A Change Of Heart

Sometimes just when you give up on something, a spark ignites.

This piece of decoration has been around the house for probably 5 years, but I never really liked it, so I put it in a box of donations a while back. 

Before I had a chance to donate it, I saw something very similar in a pretty post by Butterfly and Bungalow...

Butterfly And Bungalow

So I had a change of heart and out of the donation box it came! 

I decided to try the new white paint and dark brown wax by Vintage Paints that I bought at Birds & Words in McKinney recently.

Sorry to say I was disappointed with the white paint by Vintage Paints, at least on the metal. 

I would say it had a kind of slick plastic look to it! I quickly painted it with another paint I had on hand, One-Step Paint by Amy Howard. 

Painted With One-Step Paint By Amy Howard

I've always had a great outcome on metal with One-Step Paint, and from now on I plan to make it my go-to paint for metal.

Painted But Not Waxed Yet

I used the dark brown wax by Vintage Paints, and I was happy with the way it turned out. It was easy to apply and removed easily when I wanted to take some of the dark wax away.

Dark Wax Added

This just proved to me, once again, that everything looks better with a little chalk paint and wax.

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Feathered Nest Friday

Vintage Paint And Window Shopping

Everything painted in this storefront window was painted with a chalk paint line called Vintage, which this shop sells. Don't you love that old world look? 

Storefront Window - Birds And Words Shop In McKinney TX

The painted furniture inside was even more lovely, but I got too involved with mooning over their vintage cubby cabinet I showed a while back and didn't get photos once I was inside the store.

All their paints, waxes, and creams were displayed on that old green cubby cabinet I whined over recently. 

Of all the colors, this gray-blue dresser was definitely calling to me!

I bought this book a while back at another of my favorite stores in McKinney called My Favorite Room...

Since buying the book, I've been looking for the paint. I found it right down the street! 

The best thing about the book (besides all the wonderful projects featured) is that on the right hand corner of the page the book shows each of the paint colors and waxes used to complete each project. 

I'm planning on painting some light fixtures similar to this sconce, so I bought the paint required for this light fixture. 

They used one paint color and two waxes: Warm Cream to paint the fixture, then the brown wax and white wax to age and finish it.

I was happy to find the Vintage paint at the shop pictured here, which is called Birds And Words in McKinney, TX. 

Here's a few "inside the shop" photos of some of their painted furniture from their Facebook page...

Birds And Words Facebook

I bought several small samples of the paint to try along with their dark brown aging wax. I already have a white wax from another brand that I want to use up so that will do for now.

Now all I need is a victim to practice on! I'll go out to my stash in the garage and find a small piece of furniture to use to try out the paint.

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Cheap Craigslist Cubby Find

A few mornings after posting about my love for the $1000 green cubicle storage shelves I saw in a store in McKinney, I opened the local Craigslist link and the first item for sale was...

Photo From Craigslist - Cubbie Shelf Listed For $45

Turned out the seller lived nearby (less than a mile) and, according to Google Maps, it would take 3 minutes driving time to pick it up. 

After arrangements were made to go pick it up, we were quickly on our way...one of us was happy and smiling at the thought of having this vintage piece and the other one was not!

Now this little storage shelf is nowhere near as big as that huge green cubby shelf, but it's perfectly cute and I can paint it any color I want...maybe I'll even paint it green like the McKinney one HERE.

Large Green Cubby Shelf For Sale In McKinney Tx

The best part of buying this cubby shelf is that it's clean without any dirt caked on the bottom shelves...the worst part is there's no chipping paint patina. 

As Gilda Radner used to say: 

"It's always something!"

Gilda

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Thrift Shopped Rabbits

These two small rabbit pictures came home with me from a local thrift shop the other day. I paid a whopping $10 for each one!

I was awed by the form of their pretty frames, thinking I would add some dark wax to them to tone down the gold a little.

The lone rabbit in the left picture I thought was particularly cute. 

Of course for $10 I accepted the fact the value was in the frames and not what I thought were reproduction prints.

The two check-out ladies were admiring the pieces of art and expressed sadness they hadn't seen them first since they were so cheap!

I didn't bother to tell them the trick is to look high and low when you're out thrift shopping. If I have time, I even walk the shop left to right and then turn around and walk it right to left. Wait...What?Obsessive? Probably so!

When I got home, I noticed a slight chip on one of the frames. I'm sure it happened after I bought it due to carelessness on my part...

I was careless because I wasn't too concerned about how the pictures were wrapped since I was planning on making the frames my next paint/wax victims. 

Wild Bill hates thrift shopping so he sits in the pickup outside and reads a book. On this hot day, he was parked up the street, and when he saw me he drove down to pick me up in a kind of Bonnie and Clyde escape.

I barely had time to throw my purchase in the back seat and jump in the truck before he was on his way!

Imagine my surprise when I got the pictures home and turned to the backs and read the tags that said they were Hand Painted by Robert Grace: 

I went on the internet to look up the artist, Robert Grace. It dawned on me I already have a larger print copy of a different one of his rabbit paintings, but that's for another day.

One of the exact rabbit paintings, with same frame, is currently for sale with a bid of $70.  Man...I done good on these two!!!

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Amaze Me Monday

To Paint Or Not To Paint, That Is The Question!

The world works in mysterious ways. I just bought a tall old cabinet with a wood finish and hauled it home with the sullen help of my not-too-happy-about-it husband. 

For once, I didn't imagine painting it when I saw this piece. This is a shocker because, according to Wild Bill, my Indian name is "Woman Who Paints Everything"

But this piece seemed happy to be wood, and I wasn't unhappy about leaving it that way. We put it in the garage while I took some time to think about it. 

If we leave the cabinet unpainted, it still needs some TLC time with a wood finish product and that needs to be done in the garage.

Taking a breather, I checked some blog posts. To my surprise painted-furniture-lover Linda, at Q is for Qaundie, was dealing with a similar issue!

Quandie Wants Your Opinion Whether To Paint

When I saw this gorgeous cabinet of hers...well...I'm thinking, "don't paint it!"  What do you guys think?  To paint or not to paint...seems that is the question today.

Be sure to read Quandie's blog POST. You will get a good laugh as she describes taking her whole neighborhood to pick up the cabinet.

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DIY-ing My Lights To Chippy White

My last post was about Quorum lighting options I found at a local shop. 

Before seeing them at the local shop, I had been drooling over the Quorum line of lighting at the online site called Lighting New York. 

I'm smitten with Quorum's whole line of chippy white metal and glass lights. Here's the option I love for the bathrooms...

Quorum Lighting at Lighting New York

Here's our kitchen island in an old photo from when we looked at the house when it was for sale.

I'd love to put this light below over the granite island, but I think I'd need three of them so that means I'll need to win the lottery soon!

All the lights are part of Quorum's group of lights described as a "Persian White" finish. As a typical DIY-er, I've been studying the finish and thinking I could replicate it on some of the lights (instead of buying new ones) to save some money! 

I think a good candidate for that chippy white finish would be our master bathroom lights, so I'll start with them. Don't worry, I'll clean off all that dust first, and hey if you think yours aren't dusty just go take a look...I was shocked.

I think if I flipped those bathroom lights upside down, painted them a chippy distressed white, bought clear bulbs and clear glass covers, I might get them to look like this...

Since our house was built as a spec house by a local developer, it came with a collection of odd ducks as far as lighting goes 

After buying 5 spec houses in a row, our experience has taught us that spec houses are built with bargain pieces, seconds, and mis-matched leftovers. Our current house is an example of that. 

There's an antique chandelier in the dining room. It's a little rickety and lightweight, but it does provide a lovely glowing light at night. This old photo was taken when we first looked at the house.

It might look better if the finish was like this one...

The half-bath has this black, torch-type sconce, which doesn't even try to look compatible with the rest of the house.

I was thinking this torch light needed to go, but then I saw this Quorum one and thought I would give it a go too. I think I'll use more white and less brown for the finish.

Even the fan in the bedroom has a light that needs some improving.

It's hard to see because it's a 16-foot high ceiling, but it's a gold-ish type frame and amber glass. 

Here's the one I could buy to replace it, but it would be so easy to paint and replace the glass.

I'm going to give them all a try and see if the lights can be improved, or at least a little more coordinated. I'm not going to make them matchy-matchy, but just not so out of whack with each other. 

And if it doesn't work out, I figure I was going to replace them anyway so maybe no gain, but no loss either.

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