Common Sense

It's no secret...

we paint furniture

Now, we also appreciate furniture...

all styles from all eras

We appreciate the craftsmanship

the details, the wood...all of it

We exercise good judgement when selecting a piece to paint

Pristine Tiger Oak?

Not getting painted.

Marquetry or inlays that can be saved?

Not getting painted.

A tabletop that can be salvaged?

Not getting painted.

We intentionally seek out the damaged, distressed, troubled furniture...

you know, the stuff stumbling down the road to ruin 

or perhaps gasping it's last breath

We're not painting fine, precious antiques here, folks. 

So, you see, it annoys me to NO end

when people comment about how we should NOT paint this or that

How do YOU know we shouldn't?

Are you looking at the damage? 

Do you see the chipping, peeling veneer?

Nope. 

You're just looking at a snapshot

 The quick snapshot you see doesn't show all the details...

I've been told more than once that we are "ruining" antiques...

no sweetie, we aren't! 

The person that allowed it to arrive at it's current "before" state ruined it

We are giving it CPR!

We take SUCH good care of each piece...

we sand and restain inside every drawer

clean them up till they sparkle

then lovingly apply a gorgeous finish befitting of the pieces' history 

And here is the part that I REALLY don't understand...

It's just paint!

It comes off!

The wood is still there!!  

So if you are a wood lover

(we do love beautiful wood!)

think before you speak

and know that, at least in our studio,

nothing precious or with great provenance

is getting painted 

Give us some credit, will ya??

 

A Successful Day Shopping

My "big" plan for today was to go to some sourcing on my own

(sourcing = pickin'...I just hate that word)

while Kenny finished spraying two dressers that are getting a lacquered finish

The weather had other plans, however, and the humidity was crazy high

The painting got put on hold, and we both took off to shop..

(which is great, because it also means lunch at my favorite Thai restaurant)

Here's what we found:

(and a few other pieces I'm not sharing yet!)

A pair of crushed velvet Tangerine tufted heaboards (twin size)

Not sure if I'm going to recover or just steam clean

The velvet is in great shape and I sort of dig the color

I can picture it in a girls room, paired with cranberry or aqua

This King size caned French Provincial headboard

( I see a rich, glossy color in it's future!)

This gorgeous pair of nightstands with great details

solid, heavy wood

AND...

(drum roll please....)

The gorgeous matching dresser!

Beautiful, right?  

Looking forward to painting these pieces!

What color/colors would YOU paint this dresser and nightstands?

Paper Street Market

Our friends, Sean and Celesta

are the proprietors of the coolest shop...

Paper Street Market

Now, you might assume we love their shop because they are our friends...

but we became friends AFTER we fell in love with their shop

because the shop,and the owners, are awesome

Paper Street Market is hard to describe...

it's like a hodge-podge collection

of things you didn't realize you wanted

but now MUST have

A super cool, hip collection of vintage goodies...

Things you're unlikely to see anywhere else

Eclectic and fun, the merch at PSM 

doesn't take itself too seriously

 A giant S for Stiltskin Studios!

Mixed in with painted pieces

(drive around back and you'll likely catch Sean painting...

most pieces never even make it to the sales floor!)

PSM also stocks the full line of CeCe Caldwell Paints

Lucky me, I won a quart of paint on FB

and today, I claimed my prize...

Emerald Isle

If you find yourself in St. Petersburg

make sure you swing by PSM

You'll be REALLY glad you did! 

Not close?

You can follow them on FB

Tell them a little birdie sent you :0)

Easily Distracted by Bright Colors and Shiny Objects

Does this ever happen to you?

You're walking around HomeGoods

and you spot a pillow, or a lamp, or a rug...

something that sparks an idea

Soon, you're designing a whole room around this piece

except, it matches NOTHING in your house

and would involve a complete over-haul

I'm craving color in my life!

So I go home, empty handed, to ponder

But when I get home, I realize I really love my rooms

Yep, they are neutral and soft

but it's soothing

and so, I do nothing...

until it happens again...and again. 

Clearly, I'm drawn to color!

Today, I stopped in to a little shop to check out rugs for a client

and there, on the rug rack, ON SALE, was this:

Too bad it's got that yellow on it, I said to myself

The design is gorgeous, the grey is wonderful, 

it even has the creamy white I want

I kept looking at rugs, and then I found this one:

It's pretty, but I don't love the black...

I kept going back to the yellow and grey one

Which of course, got me thinking!

Why not? My living room walls are pale grey, 

my couch, chair, and ottoman are cream

everything else is either grey, cream, white, or wood

Some hits of yellow might be a refreshing change!

I can visualize a few new pillows with yellow in them

added to my already-too-many existing collection

 I especially LOVE this idea...

I'd trade the burlap for softer linen

but it's cute and whimsical and perfect

 I do love Cherry Blossoms

Maybe a bit of yellow here or there

by way of fresh flowers

I'm even pondering repainting this piece yellow!

Crazy or Genius?  

That remains to be seen, I guess!