Suppertime.

I love French dining sets
I have one in our studio
just waiting for me to commit
to keep it

Finishing this set (finally!)
has encouraged me to paint my own...
didn't this turn out elegant?

Paint made all the difference here
we've painted the table legs, apron, and chairs
in the now-famous French Linen
and edged the tabletop in a band
of Ochre
before waxing the entire set

We also stripped the tabletop
(always a labor of love!)
before staining it a lovely
honey color
It's warm and welcoming

A perfect dining set, if I do say so myself!

Ochre.

A large amount of furniture
passes through my hands
and usually I admire, revamp, and move on...

Sometimes, it's hard...
like this piece, for example

I'm a sucker for anything
made by White Brothers
as the quality and detail
is always fabulous

And then, I go and paint it
EXACTLY
the way I would paint if
it it were for
ME

In the lovely Old Ochre
with a mottled wax technique
that makes it look
really old
and worn
and charming distressing
sigh...

did I mention
my dining room chairs
are Ochre?

The Stockings Were Hung...

I was feeling a little FESTIVE
the other night
so I decided to stitch up
some Christmas Stockings

They are simple
in burlap with a ruffle
some are narrow
some are wide

They are lined in white cotton
so your holiday treats
(or lump of coal)
doesn't fall through!

I've got a few more coming
but will only be making
about a dozen

They will be for sale at
Summer House Marketplace

Lifelong Love Affair

I've been sick all week
so please forgive my absence!

Isn't the finish on this dresser wonderful?

When my husband brought it home
I had plans for it
this was NOT the plan!

The outer paint was brown latex (see last pic)
so as we began to strip it away
we discovered layer after layer
of old paint

Someone had a lifelong love affair
with this dresser
painting it at least five times
The colors are fantastic
and there was NO WAY
I was going to cover them up!

This is how the dresser looked "before"
That's not wood, it's faux paint.
We stripped it all away,
roughed up the layers
to reveal what lay beneath
then waxed and buffed
till the surface felt like velvet

I hope it's long-term owner
would approve!

Fancy Flea

We attended Fancy Flea again this fall as vendors
I didn't go too many photos
as it was insanely crowded

It was so crowded, in fact,
that I didn't really enjoy it

Isn't that funny?

I know, as a vendor,
you hope for huge crowds
but I really enjoy talking with everyone,
connecting with the customers
and really just soaking it all in

I definitely didn't get to do that
this time around

If we sell some stuff,
well,
that's just a nice bonus

and we did sell some stuff
a fair amount of stuff, in fact

Enough to claim the day
a profitable experience
(financially!)

What I really missed was
the opportunity to educate people
on our product
Learn about their lives
find out what they love
and just generally make friends
with people I hardly know!

Which probably means
we should just go as shoppers
in the Spring...!

I did manage to get a little bit
of wandering in
and stopped by to see all the
wonderful
folks I've "met" on Facebook

On that note,
I'm looking forward to seeing many of you again
at Renninger's
(where I WILL just be a shopper!!)

Benched

My husband, Kenny, picked up
this awesome Bassett bench today

I totally dig
the slightly farmhouse vibe
it's got going on...

I stared at it awhile tonight,
trying to decide what to do with it

Antibes came to mind
as did Emp. Silk
and a gazillion other options...

I've whittled it down to two...

See this coffee sack?
The back doesn't have any black print
and I have two of them
(thank you, Becky and Josh!)

I'm leaning towards Graphite
then recovering the seat in the plain side
(with just the blue stripes)
and making pillows for the bench
out of the printed portion of the sack...

OR...

Go all white and super girly.
Ruffled cushion, and all...