A Secretary Desk Makeover

{COMMISSION}

This was another garage sale find from Alicia. She had a space in mind for it at her house, but wanted it prettied up to match the rest of her space. 


She found it like this:

Definitely lots of potential but tired and a little too country-ish.


It was in great condition so I lightly sanded it, primed and painted it with a very light cream colour. After it was dry, I lightly distressed it and gave it a polish with some wax. I added some wallpaper to the back of the desk area as well as to line each drawer.

In order to save some money on hardware, I sprayed the pulls with a black lacquer spray paint to freshen them up.

This was a great project. Thank you to Alicia!

Square and Shabby Table

{SOLD}

I am really pleased with the way this piece turned out. I love the carving detail on the drawer ~ it gives it an interesting dimension with the distressing along the edges.

I found this quite a while ago in a local thrift store. It has been sitting in my "studio" waiting for some attention and now I am so glad that I gave it some!

It was your typical dark 80s-ish piece of furniture. It was so dark that priming was an absolute necessity ~ especially since I wanted to paint it my favourite white. Now it would fit in any contemporary home.

The unique square shape would make it a perfect addition as a coffee table in a small living room or in a loft area between two chairs. I could also see it fitting nicely in the centre of a sectional sofa.

27.5" wide

27.5" deep

21" high

If you are interested in adding this square but sweet table to your home, please contact me at lisabaron70@gmail.com or see my kijiji ad here.

I am also happy to do custom work for most pieces you may wish to upcycle, whether it is a fabulous garage sale find or a sentimental family piece that you would like to incorporate into your home in a new way.

Back to Blue Cabinet

{SOLD}

This cabinet is a bit of a departure from what I normally do as it was actually a new piece when I found it. I didn't think that the finish was really doing the cute lines and design any favours so I decided to see what I could do to showcase these features. 

This is where we started:

It is not bad, but pretty rustic, and not really in a good way.

I repainted it in the last of my turquoise paint and lightly distressed the finish before applying a layer of protective wax. I had the very smallest amount of wallpaper that coordinated with the blue that just managed to fit in the back. It even lined up almost perfectly!

The drawer provides a great bit of storage for small items.

I like the door with the glass inset ~ it is perfect for displaying some small toiletries or other little pretties.

I like the way it turned out and I think it would add a little fun to a bathroom, laundry room or other small space.

To purchase this cabinet, please email me or check out the kijiji ad here.

From Shabby to Chic

{Commission}


This is a dresser with great bones that Aleisha found at an estate sale. 

It had obviously seen much better days, but was still in pretty decent condition underneath all that paint and dust. Aleisha saw the potential and was inspired by this picture:

The style of the dressers were very similar and I thought that this would be the perfect way to re-imagine this tired old piece of furniture.

The paint was layered with a couple different colours and was the tough old oil paint. It required a lot of sanding and prep to get it ready to repaint, but I think that the effort paid off.

I did keep the bottom drawer and finish it along with the rest of the piece just in case she decided she needed it as a dresser after all. I went to Home Depot and had them cut a piece of hard board for me to fit in the drawer space and painted it to match the rest of the dresser.

Now it is like a convertible... Lots of options!

I tried to keep the spirit of the inspiration photo while also keeping the character of the piece itself by letting some of the original paint layers and wood show through after some distressing.

I changed the hardware and added some wallpaper to line the drawers.

I think it turned out well and Aleisha has a beautiful new piece  of furniture in her home that adds character and charm. I loved doing this ~ thanks Aleisha!

A Desk Make-Over

Well, June has been a hectic month! I haven't posted anything as we have been busy every weekend doing recitals, tournaments, ceremonies and lots of birthday parties... It gets difficult to arrange pick ups when everyone else is just as busy in June. I have continued working with many projects though and hope to get most of them posted during the next week or two. First up I have this crazy cute desk that Alicia found at a garage sale for next to nothing.

It was a fixer-upper for sure, but the perfect size for a little girl's room. This baby needed a few repairs and some sanding to get into painting shape, but she turned out very nicely:

We changed out the pulls for some vintage-y looking glass knobs and I lightly distressed the whole piece. I like how this can showcase some of the history this desk has seen. Those dents and scrapes become so much more interesting this way:

After applying a layer of wax for protection, I added the finishing touch in the drawers:

A nice fresh liner to keep the pretty on the inside too.

I have several commissioned pieces on the go right now ~ they are all unique pieces that are undergoing some serious transformations. I look forward to sharing!


If you have a neglected piece of furniture that you would like to see "made-over", please contact me and we can discuss your vision!

Crazy Garage Sale Season and Kijiji...

This week has been a great week for getting rid of stuff! I have had a mini-garage sale on Kijiji, getting rid of stuff the kids have outgrown or no longer use. It feels so good to purge that stuff! Do you know what else feels good? Buying stuff! Kijiji gives and it takes away...


A few months ago I bought this bench on Kijiji:

It ended up not being quite what I thought it was, but sort of cool anyway. I decided to repaint it and recover it using some awesome fabric I found at Tonic Living. I had planned to use it at the end of our bed, but it just doesn't look quite right there. I do like the way it turned out though:

The colours are fantastic and so pretty together.


I have been wanting to try a tree stump idea I read about at The Art of Doing Stuff so I sourced a few stumps from my obliging (if confused) Father-in-law.

He brought me a selection and offered about 1000 more if these didn't work. Fortunately, they will need a few months to dry out so I don't have to worry about getting to work on them just yet.


Today I went to pick up a great bench I found on Kijiji that I felt might look a little better that the one above. It will need some work to make it look the way I want it to, but it has some great potential:

It is larger, but needs some new upholstery and paint. Just  my style...


The seller of this bench was very trusting and simply left it on her porch for me to look at and leave the money at the door if I decided to take it. I took it with me but missed some of the money in my purse (very embarrassing!). This afternoon I went back to complete the transaction and came across a garage sale on my way. Serendipity! I bought this little charmer:

It is so adorable ~ just a wee little ladder! I am not sure what will happen to it yet, but I love it already.


I am on the edge of becoming a candidate for Hoarders.

A Series of Smalls ~ Part 3

I think that this is my last smaller item to post for a little bit. I am working on some larger pieces that should be ready in the next few days as well as a commission or two.


{Gallery Shelf}

$25

I found this shelf at a thrift store a few months ago ~ I liked the shape, but it needed to be re-purposed a little bit. It had a row of tea-cup hooks on the underside and was a dated brown colour.

I flipped it around and mounted some buffalo clips on it above the pretty scalloped edge and I think it turned out alright. I know I am often challenged when my kids bring art home from school. With a stainless fridge, the time-honoured tradition of slapping it on the front of the fridge with a magnet doesn't really work anymore.

I just used the string to hang it for the picture ~ it does have hardware on the back for invisible hanging. It is a nice way of displaying temporary artwork or fabric samples or pictures or whatever you would like. The clips are pretty heavy-duty so they hold things quite firmly.

This shelf is
31.25 inches long
10 inches high
4.75 inches deep


Please email me or go here to purchase.