Karla's Cottage

In a painting frame of mind

Lately, I’ve been getting some furniture painted.  I’ve enjoyed it so much, that I am considering painting some pieces to frame too.  I hope I get around to that.

A “painting with thread” project got started too.  Those are drawn on a shirt with washable marker to start with, and the marker is more of a guideline than anything else.  I liked this sketch, so will try to follow it.  Sometimes things change a lot once I get started.

Here is a photo of the dresser, not all the way before, but near the beginning.  It is in Angie’s booth at Good JuJu and we went in there one afternoon while the building was empty for me to paint while Beth and Angie redid their neighboring spaces.

It had been a while since I’d added roses to furniture.  I had planned something completely different, but this is how it turned out.  

 

 

A Dog Crate That is a Piece of Furniture

Ta Dah!

The crate is finished and I am thrilled with it.

It’s very spacious inside, actually a bit larger than our wire crate.

And a whole heck of a lot prettier.  We keep a crate by the back door so we can send dogs with muddy feet right into it until dry.  I was so tired of looking at that eyesore.  I tried covering it with a tablecloth, but it just looked bulky.

 The crate was exactly across from my seat at the dining table, my view every day when I sat and had my morning coffee.  And over dinner.

I was over it.

Still, an ugly view was better than a muddy one that I had to mop up.  

We still are using the wire cage until the polyurethane smell is gone, we don’t want to have fumes affecting the dogs.  So for now, the wire one is still in the room and a hepa filter is running in the new one for a few weeks.

I think I’ll probably need to keep the metal crate out for a while after the fumes are gone, though. When I ordered this, we hadn’t planned on keeping a puppy.  I am sure that no matter how good of a pup little Molly is, she would be tempted to chew on wood if locked inside.  It’s probably safer to use it just for the big girls, not the baby.

And look at this!

From my seat at the table, this is what I see- the corner of the cabinet creates the silhouette of a bird!

Do you see it?

The front is a vintage floor grate.  The top is from the same tree that that our table is made from.  There is a door on each end with four metal medallions from Hobby Lobby as air vents.  

I’d been worried about the hardware since there were no flea markets to go to, due to Covid.  But I found some vintage styled ones on Amazon that worked out fine.

My dogs have always loved their kennels, I hope they like this one as much as I do.

 

 

 

A New Look for Sugarwings’ Room on her 14th Birthday- Mermaids in the River Through the Forrest

Our birthday girl decided she would like to move back into the larger upstairs bedroom.  But it had a lot of pink going on and she preferred aqua.

While she was on a vacation with her moms, I surprised her by un-pinking her room.  At least the parts that were not hand painted, like the murals and roses.

Here is a before.  It was a bit baby-ish.  
I repainted the bottom part of the walls, that had been a pale blush, took down the fairies and butterflies.  Then moved some of her own artwork into the space.

She also got a grown up, beauty care corner with fluffy pillows to relax on.

Along with make up and skin care products in pretty containers.

The desk was from her other room, but the curtains are new.

They are sheers with green vines, topped with a pair of blue, ombré panels.

A lot of the room stayed the same, like the clouds on the ceiling. 
I hope she doesn’t outgrow that part, because I know I won’t.

An Entryway Redo in Response to Corona Clutter

Does anyone else deal with Corona Clutter? At first, it seemed temporary, and we were adjusting to figuring out what paraphernalia we needed as we came in and out of the house.

But after a few weeks of seeing this jumble of gloves, masks, hand sanitizers, bags, and more filling up the table by the breezeway door, I needed to find a better solution.

Not to mention the big, plastic folding table we had set up for home schooling in the other room.

So, this gate leg table was sent to replace the one in the homework spot, with the lamp along with it.  

The large white box is what I use to sort mail, and this isn’t the door we usually bring the mail in through.  So it also left the area and is in a more convenient place near the front door of the house that we typically use when checking the mail or getting the newspaper.

This is the door we use when going to the car, so I waned everything we might need for gearing up to face the virus laden public, all here in an organized way.

This little cabinet that used to be in the studio before last year’s redo seemed to be just what I was looking for.  (Shopping for something new would have been more fun, but then- if that was an option, I would not have needed a Corona Corner, would I?)

The white, wooden basket was full of supplies in the studio, but was better suited here, so those items are currently dumped out and waiting for me to figure out what to stash them into instead.

While this was all practical, it still wasn’t quite right.  It served the purpose, but didn’t lift my spirits as much as I had hoped.

So I whipped out some white paint, vintage wallpaper, and decoupage medium.

Ahhh, much better!  Lighter and happier.

The doors and drawer are there for larger items like leashes and bags. The cookie jar of dog treats sits on the pedestal. There is a chair for changing shoes.

A flower pot for sunglasses and items that need to be taken care of on errands, like checks, coupons, etc.  I sat it on a small, wallpaper box just to add a little more color.

The lidless depression glass canister that matches the one the  dog treats are in, was where I had previously stashed supplies.  But it wasn’t big enough and didn’t hide the messiness. Or the ugly, orange gloves.

It is much nicer filled with flowers picked in our ditch.

The wooden basket was ideal to fit a box of masks, a stash of gloves, and the hand sanitizer.

I am thrilled to own a box of masks and gloves.  I found the XXLg gloves on Amazon and the box of masks at the hardware store.  The hand sanitizer is home made.  I took glycerin from a soap making project, then added lavender oil and alcohol to it.
And the surface wipes are too, sorta. I took a package of wash wipes from the studio, put them into ziplock bags and poured alcohol over them.  

This pattern is one of my favorite old wallpapers and I will love having a bit of it in my house.  

To add it, I rough cut a piece with the bouquet centered, and pressed it into decoupage glue on the door,  then,I used my fingernail to crease the paper and cut it out inside the frame of the door.  This paper is delicate, so I did not worry too much about trying to get small bubbles out, they don’t bother me.

White chalk paint was applied in a dry brush style for a distressed look.  I painted right over knobs as is, and didn’t take time to paint the interior or give it a clear coat of poly or wax.  

I was in the mood for a quick and pretty fix.  And this simple project of moving things around, slapping on some paint and paper took me under two hours from the point when I was sitting in the kitchen, staring at the clutter and needing a new view, til it was done.

We might all be needing a fresh view after so much time in our homes. This little change perked me up. 

Little changes can give me a big lift

There is something about this time of year that makes me want to redo and spruce up my home.

 Is it just that I miss the sparkle of Christmas?  

Or that everything is so gray and dingy outside, and I crave some color inside?  

Or am I just cooped up and tired of seeing the same things over and over?

On the other hand, there are some things that I never tire of and still very much enjoy having around, like the hand painted mirror and vanity in my bathroom. 

But It still needed a freshening up. I satisfied the urge for a redo, by doing a deep cleaning and emptied the drawers, threw away expired items, regrouped others.  

I added the larger, white set of mini drawers from the studio, and stacked it with the others already there in the corner.  Then, I put cotton swabs and pads into the little, aqua tin from another room.  I’d had the Qtips in a glass jar, which was fine, but like I said, I needed changes.

These are all little switches that I’d probably be the only one to notice.  But they did the trick, and I felt pleased.

The necklaces and bracelets even got cleaned and resorted.

Randomness

This was painted years ago for a friend, and I just recently visited their home and saw it again, what a nice surprise. 

On one of our LONG, cold Spring days, while waiting for the weather to change, we went out for hair cuts and treated ourselves to milkshakes, pretending that we were not cold.

We spent a few days at the Discovery Zone in Topeka too.

There is always plenty to do there.

The grand fairies could stay for the whole day, and sometimes we do.

Sugarwings has been making mini waffles for us, after getting her own waffle iron from the Easter Bunny.

I don't think this is the Easter Bunny himself,  just some random bunny I saw at Home Depot.  A toddler, shopping with his mom, helped me follow him around and watch him nibble on the flowers.

Aren't these a pretty color? I mean, two pretty colors? I love these shoes and they were only $10 since they were mismatched.

A two toned bargain didn't bother me at all.

And here is some random cuteness from my world.  A picture of lazy dogs for this lazy, post I just wrote.

 

A visit through my mural photo album

While cleaning up a bit in the studio, I came across my old photo album of murals and painted furniture. I'd forgotten I had it and enjoyed looking back over the years as I flipped through it.

Which is why we do scrap books and albums right?

I apologize for the blurriness of most of these pics, they are photographed through the plastic covers on the pages.

And taking a photo of a picture isn't always the best (or smartest) way to do a blog post, huh?  

But please forgive me as I indulge myself in showing some of these old pics.  They were glued down, and if I had to remove and scan each one, it wouldn't have happened.

So, instead, you get a quick and crappy trip down memory lane with me and my smeary pictures.

Some are from antique mall booths, and of painted furniture.

This is from a baby's room.

This as well.

And here is a master bedroom  painted a deep color that I was asked to paint blooming flowers all the way around the baseboards.

The iris "bloomed" all around the room.

This was for a boy's room, with all walls done in a planetary theme.

His sister's room got dolphins.

Extra blurriness for this one, it is in a dining room and is part of a scene that filled all four walls.

I can't even remember painting this one.  

But back in the day, I did do a lot of pets on walls. Often, the furry little guys would pose for me in person.

This is a Velveteen Rabbit scene for a niece.

And some frogs for another little girl who had actually saved up her own money to hire an artist to come and paint her bedroom. She loved frogs.

 

I painted this landscape in my mud room, hated it, and painted over it.  My home is layers upon layers of painted over murals.  My son's rooms changed every couple of years as they were growing up.

A friend had me do this for her, and the best part was hanging out and laughing together as I did the work.

I did public spaces too.  Here is a basement laundry room at an apartment building near the KU campus.

And a bar in Louisiana. This was huge, the whole thing was 20x60'

The sunset was done with spray paint.  I'm trying to remember why there was a desert in Louisiana, but I just can't. It was a cowboy bar, and the guy roping the moon was the logo.

The little guy in the beer bottle was the logo for another bar, and I painted a wall of him in various poses all over the place. A larger version of him is holding the bottle. It was like a big, drunken hallucination and was such fun to come up with.

I painted this restaurant wall to brighten up a narrow space. (I did the faux finish too)

And I was hired to paint tropical plants at a country club in Florida. 

Funny, years and years later, my husband is working for this company now and is actually a VP.  He wouldn't ever have hired me, that would've been nepotism, so I'm glad he got the job later on. This was one of the most fun paintings I've done, I had a week to stay at their private hotel at the club, order room service, and sit by the pool contemplating what to paint next.  I had free reign in the dining room and snack bar to create on the walls. 

Guncle Randy always gave me free space to decorate his walls too.  Everytime I visited we would paint together and add more to his art room.

I was lucky enough to get to do some Design Showhouses too.  This was in a music room of a very old, wonderful home. The walls are bronze, gold, and copper. The piano bench is covered in sheet music and is used in front of the bench my son built and that I now have in my studio. 

 

Some of these, I really enjoyed seeing again, others are slightly cringe-worthy.  I always painted fast, most walls were done in less than a day, and at the time, I kept pretty busy with daycares, hotels, and so many other spaces. It makes me a bit sad that digital cameras weren't around and I don't have better photos of most of the work.  Painting murals was quite an interesting job and I got to travel, experiment, and really loved the work.  

 

Another little wallpaper cabinet, I might be obsessed

Can you have enough of these little storage chests? I sure don't think so, I'm more than slightly obsessed, they are all around my studio.  I have directions on how I recreate them here.  The ones covered in gorgeous, old cabbage roses can be pricey, but I've been quite lucky in finding a variety of little drawer chests, some in perfect condition, some that need work. Some that need a total redo like this one ($10 at an estate sale).

This might be one of the nicest I have. It is a sturdy, wooden one, not cardboard as many are.  (oopsy, almost forgot the before pic!)  Here is my latest one, in progress. I painted the base and edges of the drawers with blue chalk paint, removed knobs, glued paper to the drawer fronts, sanded and distressed it, then sprayed the base with a poly clear coat in satin.

I happened to have a box full of porcelain knobs, that are older, but not vintage.

I did have three alike, but preferred this mismatched look to go along with the patchwork wallpaper patterns.

The chest is filled and by my desk, I've done a studio clean up, and it was perfect timing for me to have a new piece to add to the room.  

You didn't think I was going to leave you without a puppy picture, did you??

The two black puppies are still available, all others have sold.  Please contact me if you're interested in one of these sweeties.

 

Restoring an antique table with no stripping

I love my "new" French side table!

It started like this.  $30 at an estate sale, good lines, ruined finish, missing a few bits of trim, but sturdy.  The first thing I did was rough up the finish with a sanding block, taking off as much old varnish as I could, but not all of it.  

I thought I could touch up and restore the flowers, but it turned out they needed completely repainted.  The style was so pretty, I used that as a basis for my own painting, and tweaked the colors to suit my own taste, a little less purple and orange, a lot more pink and blue.

You can tell the varnish was still spotty, some came away when I sanded, but I didn't try to get it down to bare wood.

There are flowers on all three sides.

Next I painted the edges aqua with chalk paint from Hobby Lobby.  And added trailing viney-swirly gold, and painted the beaded trim the same gold.  I rubbed that gold paint over the raised carvings on the table legs with my finger tips.  

After that dried, I generously brushed on dark wax, and wiped it off with a soft towel. A chip brush is the best tool for getting down into the crevices of the trim and carving. I added more in places where the bare wood still showed, and made sure it got soaked in to those spots.  The photo above is with one coat of dark wax, it looked better after a second.

The finish isn't perfect, but perfect is over rated. I like things to look aged and worn. So, some spotty varnish is okay with me. I also didn't try to replace the few places where the beaded trim was missing, that sort of thing happens over time on vintage pieces.

If you are not a painter, you could still use this technique on old wood, without the flowers I added. It was all pretty quick and easy.

More painted furniture

The grand fairies love to do art projects in front of the tv. (Actually, I won't let them watch tv without a project in their hands, Legos, play dough, coloring, anything other than simply staring at the screen). 

So, we've used various folding tables over the years, while I've kept my eye peeled for the perfect solution in a table the right size that looked good and didn't have to be put away every time, because if left out was an eyesore.

This is a marble topped, walnut one, with wheels!  I can roll it from in front of the couch  to in front of the tv when they need it to work on. I'd painted it white with dark antiquing glaze and didn't like it that way, so put another coat of white over that glaze to tone it down.

This cabinet has been in the room since last summer when we remodeled.  It has a broken drawer, and a crooked handle, so I got it cheap. I bought it mostly because I like having side tables with storage space in them, and it has a great, marble top.  I even didn't mind the natural wood tones in my house, it was a nice change.  But I got tired of that, and decided to paint it after all while I was on a roll.

I repositioned the handle, painted the wood gray, and white washed over that. Then, added a rusty, old bit of hardware.  

I might change the handle out to a glass knob.  But for now it is fine.

But that wasn't the end. I was in a painting mood.

I'd found this drop leaf recently, and fell in love with its lovely, turned legs. I'd searched for a year for just the right table. I wanted one that folded to a narrow size, so I could store it in the new hearth room, and pull it into the dining room to add some space when we had a big group for meals.

It was $145 and is very solid.  Some gate leg or drop leaf tables that I looked at weren't as sturdy, but this one seems good.  If you are seated at the corner, you could use bad manners and keep your elbows on the table without worrying about the top drooping.

With the dark floor, the table was a little too dark for the room.  So, I painted it the same gray as the other piece, accented it with gold, and wiped a dark wax over it.

I wouldn't use wax on a dining table that got used daily, but I'm fine with it on something that only gets set up for special occasions. I'm afraid that heavy duty use and wiping down would be too much for wax. I have clear poly on my kitchen table. 

The gold makes the pretty legs show up more too.  

Oh, but that isn't all!  I figured that while I had my  mess and paraphernalia in the house, I should do this piece the same day too.

I've had this chair, ($30 from the Habitat for Humanity REstore) for a while and keep thinking I'm going to recover it. The colors match my house, but the fabric isn't quite me.  But it is silk, neutral, and in good shape. 

I decided whitewash the wood with cream wax, but then hated the look on the leg where I'd sampled it.  The carvings on the chair just weren't pretty enough to accentuate.  So, I painted it all white with chalk paint.

Still didn't like it.

I dry brushed cream over that. Better.  But not quite.

Dry brushed some white over that to blend.  Not bad.

Then, decided it needed distressing.  But my sand paper was worn out, it was midnight and I was DONE.  It got a tiny bit of distressing, a coat of clear wax, and kept its original fabric. NO reupholstering for now.  Also, my camera battery died, so no picture of the finished chair.  I'll post one later.

It was a busy day, I'd also painted the hive for my husband's new bee keeping hobby, and made this necklace too.

(This is the top of my kitchen/dining room table.)  One thing I like about the room is that there are lots of different finishes and colors that all go together.  I like to vary the tones and treatments on pieces around the room, so that they do not look like they were all painted in the same day (as many were), instead like they were gathered over time.