A Pretty Mirror, Lilies and a sheepish return from renovation exile! ;)

Hello!

Is anybody still here?  It's been a little while, we have been renovating and for most bloggers this would be gold...  lots of progress photos, planning and reveals.  For me though it was all I could do to keep my head above water and keep on swimming through each day! 

I fully plan to share with you the reno details and a bunch of photos, but today, inspired by these beautiful Lilies I thought I'd dip my toe back into blogging with a mirror makeover...

I was drawn to the lovely curvy shape, the carved details at the top and the gorgeous bevelled mirror which follows the frame shape.  I didn't even remember to snap a before pic (I'm really out of touch with it I know!).

 

 

Mirror is available for sale, pop me an email if you are interested! 

 



Thanks so much for stopping by, it's lovely to be back! :)

Jo xox

 

Linking up here...

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Ikea Hack - "Rast" Drawers Makeover!

Hello!

Gosh where has the last month gone?  Time flies when you're having fun.  We are in the middle of planning our kitchen renovation.  In addition to the new kitchen we are replacing the entire floor in the back of the house and the back windows for French doors.  I'll post some pictures of our kitchen reno when we finally start!

I've also been quite busy working away on a few projects.  This one was too much fun...  my first Ikea Hack!  A lovely client asked if I could give these little Rast Drawers a personality makeover ;)

Here's the before, the Rast Drawers retail for $49.95.  It's a super basic little piece...  which comes in the raw ;) 















I started by adding some sweet moulding detail to the draw edges to add some much needed character.  This was sold in a 2 metre length and just fit in the car! 

I stained the piece in a colour called Brazilian Roast, which I think gives it a nice depth and is a lovely contrast to the ASCP Old White on the drawer fronts.  After some distressing and waxing I added some gorgeous glass knobs to complete the makeover.

I really enjoyed this little makeover and my client has a one of a kind set of drawers that's a little bit familiar! ;)

Happy Week!

Jo xx

Linking up here this week....

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Little Boy Blue.... A Cute Coastal Cupboard Makeover!

Hello lovely friends!

Gosh where have the last few weeks gone?  We've just finished school holidays here in Sydney, the kids returned on Tuesday.  It was nice to get some paint on my brush this week after a little break,  I've started a few new projects which I hope to share soon!  In the meantime I thought I'd share this cute little coastal blue utility cupboard that I finished just before the holidays.

 

 

We nicknamed him Little Boy Blue ;)  ...the name popped into my head whilst I was painting and kind of stuck, the kids even asked where I was taking Little Boy Blue when I was loading him into the car for delivery!  He sold really quickly, he's a versatile little chap and I can see him being quite handy in almost any room.

 



 

Thanks so much for stopping by... have a beautiful weekend!

 

Love,

 

Jo xx

 

Linking up here...

 

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Sweet Vintage Table in Annie Sloan Duck Egg

Hello lovely friends!

Blustery and cold in Sydney, which is enabling me to catch up on jobs around here and settle in our new baby.  Meet Miss Paisley Puppy!

Paisley is a Flat Coated Retriever and she's just divine.  She's totally stolen our hearts already.  I'd forgotten what it was like to have a new baby in the house... Crying in the night, accidents on the floor and so on!

Now onto a little project I finished a few weeks ago.  I love this little vintage table, it has great character and had been ever so patient biding its time in my garage, awaiting a makeover.





After completing BIG Bessy here one could say I'm hooked on Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. Love. 

So I was walking around the house looking for my next victim something to paint, which happens often and frequently sees our cat ducking for cover whenever she sees me with paint brush in hand!  I kid you not ;) 

Then I remembered this little table hiding in the garage.  I almost skipped to the garage to grab it and within minutes I was painting my little heart out :)


After:

I painted the side skirt detail in white for some contrast.

Addicted. 

Thanks for stopping by,

Jo xx

Linking up here....

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Aqualicious Hall Table and Mirror Makeover!

Hello lovely friends

I realised this is my 50th blog post, a milestone for my little blog!  Thank you so much for following along and for all your lovely comments, they warm my heart!  I feel so lucky to have had a few projects featured, including three in the last couple of weeks...  this is crazy exciting for my teeny blog.  You can check out my featured projects here :).

Now onto a Before and After Quickie!

I'm always on a mission to ban fake tan furniture... so when I came across this guy I knew I had to help him!  I fell in love with the shape and details of this piece..  and I knew he was destined for Aqua greatness!

 

The chair is part of a set of four which I refinished earlier this year.

Here's the before...  well made, nice shape, bad fake tan finish ;)

 

 

I also refinished this lovely mirror in the same aqualicious colour.  I find it tricky to photograph mirrors, I usually end up with a foot or an arm in shot...  not this time but I do have the 'leaning tower' of cushies in the background ;)

 

 

Thanks for stopping by lovelies,

Jo xx

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A Mid Century Coffee Table Refresh!

Hello Lovely Friends,

Long weekend here in NSW, after a morning of kids sports I delivered this coffee table back to its owner.... Jo from Poppy Handmade Designs, she's just gorgeous and one of my favourite clients.  She asked me to update her coffee table.  It belonged to her Grandparents so she wanted to keep it but tie it in with her decor. 

Here's a before pic....  Classic Mid Century design, again with that dreaded fake tan orange!! ;) 
It also had some water damage to the top.  Where liquid had penetrated the veneer and the particle board beneath had expanded :(


So here's how it transformed...

I stripped back the top and re-stained it.  The colour is called Brazilian Roast, it's lovely and rich (pic to the left shows the first coat going on).  When I took the tint base stain up to the paint counter and asked for Brazilian Roast, the cheeky guy asked if I'd like sugar with that! ;) 

I ended up doing four coats on the top, probably could of gotten away with 3 but I wanted to build up a deep rich colour and ensure it was well sealed.

I also stained the rattan shelf to tie in with the table top.

The frame received three coats of Annie Sloan Old White and some distressing per my client's wishes.

Here's how it came together in the end....

I also finished the little Coffee Table Caddy this week...  if you missed the post... click here to see :)

 

I couldn't do much about the water damage, but it's much less noticeable now.  The darker top really helps with that.  Anyway, hopefully it's now ready to face many more years!

Thanks for checking in!

Jo xx

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A Crafty Little Solution for those Dreaded Remote Controls.... A Coffee Table Caddy!

Good Morning!

A quick little post of something I whipped up the other day.  No before pics, I was literally watching tellie and looking at the remotes scattered on the coffee table. Ughh.  Next thing I know I was painting up this caddy to combat the coffee table chaos.  Being the only female in the house, the boys just don't understand my dislike of remote controls. Ugly things. And soooo many of them!

Anyway here's my crafty little solution... a sweet coffee table caddy!  Easy to move out of the way for Friday night pizza ;)  Holds said ugly remotes which are hopefully disguised somewhat by pretties yet easily accessible.

Finished in Annie Sloan Duck Egg and Old White {LoVe}.

What do you think about a Coffee Table Caddy?  Where do you stow your remotes?

That's a Hat Trick from me.. 3 blog posts in one week. Crazy!   I'd love for you to join me here and follow along my little blog :)

Have a happy weekend lovelies,

Jo xx

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A Vintage Table Makeover in Coastal Blue!

Hello Friends

I'm back to share a makeover I finished a couple of weeks ago.  Two posts in as many days... unheard of from me!  I guess that what happens when the weather is wild and wintery and you're housebound :)

 

This gorgeous half-moon table belongs to a lovely client who asked me to give it a much needed makeover.  Her hubby couldn’t quite see the potential and why she loves it... but hopefully after a makeover he’ll “get it” ;)  

I absolutely love the shape of this old piece, it has buckets of character and as soon as I saw it I knew it would come up a treat.

Before… 

He was in pretty bad shape, the top had two large holes all the way through and many layers of peeling paint.

As soon as he was dropped off I got started stripping the top back and repairing the holes.  

Old pieces like this one have the potential to be amazing with some time, patience and a whole lot of TLC.  If you happen to find a hidden gem at the back of Mum and Dad’s shed please note, more often than not, the paint probably contains lead.  Lead is very nasty and can be very dangerous so please, please use precautions.

Once he was all prepped, a horrid messy job, I gave him a good sand all over and undercoated him.  Then he was ready for some colour... going for a fresh Coastal look, I mixed up a beautiful shade of pale blue and gave him two coats.  Then took to him with some fine and medium grade sandpaper.  I finished him off with some gorgeous Annie Sloan clear wax.

 

I love how this piece turned out, the toughest part of my job here was handing him back!  


Hopefully my client's hubby changed his mind and now loves him as much as she does  ;)

Thanks for stopping by 

 

Jo xx

 

 

 

 

Linking up here....   my uncommon slice of suburbia ~  stacey embracing change ~ savvy southern style  ~  the dedicated house ~ home stories a to z  ~  the 36th avenue  ~  elizabeth and co ~ ivy and elephants  ~  the shabby creek cottage ~ the dedicated house - anything blue ~  miss mustard seed ~ redoux interiors ~  french country cottage

 

Power Styling and a Coastal Sideboard Makeover!

Good Evening Lovelies,

Sharing this piece I just finished for a lovely client.  I made over her TV cabinet last year, so when she emailed me about doing her sideboard to match I was very happy :)

Here's a before pic, orangey finish, but a well made quality piece.

 

 

I gave the piece a sand and good clean.  Then two coats of Zinsser and two coats of Dulux Lime Wash paint in white.  It's a thin yet chalky style paint, which sands beautifully but coverage is not fantastic hence four coats to achieve the look I was after...

 

 

 

 

I worked on this piece in the garage, aka my studio ;)  Due to its size and weight I decided against hauling it up to the house to take photos. 

 

 
I had limited time too, so a quick garage 'power styling' session was called for...


{*Power Styling... kind of like power walking or power shopping; only imagine a paint covered woman running around the house grabbing random objects and throwing it quickly together for the purpose of snapping some photos!}


Hubby and the kids didn't even bat an eyelid on seeing this set up in the garage...  I think they've become accustomed to my crazy antics ;)

 

 

 

 

 

I refinished the original drawer hardware and added some new crystal cut glass knobs to the cupboard doors for a touch of bling!

 

 

 

Who would of thought garage styling would be so much fun!   I wonder how many calories are burned Power Styling?  Have you had to style on the hop?

The sideboard was picked up this afternoon and my client loves it, which makes me very happy!

Thanks so much for stopping by,

Jo xx

Linking up here this week :)

  

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