 years I had just about given up.

Then one day me and my mom were out shopping at a thrift store.  We were not looking for anyting in particular just wanted to see what was new or old.  We were on our way out of the store, the trip was unsuccessful and it was a dreadful day weather wise, so we wanted to get home.  That's when I spotted them, two matching night stands.  

They were sitting over by the "employee's only" door, they must have just come in.  I ran over to take a look at them.  They looked like they were in pretty good condition.  Nice style, good size, well built, some storage, they were perfect!  My wait was over, but how much were they?  I asked a woman working there if she could tell me the price of these two night stands but she said she didn't know.  She told me they were in the middle of unloading a big truck in the rain and didn't have time to price them yet and didn't know when they could get to them.  I told her I was very interested in them but she didn't seem to care (she wasn't in the best mood).  I could sympathize with her it was really nasty out but didn't she know how long I had been searching for them???? 

Ok what do I do?  I could pretend to shop some more while keeping an eye on my nightstands, ready to pounce if anyone goes near them, or I could leave for a little while and give them a chance to do their job.  My mom suggested we go to another store and come back in an hour or so.  She knew I was starting to get anxious and knew me standing around stalking the tables wasn't going to help in fact she said if they know how much I want them they might jack the price up on me.  She had a good point.

We went to another store to try and take my mind off of them but the whole time I was obessing.  I knew they were good solid construction and in pretty good shape so I started to think that maybe they would be out of my price range.  Me and my mom discussed it and we decided I shouldn't pay more than $50 each for them (if they were still there).

Exactly one hour later we headed back to the store.  My mom decided to stay in the car it was still pouring rain outside plus I think she thought I wouldn't end up getting them.  I casually walked back in and headed over to the nightstands but they weren't there!!!  I knew it, I shouldn't have left.  Ok no more being casual I started running around the store.  Whew there they were in the furniture department!  Ok their here but how much are they?  I quickly read the tag $10 each, what!!!  Are you kidding me?  I was so excited I ripped the tag off one of the tables and carried the other one all the way up to the cashier.  The girl behind the counter said "you know you don't have to carry the furniture up here yourself, we have people to help you".  I said that was ok (a little out of breath) but that there was another one in the back if she could get someone to bring it up that would be great. 

Time to get them in my car.  Not knowing today was going to be the day I found my nightstands I was a little unprepared with my small car.  The guy that brought them out to my car was a little unsure that they were going to fit and suggested I come back with a bigger car or truck.  No way, I was going to make them fit, I wasn't taking any chances with leaving them behind.  They fit and I got them home safe and sound in the rain storm that was getting worse. 

When I got home I inspected them a little further and spotted a manufactures

name of Kent Coffey stamped in the drawer.

I looked them up on the internet and found out they were a good furniture company that had been around in the 50's & 60's and that my particular tables were made in the 50's.  I even saw that they were going for about $150 each in a condition not as good as mine.  Wow, what do I do?  If I sold them I could make a nifty little profit but wait what was I thinking I had been searching for nightstands for so long.  Does that mean I would have to wait another 2 or so years for another pair to show up.  No way I can't wait any longer.  I started getting to work on them right away before I could changed my mind.

They were stained but I wanted to paint them white so I got sanding.  Like I said they were in good condition so no repair work was needed just some fresh paint.  The handles on the tables were a very ornate brass.  I thought about changing them but thought if I painted them a cool color they could be fun. 

(not what I had in mind for storage)

I also added some funky drawer liner to freshen them up.

I decided to name them "Sophie" and "Olivia" two of my favorite names because I loved how they turned out.

So after 2 years I now have two matching, well built night stands with good storage

and a fresh pretty look that were definitely worth the wait!

The life of "Riley"....

The life of "Riley" is a story about a discarded mid century desk and chair that I fell for.

I was out hunting for new material one day and I came across this cool desk and chair at least I thought it was cool or could be cool when I got done with it.  It was kind of hidden in the back with a bunch

of junk on the top of it.

After I moved the thigh master off of it I was able to get a better look.  I couldn't find any markings on it but to me it looked mid century.  I had been wanting to do a desk for a while but hadn't found

the right one yet.  I brought it home and starting thinking about what color to paint it. 

The piece was pretty subtle a little different from what I am usually attracted to. 

The biggest detail it had going for it were its modern knobs. 

In order to funk-i-fy it I decided to paint it a bright Kelly green.

The original seat cover on the chair was a black faux leather that didn't look too bad with the

Kelly green but it needed more of a punch something to bring it up to date.  I found this cool fabric

at Ikea which is black & white in a faux wood design and knew that it was the

right amount of funk the chair needed.

I like to name my pieces so with this one it wasn't hard it reminded me of my goddaughter Riley.

Riley is a very stylish young woman who is always in the know of the latest fashion trends

or making new trends herself and I thought the desk and chair came out very stylish.

So that's the life of "Riley" a reinvented mid century desk and chair with a little funk

and great legs with no need for the thigh master anymore!

Linking up with

Power of Paint Party

Mirror mirror on the wall...

Mirror mirror on the wall...oh the stories you could tell.

My sister's neighbor was getting rid of an old mirror and my sister called to see if I wanted it for

Funk-i-fy.  I said yes of course without even seeing it.  My sister knows my taste and I knew she wouldn't have called me if she didn't think I would like it.  When I saw it in person I loved it, loved the pretty lines and detailed carving it had, very regal.  It looked like it was made to fit on top of a dresser but that didn't bother me because I knew I could find a good home for it.

When I got it back to my shop I started taking it apart.  I was nervous about handling the glass, the mirror looked pretty old and I didn't want anything to happen to it.  When I finially got all the nails out I was able to lift the wood piece that was holding the mirror in place and could see the back of the mirror. On the back of the mirror there was a date stamped on it, June 15,1929.  I was surprised and excited.  I knew it was old but I would never have guessed it was 83 years old!  As I started working on the mirror I started to think about all the mirror had seen in its 83 years.  I imagined little girls looking in the mirror trying on their mommies' clothes and jewelry, young girls trying makeup on for the first time, girls getting ready for their first dance or first date, a young woman looking at herself in her wedding dress on her wedding day.  Perhaps even a young mom holding her baby in the mirror for them to see a first reflection.  A lot happens in 83 years.

 

The mirror was a stained wood when I got it but I knew I wanted to paint it to give it a new life.  I thought about all the girls that might have used it and all the hope in their hearts so I decided a bright pink was in order and its name would be "Hope". 

The mirror got a new life and a new home with another young girl.

Oh the new stories this mirror will tell.

My first post, the "Isabel"

I'm going to start off with one of my pieces of furniture  that I feel made the biggest transformation,

 the "Isabel".

Here is the before picture...

I know what you're thinking, that thing is ugly!  It's true when I first saw this cabinet I walked right by it because I thought it was too ugly to save.  But then the owner had me take a second look and told me the story about the piece.  She told me that her father in law had made the cabinet out of a few different pieces of furniture and that it had been in her husband's family for a very long time.  After closer inspection and looking past the color, I started to notice the sweet lines on the bottom of the piece.

What ultimately sold me on this cabinet were its lock & key and the fact that it actually worked.  When I brought home the cabinet I knew it would need a lot of work to get it to look half way presentable.  The finish on the piece was a weird textured yellow paint with some kind of glazing that made it look dirty.  The piece was really old so it could have been mostly dirt.  After a lot of sanding and more sanding and a little patchwork I decided to paint it a solid white because I wanted to show off its interesting details. 

As you can see in the before picture it had a plain ugly knob in the center of the door so I decided to change that out as well.  I wanted to add a little shot of color to the outside so I chose this one from Antropoligie.  It has blue and green in it and reminded me of a geo stone.  I thought this knob would give you a hint there was a surprise inside. 

The surprise was that I painted the inside a chartreuse green to give it a little funk! 

 After I finished the piece I needed some inspiration for a name and my friends' daughter immediately came to mind.  Her name is Isabel and she has a very cool distintive fashion style.  For an eleven year old (now 12) I am always impressed on how Isabel puts an outfit together, she always adds a little funk!

In the summer I showed this piece at a local market and invited my friend and her daughter to come check it out.  As things turned out Isabel fell in love with "Isabel"!

Isabel was in the process of redecorating her bedroom and she had picked a turquoise blue color for the walls and thought the white cabinet with the funky knob would look perfect in it.

She was right!

Linking up with

Power of Paint Party

Wow us Wednesday

Pin It