before... and AFTER!!! ooo laa laaaaa!!!!



 before... and AFTER!!!!!!

 hard to believe she started as this!!  i just LOVE HER!!!  I wish she was staying in MY house!!!  but alas... she's for sale!  For this one i used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint:  Florence, Graphite and a custom color I made mixing Graphite and Old White.  I kept all the original hardware.  the middle drawers are decoupaged with a heavy paper and finished with a clear shellac.  i distressed and clear waxed her :)  i love her!

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 a 1930's waterfall chest... from drab to Annie Sloan "Graphite" FAB!  this picture totally does not do this piece justice!  i have Emperor's Silk peeking through in the distressed area.  I just LOVE that color combo!!

here was something tricky... check out the hideous original hardware... yeah... that was going to be hard to replace as it was an awkward size... so we tried something new... SPRAY PAINT!  my husband hit the old hardware with some black spray paint and voila!  looks stunning!

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   this is one of my favorite kinds of transformations!  i LOVE decoupage!  the top is CCC's Virginia Chestnut with a dark wax.  Body/Drawers are ASCP Coco with clear wax.  I kept the original hardware because it was pretty cool!

 

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holy toledo!  look at this change!!!

the SKINNY on this chair!!  as you can see... it was a RADICAL transformation!  but lets be real!  what did it take to make this chair look like new??

this chair belongs to my mom... and it was her FIRST brand new furniture purchase EVER!!!  She bought it shortly after graduating from college and has had it for 40 years!  all things considered... this chair was in EXCELLENT condition!!  the wood/finish was PERFECT!!  the fabric, while ugly as sin, was also in perfect condition! 

so when i started painting furniture and bringing sexy back to dull pieces, my mom asked if i could help her cherished chair.  of course!  so she brings it over... in AUGUST!!  here it is FEBRUARY and i'm finally returning it!  yikes!  thank goodness she's understanding!! 

but here's the nitty gritty.  mom said "just paint it.  the i can live with the fabric".  i tried... i swear i did.  but i couldn't get past the ugliness!  i wanted to take the chair from UGLY RETRO to GLAM RETRO!  my mom's NOT boring, so i didn't want her chair to be either!  so my daughter and i set out to find the perfect fabric.  and we found a good one!  the seats are reversible just like the soriginal.  we picked the funky pattern for the front and a yummy chocolate brown for the flip side and the base/skirt. 

so....

FABRIC=  $45
PROFESSIONAL UPHOLSTERER LADY= $80
ANNIE SLOAN CHALK PAINT/WAX =  $20

TOTAL =  $145

so.... was it worth it?  i'd have to say, as a business owner looking at furniture to buy, re-love, and sell,  probably not.  but as an individual with a cherished piece... ABSOLUTELY WORTH IT!!  no way could my mom "replace" that chair either for sentimental reasons or that economically! 

i hope you love it mom!


well... that's it for today!  i'm sure i'll post more before/afters!  i love them!

ReInVintaged Designs... Gets a New home!

well, today's the big day!  we start moving pieces into our new space!!

 

2301 S. Nappanee St.

Elkhart IN  46517

 

Located Inside the
Hart City Supercenter

 

HOURS:

MONDAY-SATURDAY 10:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.

SUNDAY- 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

 

 

if you have not yet checked out this fantastic Resale Store, YOU MUST!!

140 booths!  Resale AND New items! 

Clothes, Furniture, Pet Supplies, Food, Toys, DVD's, Jewelry, Sports Collectibles

and you can even have lunch/dinner!  there's a GREAT pizza restaurant in the building!

You've gotta check it out!!

 

When you walk in, you'll see it has two sides...

We are on the left... first isle along the interior wall

there's a big "13" taped to the wall but we will eventually have our

ReInVintaged Designs

sign prominently displayed!

 

please note:  they only accept cash.  they do have an ATM in the building

 

WE WILL STILL BE DOING CUSTOM WORK!!  if you have a piece you already own, we will still be doing custom pieces!!!

 

i will also continue to post pics of pieces we have in inventory in an album called

"you pick the color"... 

if you see something you like, we will invoice you for a deposit and you can pick the colors/design!

 

other than that... all pieces we do from here forward will be in the store!!!

 

 

example of custom work:

 

when this piece came to us, it was a tired dark wood.  the owners wanted it to match a buffet we also custom painted for them (see below)

 

 

check out the chairs!!  the picture doesn't do this AWESOME silver vinyl justice!! 

 

 

here's the buffet we did earlier for them!

 

 

if you really want to ReVive your furniture, let us help!!

example of our custom built furniture

below is a custom farm table.  in this case, the customer supplied the dimensions to meet his needs as a desk!  great idea!  mike also built a HUGE bookcase to match!

 

 Items Going to the Store Tonight!!! 

brittin

her life is complicated...
but she NEVER complains...
she doesn't tell us when "it hurts"...
she has no idea she's different...
she doesn't know a stranger...
she has over 20 doctors and medical professionals who are involved with her care...
she's had ten surgeries including six brain and one heart...
she adores shoes, but is extremely limited in those she can wear :(
she loves deeper than anyone i've met...
her love and devotion is unbreakable...


brittin is our wonder child!  i've been thinking about her today...  so i decided to post some pics of her :)  they are extremely random!!  but they show the life of a special girl.  brittin is 8 and a half.  she has:  cerebral palsy.  hydrocephalus with double shunt.  agenesis of the corpus collosum.  epilepsy.  and the spirit of a champion.

brittin's dad carrying her off the baseball field :)  we believe brittin can do ANYTHING!



 

brittin in my best friend's wedding! at 3, brittin still couldn't walk. she had a walker until she walked independently at 5.

 

 brittin going in for one of her MANY surgeries...

britt's CP affects her left side.  she's had a tendon lengthening on her thigh and her ankle.  after this cast came off, she was so accustomed to walking on the cast, without it, she told us she'd "never walk again"  HA!  she's a goof!

 

 

 

 

 

 

brittin enjoying some therapeutic horseback riding!  on her first day, when they wanted her to get ON the horse, she said "i think i'll just walk with it".  HA!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Seizures have landed britt in the hospital too many times.  in this picture, she had just had her first seizure in three years.  it was a shock.  and even worse, mom and dad were out of town on vacation :(

 

i guess no one can frown in an Elmo hat!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

britt does NOT love spray parks!!

 

 

 

 

 

devastated that everyone had a "bike" but her, brittin got a special trike, customized to her needs!

when daddy couldn't get her to keep her feet on the peddles... well... duh, we'll duct tape them!  it worked!

 

 

 

 

here's brittin when she had a 48 hour EEG in Indianapolis.  she was NOT happy when they had to pull the wires off :(

 

brittin is an "honorary boy scout"  yes, BOY scout!  my dad volunteers with a Boy Scout Troop for Boys with Special Needs.  They've sort've adopted Britt.  Here, she just got a ribbon for her Pinewood Derby Car she built!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

brittin and her BaBo (grandpa)... getting ready to walk a mile to raise money for ADEC... a local organization for people with special needs.  they provide various types of therapy, education, employment, housing.  Team Brittin raised over $500!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

wiped out by ANOTHER seizure.  after this one, mom and dad really started taking the epilepsy seriously.

 

 

 

 

 

 

summer of 2012, brittin participated with our local Challenger League... a special baseball team made up of children of all ages with various special needs.  it's a truly beautiful thing to watch!  brittin's team went to a State Tournament in Indianapolis!

 

 

 

 

sooooo teeny tiny!  brittin when she was born!

 

in this photo shoot, brittin could barely walk.  she's leaning against this fence for support :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

although denied by insurance, we found an amazing organization, The Cerebral Palsy Association of Indiana who paid for brittin's wheelchair IN FULL!  what a blessing!

 

 

 

 

 she'll always be my baby <3

 

 

a little wednesday miracle

in true "laurie style"... i'm keepin' it real!  and this is the story of my little Wednesday miracle :)

if you regularly read my blog, you read about my word from God regarding finances and NOT worrying...  as hard as it can be, we all fret from time to time about money!!  and lets face it, we all have that financial moment when we are PRAYING we'll make it to the next pay day!  THIS is one of those weeks for us!

we balanced our checkbook and realized we needed to put $40 in to cover all expenses.  ugh.  it pained me to take even $40 out of our little savings to cover until Friday.  but grudgingly, i took $40 and intended to go to the bank this morning before work.

last night, i was talking to God about the money.  the gym we had belonged to mistakenly withdrew $44.50 from our checking account on the 17th.  when i called to address the mistake, they reversed it but said it may take 10 days to arrive in our account.  ugh.  so i said to God last night "you know God... we sure could use that $44.50 tomorrow.  that's pretty much the amount we need to cover our expenses for the week.  i'm trusting that you've got us covered here!"

armed with my $40 from savings, i left for work today.  as i sat waiting for my McDonald's diet coke (my morning routine!), i logged onto to our on-line banking just to check....

and there was the $44.50!

$44.50.... seems so minor... such a small amount... but EXACTLY what we needed and in the PERFECT TIME!  God knew we didn't NEED it 10 days ago!  he knew we'd NEED it today!  and there it was!  just in God's time!

God's time.... is not always OUR time!  God's time is the Right time!  so that's my little Wednesday miracle!!  :)

 

be blessed!!!

 



Proverbs 3:5-6

New International Version (NIV)

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.^[a]

self therapy

on more than one occasion, i've asked my husband... "do i need therapy?"...

i find myself wondering... "should i have gotten therapy?"......

theres a secret part of my life i share with few...

the closest to me know...

the closest to me wonder how i let it happen...

the closest to me know how it changed me...

for bad...

and for good...

it's not like it happens instantly...

it's a slow... methodical... process...

before you know it.... youre intertwined in a situation you cant escape...

cant?

really?

CAN'T????

YES, CAN'T!!!

its never so easy as one thinks...

you see the lifetime movie...

you say "i'd never let that happen to me!!"

you say "i would leave!!"

it's NOT that easy...

you escape....

and youre drawn back in...

with a promise...

and hope...

hope...

hope till you hope no more... 

getting thru each day is a small victory...

convinced happiness isnt necessary to live...

survival is the name of the game...

people who know... can look you in the face and see past the black eye...

ignoring the facts...

denial...

you lie to people who don't know...

"i fell"... 

come up with quick answers...

why?

admitting you tolerate that?

impossible...

secluded...  isolated...

done...

over it...

numb and finished...

plotting...

planning...

escape...

once and for all...

joy...

fear...

self doubt...

loneliness...

....  lingering harassment....

time.....

time moves on quickly....

time heals some of it....

stuff the rest in a box to deal with later...


*********************************************************************************

obviously no one goes around with a sign on that says "i was in a three year physically abusive relationship"... and i think it's a white elephant topic which AMAZES me given it's 2013... 
i still find myself haunted by my personal experience.  i find writing cathartic...

my greatest strength in dealing with this is my relationship with God.... and the amazing husband he brought into my life.  i want women (and men) to know... there IS hope... there IS happiness... there IS escape....

<3 laurie

a HAPPY, HEALTHY... laurie :)