Year: 2014

If I sometimes give the appearance of doing it all myself, you should know that in reality I have a lot of help.   With my one year blogiversary coming up soon, I thought I would officially introduce you what has become the cast of characters on q is for quandie.

First and foremost, of course, is Mr. Q.  My hubby of 25 years.  I’m pretty sure I couldn’t live without him. He is the brawn behind q is for quandie, helping me move furniture here and there.  He runs all over tarnation picking up craigslist buys.  He has also started doing a lot of the prep work for me; sanding and removing hardware.  He also is very understanding about my total obsession with refurbishing old stuff.  Really, he is just an all around good guy.

My sis (on left, that’s me on the right).  She lives in New Jersey (bummer!), but you’ll still see her mentioned all over the place on my blog.  She is always supportive of everything I do!  She visits as often as possible, and we travel together frequently.  Thank goodness for modern technology because we can text, call, email and just basically pretend like we don’t really live way too far apart.

Handyman Ken.   Several of my readers have gotten confused and think that Ken is Mr. Q a.k.a. my husband, but no, Ken lives next door.  He’s retired, so he has a little spare time on his hands for fixing stuff.  He is one of those guys who just knows how to make stuff work.  I think it’s a dying breed really.  I truly couldn’t do what I do without Ken.  He makes sure that the furniture I revamp functions the way it should.  He likes to sneak over during the day while I am at work.  Then, like magic, I come home from work to find that the furniture in my Carriage House has been magically transformed while I was off at the day job.  And best of all, he accepts payment in the form of wine!

New neighbor Karen, a.k.a. nnK.  She lives across the street from me and is my numero uno craigslist spotter.  She is always on the lookout for great pieces.  She’s also available at the drop of a hat to help me move furniture when Mr. Q isn’t home.  I can text her, and she’ll pop right over to lend a hand.  How fabulous is that?  nnK and her mom, Judy, are also there at every Carriage House Sale to help man the check out.

 

Sue (on left) is the other half of the Carriage House sale.  Sue and I have worked together at our day jobs for over 27 years (dear lord, how can that be possible I wonder).  We started hosting our sale together over 15 years ago and we are still going strong.  We’ve added other vendors here and there over the years, but in the end we find that we really only have enough space for stuff from just the two of us.  In the center of this picture is Sue’s sister Jan who always keeps me fortified with triscuits and cheese in a can while we garage sale! Cathy (on right) is the finder of free, or almost free stuff.  When she spots a cheap piece of furniture that she knows I can revamp, she grabs it for me every time!

And finally, there is me.  The creative mastermind behind qisforquandie.com (ha!  I say that with a big smirk on my face).  My real name is Linda, in case you didn’t know.  I started this blog nearly one year ago to share my furniture makeovers with the world, or really just the very small group of people who might be interested.

So, that is my fabulous cast of characters.  Hope you’ll continue to join us for another year of adventures!

I am so looking forward to my trip to Budapest and the cruise on the Danube River, but I am a little nervous about traveling in winter.  But, heck, I’m a Minnesotan for gosh sakes (you betcha).  I should be able to handle it.  I definitely have plenty of winter gear.  The real trick for me is figuring out which things to bring.

I recently purchased a new coat for the trip that meets all of what I consider to be the necessary requirements; waterproof, warm, comfortable, has good pockets, covers my butt.  All important factors.  I also got a great deal on it on the sale rack at Macy’s.  I also have a North Face fleece hoodie that I can add under it for even more warmth, not to mention some long undies just in case it is really cold.

I plan to style it up with some fabulous scarves, hats and gloves.  But I’m also debating about a suitable bag.  I like to use a cross body type bag when I travel, and it needs to be big enough to hold my digital SLR camera, maybe an extra lens, a bottle of water, definitely a collapsible umbrella, plus all of the usual suspects that go in your handbag.

I’ve narrowed it down to two choices.  I thought maybe you guys could help me pick.

Option 1 is a suede Crown Vintage bag that I picked up at DSW for $119.95.

I really love the look of this bag, but the drawstring top makes it a little tricky getting the camera in and out easily.  I take a lot of photos when I travel, so easy access to the camera is important to me.  Plus, the color of this bag kind of leans towards the khaki green side of grey.  It looks great here with my new furry infinity scarf that I bought at Carver Junk Co though.

But it doesn’t work quite as well with my aqua scarf and gloves.

Option 2 is an inexpensive Mossimo bag from Target that cost $29.99.

This bag is totally faux leather, but it has a distressed look that is almost believable.  The camera comes in and out a little easier with this bag.

It also looks better with the aqua ensemble (and I do plan to bring both the aqua and the furry scarves).

And let’s not ignore the fact that it is $80 cheaper than option no. 1.  However, it does look cheaper to me, and I doubt it will hold up as well as the more expensive bag.  I probably won’t use this bag at home at all, it will likely only be pulled out for traveling.  And only winter traveling at that, so it’s not going to get a ton of use.

There are definitely pros and cons to each bag.  I haven’t take the tags off either one yet, so both are still returnable.  So, tell me, which bag would you choose?

I thought perhaps some of my regulars would like an update on various subjects that sort of got left hanging on my blog.

My cruise on the Danube is still ahead.  We are going during Christmas Market season, which means we will get to enjoy this …

And maybe even this …

I don’t usually choose winter travel, but I’m getting prepared (more on that later) and am really looking forward to it.

Remember the Curtis Jere wall sculpture?  Or as Mr. Q fondly calls it, the deathstar?

Yep.  I still have it.  Here’s an update.  I sent inquiries to two auction houses that specialize in mid-century modern.  Palm Beach Modern Auctions would love to take it.  They estimate it would sell for $800 to $1,000.  But, I would have to ship it to them, and then they take a 20% commission.  I also contacted Wright in Chicago.  They estimated its value at $2,000, but they felt it wouldn’t be worth it to ship it to them and pay their auction fees (they did not elaborate on what those are) so they suggested I try to find a local buyer.  I have also contacted two MCM dealers in the Twin Cities, and so far neither of them have followed up with me.  I plan to continue trying to find a local dealer that specializes in mid-century, but meanwhile I am storing the death star!

Remember my grandiose plans for my front hallway?

Well, we got as far as ripping off the carpet and then the whole project was derailed by my decision to have  a booth at Junk Bonanza, and then spring came and I was so busy, and then summer came and I was still busy.  Now fall is here, and guess what?  I’m still busy.  Hopefully I’ll revisit this project over the coming winter!

Now, who actually remembers this one?

This goes way back to last March.  Mr. Q and I picked it up north of the cities on a frigid winter’s night.  I still have this piece, but I haven’t worked on it.  The plan was to deal with it over the summer when I would have some space to spread out in the Carriage House.  Instead, it keeps getting shoved to the back of the list in favor of pieces that need less work.  Plus, the more I look at it, the more I think it’s a dresser that was “married” to two halves of a dressing table.  Right?  And once you have that visual in your head, you just can’t get it out and the whole piece just looks weird.  I think I need to consider taking these pieces apart again.  What do you think?

Finally, there is this bed.  This came as part of a set.

I already refurbished and sold the dresser and the vanity that went with this bed.  But the bed needs more work.  I have it pulled out front and center in the workshop.  I hope to get to work on it soon.

I think I’ve touched on everything that is left hanging.  Did I miss anything?

I’m not making any promises on any of this stuff … well, except the cruise on the Danube, I’m definitely doing that one!

This past Saturday some of my gal pals, Sue & Cathy, and I took a road trip just south of the Twin Cities.  There are some great shops down in that neck of the woods that I have always wanted to check out.

We stopped in Carver first for a visit to Carver Junk Co.  I had met the owners of Carver Junk at the Miss Mustard Seed retailer training that I did last winter.  I’ve always wanted to check out their shop.  Carver is a tiny little town with lots of charm.

Look at this fab gas station.

And this gorgeous house.

I got some great stuff at Carver Junk Co.  A scarf, some earrings, and this fab vintage book.

I’m not sure what I’ll do with this book, but I just loved the different fonts on the pages.  I hope I can come up with a cool idea for using these pages.

Unfortunately I didn’t get any pics inside the store, but they had some really gorgeous furniture pieces, many of them painted in Miss Mustard Seed milk paint of course.

Our next stop was Shop 501 in Chaska.

I could have spent hours digging around in this shop.  I’m sure there were lots of treasures that I overlooked.  I did pick up a dyed grain sack from this pile though.

I’m not sure yet what I’ll do with it, but it looks pretty good just draped on an old ladder.

They had tons of great vintage pieces in Shop 501 …

including some great vintage toy trucks.  I’m always on the look out for one in my fave aqua color.  I’d love to have one for display at Christmas time.  My friends spotted one for me, unfortunately at $92 it was way out of my price range!

This one was sweet too.

We had a beautiful sunny day for our road trip, and it was interesting to see what other people are doing with their furniture makeovers.  I came away with some fun finds, and some ideas for future projects.

Who’s the fairest one of all?

Certainly not these two!  At least not yet.

A friend gave me these mirrors.  She was going to chuck them, but asked if I wanted them first.  They actually look nicer in this picture than they really looked in person.  They were kind of chunky/heavy looking, plus they have that 80’s finish on them.  I figured if nothing else, they would be great fun to practice painting techniques on.

Then I saw this pin, and was inspired.

And as luck would have it, this pinspiration piece was painted in Annie Sloan’s Louis Blue and Old White, with a wash of Coco, all three of which I happened to have on hand.  Plus, I’ve been wanting to try using a wash, so here was my chance.

I started with two coats of Louis Blue over everything.  As you can see, I never tape off mirrors when I paint the frames.  I just have at it, then go back later with a razor blade to remove the paint from the mirror.  The sharper the blade, the easier this is to do.  I go through a lot of blades, but Mr. Q purchased a package of 200 for me, so I have plenty!

Next I painted Old White around the frame and on the carved details.  At this point the colors are far too crisp for my liking.  You can also see here that I am not super particular about the lines between the blue and white.  I know that later I will be sanding those lines, and adding dark wax in the creases, both of which hide a multitude of sins.  So no need to be overly particular at this stage.

Next I mixed equal parts water and Coco to make a wash.  The general directions I read about using a wash basically said to paint it on, then wipe some of the wash off with a clean cloth.  This was a super messy process. for me anyway.  Luckily I was able to do it in the yard, so it didn’t matter that watered down paint was splattering everywhere!  Turns out, I’m not so good at this.  I think with more practice, I would improve, but honestly I don’t think there will be many washes in my future.  It gives a finish that just leans a little too much towards that ‘faux’ look for me.

After the wash dried, I hand sanded the edges and the carved details, then used a coat of clear wax followed by some dark wax in the areas I wanted to define further.

So … to recap, this was two coats of Louis Blue, two coats of Old White, wash with Coco, sand, coat of clear wax, coat of dark wax.  Phew!  That is a lot more steps than I am used to doing.  I haven’t even finished the second mirror yet, but I wanted to get some pics for a blog post before I lost the light.

I think they turned out gorgeous.  However, I don’t think the wash was worth the effort.  I could have gotten just as fabulous an effect with just the dark wax, and I feel like the wax looks a little more natural than a wash.

How about you?  Have you ever tried a wash?  Are you pro-wash, or anti-wash?