q is for quandie

jazz up your guest room.

Published on September 5, 2014September 4, 2014 by Quandie15 Comments

I purchased a dresser from someone via craigslist a couple of weeks ago, and when I picked it up she said “oh, I also have the bed that goes with it, you can just have it if you want it.”

Um, yeah, OK. I hate to turn down free furniture.

Not too many people use a full size bed in the master bedroom anymore, but they are great for a small guest room. Or for a child’s bedroom. Or maybe you only have enough room for a double bed at the cabin?

This would be perfect for all of the above.

I painted the bed with Annie Sloan chalk paint, Old White and Coco. Then I added some vintage wallpaper border that I got from my friend Michelle to the foot board.

This bed has some charming details, but it’s not overly frilly. More tailored.

The bed retains its original label, which is kind of cool.

For those of you who are local, perhaps you have heard of the Golden Rule? It was a department store in St. Paul that opened in 1886. Eventually it became Donaldson’s, which may spark memories for some locals who go back that far. The Golden Rule building still stands in St. Paul, although it has been turned into offices.

It really is somewhat challenging to get interesting photos of a bed frame without a box spring, mattress and linens. While painting this bed, I thought about how it would look fully made. With pillows in front of the headboard, a good bit of the Coco will be covered up. I think this bed would be gorgeous with crisp white vintage linens and then a pop of the Coco color with this throw from H & M.

But since I don’t have a spare box spring and mattress handy for a photo shoot, you’ll just have to use your imagination.

So, what do you think?

another golden oldie.

Published on September 2, 2014August 30, 2014 by Quandie9 Comments

Going back and re-visiting some of my furniture rehabs from my pre-blog days has an added bonus. I can correct the photos. Such is the case with this one, a gorgeous dresser that I painted with MMSMP in Grain Sack last fall.

Those of you who are familiar with MMSMP know that Grain Sack is a white with grey undertones, some might even call it a very pale grey. In my original photos the white balance was way off. See …

Wow … looking back I can’t believe I was happy with these photos. Yikes!

In the new and improved photos, you can see that the color is much more grey than cream.

This dresser has the most beautiful detail. Is there an official term for that kind of swagged curtain? Does anyone know?

The hardware was quite pretty as well.

This one ended up with just the right amount of chipping to look genuinely aged.

This dresser sold up at the Round Barn. I think to the owner’s mom, if memory serves. I hope she loves it and it is serving her well.

the good, the bad and the ugly.

Published on September 1, 2014August 31, 2014 by Quandie11 Comments

Today I am stringing together some random stuff that is good, bad or ugly.

Let’s start with the bad. First of all, my sister has gone back to New Jersey. Sniff, sniff. One of my fondest wishes is that my sister would move here to Minnesota. I’ve tried to convince her to no avail (so far!). Perhaps one day. Meanwhile, I have to make do with periodic visits, texts and phone calls. I already miss her, even though she totally bosses me around most of the time.

As for the ugly, my computer died. Yikes! It was old and ratty, a hand-me-down computer from Mr. Q. The easy fix was to just get a new one, so I did. But that led to the really ugly part. While loading stuff on to the new computer, it became infected with a browser hijacker! If you’ve never had one, thank your lucky stars. Basically it takes over your computer while you are on the web and brings up random tabs full of products that you have absolutely no interest in. And every time you delete the stuff, it just comes back again. I’ve never been so frustrated in my life. Getting rid of the hijacker was a challenge, but fortunately Mr. Q was up to it. Knock on wood, I think I am in the clear.

Now for the good! The really fabulous, super duper, amazingly good. As I mentioned earlier, I am going on a trip! Where? Well, here’s a hint.

Have you guessed it yet?

Here is a bigger hint.

Woo hoo! It’s a cruise on the Danube. We sail from Budapest to Nuremburg, with stops in between in Vienna, Melk, Regensburg and Passau. “We” includes me, Mr. Q, my sister and my mom.

We weren’t really in the market for a fabulous European vacation at the moment, but let me explain. You see, my mom is a travel agent. A while back she took some online familiarization courses with Viking Cruise Lines, and when she finished them her name was thrown in a hat to win a free cruise on the Danube. Yep. Free (except airfare). And she won! Long story short, the rest of us got a great deal on joining her. It was too good of an opportunity to pass up. Thank goodness I just renewed my passport!

I think the universe has been listening to me lately. First I was wondering when I would ever have more photos to add to my travel gallery wall, then came the ‘travel the world desk‘. I’ve been sending the travel vibe out there, and it came back with a bang!

Needless to say, we are all super excited about the trip. My sister and I are BIG on planning. Sometimes the planning is half the fun! We are busy scouring guidebooks, surfing the web for tips and trying to decide what we want to be sure and see in each destination. We’ll be spending several extra days in Budapest, so that is our main focus. Have any of you been to Hungary, Austria or Germany? If so, I’d love to hear about what you saw or did there! Or any other travel tips you may want to share. Bring ’em on!

champ de lavande server.

Published on August 29, 2014August 28, 2014 by Quandie16 Comments

I picked up this petite server at the Highland Park garage sales. It wasn’t in terrible shape aside from being a bit dinged up. It really just needed a cosmetic makeover. An updated look.

I went with Annie Sloan chalk paint in French Linen again.

I felt like the little detail below the drawers needed to be drawn out with some white paint.

I freshened up the inside of the cupboard area with some dark charcoal grey ‘oops’ paint that I had on hand.

Although I have staged this piece as a server for the dining room, I think it would be perfect in a foyer as a place to drop the keys and mail.

You could put shoes or purses in the bottom cupboard, gloves and scarves in the drawer.

So, there you have it, a fun little makeover.

breakfast on the deck.

Published on August 27, 2014August 25, 2014 by Quandie14 Comments

When my sis arrived, we were having an awful spell of disgustingly humid weather. I don’t know about the rest of you, but humidity does my house no favors and it is my least favorite weather condition. I do not have central air (radiators, not ducts). I do have a couple of window units, but only use them when the situation is really dire. In this case, it was very humid but not especially hot, so I left them off. As a result, my house was sticky, smelly, damp, ugh!

So I was delighted to wake up on Monday to fresh breezes and a distinct drop in humidity levels. Plus as an added bonus, the sun was shining. So I thought it would be lovely to have a leisurely breakfast on the deck.

I may have mentioned before, I am the type of cook that has to dust her stove. In other words, I don’t really cook. But I can cut up some berries, brew up some coffee and toast some english muffins. Well, actually, my sister did that part (she got the cooking genes in our family).

I may not cook, but I can set a pretty table.

A mix of vintage and new. The monogrammed glasses came from Goodwill. How could I pass them up? The cafe au lait bowls were ordered online for what I confess was some exorbitant sum. The numbered plates are from Target. The pitcher and ironstone bowl for the berries were both garage sale finds.

This is how I roll. Spend pennies on most stuff, but occasionally splurge on something special.

Can you see my fabulous napkins? Those are from Jeanne d’Arc Living, and I bought them online (you can order some for yourself here). I only break them out for special people.

My deck happens to be a particularly lovely spot for breakfast right now because my Limelight hydrangeas are in full bloom.

The Key Lime hydrangeas next to the photo cottage are looking pretty good as well.

This, in a nutshell, is why I love hydrangeas. They are covered in blooms, with absolutely no effort made on my part at all. The flowers last forever, and when dry I will add them to my window boxes where they will look good all winter as well.

You may have noticed my deck chair pillows. I have to tell you, I made a mistake when ordering them from Restoration Hardware. I got them on clearance, and I thought I checked the size, but when they came, they were far too wide for my chairs. So, my friend Sue chopped off a bit from each end (thanks goodness for friends who can sew).

I was worried it would look ridiculous, but I think it works. If I hadn’t told you, would you have thought they were meant to be this way?

My sister and I lingered over breakfast for quite a while. Partly because it was just so darn idyllic on the deck.

And partly because we were pouring over these.

Yep, we are planning a trip! And it’s going to be an exciting one. Pretty soon I will have some more awesome travel photos to add to my gallery wall, and I am so excited! I’ll share more on that soon. But meanwhile, we set place no. 4 for you, want to join us?

summit ave.

Published on August 25, 2014August 24, 2014 by Quandie9 Comments

My sister has arrived for a visit giving me the opportunity to be a tourist in my own town. On Saturday we headed over to a yard sale on Summit Avenue in St. Paul. According to Wikipedia, Summit Ave “remains a well-preserved example of a Victorian residential boulevard.” We did the official walking tour of Summit through the Minnesota Historical Society the last time my sister visited, so after checking out the yard sale, we headed of down some side streets instead of staying on the main boulevard.

It was a gloomy day, and I was taking pictures with my phone which I am no good at. I was kicking myself for not bringing my camera. My But I’ll still share our adventure with you.

Behind the beautiful mansions you’ll find some original cobblestone alleys.

The houses just off Summit are not quite as grand, but they are still lovely and many have fab gardens.

It’s a great place to get ideas for your own garden planter combinations, or perhaps a faux bois fence.

Ultimately we ended up back on Summit Ave, where we admired some of the more extravagant homes including this one that happens to be for sale. The price? A mere $1,695,000 (check out this link to see photos of the interior). Let’s buy two!

The detail on the columns of the brick house is just gorgeous.

We also peered into this secret garden.

We ended our morning with lunch and mimosas on the patio at the Wild Onion on Grand Avenue.

Jen’s house, part two.

Published on August 22, 2014August 21, 2014 by Quandie15 Comments

Today we are going to continue our tour of Jen’s house by moseying on in to the bedrooms and bathroom which are all through a little hallway off the dining room. Can I just say, I am a sucker for a vintage built in with all of its original hardware. Seriously, how fab are these?

The laundry shoot was an amazing invention. I suppose having laundry facilities on an upper floor is an even more amazing invention, but I wouldn’t know from personal experience!

The grey on her walls here, by the way, is Sherwin Williams’ Light French Gray.

There are two bedrooms with a bathroom in the middle. Let’s head into Jen’s study first, which also happens to be where she placed the dresser she purchased from me!

Aren’t her floors simply gorgeous? I’m totally envious of their pristine condition. She did have them all re-done before she moved in. Smart move! Jen was asking my advice on how to style this room. I like the idea of a wall quote, like this example from pinterest.

This would work really well around the corner of the wall next to the yellow dresser.

I also think one of those vintage pull down schoolhouse maps would look great on the wall over the desk, don’t you agree? If it had some yellow in it, that would help pull that color over to the opposite side of the room.

Jen’s bathroom has gotten a little makeover with paint.

She painted the walls and the base of the vanity. I know that down the road she’d like to make some more significant improvements in here, but like her kitchen, it is spruced up and presentable as is. I am always a little sad when it is obvious that the original sink has been changed out for one of these. I had this style vanity in my own house when I moved in rather than the original sink. One day I would love to find a vintage sink that would work in my bathroom.

Jen is lucky to have what appear to be the original floor tiles though, aren’t they fab?

Those blue ‘flowers’ made from the hexagon tiles are simply smashing.

Finally we come to the master bedroom. I absolutely adore the color that Jen picked for her walls, Coral Gables by Benjamin Moore.

Isn’t it gorgeous? A lot of us would be afraid of using this much color on the walls, but it works beautifully here paired with the more neutral tones in her upholstered headboard and her pale grey duvet cover. The first time I was in Jen’s house the sun was out and this room just glowed with cheery coral goodness. I am very tempted to borrow this color myself. It would be perfect in my study, or my guest room.

And the light fixture is amazing. Jen added this herself. I was surprised because it looked vintage to me. It’s perfect for above her bed.

And here is Jen’s gallery wall, which also pays homage to places she’s been.

I bet Jen will be adding to this wall over time with more pictures of fabulous places!

I hope you enjoyed your tour of Jen’s home and will join me in thanking her for letting us all have a peek inside. I enjoy seeing what other people are doing with their spaces, especially those with an extra dose of character thrown in and I bet you do too!

Thanks so much Jen! I hope you’ll stay in touch and keep us updated on your future projects.

a breath of fresh air.

Published on August 20, 2014August 19, 2014 by Quandie7 Comments

Remember the beautiful yellow and white dresser I painted? Well, I sold it to a lovely young woman named Jen via Craigslist. As it turned out, Jen had an old dresser that she wanted to part with so we made arrangements to bring the yellow dresser to her and pick up the discarded dresser for me. This gave me the opportunity to see Jen’s home, and I was totally smitten with it. I loved her fantastic classic Minneapolis bungalow, her color choices, her mix of vintage and modern, and her sweet little Corgi’s whom she writes about in her own blog, Sassy Little Corgis. So, on a whim, I asked if she would be willing to let me share her home on my blog, and she said yes! So last Sunday I popped over to Jen’s and took a million photos to share with you. So many in fact that I’m breaking her house tour into a two-parter.

Jen’s bungalow in the Longfellow neighborhood was built in 1925. One of the things that drew me to Jen’s home is that the layout is identical to my grandparent’s home that was in the same area. I also wonder if Jen’s home could be a Sear’s house. Maybe?

Jen has a darling little entry porch that welcomes you to her home. Her Wisconsin pillow was ordered from Etsy, and yes, Jen is originally from the Badger State.

She just moved in to her home this past April, and considering that she’s been in her place less than 5 months, I think she’s done some great things so far. We’re starting in the living/dining room that was already painted this lovely rich green when Jen bought the house. She brought in this gorgeous sectional from West Elm. I love its mid-century, tailored sort of vibe. It’s also quite comfy (and on sale at the moment)! Across from the sofa is a fab mid-century credenza that Jen found with a little help from Craig and his list. She has cleverly outfitted it for her TV with the components just inside the cupboard door. Her router is velcroed to the back! How clever is that? Velcro, people! Get on it.

What really impressed me about Jen’s house is the way she makes vintage feel hip and modern, giving it a breath of fresh air.

Her 1925 bungalow has gorgeous woodwork including an absolutely amazing dining room built-in that is in fantastic shape.

(Look out Jen! Sneaky candid shot!)

That door to the left with the gorgeous glass knob leads up to the attic. I’ll admit, I asked Jen to let me go up there. It’s unfinished, but my grandparents had one just like it and I had to see it. It even has that old house attic smell that my grandparent’s attic had. You gotta love it. Right?

Speaking of love, how about Jen’s dining set. The chairs are from Target, sometimes they have the best stuff. I didn’t mention this to Jen, but my dining room chairs are also from Target, but not as cute as these. I’m tempted to run out and get these. They look super comfy, like you could sit around and drink coffee after dinner and not have your behind fall asleep. These chairs work beautifully with her round table, and the entire set is sized perfectly for her space.

The doorway to the right leads to the kitchen, and I believe I may have had a momentary flashback when I stepped through. I’m telling you … my grandparent’s kitchen was the exact same size … which is to say small. Sometimes I wonder if I am mis-remembering how tiny that kitchen was. But now having seen Jen’s kitchen, I know I’m not.

Jen is making every inch of her kitchen count with this butcher block cart.

And as you can see, she gets plenty of light from two windows to keep it bright and airy feeling.

Now, just get a gander at this wall of gorgeous original kitchen cupboards!

Gorgeous, right?

But I am wondering about the fridge. My grandparents did not have a fridge in the kitchen proper, it was out back in the hallway. Jen has a fab built in pantry in that spot, see …

Anyway, there is clearly a spot for the fridge in Jen’s kitchen, but I am guessing that few houses had electric refrigerators in 1925. Did they have an icebox there instead? Or were the cupboards re-worked later to fit one in? Jen is worried about being able to find a new one to fit in this spot, should this one ever need replacing, but I suggested she check out a SMEG. They aren’t cheap, but they are gorgeous, and small. Hey, guess what Jen? West Elm carries one!

Here is the opposite side of the kitchen. A simple sink and stove. Jen painted the white tile. It was an odd pink and purple-ish swirly mess when she bought the house, but now it is fresh and clean. I would never have guessed it was painted. She also painted the sink base, and added the floating shelves above the stove.

Before Jen moved in to her house, she took the time to repaint and do a lot of freshening up, like painting the tile. I like that everything is clean and fresh and liveable for now, and then down the road she can make more expensive changes bit by bit. I know she’d like to eventually have a nicer sink area in her kitchen, but this is perfectly presentable and functional for now.

I hope you are enjoying the tour of Jen’s cute bungalow as much as I did. Stay tuned, in my next post we’ll see the rest of her lovely home!

my bus buddy.

Published on August 19, 2014August 17, 2014 by Quandie8 Comments

My friend Vonda and I have been bff’s since before it was cool, or possibly even a thing, and today is her birthday!

Way, way, way back in 1973 my family moved from Chicago to Minnesota. I was in the 4^th grade, and I was painfully shy. In Chicago I had walked to school, and it was just across the street from my house. We even went home at lunchtime. When we came to Minnesota, I had to ride a bus and eat lunch at school, a terrifying prospect for a shy 4^th grader. To make matters worse, the bus driver drove that bus right into a ladder that was sticking out of the back of a pickup truck during my first week of school. I swear that ladder came straight for my face! After that, I must have put up a huge fuss about riding the bus, so the school came up with a plan. They assigned me a bus buddy. Poor Vonda got called down to the principal’s office! She was sure that she was in serious trouble for something. Instead, she was informed that she had to sit with the new girl on the bus. Can you imagine? I’m sure she wasn’t thrilled.

Flash forward 40 some years, and here we are, bff’s. There has been lots of water under the bridge in 40 years. I’ve moved around … living in Florida, South Carolina and finally back here in Minnesota. In general, our lives have often taken us in different directions. But our friendship has gone along for the ride and we’ve always stayed in touch.

That’s Vonda on the left, me on the right.

We’ve traveled together with our husbands, including an amazing Mediterranean cruise (me with short hair, yikes!).

Our husbands still don’t believe our story about the two very handsome Italian men who tried to pick us up on the Spanish steps in Rome while they were off in search of beer and band-aids … but it really did happen. They had Vespas, and wanted to show us the sights. Wink, wink. Vonda’s husband still insists that their names were Fic and Titious … get it? Then there was our crazy afternoon spent in a Turkish market, where Vonda was sure she was going to be sold into white slavery, and we really just wanted some Turkish coffee but somehow we all ended up with leather jackets.

We also enjoyed a Caribbean cruise. Here we are in our rented jeep in Aruba.

We switched it up, ladies in the front, gentlemen as back seat drivers!

Vonda and I don’t always share the same interests. She sleeps in on Saturday’s, I get up bright and early to hit the garage sales. She has some furniture that I wish she would paint, but she’s not a fan. She loves trivia of any kind, I am hopeless at it. Her favorite wine is Chardonnay, and I’ll drink any wine but that. She prefers the elliptical machine; I’d rather take a Zumba class. But, we both love sitting around a pool, drinking a cocktail, painting our toenails and reading trashy magazines and luckily we got some of that in this summer.

So today, I hope you all will join me in wishing Happy Birthday to my bff! Here’s to 40 more years of friendship. Love ya V!

the perfect Saturday.

Published on August 18, 2014August 17, 2014 by Quandie8 Comments

I’m sure I’ve mentioned in the past that Mr. Q does weddings. As the officiant. Last Saturday he had back to back weddings. The first wedding was a morning wedding being held at Cindyrella Gardens. Here is the view from their parking lot, gorgeous, right?

I dropped off Mr. Q and headed straight for an estate sale sign that we saw on the way down. The estate was massive, a giant house filled with giant (and expensive) stuff. Not really my thing, except I grabbed some art. They had a lot of original artwork, and some was reasonably priced (I assume they are by no one famous!).

I plan to paint the frame on this one, perhaps a nice charcoal grey.

By the time I was through the check out line, Mr. Q had the happy couple all hitched up and was ready to head off for wedding number 2, which just happened to be in Oronoco. Which was basically a sign from above telling me that I absolutely was going back to the Oronoco Gold Rush this year.

Oronoco is a little over an hour south of here, just north of Rochester, MN. Once a year they host an antiques flea market that takes over the entire town. It’s filled with fantastic vintage-y stuff as far as the eye can see. I was a little surprised that someone from Oronoco would choose to get married during Gold Rush weekend, but hey, who am I to question the way the universe comes together?

Not only did I get to go to Gold Rush, but we got paid mileage for driving there for a wedding. Score!

It seems like each year the vendors get better and better. Quite honestly, it is almost overwhelming to be surrounded by so much fantastic vintage stuff.

If you want some vintage luggage, this is the place to find it.

How about a cupboard with a patina that you just can’t fake?

There were lots of things in my fave color, aqua, and how about this pretty lampshade dressed up with a vintage apron?

I was in the market for a vintage fan to use for photo shoots, but this one was a bit out of my price range.

However, aren’t the little paper dress price tags the cutest thing ever?! I asked the vendor if she was selling the tags and she said no, but she had some extras, did I want them for 50 cents each? Heck yeah I did! Not only did she sell me a bunch of them, she also showed me how to make them … now let’s see … how did that go again?

On top of being surrounded by all of this vintage yummy-ness, I also ran in to a few people I know. Like Jody from Farmhouse Inspired in Hudson. She was giving demonstrations on both the Miss Mustard Seed milk paint, and another paint line that she carries, American Paint Company. I was so engrossed in our conversation about paint, that I completely forgot to take pics in her booth. She was kind enough to give me a sample of the clay/mineral based paint from American Paint Company, and I also purchased some of their Navajo White for an upcoming project.

I also ran into the guy who made my warehouse cart coffee table, Ferrous Furnishings. Remember it?

He was selling some very cool stuff, like this cool lamp and awesome cart.

I also walked into the most charming booth by Vintage of Ada. The gal running it looked so familiar to me. Turned out we had met at Junk Bonanza. She had the most amazing travel typewriter and the cutest little vintage toy stove (you know how I love miniature stuff!).

She also had some fab vintage clocks and scales.

All in all, I had a fantastic time wandering around, drooling over gorgeous stuff. I didn’t bring home much myself, the paint, a clock, a pretty sugar bowl (sometimes I can’t help myself) and a tote made out of salvaged barn wood (you’ll see that again later in the week). But I loved looking!

My perfect Saturday almost had a calamitous ending though. You see, the plan was that Mr. Q would text me when he was ready to pick me up. I forgot to factor in the possibility that the Gold Rush was located in a black hole of cell service. Sure enough, around the time I was expecting him to text, I checked my phone. No service. We should have made a better plan!

I looked around, the place was a mass of people and a maze of booths. Even I wasn’t sure where I was, Mr. Q would never find me.

The sun was beating down on me, I was carrying the barn wood tote, and the paint and my camera all of which were getting heavier by the second. I was thirsty and there wasn’t a bit of shade to be found. All I could think was that I might be wandering around for hours, lost in a sea of vintage.

I tried to use my head and I walked to the spot where Mr. Q had dropped me off. He wasn’t there. But then I saw a bridge over the river ahead and decided perhaps I could get cell service out there. Sure enough, I had a signal! All was not lost. I called Mr. Q and he picked me up about 5 minutes later where I was waiting in the shade of this old building.

And thus, my perfect Saturday ended perfectly.