Rustic Beach House Chic Dresser

I'm back w/ a little more blue for you. Found this on CL and honestly it just looked more appealing in the pic but I was there and I don't like to disappoint so home it came along w/ an antique nightstand. These super nice people had a treasure trove of goodies in their basement. Unfortunately my car and garage can only handle so much. She just emailed me earlier to show me some of their finds they thought I might be interested in, love it!

Plain and so 70's . Talkin' shiny screaming bright orange and yellow floral kitchen wallpaper, Brady Bunch, Bee Gees kind of 70's. I love the Bee Gees mind you, and all things 70's minus the wallpaper.

Nope, no pulls on this guy either. Just plain dull.

Changed it up with  beachy blue paint left over from striping my kids bathroom. Added some white, pencil starfish that I bought on Ebay to use as faux pulls. Quite the deal compared to Michael's. Distressed the heck out of it and here it is ready for someone's beach house....

I WANT A BEACH HOUSE!!!!
Visit me @ my Etsy Shop... www.etsy.com/shop/suezcues
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Tangled Up in Blue

Ok so I stole the title from another blog post, 'case ya noticed! For 2 reasons, I love that Bob Dylan tune and I can't seem to move away from blue.

Found this at the Habitat Restore. This poor little guy had hunks of veneer missing and a long strip of routered trim on the drawer was gonzo so he was el cheapo. Lucky me though, I have a BF who's a general contractor so he has some pretty amazing tools and skills. OK, let's keep it clean ladies. That was certainly not where I was going at all, ha!

See what I'm talkin' about? I used Quick Wood to build it back up and then sanded it down. My BF (who needs a proper blog name, BTW) created a piece of trim that matched perfectly.

And here is the before which I happily remembered to take.

Wouldn't a basket on the bottom be just perfect?

I'm selling this on my Etsy shop. Told ya I was going to start doing that...self promoting. We all need room for our new finds, now don't we?

www.etsy.com/shop/suezcues

 'cause ya just never know who's stumbling across your blog :)

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Selling Upcycled Furniture~Tips from a Newbie

I am pretty new to this furniture painting business but have realized a couple of things along the way. So, since I have nothing painted to show you since life has gotten in the way and I have to deal w/ some time consuming nonsense, won't bore you w/ the details. I figured I'd share some things that over the past few weeks have helped me find my garage free of my painted furniture and in to homes that really appreciate and love them.

1)  List it on CL but don't forget about it. Just because the first time around you didn't get a response aside from the spammers who have nothing better to do w/ their time, doesn't mean it won't find a home other than your garage. Relist it every couple of weeks and eventually a buyer will come. Relist, relist and again relist, besides it's FREE.

2) I created a web site about 6 months ago. At the time it seemed like the direction to go for me. It made me feel like I was taking it to the next level instead of just a hobby. I was big into shabby chic mosaics at the time but realized the niche was way too small. But, this was a good thing for me because I took what I was doing more seriously. My opinion, if you're just starting out, go to #3. Save yourself some money.

3) Etsy.. Inexpensive at 3.5% that they take off the sale and 20 cents a listing. Way cheaper than Ebay. The exposure is fantastic especially if you're dealing w/ smaller, shippable items, night stands, entry tables, etc. I made a few sales in just a couple of weeks. Trust me, try it you have nothing to lose. Yup, boxing, preparing to ship is a big drag but at least you'll have space for your new finds.

4) Flickr...if you don't flickr, try it. It's another freebie and you can attach your web site or etsy shop to your photos of what you're selling.

5) Blog...we all do it, well most of us reading this do but it is amazing to me how many stumble across my blog by google searching something they are interested in buying. I have to do that more often, attach my web/etsy site to the pieces I am looking to sell. Note to self!

6) Lastly, tell everyone you know about what you do. Word of mouth is an excellent resource. And above all, . don't give up. We do this because it's our passion and how great is that?


                                      ****A LITTLE SIDE NOTE****3/5/2014
I recently started a small business selling knobs for your furniture makeovers. I figured I'm always looking for pretty and interesting knobs for my redos, why not have some for me and sell some too? You can find me on Etsy at www.etsy.com/shop/KnobEnvy

I would love to hear how you sell your upcycled furniture. Please share, we can all use some tips, thanks for taking the time to read my blah, blah, blah, blogging! Yup, I have the gift of gab. I had a woman over here today picking up a piece of furniture, must have talked her ear off for a good hour. Her daughter wound up playing video games w/ my girls while we chatted in my kitchen. Love meeting new people probably why I love this blogging thing so much.

Pretty in Pink

 I'm finally back! Did ya miss me? I've been busy working on this antique mahogany CL find. Debated between my typical blue or pale pink. Michelle from Shell's Shabby Shack thought pink was the way to go. I love all her redos so pink it is!

Sanded and primed and primed again and again. The red stain just kept bleeding through. Oil based primer is on the shopping list. Three coats of primer later it was finally ready for some pink.

Picked these up at HD to make it a little more girly. After painting all of them I decided to put them on just one drawer.

Template made of scrap cardboard.

I decided to use glass pulls on some of the drawers instead of the original hardware so I filled the old holes with Quick Wood and sanded them smooth. This is where the template comes in handy and saves so much time. Grab a piece of cardboard that is square. Geometry...90 degree angles, yup it's all comin' back to you, now isn't it?  Measure where you need to drill the hole on your template using your drawer as your guide. Mark the spot and shove a screw in your mark, making a little hole. Just take it around to all your drawers, stick a pencil in the hole to mark and done. You are ready to drill! But be warned especially w/ antiques, sometime the drawers may appear to be the same size and then you realize one or two are just a little bit wider. Trust me on this!

Now to put the drawers in. And here is where the aggravation starts! Three out of four decided they were going to stick. Yup, they were sticking a bit before but not as bad as I remembered.

The culprit...a groove worn in the wood by friction.

The fix...minwax wood filler in the groove. You could also lift the slat of wood and reverse it but this seemed easier.

Sanded smooth. The drawers don't stick as bad but they don't glide easily. I can't sell it like this so anyone have any other suggestions I might try? I already tried the soap and candle wax :)

And here it is, pretty in pink!

Thinkin' it needs a little distressing and maybe some fabric to line the drawers.

I did wind up distressing and adding a great gingham fabric but life has taken me away to not fun places. It really looks so much better w/ just a bit of distressing. I'll show you when things slow down over here. Oh how I would rather be painting furniture than dealing w/ nonsense!!!

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Turquoise Chunky Candle Holdrers

Found these in my stash of little things that could use some paint. I don't have a before pic but they are made of wood and have great carved detail. I used left over turquoise paint from the recycled window project and fabric from the vanity redo which was my first sale in my new Etsy shop:) 

I had a couple of candles laying around after all I have some hoarding tendencies. They were the perfect fit  for the holders. I used Delta Candle Medium and brushed it on the area where I was placing the fabric. This stuff is typically used when you want to paint on candles or soap. Something I have never done yet somehow seem to own. Maybe I really am a hoarder, hmmm. I sprayed the fabric with adhesive and attached to the candle. Too easy and turns an ordinary candle into a pretty fabulous candle. 

You may not be seeing me for a while because I plan to brave the cold and get started on this happy CL find. Just not sure of the color yet, any suggestions? Thinkin' pale pink w/ those wood carving thingies or maybe a pale robin's egg blue and heavily distressed.

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