Happy Tuesday’s Treasures! I hope you had a great week. We enjoyed a beautiful week at the ocean since last Tuesday’s Treasures.

There is nothing like a week at the shore to rejuvenate the soul, but now I am eager to get back to the work I love. This weeks piece is an old cedar armoire. It was a nice big BEAST, but it needed some… how you say BEAUTY. So, let’s call this one beauty in the beast. Ha ha… I crack myself up.

A customer came to me wanting more storage in her living room for clothes because her downtown Troy apartment has no closets. Troy has some beautiful architecture and great rehabbed apartments but if you’ve lived in downtown Troy like I have, you understand how very annoying it is to have limited to no closet space.

When Britta came to me, she said that she loved our work and I could do anything I wanted to it. I fished for what color and style she would prefer, but she was a very trusting customer and she let me do whatever I wanted. All she said was that she liked color and she likes green and yellow. She wasn’t afraid of adding more colors, too!

So, I searched some general styles that I liked and then wanted to find just the right colors together. I went with Glidden’s Spanish Olive Green and Haystack Yellow. If you want to see how we paint furniture check out this link.

I’ve had people ask me what stencil I used for this piece, but I didn’t use a stencil. I hand drew the flowers in pencil and then I painted all of the flowers yellow (4 coats of yellow). I was thinking I may stop there, but once I finished I felt like it needed more color.  Britta is a really a fun, modern lady who deserved that much in a piece. So, I added aqua shadowing and two stripes down the sides. Are you ready for the after pictures?

We delivered it to Britta’s apartment and her neighbor walked by and said did you tell them you live on the 2nd floor yet?? I’m not sure if you can tell, but this beast is almost 6 feet tall. As we got to the steps she said oh and there’s a corner at the top. Lol! Thankfully we made it up without any problems and it’s now happily living in her apartment holding all sorts of stylish clothes, I’m sure!

Until Next Time,
Sarah

Remember… If you like what we’re doing, please like us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/funcycled or share this on Pinterest! Also, you can now get each of our new projects emailed to you when you enter your email address in the box at the top right side of this page.

Happy Tuesday! So, if you haven’t heard me say it before, of all the things I love about redoing furniture, my favorite is doing custom orders. Both of these buffets were custom orders from a couple who just moved to our area. I know I say this alot, but I really have had so much fun working with Krista and Keith. Krista loves to say, “you pick, I can’t decide” and then lets me make the call. So far… she’s liked everything. Let’s hope I can keep it up. ;) There are many more to come. Thanks Krista!!

The first piece we started with is this buffet. John wanted to keep it at first, but since someone wanted it, he graciously gave it up. :P You know how it is, the shoemakers kids having no shoes. Or something like that. Lol!

Here’s what it started as.

Sorry, it’s a messy picture. Forgive me  OK? Life has been a bit hectic over here. ;)

We went with a nice bright red because I knew once this baby was distressed and glazed, it would have a deep color and make it a perfect focal point in Krista’s living room. If you want to see how we paint furniture, check out this page.

We used the original knobs and painted them using Rustoleum’s hammered bronze spray paint. Here it is…. all done!

This red buffet is going to be used in her living room as an entertainment center. Which is exactly what I had planned if I kept it for myself. Lol!

On to the next buffet. It started as this hideous beast. I didn’t think it was all that bad looking structurally, but why green plastic knobs?? Why oh why?? Who ever thought that was a good idea?

First we primed it using primer. I tried Glidden’s grey primer based on a recommendation from a helpful Home Depot guy, umm “associate”. I must say, even though I’m not a huge fan of Glidden’s regular paint, I really liked the primer. It did a great job.

After that I used my favorite black paint… that just went up in price again. Ouch. It hurts the pocket! I love it so much, I simply have to pay it anyway. It definitely love how it gives furniture a pottery barn finish. So beautiful!

If you want to see how we paint furniture, check out this page. On a side note, I think it’s soooo hard to take good pictures of black furniture. This baby came out beautiful and the pictures really don’t do it justice.

You”ll see many more pieces to come from Krista’s projects, but for now, thanks for looking!

Have an awesome week and happy redesigns,
Sarah

Remember… If you like what we’re doing, please like us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/funcycled or share this on Pinterest! Also, you can now get each of our new projects emailed to you when you enter your email address in the box at the top right side of this page.

It’s a rainy day here in NY so I thought I’d share the before and after pictures of this primitive red hutch that we recently finished.

Here it is before- definitely in need of some color… if you ask me. :)

We lightly sanded the surface, primed and painted it using a country red that I had on hand from some other projects. If you want to learn how we paint furniture, check out our How To Paint Furniture post.

After it was painted, I distressed it like the dickens and glazed it using colonial stain from Minwax. Are you ready for the after?? Man oh MAN! I wish I had room to keep this one. It’s for sale right now for $295 so email me if you’re interested.

I hope this brought some sunshine to your day!
Sarah

Remember… If you like what we’re doing, please like us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/funcycled or share this on Pinterest! Also, you can now get each of our new projects emailed to you when you enter your email address in the box at the top right side of this page.

Note: I originally saw this design on Pinterest and something like it at a local restaurant near our house. The pin I saw did not direct me to the originator so I didn’t know who to give credit to.  Thankfully, the original designer from Gypsy Barn reached out to me today, and I definitely want to give her credit.  You should check out her other stuff, it’s impressive!

Hi Everyone! Sorry for taking a little longer than I like to show you all the fun designs we’ve come up with. This one has to be one of my favorites, I know, I know, I say that alot!!
Here she is to begin with, a beautiful antique, but I wanted to do this design so badly so I went for it!

For the how to on painting see our post How to Paint Furniture.
We used a basic satin white Glidden paint and I’ve got to say that it sprayed well from our air sprayer when diluted.

Here she was after the primer and paint.

I just used a pencil and free handed a tree with a bird. The nice thing about a tree (in my opinion) is that it’s hard to do wrong. I had read about painting pens online and wanted to try it for this piece. I ran to Hobby Lobby.. with my 40% off coupon of course. :)  I used the largest tip I could find and it uses Acrylic paint.

I traced over where I had drawn it in pencil and had to do two coats to make sure it came out dark enough. It used one pen do the whole dresser.

I almost left it just like this, but I took a vote and everyone said I should distress it. Time to get my distressing on using 60 grit sand paper. After it was beat up, I sealed it with Polyacrilic.
Here she is all done and beautiful.

Our little guys picture of it! ;)

Hello Friends! This week’s Tuesday’s Treasures brings you another piece that went to my friend Tiffany… this baby was what started the entire process and led to Dining Room Chairs, that led to a Red Chandelier, that led to a vintage window turned photo frame, that led to an Eden Green Damask chair, that led to a Yellow Coffee Table.
Here’s the before and after for you.

I primed this hutch and painted it using Valspar’s Vintage Teal in satin. Please see our post on How To Paint Furniture for step by step instruction on how we paint. Tiffany and I went back and forth about different color teals, but finally landed on this one. I really, really, really love it!!! This is another piece I would have kept if I could. After I painted it (which took almost an entire gallon!!), I glazed it using Ebony stain by Minwax. I used all of the original hardware and spray painted it with primer and then painted it using a Rustoleum black spray paint. The finished product was simply breath taking….one more time, shall we?

Do you have an old hutch in your house (or garage) that’s making your space look dated or boring? We can custom paint it for you to make it the focal point of your room!! Remember my California Poppy Red Hutch?? It’s almost always the first thing people comment on when they walk into my house. I’m in LOVE with painted hutches.

One more quick look at another piece that went to Tiffany… this french provincial style dresser.

I know, it’s a horrible picture. ;) The top, like many of the french provincial style dressers, is a plastic material. I was leery of painting the top, but it came out surprisingly well.   Instead of just priming it with latex primer like I normally do, I spray painted the top with a primer that sticks to plastic. Then I primed it again with the a latex primer. I used the original drawer handles because I love their style, so I  just painted them white using white spray paint.
Here’s the after picture!

The only two things I want to bring to your attention about painting a dresser like this. It look about 4 coats of red to cover it properly. Also, because it’s a plastic material, it was very, very drip happy. I ended up getting a couple drips that I didn’t even see until I got it out to take pictures.  I’m the drip-watching queen so that made me a bit annoyed. Anyway… I still definitely like the look. Just a heads up for you if you try it yourself. :)

Have a great week and happy redesigns,
Sarah

Remember… If you like what we’re doing, please like us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/funcycled or share this on Pinterest! Also, you can now get each of our new projects emailed to you when you enter your email address in the box at the top right side of this page.

As you know, we’ve been busy here and I’m not complaining!! I’m loving the custom jobs and new creations! It’s just that I haven’t had a ton of time to post all of the fun things. I simply MUST make time for this one. ;)

This 1970′s console TV came from a wonderful lady right in my neck of the woods in Troy. She even showed me the inside of the house she was selling. When we walked in, it was like stepping into the 1970′s. All original wood work, carpets, even a coal stove and old washing machine. We fell in love! Then we had to lug this RIDICULOUSLY heavy TV down a flight of stairs… and I was in a dress. What was I thinking? Anyway, a HUGE thank you for this piece!

Here’s the before:

It was so girly that it screamed “paint me pink”. I kept second guessing myself… or maybe I should say John was second guessing me. So, I took a vote on our Facebook page. The voters were definitely not in any type of agreement. Then my friend Lara posted, “Whatever your first instict was my dear…” so I went with pink. John was still picking on me, but he knows he likes it deep down in his manly heart. :)

We pulled out the tube, but wanted to keep the metal section of the TV. We removed the metal as well so I could paint all of the wood sections with the air sprayer. We then removed the speaker. The inside of old TV’s are pretty cool and  our son enjoyed taking all of the pieces apart like he was a scientist. If you want to see how to paint this piece, check out How to Repaint Furniture.

We went with a pale pink and I was going to glaze it with silver because of the sliver part around the TV that we were keeping. Once we put the metal section in it looked more green than silver. So, I ended up using watered down military green paint to glaze the piece and finished it off with a light silver glazing. After that was all set, John made a custom book shelf to install in the back and then I painted it a metallic silver.

Sorry I don’t have the best after picture. We finished it the day we went to the Waterford Canal Festival and it sold that day so I didn’t have much time to get a good shot. I’m just thankful I remembered to take a picture at all. :)

Oh, and this piece went to an awesome couple! Thank you Frannie and Jimmy! Most of the 1st floor of their home was destroyed by the flooding we recently experienced so I was thrilled to have one of our pieces be part of their new remodel!

Happy Redesigns,
Sarah

If you like what we’re doing, please like us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/funcycled or share this on Pinterest! Also, you can now get each of our new projects emailed to you when you enter your email address in the box at the top right side of this page.