French Chair Reupholstery Makeover and Tutorial

I love a good upholstery project... They may be messy, time-consuming, and can be slightly frustrating, but in the end, I guess I like the extra challenge reupholstering provides compared to just painting furniture.  I'm not an expert at it, but have done a few chairs and have learned a few things along the way that I thought I'd share.

Tried and True... DIY Products I Love!

Although I normally share furniture before/afters, room reveals, tablescapes, etc, I've been wanting to share some of the little things that have made maintaining a home and working on projects easier for me.  I've mentioned before that I'm sort of a "product junkie" because I love to try all types of paints, cleaners, tools, topcoats, etc. to find out what works best for me.  When I find myself reaching for a certain product frequently or am completely amazed at it's effectiveness, I mentally take note so I can pass it along to all of you!

Simple Sideboard Makeover

It's about time I shared another furniture makeover because it's been way too long!  Just like most of you, my month of December was busy, busy and there just wasn't much time for painting.  I was happy to finally whip out the paintbrush recently to finish up a few pieces for the booth.

A Few of Our Favorite Things - Furniture, DIY and Paint Supplies Giveaway!

I'm excited to announce that some of my favorite furniture re-finishing and DIY blogger friends and I have teamed up to share our favorite supplies that we've tested and approved over the countless projects we've worked on over the years and we're giving them away!  

Eulalie's Sky Milk Paint and a New Booth

I'm back in the saddle again!  After not painting furniture for a couple of months because of the move and closing my booth in Raleigh, it felt good to work on new project with a new color.  I'm sort of a product junkie when it comes to paint and supplies.  I love to try new colors and brands of paint, wax, etc and when Miss Mustard Seed came out with the Eulalie's Sky color for her line of milk paint, I knew I had to try it since I gravitate to blues.

Dresser Makeover with Fabric

I've had a little project brewing in my mind for a long time... It's one of those projects when I just needed to find the right piece of furniture and the time to tackle it.  Over the years, I've seen some beautiful furniture makeovers by applying fabric directly to drawer fronts, etc and after seeing another dresser with linen applied to the drawer fronts on my trip to High Point Market, I knew I just had to try out the technique...

Farmhouse Style Front Porch with Pops of Red

Remember my mom and step-dad's house that I shared a few months back?  They've been slowly adding their personal style to the place through careful shopping and as many DIY projects as they can to save money on furnishings.  They like to curate their home by picking up furniture projects, sewing custom draperies, and finding bargains that they can make over.  While many rooms are partially done, there are still many things that they are on the look-out for and some weekend projects still to go.

Little Honeybee Dresser, Updated Booth Pictures, and House News

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I scored quite a bit of furniture at a local auction that I'm slowly getting through, including this little petite dresser.  I think it was an old washstand and after staring at it a bit, I decided to remove the top wooden piece.  It just wasn't working for me...

Two-toned Dresser and Kitchen Scale Dining Table

After losing a good week of productive time due to giving my back a rest and having a wonderful birthday and Mother's Day weekend...it felt good to get back to work in the garage today.  I can't wait to work on some of the pieces of furniture that I have lined up and I've got lots of ideas to make them look "new" again!

Tips for Shopping Antique Shows and Fairs

The Farm Chicks Show (in the earlier days) - via Country Living

Temperatures are warming up and antique shows/fairs are found almost every weekend around the country right now...it's my favorite time of year!  Spring is normally a crazy, busy time for me and for the first time in 7 years, I'm not working night-and-day on a gazillion projects for back-to-back antique shows that I'm normally a vendor at in April/May/June.  I have to admit that it feels strange not to be stressed out with piles of inventory in the garage and around the house and weirdly enough, I miss it!  I sort of crave the pressure, but with the house being for sale and not knowing what the future held, I didn't sign up for the Luckett's Spring Market this year.  I had been down that road before...back in the summer of 2010...house was for sale, 6 big shows, packing, moving, a baby that never slept...not fun, never again!  I had learned my lesson...

Luckett's 2012 - Part One

So instead of being a vendor, I'm a shopper at the shows this year and long before I started selling my own wares, I was a die-hard shopper at some of the biggest shows like The Farm Chicks Show, etc. for years.  By being both a vendor and a shopper, I've definitely learned a few things along the way, so I thought I'd share a few tips for navigating these shows/fairs that have worked for me over the years...

A Few Furniture Projects and a Little Setback

After having a blast visiting High Point, I had a busy weekend of shopping a large antiques festival, attending an auction, and re-stocking my booth.  With the house being for sale and all the extra time and cleaning required for maintaining a house that's on the market, finding and working on paint projects was taking a backseat. It's not a great combination...a furniture hobby filling the garage while the house is for sale.  At first, I almost completely emptied the garage, but my second-nature took over at last weekend's auction and I scored tons of great stuff.

Revived Ice Cream Parlor Set

I've always liked those cute antique ice cream parlor table and chair sets that you see here and there, but they are getting harder and harder to find them inexpensively.  I actually snagged this set quite a while back to keep and use for a little breakfast-area table or out on the porch at my own home, but it never did land anywhere in my current house.

A Little French Room...Updated

Time for a little update!  Do you remember a year ago when I first shared my youngest daughter's "Little French Room"?  Back then, it looked like this...

The big furniture pieces were in place and despite wanting to keep the room simple, it felt like it still needed something.  At the time I posted the room, I had picked out some white ruffle drapes from Target, but just hadn't hung them yet.  Boy, do window treatments always make a difference in a room...

Paris Grey & White Striped Dresser

I love stripes...Either painted on a wall or on a piece of furniture, they are such a super-easy way to make a big impact in a room.  I decided it had been way too long since I've done a "stripe project" and was ready to break out the painter's tape again.

Lily's Garden Room

I've been so busy working on projects for the house this past week!  Between painting hallways, tons of landscaping outside, scrubbing down the screen porch from top to bottom, and numerous other essential (but unexciting chores), I've hardly found time for fun projects.  I did get a huge sideboard stained and painted and is waiting on new hardware and finally got to put the finishing touches on my middle daughter's room...

Classic, Timeless Furniture...Putting Away the Paintbrush

Although I've been painting furniture for my home and vintage shows/shops around six years now, I will always appreciate the classic beauty of wood.  To me, there is nothing more timeless in home decor than a solid-built, beautifully-maintained, piece of antique furniture.  They just don't make them like they used to!

Duck Egg - Butterfly Dresser

I hope all of you had a great weekend!  After spending a solid day cleaning out and organizing our garage and then another day finishing projects and running them up to SuzAnna's to restock the booth, I'm a bit beat.  It's amazing how quickly a garage can get unorganized and messy when you have a bunch of furniture and woodworking projects mixed in with kid's bikes and toys, stray Christmas stuff, and the never-ending pile of kid shoes by the door.  It also feels amazing after it's all cleaned up and this time...it's going to stay that way...I hope.  Anyway, I finished up this little dresser yesterday in time to bring it up to the shop along with another dining set since the French Bee set went to a good home over the weekend.

Expanded Booth Pics and Recent Projects

I'm on a bit of a recovery day today...recovering both my house and myself from the past several days!  As I've been mentioning the last couple of weeks that I was working on some projects for the newly expanded booth at SuzAnna's Antiques that was set for yesterday.

Kitchen Scale, Ironstone, and French Opera Glasses

I picked up this cute little dresser back around Christmas when I was digging through barns and it took me a few weeks to get the motivation to tackle it because it looked like this before...

Black Empire Dresser

Right after Christmas, I had the opportunity to take a day with my husband to find some furniture projects for my booth at SuzAnna's.  I just love days like that... just my husband and I picking through some old barns.  I'm not sure what other couples do when their kids are away for the day, but our "days off" over the years have usually consisted of some major house project or something that's not easy to do or safe with the kids around.  Anyway, I found a few projects pieces that day including this beautiful Empire dresser.