Me and SJP

My mom and I are big antique shoppers and recently we've have added estate sales to the mix. McKinley enjoys it too. He just hopes there will be trucks for sale and he's been on the receiving end of quite a few! 

On a recent antique shopping spree, my mom and I stumbled on this beauty! So what if it's covered in rust and has chipped paint throughout most of the surface? I knew it would be something gorgeous in the end! And I was right! It took some elbow grease to achieve, but it was totally worth all the work!

I used fine steel wool and scrubbed for hours! After that, I went over it with Clorox wipes and a clean rag.

   

This is the shelf from inside the cabinet. Yes, it's covered in rust and what I assume are paint can rings. This took some work!

I covered all the areas I didn't want painted in blue tape. The cabinet top is stainless steel and in excellent condition. The handles are stainless steel as well, but not in as great condition. There was a little rust here and there, but they buffed up nicely.

It was finally time to paint. I used Rust-Oleum in Eden. I wanted to give a nod to the era and Avocado green was the perfect choice. I also used a new tool This is a little nozzle that fits over the sprayer of the paint can and makes your live so much easier! And, I didn't walk around with a green paint finger for days.

   

And here is the final result! It is the perfect fit in my kitchen and the color is amazing! I am in love!

 

Now, this isn't what sold me on the piece, I loved it from the minute I spotted it, but there was a little sign was attached to the cabinet. It showed that Sarah Jessica Parker has the exact same cabinet in her bathroom! That's right, SJP and I have the same piece in our house. I love mine more, but they are equally beautiful. 

What do you think? To me, it's a little treasure! And it totally fits my interior style. Can't wait to see what my next piece might be! 

My DIY - The Vintage Hand

Years ago I was a young entrepreneur who had her own jewelry business. I designed, made, and sold my own pieces. I rented booth space for two years at the annual Overland Park Arts and Crafts Fair, I sent out monthly newsletters to my customers, held home parties, and consigned pieces with two boutiques. After several years of sporadic sales, and becoming a repair shop for pieces that weren't mine, I decided to close shop. I loved it and wanted to to become so much more, but in reality, I just didn't have the man power (or funds) to grow it.

My booth decor was very vintage inspired. I hung pieces from antique jewelry boxes, wrought iron stands, and this vintage ceramic hand. It was one of my favorites and my rings looked darling dangling from the funky piece. It's actually one of the only pieces I kept. I've tried incorporating into my bedroom several times, but the white and pink dots just simply clashed. Then I got the brilliant idea to paint it gold! Where this idea was five years ago is beyond me!

So ran to Michael's and picked up a couple of tiny cans of gold spray paint and got to work. 

At first I was worried about the polka dots. They're raised so I thought I might take sandpaper and try to sand them down. But then I feared I would completely ruin the piece. So I painted right over them. The result, cute! I don't mind the dots and they aren't nearly as distracting as I thought they would be. I love it! It took two coats and a thorough exam to make sure all the white had been covered. In between the fingers was where I found most of my missed areas.

I love how it looks with all my other pieces on my dresser. It really does compliment the rest of the decor. And I love how it showcases some of my favorite rings!

 

I love that paint is such a simple way to turn nothing into something! A piece I almost parted with, because I couldn't make it work in it's original state, gets a little face lift while adding a sophistication to my dresser. 

Are there pieces in your home that you've looked at time and time again and thought it needed a little upgrade? Share with us what it was and how you made it new again. I love breathing new life into tired things. 

And I promise, we're still working on the chair. It's slow going when you only get a day here or three hours there. I hope to have it completed by the end of the year. As for the bar? I have a few finishing touches to add and will be sharing it with you all soon!

My DIY - Bar Cart

  Does anyone remember this cart? I blogged about it a couple of weeks ago, but I hadn't really done anything with it. Between rain, windy days, and just no time, it sat all alone in my garage. I even packed it up and took it over to my parents house thinking I would get to it over there. Didn't happen. Then my son got this wild hair to spend the entire day on Sunday outside. That's right! It was 90+ and we spent the entire day outdoors. So what does one do after they've weeded the flower beds and hoed the garden? Work on a bar cart!

Here are the materials I'm planning to use on the cart.

I got to work on the legs. After consulting with my husband, we thought the best approach would be to take the legs off and work on each piece separately. Since I plan to spray paint the whole thing, it's best to do it in individual pieces than trying to cover up things and painting them by accident. The legs were attached by screws and nuts so I originally went at them with an adjustable wrench. Then my husband reminded me that he had a ratcheting screwdriver. Perfect! However, the nuts had rusted so it made it a little harder to remove. I was able to get four of the eight while Joel helped loosen the rest. Or should I say, I loosened them... Let's just say, I finally got it all removed.

  

The legs are now removed and looking rather rough around the edges. This little guy is full of rust, but in spots, not all over. I decided to see what a little fine grade steel wool would do. See for yourself. It made a world of difference. There are still specks of rust, but really hard to detect. And they would be fine, if I were going to leave them silver, but I'm not!

  

I painted them glossy black! Here's what I did. I took drop paint cloths and cardboard out in the yard and placed the legs a pretty decent width apart. I proceeded to spray lightly back and forth across each leg making sure it covered nicely without drips. Then I moved each leg so it wouldn't stick to the spot where I painted. I let it dry for several hours before I rotated each leg to spray on the other side. I will continue to do that until all sides are complete. 

I also sprayed the carts handle. I love, love, love the contrast against the yellow! Can you imagine what the red will look like? I'm thinking amazing! I plan to really cover the top to ensure no black paint gets on the yellow.

 

 Up next? Cleaning the shelves and prepping them for paint. And my dad and I have a game plan for the mirrored back. I honestly think this bar cart is going to be so chic! 

Stay tuned...

My DIY - July Fourth Nail Art

I'm not sure if nail art is still on trend, but I still like it! And, I like to dabble in it. But I'm not very good. They say practice makes perfect, but I don't have a whole of time on my hands....pun intended! So I drew some inspiration from Pinterest and decided to give a couple of cute nail art styles a try. 

Here is what I used:

For the first round, I used OPI Red, Essie Blanc, Essie Butler Please, and Revlon Night and Degas. I painted the majority of my nails red, using my ring and thumb as my accent nails. Those, as you can see, I painted with Blanc. I used the Revlon Night and Degas to create the stripes and totally went free hand. If you want a more professional look, tape off the stripes and paint. Just like you would a wall. I dotted the white accent nails with Butler Please and OPI Red. And that's it. Super simple and kind of cute, no?

For the second round, the only color I didn't use was the Revlon polish. But, I added Nicole by OPI  Rainbow in the S-Kylie. (I think this might have been from the Kardashian Collection.) I randomly polished nails in the red, white and blue polish, and went back over them with the glitter. I love how it gave them a little firecracker look! Or sparklers. I love those things!

 And last year, I did this cute design. A little here and a little there. A fun pattern that was totally whimsical!

With the fourth fastly approaching, would you give these nail art designs a try? If you have already, please share! I love to get inspiration from others!

Here's to the old Red, White, and Blue!

My DIY - Aluminum Rolling Cart

  So my elegant chair is still sitting in my parents foyer, but we have all the materials needed to begin re-upholstering it. It's just taking the plunge. I think my mom and I are nervous as hell to get started. Maybe we will be calling the professionals....

In the meantime, I'm excited to introduce you all to my newest estate find. My vintage 1950s aluminum rolling cart! Ain't she a beaut!?! There is a little rust here and there, but I'm going to get that all taken care of with a little light scrubbing. And, it needs a lot of cleaning. But I see so much potential!

 

Here's what I'm thinking. I'm going to paint the cart red! That's right, glossy red! And instead of leaving the legs and arm silver, I'm going to paint them glossy black. I need to replace the casters, it's in need of new ones, and I'm going to remove the plug-in. I love that it came with one! Nothing like keeping the appetizers warm during your dinner party! 

    

As Joel and I analyzed the cart, we've decided that it would be best to try and remove the legs and paint them first. I can't remove the handle, or the legs from the top shelf, but I can always cover the shelf while painting. Then I will move on to the shelves. I think it's going to look so sleek and chic when I'm done. 

Here are some of the materials I think I'm going to need. Fine steel wool to try and remove some of the rust and flaking paint. Clorox wipes to simply clean the whole thing. And of course paint! I'm going the spray paint route this time. I think it will cover better. If I went with a paint brush, I'm thinking you will see all the brush marks that it will leave behind. 

Lastly, I want to try and add a back to the cart. What do you think of a mirrored back? This way, you can display really pretty pieces that will reflect off the back of the cart. Now, it's time to figure out how to make that happen. I'm going to rely on my dad for that one!

I can't wait to get started on this one! Join me on the journey! I am loving this vintage recycling/upcycling! I think I need to find another estate sale and soon!

My DIY - The Elegant Chair

A little over a month ago, I hosted a garage sale to rid my house, and my life, of stuff. And believe me, have stuff. On that Friday morning, I looked out my window to see cars lined up outside our house. I thought gold mine! Everyone was here for my garage sale. Then I walked outside. The people in cars, and people outside, were lining up for the estate sale that was taking place next door. Okay, so they weren't here for me, but I didn't reap the benefits of their sale. As folks were heading there, or heading out, they always stopped by and eventually I was down to nothing by Saturday afternoon. I was a happy garage sale hostess!

But the downfall of the estate sale next door was that my mom and I shopped....a lot! She purchased mostly glassware and I walked away with a 1960s arm chair. And a dress. The dress is simply amazing. Definitely Rachel Zoe inspired, in my mind, and it's at alterations now. Can't wait to sport it soon and share this vintage gown. Did I mention it's a gown? Back to the chair. After spotting the dress, I spotted the chair. It was sitting there among all the clutter that goes with estate sales, but it definitely caught my eye! And I knew it wouldn't stay its current state. It would be transformed to this stunning piece of furniture that I would eventually sell. I got the chair the for half off. I waited until the final sale day to purchase. If the chair was still there, it was meant to be. And, on Sunday, everything was 50% off. And after much thinking, and conspiring with my mom and what I could do with the chair, we rearranged my house in order to make it fit. That's right, I am keeping the chair!

Here is my chair! My dad calls it my "elegant chair" and I think he's right. I've got big plans for this piece. I only hope it turns out like I think it will in my head. 

 And here are some of my early supplies. Fine sandpaper, fine steel wool (in case I need to go over it again once I've sanded), and my awesome paint color with a new brush. Not pictured, tack cloth. I asked my dad what was the best method to remove dust from the chair post sanding and he said this was the best stuff. It's tacky and it totally did the trick.

Here are some small details about the chair. It contains a ton of little grooves that needed sanding and were hard to get to. Imagine trying to paint them! Rough...no pun intended. 

 

So I just got to sanding. I didn't want to take it down to the raw wood. I just wanted to get the sheen off of the original paint. In the end, it was never super rough. There was a little smoothness to the wood. I wasn't sure I could ever get it off.

    

  

 

So I've sanded. And I've sanded and I've sanded. I've been covered in dust, in need of a manicure, and loving every moment spent working on this piece! Now it's time to start removing all the upholstery from the chair. Dear God, the staples and tacks that are involved.... Can't wait to share it all with you!

Stay tuned. Next week the elegant chair journey continues!