~chair makeovers~

Hello my friends!!

Happy Tuesday to you!

It's snowing here in the northwest....

crazy!!  we really haven't gotten too

much but they got 6 inches in Seattle!!

but the kiddos are bummed since they've missed

no school yet.....

here's what I've been working on....

{I played with Picasa for different tones

of sepia & black and white}

I've been working on 

~chair rehab~

that's what's been happenin' here

while I've had time off from the

Linen Shoppe

you may recall a few hundred years ago

my crazy chair extravaganza via craigslist??

no?

well read here for the full scoop....

I was actually relieved to see it has only

been a little over a year since I bought them....

phew....wouldn't want to be seen as a

procrastinator or anything like that....

I have a reputation to uphold ya know....

here is my dining room filled with all chairs

and no table a year ago....

see now you may be intrigued....no table?

what did she do with it???

read here to recollect my craziness

well since I had some time off from sewing

& such ~ thought it'd be a good time

to finally tackle these guys....

so here's the before!

a big part of the problem is the

gaping hole in the seats...

ya see it there? he he he

I really wasn't quite sure how to fix it

(only 2 needed the holes "filled" thankfully!)

but I did figure it out~

since the chairs (6 of them) all came with

these lovely & fashionable seat cushions

so purdy.....;)

we cut a piece of plywood & secured

it to the seats ~ no one will   e  v  e  r   know....

I decided to try a homemade chalk paint

recipe since I didn't want to spend much

 $$ for the Annie Sloan chalk paint...

{although I really do want to try hers soon}

I can't take credit for the homemade stuff ~

definitely not that smart....

It was Joy over at Savvy City Farmer

who posted on it awhile back...

you mix about a third of plaster of paris

{available for about $3 or 4 or 5? can't quite remember! at Lowe's or Home Depot}

with regular paint & start painting!

so I mixed some white (on hand) with

some beige (on hand) with a little grey

(yep on hand as well....) along with

some artist tints I had laying around...

came up with a nice creamy grey tone...

then I went over it with an antiquing glaze from

Lowe's....{American Tradition Antique Glaze ~ about $8}

I did 2 coats of paint & then the glaze...

& then used a dry and a wet rag to take

off the glaze ~ you just have to play with it...

I have to apologize for my picture quality...

my camera is officially broken & I'm looking

into what to buy....meanwhile it's the.........

shhhhhhh don't tell....

cell phone camera....

yikes.

well I had to show you something right??? :)

here's a couple shots in b & w

wow way to stage a shot with

no props....whoops!

sepia....gotta love picasa!

glazing works best (in my humble

non-professional opinion....)

when there are grooves & such

in the furniture....

it gets in those little cracks & crevices & stays...

gives it a nice aged look...

so next is the cushion recovering....

I've gone back & forth with the idea

of using my antique grainsacks....

or a yummy french linen sheet...

or painter's dropcloth...

the grainsack is so beautiful but very

thick.....and the chair cushions have piping

so I'm not so sure it'll work....

thoughts????

anyone ever tried to make piping out of that amazing

luscious fabric??

so there ya have it!

the chairs are painted & ready for seat cushions....

yay!!

next the dining table gets an overhaul as well....

here's a sneak peek at what we have in there

now.....

{don't mind that beautifully upholstered chair there! I know you all

love green upholstery but no I'm not selling it!!}

so it's just a queen anne style table that I picked up

at goodwill.....{spent like $10 and you'll recall if you went back and read my insane post we had n.o.t.h.i.n.g. in there! what a mom I am!}

I'd really like to build a farmhouse

table like I've seen around but for now ~ I'm thinking

just doing the same paint treatment on the legs &

maybe a natural bare wood finish on top ~

ya??

I'll be sure to update you on my cushion progress...

it's on the agenda this week!

oh, and a little sidenote....

the Ticking and Toile Linen Shoppe is

open again

so take a look if you like!

Hope you all have a fantastic week!

xoxo,

Shellagh

~inspiration love~

It's almost Friday.....

and you know what that means???

oh you don't?

hee hee :)....it means ~

it's my favorite day of the week!!

I really look forward to Fridays....

and the hope of what projects Mr. T & T will get done

what the weekend will bring!

now you all don't think I'm that laser focused do you??

well, ok ~ yes you're right, you know me so well.......I am.....but I do try to

restrain myself......ok not really little....he he he...

no seriously...I do try....;)

I've been hitting the inspiration 

jackpot lately....and officially 

addicted to Pinterest

in fact maybe you can relate?

or my personal favorite...

because it happens to me 

all. the. time.

oh my goodness ~ if it wasn't for

all the amazing plethora

of yummy pictures...

it's like thumbing through 

your favorite magazines anytime ~

and they never end.

so funny....but definitely 

a potential time waster *ahem*

just possibly.

here are a couple more pics I was

so excited about I just had to show you 

right now.....

k, now do you love these stairs

as much as I do???

so perfect! yes?

what could be better than grainsack stairs??

and here I am back in love with this 

bedroom.....I have posted on this house

before because I am seriously in love with it.

seriously.

and another all time favorite...

this room just makes me happy...

another true love...

and perfect island / floor chippy-ness

yumyumyumyum...

ok officially ~ Mr. T & T

wants his laptop back...boo!

I wasn't done showing ya stuff!

but allegedly he has to "work"

sheesh! ;)

I'll leave you with one more yummy 

place to soak your tired bones...

and I'm off to dreamland....

g'night all!

xoxoxo,

Shellagh

{all images found here}

~what's on the "LIST"

Happy Monday everyone!!

How was your weekend?

Mine was great!

 ~ with the small ittty bitty

exception of....

the worst migraine of my life

 so yes, lucky me suffered through this from 4:40am

to 12:30pm yesterday morning....goodness me,

wouldn't wish it on anyone.

but!

I am feeling great today! yay!!!

I'm waiting for the fog to clear....

and the sun to show up and I'll be heading out

for a run.....

I wanted to share with you my list and what's on it......

for me 2012 is all about finishing....

yep....finishing our house....

it's long

it's scary

it's overwhelming

but it's reality....

and I'm ready!

I'm not going to make you all tired

by giving you the whole thing

cuz it is just Monday

and you need to feel uplifted & inspired

not exhausted & disturbed by my long as

humanly imagineable list!!

but here's what's on top of it:

1) replace doors upstairs

we have many antique doors sitting in the garage,

taking up valuable man-cave space,

waiting for us to install

{well strip, and re-finish and fit

to our door jams}

up until now....it was too

overwhelming

to me to even think about

but not now...

now is the time....

to finish....

****please excuse this interruption***

where we'll be testing Mrs. Ticking & Toile's

good mood & patience today....

the toilet has just overflowed, there's an inch of water

in the bathroom, it has gone into the

hallway, onto her beautiful plank floors, and under the refrigerator....

and Mrs. T & T will (while attempting to soak up

the water) spill melted red wax all down the wall

and onto her cute shabby table, onto the floor & down the

hallway.....

~*~

where was I? 

yes, what you read is true....

um...how's my mood?

well, slightly dampened...

s   l  i  g  h  t  l  y...

it's all good.  problem fixed~

water cleaned up, waxed cleaned

up ~ just a minor diversion~

;)

sheesh.

ok...

we were talking about doors.....

I'm thinking with the "replacing the doors"

portion of my list~ I'd really like to strip

them & go for the natural, worn, slightist

bit of paint left over look~ like these....

don't you love this?

here's another example

I love how the worn doors look against crisp

white door frames...yes?

you like??

lots of prep work to do...

a little resizing to do...

door knobs to find & buy

{anyone got any they'd like to sell?????;) }

etc... etc...

wish me luck!!

Got anything on your list??

got a major focus for this year??

do tell! :)

Have a wonderful day!!

xoxo,

Shellagh

{all images found here}

~too early to wish for spring?~

Hello guys!

Yes, I suppose it is to early....

to wish for spring...but we can dream...

I came across some beautiful photos

that really got me dreaming of spring....

this picture pretty much captures everything

yummy we love ~ chippy paint, vintage books,

faded roses, and drippy chandys

don't  ya think??

they are by the amazing & talented artist

Jo-Anne Coletti

of Vintage Rose Collection

her work is so beautiful...jump over

and take a look!

here is just a small sample of some

of her gorgeous photography~

oh, is there anything sweeter than

roses in ironstone?

nope...don't think so...

mmmmm, can almost smell them from here....

can you imagine if we didn't have beautiful

art or pictures to remind us of spring & summer?????

hop over & say hi!

and

have a wonderful day!

xoxo,

Shellagh

{all images Vintage Rose Collection}

~what not running will do for you~

Hello my friends!!

Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a safe & wonderful

weekend :)

Well with the New Year comes the

"new pounds" hee hee ~ oh the fun

of eating too much fudge & any other

kind of sweet lurking about.....

veggies?  huh?? what are those??

sound familiar?

well I knew it would all come screeching to a halt

this week....I knew the days of decadence and laziness (so to speak...more about that later!) would be out the window come today....

yep...today is the day....

 I have to say, I am grateful for the warm, mild air

this morning with the tiny peek of sunshine~

 I happened to notice when I was sleepily doing one of my "usually annoyed at"

morning chores....... feeding the cats....it requires going out

on our back patio, shuffling to the big cedar box (wow what a whiner I am!!) & feeding the always starving (?) cats...

but had I not done this terrible rotten chore, I would not

have noticed the fresh & mild morning air....and

probably wouldn't have noticed the little ray of sunshine,

seemingly urging me on~ prodding me to just do it.

to just go..

get on your stuff...

get on your shoes...

and go for a run...

oh so true....it's that first step....

~all I could really think about this morning.....was how long it's been....since I last went ~3 weeks to be exact... (yep an excuse!) 

and that:  it's gonna be hard, it's gonna

be cold, my feet will hurt, I won't be able to go

very far, I won't be able to go very fast, I've lost

so much momentum...........................!

sound familiar?

but yes, I am chasing a goal.....

of being a "runner"

and I worked my way up to 4 miles ~

and I'm not about to give up

because of a little time off!!!

and a little (ok a lot.hee hee..) of fudge & goodies

and inactivity.....

so to answer my own question of

what not running will do for you??

here's the answer....

when you do begin again......

it will....prove to you that you can re-start!

help you notice the wee little bit of sunshine

in the midst of winter

notice the birds chirping & make you think of spring...

notice the seagulls against the blue sky & remember

warm beaches....

notice your thigh muscles with every step

and visualize the lean legs you are building....

and lastly, realize you don't have to give up!!!

I can tell you this......I feel good now....:)

have you been feeling a little sluggish too??

are you dreading "getting back into it??"

do you need a little push?

here's your push!

go on now ~ go do it....

whatever it is....

a walk, a run, or even a little bike ride....

go get some fresh air...

move around & breathe....even sweat...

oh yeah...feels amazing!!

xoxoxo,

Shellagh

{all images via pinterest}