Before & AFTERS!!!

 

 

i always used to wonder where people got their "creative visions".  it seemed they could look at a pile of junk and see beauty.  i would look at the same pile and see a trip to the landfill!  lately, i've been getting better at looking past the surface and trying to think outside the box.  sometimes its really hard.  sometimes i still see garbage.  but more often than not, i see something that needs a new lease on life!!  below are just a few of my favs!!  enjoy, be inspired, and GET CREATIVE!!!  

 

 

 

 I picked up this drab looking number at an auction.  all sad and brown.... but alittle coat of Annie Sloan CP "Florence" and BAM!!  now she's a show stopper!!

 

1950's Toy Chest

this was a project just for me!!  in the before pic, you see a toy chest that was built in the mid 1950's for my mother!  this is it's ORIGINAL state!  even the vinyl is original!  before doing this project, i cleared it with my mom.  some people are sensitive to changing the original piece and compromising it in any way.  i respect that and didn't want to upset my mom.

as you can see, my mom was fine with an update for the beloved toy chest!  two things i did though:

1.  i left the original vinyl on.  i just went over it with the new upholstery.

2.  i did not fill in any nail holes or imperfections in the wood.  it was kinda cool thinking that the last person to ever work on this box was my grandpa... over 50 years ago!

i LOVE this funky bright fabric!  i used CCC's "Maine Harbor Blue".  in this pic, it's not waxed yet, but i was too excited to not take a pic!! 

 

the sad box that once sat in the basement furnace room will now be a statement piece in my living room!!  i think my grandpa would be proud :)

 

 

 

 this picture frame was a garage sale find.  it was so depressing looking it took me three months to dig it out of the pile and work on it!  i <3 old books, and when my puppy chewed one of my favs, i was pretty mad.  but i quietly tucked it away, certain i could salvage it in some way... sure enough, one of it's pages, a little puppy nibbled, fit perfectly in this 5x7 cutie!!  i think it would be adorable in a nursery!

little boy blue

another garage sale, this frame was also very dreary.  i softened it's look with CeCe Caldwell's "Blue Montana Sky" and i think it's just lovely!!  there are touches of "Alaskan Tundra" and "Pure White".  I also made a concoction of Pure White and clear wax... and coated it in that.  that aged it as well by distressing the paint.

 

 

 

Lady Lilac

 Lady Lilac was a craigslist find.  she may not look like it in the picture but she is a BIG GIRL!!!  i under estimated her size and when the seller saw us pull up in our Mazda 5, he chuckled and said "you'll never fit it there".  well, WE DID!!!  but my 6' 3" husband was NOT very comfortable on the 45 minute drive home!  i think it's so cool what the paint did for this dresser!!  in the before picture, you don't even notice all the cool trim and designs on the front!  i opted to use this "purple'ish" color mike created.  he WANTED brown... what he got was nearly a QUART of purple!!  perfect because like i said, she was a big girl!!  the accent color is ASCP "Old Ochre".  LOVE Old Ochre!  one of my new favs!!  we kept the original handles, but she's getting new pulls.

 

 

 

 

Victoria

there was nothing exceptional about this garage sale dresser.  nice and solid, but super boring!  I dressed him up with ASCP "Olive" on her body and "Versailles" on her drawers.

 

 

 

 

 

Hope

 

i knew "hope" had potential the minute i saw her!  she was one of my father-in-law's finds.  and i decided to do something special with her.  when Hope sells, 50% of the proceeds will go to "Hello Gorgeous" an organization that provides women fighting any type of cancer with a day long make-over!

 

  she was so dark and drab.  her new colors are ASCP "old white" and a custom pink made from "old white" and "primer red"  i think she's absolutely beautiful!

 

 

George

there is just NOTHING cute about this... thing!  another one of my father-in-law's finds.  when he called to describe it to my husband, it supposedly SOUNDED great!!  when he brought it over, mike was quite sure it would be kindling because NOTHING could help it!!  we've since insisted his dad get a better phone with pic and texting!!

alas, mike was wrong!!  there was hope for George!!  first step- LOSE THE "JETSON" LEGS!!! those things were a bad idea in the 50's and they are STILL a bad idea!  ugh!  we replaced them with some plastic feet we salvaged from a couch we threw out.  step two- DITCH that DISASTROUS GLASS!!  Lord help me!  now... PAINT!!!  i used a ASCP custom color of "Coco" and "Old Ochre".  inside is CeCe Caldwell's "Virginia Chestnut"... a new fav of mine as well!!  the original hardware was GROSS!!!  so we put on a simple dark brushed brass.  what once was a hideous... thing is now an awesome Retro TV Stand!

Jordan

jordan was a great garage sale find.  i loved her so much, when i brought her home, i went right to work on her!!  she got a coat of ASCP "Graphite" and then she got dark waxed.  some poppin' new upholstery (look familiar?!) and she was a show stopper!!

Pink

 

the difference is almost unbelievable!!  "pink" is from our "rock star collection" but Pink got to stay at our house and is now in my 13 year old daughter's room!!  circa 1976 dark and depressing!  first i painted her with ASCP graphite then went over it with a black lacquer.  the drawers were painted ASCP "old white" and then valspar's "berry pink" on top.  i got super creative with the pulls.  i used salvaged and new ceramic pulls and painted each one differently.  i was super please with this AFTER!

 

Lily Lilac

This was a piece we saved from the landfill!  that's my favorite kind!  what a shame to let something this nice go in the trash!  sure it's dark and dated and the hardware gives me a headache from it's shiny atrociousness!  but never give up!!

 we used a ASCP custom color "old white" + "primer red" + "Napoleonic blue" = lily lilac!!  what can i say... mike is a mix master!  we THREW AWAY that hardware!!  it's so bad i refuse to put it on anything else!!  she got new dark brushed brass hardware... and voila!!  she's so beautiful!

 

 

i'm fairly certain, the majority of women my age can say they've owned at least one piece from the "french provincial" line of furniture.  i know as a child i had the dresser, hutch, and canopy bed.  ooo lala!!  but lets face it... they're classic yet terribly outdated.  i didn't do anything drastic to this one (just wait till you see the next one!!)... i kept it simple with ASCP "old white" and the custom pink.  all original hardware.  so pretty!

 

last one!!  there's not much to say... it's amazing what happens when you ditch the top doors and choose some awesome colors!!  ASCP "Coco", "Versailles" and "Primer Red".  LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!