Save the Date

When: Saturday, September 15th through Saturday, September 29th

What: Art & Design 2012: Home tour to showcase best in interior design, local talent

Where: 256 Hanson Way Marietta

I've been working with the ladies at "Project Style" painting items for their design contributions for the 2012 Art & Design Showcase. For $15 you can tour the home designed by many local artists
and even see some of my work in the Laundry Room, Mud Room and Hall


Read more: The Marietta Daily Journal - Art Design 2012 Home tour to showcase best in interior

This weekend is also A Classy Flea's Labor Day Sale!
Take advantage of discounted items on the side walk Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

~Kim

I'm still here!

Gah, get a little busy at work, and my attempt at blogging gets thrown on the back burner! I'm back though, and ready to share some recent furniture make-overs.

First up is a rather unique re-do for me. I think it was intended as a shelf, but as you can see this piece clearly resembles a fireplace, so that's what I went with.

before

 My husband helped me cut a piece of plywood for the back and I decided to paint it with chalkboard paint.



after

I figured you could draw some books or other fun pictures. It would even be cute to add a little pet bed.

(this piece is SOLD - thank you!)

I also refinished a rather unique coffee table. I was drawn to it's different shape and it happens to be 5' long which I think is fun.

before

And here it is after a few coats of off white paint and some light distressing.



after (don't you love my little fairy in the background?)
Available at the flea for $120



While we're (kind of) on the topic of "my little fairy" I thought I'd share some pictures of her and I from the "World's longest Yard Sale."

We met so many nice people and practically all of them gave something to my daughter for free. Starting with her John Deer hat from an old drunk. Haha, seriously he was drinking at 10am. Hey, to each their own right?

At one stop, some homeowners were selling hot dogs, drinks and home-made ice cream.

What. a. life. saver.

 Someone was in a terrible mood by late afternoon and that ice cream really lifted her spirits (and mine!)

Thanks to my sister in law for letting us borrow her my nephews wagon! So helpful!!

I also need to thank my co-worker and friend Claire who was brave enough to come along with us. She was so patient and helpful while yard sale-ing with a 3 year old - Thanks Claire!

We had a lot of fun, though we actually didn't get as much stuff as I expected. Not that there weren't things I liked, the prices just weren't all "yard sale" prices in my opinion (IE "I can find it cheaper some where else")


I'm working on two, rather big, client projects, as well as taking on a second half space (temporarily) at "The Flea" so hopefully I don't go MIA for another month :)

~Kim

Hutch Before & After

I'm really excited to show everyone the hutch I finished up today.

Here is the BEFORE:

before




And right to the AFTER:

Fun right?

The background is a great floral contact paper I found at Marshalls (of all places.)

Contact paper is perfect for a furniture project like this because it's not permenant if someone wants to take it off years from now and it's super easy to measure, cut and stick.

                    

If anyone loves this as much as I do and you're in the Atlanta area, it's available for $150.00

I also finished a table re-do this past weekend but I didn't get any great shots of it yet , so here is a sneak peak:

Thanks so much for reading!

Tomorrow I'll be making the announcement about Classy Flea's 4th of July sale - if you're local you don't want to miss it!!

~Kim

Dresser ReDo & (more) Stair Progress

Hey everyone!


Tonight I wanted to share a dresser I refinished a couple weeks ago.
I purchased it at a private estate sale where it had been used in a bathroom.

BEFORE

The old finish started coming off really easily so I knew I wanted to re stain the top.

Once the entire top was down to the bare wood I applied a pre-stain wood conditioner. I know not everyone does this, but I've found the stain comes out much more even.

I used ebony stain and a grayish blue for the bottom.

Initially I had purchased new knobs for the drawers but I didn't like how they looked on this particular dresser so I reused the original wood ones (I just painted them black and distressed them)


Here is how it looked the night before I brought it to "the flea"

AFTER

I put a special "take today" price on it and put it out on the sidewalk of "the flea" so it never made it into the building (yay!)
I later found out it was purchased by a local hair salon - how cool! I'm so glad it worked for them :)


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On a different note - I refinished an old TV stand into a bench/shoe holder for our garage as apart of my "stair re-do."

I painted it grey and made a cushion covered in black and white chevron fabric for a seat. There is plenty of room for shoes and I love the drawer at the bottom for storing our dog's leash and reusable grocery bags. (sorry I don't have a "before"!)

Thanks for reading! (please "follow" the blog for more projects!)

~Kim

Linking to:

Bench Before & After

Since I haven't completed (or started any new) projects today, I thought I'd share a piece of furniture I did earlier in the year.

I picked up this bench at my favorite, hole-in-the-wall thrift store. Here is the picture I took on my phone, in the store.

BEFORE

The challenge with this bench was the cushions weren't removable.
So, after I painted the wood grey, I removed the trim and put canvas fabric right over the cushions.
I then stapled it on and put a new, jute rope trim over the staples.
I finished the bench by lightly distressing it and putting a protective coat of wax over it.

Here is how it turned out:

I couldn't be happier with the finished product! I haven't come across anymore benches yet, but I'd really like to do another one!





This weekend I hope to finish my stair re-do as well as finish a table that my husband has been recruited to help me with. It was an out-dated tile top, kitchen table. So far I've removed all the tile, and laid out the new material that's being used to replace it.

Check back soon to see the before and after.. if I can pull it off that is ;)


Thanks for stopping by!

~Kim

Linking To:

Stair & Dining Room Progress

Yesterday I talked about my stair re-do so today I wanted to share where I'm at with it.

I painted the top of the stairs with the same grey paint as we did the concrete floors.

 It's kind of an experiment since the paint is for garage floors and concrete, but I wanted an exact match, and since it is a high traffic area, I am hoping it will be easier to clean.

The green is an acrylic paint that I had on hand. I also re-painted the white trim.

I'm happy with the improvements already and am not even half way done.

Next up:

-Refinish and hang banister

-Paint the gold light fixture

-Paint the gold brackets that hold up the railing

-Put a fresh coat of paint on the walls

-Add some kind of shoe storage

-Add door mat/small rug

...and maybe a couple other surprises ;)

Here's a side by side comparison of the progress I've made so far:

Has anyone else painted their stairs? If so, what kind of paint did you use and how did it hold up over time?

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I also worked on our Dining Room today since I've been inspired to add more color after my

HiFi Stereo Re Do

I used the same color on the giant window as I did on the old stereo.

 It may be bright for many people's taste, but I've learned to pick colors I like ,not what everyone else might or might not be doing.

I'm the one that has to look at it everyday, after all :)

Like the stairs, I am happy with the progress but have some more changes to make.

For example, I like the rug but I don't love it. I'm not too sure what I'd replace it with though, so no rush on that. Maybe I'll know when I see it.

The big thing I want to change in the Dining Room though is the floor.

 I desperately want hardwood floors, but they're just not in the budget right now ;)

Here is a break down of some the decor; which was all purchased on a tight budget over the last several years.

The table was given to us by a family friend that had purchased a new one. It had an oak finish so I re stained the top and painted the bottom and lightly distressed it. So if you factor in the cost of supplies (even though I had them all on hand) it probably cost $15!

The chairs are from Pier1 and were purchased by my mother in law when my husband and I got our first apartment together about 5 years ago.

The chair pads are from IKEA. I think they were $4.99 each The chandelier was $49.99 from IKEA too.

The Rug is from Target a few years ago, I can't remember the exact price but it was in the $60-$80 range. I also got the curtains there.

The table runner is just burlap I purchased and cut to fit the length of the table. FYI I usually have at least one in my booth at "The Flea" for sale.

The vintage basket on the table is a thrift store find, purchased for a couple bucks.

I got the 16 pane window from another vendor at the classy flea, who let me have it for only $25!





Happy Wednesday!

~Kim

Linking to:

Stairs with Style

This past weekend my husband and I started the much needed project of cleaning out and organizing our garage.
After we got it cleaned out we started painting the concrete floor..and if you paint the floors..I'll want to paint the garage stairs. And if I paint the garage stairs, I'll want to paint the walls. And if I paint the walls, I'll probably want to re-finish the banister.. get where I'm going here? ;)

Here are the stairs after the garage floor got painted but BEFORE I started on the stair well..

Gross, I know. I can not believe we haven't started this project sooner. We bought our house a year ago and have only made a small dent in the mound of projects we want to tackle.

Here are some inspiration photos I pulled from pinterest:

via pinterest

These stairs remind me of a number dresser I did a while back and I like the muted yellow.

via pinterest


I like the idea of just painting the center of the stairs in this picture.

via pinterest

These stairs are painted a shade of green that I use on a lot on furniture and it's a color that my husband likes a lot.



Check back tomorrow to see what progress I've made :)

~Kim