building vintage style

Round Foyer Table

October 26, 2020 by christen 4 Comments

Hi Friends! Rainy day here in VA. Online school, husband working hard in the study and I’m on my second espresso with a few more to go!

I want to change up….everything now that I’ve been stuck in the house for 6 months. How about you? I have edited my house in the last few years as things have become more minimal. Minimal is not really my thing – I like an interesting piece in every corner – but, I do understand that it can make a house feel a bit more open and airy. We all need that right now.

I have had a beautiful work table (above) in my foyer that I bought from Miss Mustard Seed at her last Luckett’s showing at the market. I love an old table more than anything. I painted it white and it live happily in the foyer for years. But, I wanted a bit of a chance – a round table. I was going to buy one, but instead of paying a thousand bucks I thought I’d try my very first kitchen table turned craft table. Here she is:

There is so much sticky, icky gunk on this table, but it’s still a great piece. Brent’s nana bought it for us at Crate and Barrel when we were first married so lots of memories. I pulled out a can of Graphite. I still had an old can of Annie Sloan Graphite in the garage. It settled a bit and I had to work with it, but got it going.

You can see it’s a bit thin, but it was in my garage for about 2 years. That just means I needed several coats.

I know that lots of painters use Dark Wax to make the table…darker. I just never liked the look of it. It felt tacky and I didn’t like the overall look. So, I thought I’d try wood stain. This is Jacobean – again, I found it in the garage! The stain was definitely better than the wax, but not exactly what I wanted.

So, the story goes on. I didn’t think it was black enough once I got the table upstairs, so I bought a can of black furniture paint from Amazon – sorry Annie! I bought a true black from Shabby Chic in Licorice on Amazon. This gave me a true black and I did not need any wax.

What do you all think about the Shabby Chic Licorice? I have a little tutorial in my process, but it’s a little disjointed. I’ll release it soon.

PS – It’s October 26th and many states have early voting. You can take the whole darn family, like I did, to the polls and vote in person. OR You can still send in your Mail In Ballot OR you can vote on Election Day November 3rd. Easy! Just check out how and where to vote in your state. You can do so here: https://www.usa.gov/how-to-vote

xoxo

Filed Under: building vintage style, Uncategorized Tagged With: annie sloan chalk paint, Crate and Barrel, Graphite, Lucketts Store, Minwax, Miss Mustard Seed, Shabby Chic, Vote

The Urbanfarmhouse Store

March 31, 2020 by christen 2 Comments

My dear friend, June, opened up her very own shop about a year ago and it is just too adorable for words! It is located in this little house in Arlington and filled to the brim with farmhouse chic items and locally-sourced goodies! You cannot leave this gem without finding something for your home.

Dear June sells my oil paintings as well. It’s been very humbling and inspiring having my work, this type of painting, bought and hung in people’s homes.

For the safety of all, she has closed the stop and opened an ONLINE shop! I am so excited. She has curbside pick up hours.

Check out her sweet wares at The Urban Farmhouse Store

Here’s some of her finds below….

Thank you for giving me a place to hang my hat and buy my candles and decor, Sweet June! Love you! xo

Filed Under: building vintage style Tagged With: blue egg brown nest, farmhouse chic, Shabby Chic, The Urban Farmhouse Store

Summer-Activity Caddy

July 19, 2019 by christen 1 Comment

I found the cutest, shabbiest tool box at Luckett’s Spring Market this year. It is wonderfully chippy with lots of little nooks and crannies on the interior. I have had it sitting on my kitchen table, filling it with fruit for the kids to grab. Of course, now that it’s the dog days of summer we need a bit more than fruit to get through!

I decided to fill it with activities that they can grab when I hear the dreaded phrase, “I’m bored.” As a introvered person that is never bored you can imagine how much I hate this phrase. There is always something creative one can get into.

I filled the caddy mostly with items that I already owned so I really did not spend any money. Some of the items I added were games, books, cross stitch kits, knitting needles and yarn, colored pencils, notebooks and a few little green faux plants to make it pretty.

My Fiona Tate happens to be the best knitter in the house. We love these balls of yarn that include about five colors. She’s taught everyone in the house how to knit.