A Great Place to Shop

This weekend I went to visit my grandson, and I don't go anywhere without checking out the local antique shops and flea markets!  So I prowled around The Vineyard Antique Mall in Colleyville, TX.  It's a nice large mall with a variety of antiques and collectibles.

Now, I need to back up and tell you a story.  A few years ago my daughter went off to play college volleyball.  She found herself teammates with a precious girl named Ali.  She and Ali became the best of friends and today live close and are enjoying raising their babies together.  Anyway, Ali and her mom decided to start refinishing furniture and open a booth at an antique mall.  You guessed it!  They're new booth is at The Vineyard!  

So today I thought I'd show you some of the amazing pieces in Ali's booth!

Look at this awesome table!

She's painted the top in a muted harlequin pattern.

I love this little cabinet!  Oh, the possibilities!

Now you know that turquoise is my favorite, right?

Look at the gold gilding she put on the edges!

This beauty is painted gray on the outside...

And dark gray on the inside!

What an interesting bookcase!

This dresser won't last long!

Don't you love the herringbone?

So if you're ever in the Dallas-Ft.Worth metroplex, you might want to check out Ali's booth, Refuge Interiors.

Ali's got lots of eye candy!

And just in case you're wondering, I was not paid to talk about Ali's booth.  Just love the girl and her work and want to share both!

 

A Desk fit for Florence

My teachers come back to work on Monday.  I'm doing good to come up for air.  It's a good thing I got a few pieces finished before the back-to-school rush hit.

A few months ago I found a great desk and did a fun make-over on it.  You can read about it here.  Anyway, the desk sold the first week it was in the shop!  Well believe it or not, I was in a completely different city recently and found the same desk at a flea market.  I'm no idiot!  I bought that sucker and brought it home!

I decided to follow the same recipe: strip and refinish the top, paint and distress the body, wax, and apply new hardware.

So I started by stripping the top.  You can read more about stripping and refinishing the top here.

I applied a Black Cherry stain.  Then it was ready to paint.

I recently bought a new quart of Annie Sloan paint in the new color, Florence.  I decided to try it out on this desk.  So I gave it two coats.

I know this color looks like Provence, but Florence is really more of a green-turquoise.  This picture is deceptive!

I grabbed a sanding sponge and started distressing.

Then I applied a coat of clear wax and a dark wax glaze.

 The color in this picture is much more accurate.  It reminds me of Indian turquoise jewelry!

Let's party!

A Nightstand to Forget

My teachers come back to work in one week, so I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get ready to greet them.  So it doesn't surprise me when I forget something.  My brain's just trying to hold on to too much!

Last night I showed you how to strip and refinish a table top.  I used a pair of nightstands that I recently found at a flea market.  I promised tonight to show you the finished product.  Now I would have bet money that I took pictures of the process.  Evidently they fell out of my brain along with half the other stuff I'm trying to remember!

Fortunately I snapped a couple of pictures when I dropped them off at the shop this weekend.  Guess you can get the basic idea.

I painted them with two coats of ASCP Old White, distressed, clear wax and dark glaze.

This is the front of the nightstand.  The back has a built in magazine rack.  Pretty cool!

Guess you'll have to take my word for it!