I AM SO VAIN

I have a love of vanities. I like ornate, glass ones

I adore little girl ones

and I drool over old ones that need tons of love

I can NEVER pass one up when I see one.

A few weeks ago, I got an urgent text from my bestie and furniture partner in crime about an awesome yard sale with gorgeous, unique furniture.  Without even looking at the furniture in person, both Angie and I texted the owner (my zumba friend Jane knew the woman - score) and we bought everything that we liked via email!  We scored an old vanity, stool, and 5 chairs for FIFTY BEANS!!! Now that's what I call good will hunting.

The chairs were smaller than what I thought, except for this beauty

I didn't get a great close shot, but the inlay of the wood is carved and detailed.  Sigh, I so wished I had somewhere in my house to put this.

I decided, since I have a giant can of blue paint, that I would paint the chair blue and use some of my leftover brown/cream zebra material.

I also got this awesome vanity at the yard sale

Terrible picture, I know.  My camera died 1/2 way through this project and my cat chewed the cord on my phone, so my pics showing this chair being ripped apart are gone.  Boo.  Suffice it to say that this chair was OLD.  Plus, it was made as one solid piece, so I couldn't take the legs off to refinish it.

Here they are halfway finished

I decided to try something new while painting.  I took the painbrush and painted until there was no paint left. Spots on the furniture didn't get any paint and others got too much paint.  Once it dried, I sanded random spots.  Then I took some walnut stain and put it all over then chair and vanity and wiped it off with a cloth.  I love how it turned out.  Best part being that I didn't have to sand anything!

Here is the finished piece(s)

I popped it on the auction that night and it sold immediately.  Although, I think we priced it too low and gave somebody an awesome deal.  Oh well, live and learn.  Next one will go for a little more.

Man, I wish I had room in my house for this.  I would have loved to keep it.  At least I know it will be loved and used somewhere else.  I am finding that the hardest part for me in redoing furniture is selling it.  I probably would keep 90% of what I make! Pin It

I STAND ALONE

We redid the living room at Christmas time and bought a nice, big sectional for family snuggling.  However, there is a little spot right behind the couch that has been driving me crazy since that time. So is how small my clock is, but that is for another day.

We were going to put an end table there, but it was kind of an awkward spot, and the couch is so high that we wouldn't use the table at all.

Our lamps are on the other side of the room and, like so many houses ( I don't know why), there isn't an overhead light.

That means that one side of the room is always bright and the other side is dark.   We can turn on the dining room light, but that makes it too bright.

Then, lightbulb (all puns intended), I thought "what about a floor lamp?"  Let me tell you, it is hard to find a tall light, much less one within my cheap budget.  Enter Varagesale on Facebook.

Look at the ugly thing beauty that I picked up for $4.

I did ask if it was lopsided.  I was told that the carpet made it sit funny.  For four beans, I was willing to take the risk.

Woot!!  It was exactly what I wanted and super tall.  I knew that it would work perfectly in that spot.

Enter my Island Splash spray paint and an hour of my day.  Voila

She`s looking better by the second, isn`t she?

I am not a huge fan of matchy matchy lamp shades, although the ones on my end tables match.  I decided that since this lamp was going to be across the room, I could go with a totally different fabric and pattern for this shade.

Let me tell you, I am getting to be a pro at shades.  I can tell how much fabric I am going to need, without wasting any of it, and I can get one done in about 1/2 an hour.  This is a huge improvement from my first lamps, that took me about half an evening to finish.  Practice makes perfect, right?

Here's my new lampshade, which, by the way, Abby Sue hates.  lol

So here's the finished piece, in the space where I want it to be.

Ok, so I love the height of the lamp.  But does anybody else think that the shade is way too small for it?  I am thinking that I need something 3 times that size.

CRAP!  Oh well, it will do for now and I will continue to search for the perfect shade.

Until then, here's a sneak peek at my next project.

This is going to be a fun project to sell on the auction.  More tomorrow.

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