q is for quandie

I’m still working with the pile of freebies that my friend Terri sent my way when her uncle passed away.  This pair of end tables was among the items she gave me.

They are very traditional and they have that 80’s sort of finish.  Just check out those shiny tops!

I kept passing them over in favor of other projects, mainly because I just wasn’t all that inspired by them.  I debated painting them a bright color, or just painting them black.  But in the end I couldn’t help wanting to give them each a union jack.

I’ve done a few union jack pieces in the past.  Every time I do one I’m reminded of how much measuring and taping there is, and how many steps it takes.  Paint a base color, wait for it to dry.  Tape and paint the white layer, wait for it to dry.  Tape and paint the 3rd layer, wait for it to dry.  You get the idea.  It’s a great project for evenings after work though because each step doesn’t take long, but you need that drying time in between.  I painted these over the course of last week.

But every time I do one of these, I’m also reminded of how much I love them.  I’m not even the tiniest bit British (well, maybe a tiny bit, I think my maternal grandfather had some ancestors that came from England), but there is just something about the design of the union jack that appeals to me.

As you can see, I chose to forgo the traditional red, white and blue in favor of shades of grey.  It tones down the design a little, and it will be easier for the future potential buyer to work neutral shades into their existing space. The base color is one of Fusion’s new colors called Putty.  The white layer is their new Raw Silk.  The 3rd color is a combination of Putty and another Fusion white called Champlain.

I like to use the Fusion paint when working with taped lines and multiple colors on one surface for two reasons.  First of all, Fusion paint won’t pull off with the tape like milk paint will (as long as your surface is prepped with some sanding/cleaning and you are sure to wait for the paint to be fully dry before taping over it).  And second, you don’t have to add wax with Fusion.  With chalk paint, I find that adding the wax topcoat tends to drag the other colors into the white.  This wouldn’t have been as big a problem with these grey tones, but if you’re using red it is definitely an issue.

I included the magazine with crisp whites and greys in this next photo to help you see that the Fusion colors I used are warmer versions of white and grey.

By the way, looking at how shiny those tops were, you might be wondering how well the paint did adhere as I was using the tape.  I debated using a coat of Fusion’s Ultra Grip on just the tops, but in the end I didn’t.  Instead I sanded them really well to rough them up.  I also gave each paint color a full 24 hours or so to dry before using tape on it.  I used the yellow Frog tape (for delicate and freshly painted surfaces) and I had absolutely no issues with paint pulling off on the tape.

After I made the decision to add the union jack to the table tops, I realized that I had the perfect replacement knobs.  It’s hard to see in the photos, but these knobs say “Regent Clockworks London” on them.

Unfortunately I only had two of them.  I had purchased them at World Market so I checked on line to see if I could buy two more, no dice.  Then I went to my local World Market to look for them, again, denied.  Argh.

I’m going to have to come up with two similar, but not matching knobs for the second table.

It seemed appropriate to stage my photos with my Perfect English Farmhouse book and an English ironstone tea set.

I think a paint job was exactly what these tables needed to give them a little more personality.

What do you think?

These tables are for sale.  For more info, be sure to check out my ‘available for local sale’ tab.

This year I’ll be observing Halloween in my favorite way;  staying home, wearing comfy fleece, and watching Hitchcock’s The Birds.  I would love to say that I’ll also be handing out candy to darling little kids in costumes when they come to my door, but historically we only get two or three ‘trick or treaters’ at our house.

But meanwhile I thought I would share a quick chair makeover with you.  The legs of this chair were sticking up out of my car with that haul of stuff I showed you last week.  Here’s how it looked when I pulled it out of the car.

I needed another chair to keep in my home office a.k.a. the Q Branch so that when my sister comes over she has somewhere to sit if we’re surfing the web.

Although it was gloomy and grey this past weekend, the temperature on Saturday morning was in the low 50’s.  It felt plenty warm enough outside to paint, at least for a tough Minnesotan like me 😉

I know that some paints require a minimum temperature of 60 or so, but not milk paint.  I checked with the Homestead House people and they said that I can apply milk paint in temps right down to freezing.  It will work perfectly well, but may take just a tad longer to dry in colder temps.  How handy in my climate!

So I headed out into the carriage house and painted three coats of a mix of Miss Mustard Seed whites (Linen, Ironstone and Grain Sack) on the chair.  As is the case on most pieces I paint for myself, I would have been thrilled with tons of chippy-ness but that didn’t quite happen.

I hope that it will wear more with use over time.  Fingers crossed.

I had a little paint left over while working on this project, so I pulled out a step stool that I picked up at another garage sale this summer.  This is the only ‘before’ photo I could find.

  It was already painted white but was a chippy mess.  Especially on the top, I’d say about 80% of the paint was missing from the top.  If you look closely you can also see that the paint was totally peeling away underneath.  One of my tricks with pieces like this is to scrape off the peeling paint, give it a good sanding and then just add a fresh coat or two of milk paint on top of the existing paint.  I don’t fully paint it, I try to leave the wear on the edges alone.  But the fresh white paint gives it a cleaner look.  Shabby rather than grungy.

The stencil just adds that little extra something.

I thought it would be fun to throw in my Happy Halloween pillow and share these pieces with you today.  I don’t intend to keep the chair and the stool together as a pair, but they would work well together, wouldn’t they?

I snagged the pillow from the $1 aisle at Target (although it cost $3).  It was the last one they had at my store when I grabbed it several weeks ago.  I am betting they went really fast at that price.

So, how do you like to spend Halloween?  Painting with milk paint outdoors?  Out prowling the streets with the kiddos?  Living it up at a costume party?  Or like me, warm and cozy at home with some hot apple cider and a classic horror film?

A while back I was headed home on my lunch hour (I live very close to my day job office) and I happened to see a garage sale sign.  Cue squealing brake noise.

I remembered having stopped at a sale on the same street a year or so ago, and if this was the same house they had some great stuff!

Sure enough, it was.  And once again, they had some great stuff.

I came home with a carload of fabulous finds.  I shared this photo on my Facebook page at the time.  Lucky I drive a convertible!

One of the items I picked up at that sale was this metal base (that’s it in the front passenger seat too).

I think this was probably the base to an old typewriter stand.  It likely had a wood top with drop leaves on either side.  I was really drawn to the chippy paint and to these cool industrial looking wheels.

I knew Ken would make short work out of cutting a new top for it out of some scrap barn wood that I had lying around.

Sure enough, I came home from work on Monday to find the finished product waiting for me in the carriage house.

I only had to do one more thing.  The newly cut raw edges of the barn wood looked pretty fresh.

We can’t have that!  So I rubbed some antiquing wax into those fresh cuts to ‘dirty’ them up a bit.

So shabby industrial metal base meets farmhouse salvaged barn wood.

I’m showing this little stand used as a small side table, but I also think it would make a great plant stand.  I’m also thinking about using it at Christmas as a tree stand.  I could put a small tabletop sized tree on it.

What do you think?

Have you ever been on a cruise?  I’ve been on a few, but I rarely manage to make it to the midnight buffet.  I’m usually still full from dinner.  We’ve gone a few times just to look at the carved melons or chocolate sculptures.

But today I’m talking about a different kind of midnight buffet, this is a Midnight Blue buffet.

Here is where it started out.

I was rather undecided about those carved medallions.  Please share your opinion on those with me.  Are they hideous?  Or would they have been kind of fab painted?  Would you keep them, or take them off?  I really wasn’t sure.  So I decided to see how hard it would be to remove them.  As it turned out, not hard at all.  So I took that as a sign and off they came.

They left some glue behind though.  And although I tried my best to sand that off without ruining the veneer, I wasn’t totally successful.  If you look at this piece from just the right angle you can see the splotches.

But I moved on and painted the whole piece in one of Fusion’s new colors, Midnight Blue.

It is the perfect navy blue.  I’m so glad they came out with this color.  I have several chairs that I want to paint in this hue too.

I only used one coat of paint on this buffet.  I was going for a distressed look.  If I’d wanted really solid coverage I would have added a second coat.  I did sand the edges for that distressed look.

I swapped out the original drawer pulls on this piece for some grey knobs that I picked up at World Market.  I think they help give it a slightly updated look.

The top drawer of the buffet has a clever little tray inside for silverware (or whisk brooms).  I replaced the green felt liner with some navy blue fabric that I had on hand instead.

Have I ever mentioned that I have a stash of old whisk brooms?  It may seem strange, but I once saw a wreath made out of them.  So I started grabbing them whenever I saw them at garage sales and I think I may finally have enough for a wreath, but now I’m no longer so sure I want one.  The story of my life.

I particularly love blue handle on this one though.

I have a small confession to make.  Those leaves didn’t just gracefully fall on my buffet for the photos.  I raked up a pile under my maple tree and then sort of scattered them about over the buffet.  It was really kind of fun playing with fallen leaves.

If you happen to be in the mood for a little midnight buffet, this one is for sale.  Check my ‘available for local sale’ tab for updated info.