A beautiful marriage of vibrant and neutral colors

Hello everyone! We are finally getting back into swing of things with the kids back into school.  It always takes a few weeks, but I think we got it down now. I am also getting used to being open at the shop now earlier at 10:30 a.m. versus 12:30.  Since our youngest is now a full timer in Preschool, I am now able to be at the shop earlier.  I get alot more painting done this way and have also been getting more foot traffic in the mornings which is great!  Last week, a group of morning runners ran past the shop, noticed I was open and then did another lap around the block just to see what I had new that day.  You can say was feeling blessed to be able to stop runners in their tracks just to see my store!

So, I believe I left you last time with the story of the old Hoosier cabinet my husband and I refurbished for a client.  That was alot of work with repairs and elbow grease with the cleaning.  Regardless it turned out amazing and the client was ecstatic about her great grandmothers cabinet, but this week I had a blast with new pieces for the shop. Some in bold vibrant colors, others in soft subtle shades. 

Here are a some of my favorites!

This 1940's dresser, recently used as to furnish a dorm (with stickers and all!),
is now looking sharper than ever in Miss Mustard Seed's Tricycle!

Another gorgeous refinishing job.  This one by my wonderful husband,
in dark walnut.  This dresser was unusually deep which is awesome for
storing clothes, or even table linens and bedding.

And this is what I started with!  Someone had fun in college, huh? Stickers, dirt and scratches aside, it was still a solid piece of furniture and is now ready for many more years of use.

And then there was this solid mahogany credenza.  This was a gorgeous piece that probably would have looked ok in an office, but I had bigger plans for this one!  With it's sleek lines, I had a vision of turning this "safe" piece of furniture into something a out of the ordinary.  

Hollywood glam meets farmhouse warmth! The day I picked this piece up, I could totally see it in black or in this case Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint Graphite, which is a dark charcoal, but by using Annie's dark wax, it is pretty close to black.  By refinishing the top in a soft, rich stain like dark walnut, I was able to bring out a little cozy farmhouse feel. What a perfect marriage of the styles!

I had the mirrors cut to size at the hardware store and my husband SLOWLY drilled holes in the middle for the mercury glass knobs which look perfect against the mirrors.

Love how black, mercury glass and the wood compliment each other beautifully.

Now ready to entertain your guest with a classy look or store your files in the office!

Another favorite this week was bringing a dark and drab looking buffet back to life with color!  And to help me do this, I chose Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint in Kitchen Scale, a gorgeous color.  This is probably one of the most popular colors of the season right now.  At one point a few weeks ago, the majority of the pieces on the shop's floor were either teal or some kind of soft blue green hues.  I started to get think it was a over kill, but they just flying out the door no sooner than a couple day after I brought them in.

LOVE everything about this one! Before, you couldn't notice the pretty wreath
filigree moldings on the doors, but now...HELLO!

And of course nothing says "Home" more than a refinished top.
This one had a stunning quarter sewn oak grain,  just lovely.

I got so much joy out of refurbishing this one.

And the before shot.  No it's not horrible, but I believe it looks much happier now:)

And now for little softer touches.

Another favorite color I get complimented on in the shop is either Annie Sloan's ™ French Linen which is a taupe brown shade or CoCo, soft light brown.  When I came upon this William and Mary Dining Set, I felt it needed one of these shade and I chose CoCo.  It a soft neutral color that gives a feeling of warmth and home.  After refinishing the top, I painted the bottom of the table which has that unique style on the legs and the also used CoCo on the chairs.  

This is one of those refinished tops, that went so smoothly and turned out beautifully!

I did distressed a bit around the edges and filled in the decorative backs of the 4 wood chairs with Annie Sloan's Old Ochre for a little contrast.  The seats are now looking fresh and new again in a pretty French Toile in browns and creams.

And just for the fun of it, I mixed a custom batch of Annie Sloan's ™ French Linen and Old White and gave this French Provincial china cabinet a whole new look.  I took out the glass inserts and sprayed the wire mesh with an oil rubbed bronze spray paint. The inside needed a little spice.  That's where Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint Tricycle came in. This is a perfect example of how you can mix both of these fabulous kinds of paints, both chalk paint and milk paint, on the same piece and get beautiful results! 

Where the dishes and silver might have disappeared inside the cabinet,
it now POPS in front of the stunning Tricycle Milk Paint!

And that is how my last week looked, give or take a few projects!  I hope you were a little inspired today to step outside the "norm" a bit and try new and exciting ways of styling your own home.  Have a blessed week everyone!