~REPURPOSING A FRENCH PROVINCIAL DESK~

 

  A little over a week ago I shared with you my excitement over finding a fabulous vintage French Provincial cabinet on Craigslist for $50.  

 For the past several days I've been working on repainting it for use in my studio.  I'm loving how it came out and all the storage it gives me for old laces and ribbons.

 Early last month I moved the child's size armoire out of my workshop for use in my booth space (Edmond Antiques).  That left me really needing something to hold all my vintage trims.

Gotta LOVE Craigslist!

 I first primed the cabinet with Zinsser Bonding Primer before giving it two good coats of satin paint by Behr (Home Depot/Soft White).  I love this paint as it's not too yellow and not too bright!  Then I sanded it down with my electric orbital sander!  Gentle distressing with sand paper and a bit of aging with AS dark wax before AS clear wax was applied to the entire piece!

 I love having everything OUT so I can see what I'm looking for!

 Vintage laces, ribbons and trims...yummmmmmmmmmmmeeeee!

Old pastelle ribbon makes me swoon....

 Can't let the day pass without mentioning the 11th anniversary of the tragedy of 9-11.  Today we remember those innocent people who lost their lives that day and the brave men and women who fought to save them.

~WE REMEMBER~

Praying today for peace for those left behind.

~~*~~

Love to you...

 

~My $50 CRAIGSLIST FIND...A French Provincial Hutch~

 I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and you were able to do something fun and exciting!  Yesterday my guy and I did NOTHING and it was fabulous!

But....on SATURDAY we did something FUN!

 Now that I have a booth at a local Antique Mall (Edmond Antiques/Edmond, OK) I'm always on the hunt for fabulous things to use in my space!  Well...early Saturday morning while perusing our local Craigslist offerings I stumbled upon this great vintage French Provincial cabinet/hutch.

Asking Price:  Half a Benjamin (or a cool $50 bill)!!!

What?

I could scarcely breathe when I saw the posting around 4AM because not only was the price fabulous, but you rarely find French pieces like this sold alone.  They are almost always offered in a grouping and the prices are usually exorbitant!  I'm sure the cabinet-hutch-desk combo originally came as part of bedroom set designed for a young girl.  When my sister, Linda, and I were little we had twin beds and dressers that were very similar to this...

Anyway...the two pieces were located in Sand Springs, Oklahoma, about 1 1/2 hour drive from our home near Oklahoma City.  The owner,  a sweet girl named Hannah, held them for me until we could make the drive later in the day!

We opted NOT to take our trailer and when we got there the cabinet barely fit into the back of our SUV!  Ugh!  Somehow my Mr. AGPMan made them fit!  YIPPEEEE...

So now the question is....

WHAT SHALL I DO NOW????

Originally I planned on painting the pieces for my booth space, but instead I've decided to keep them (are you surprised?)...  I'm going move a vintage desk out of my studio and change things up to make my square footage more useable.  The hutch portion (or bookcase) of the cabinet will be great for jars of old buttons, vintage ribbons, etc.  Sooooo exciting!  

Since it's going to hit 106 degrees today in our Oklahoma town I'm opting to work inside on finishing up some special orders.  As much as I'm itching to paint this sweet French piece there is no way I'm doing it on a day this hot!!!  BAH!

I'll be sure to show you all when it's ready!  

Did you know we only have

111 days until Christmas??? :)  

(I'm just sayin'....)

Happy Tuesday!

Love to you...

~FRENCH WHITE CHAIR MAKEOVER...Oooh La La~

I'm busy helping my mother move today so this is a quick post!  

I finished redoing a few of those charming French Provincial Chairs I shared with you a few weeks ago and here is what the captain style chair looks like today...

Here's the before shot in case your interested!

Such a mix of cottage romance and French white charm!  I'm loving it so much I just MAY reupholster my chairs in my home to match.  (They need recovering anyway!)

I added this sweet painted cabinet to my website shoppe today and also the sweet hand painted vintage camping stool below...

Everything's coming up roses for me and for you!

And...if you are wondering about those of us here in Oklahoma who experienced severe weather last night~  Well...personally, we survived lots of wind and hail!!!  Our yard looks like a war-zone and we don't know yet if we have any other damage. :(  Everything's a big mess tho!!!  Tree branches and junk is strewn all about!  Lots of clean-up ahead!

More soon.  I'm off to carry boxes!

Love to you...

~COTTAGE WHITE DREAMING...FRENCH PROVINCIAL SETTEE~

I found out on Friday my wee little booth space at Edmond Antiques was photographed for the latest newspaper ad coming out on Thursday!  How fun is that?

I'm drunk with joy! :)

As incredible as it is for me, today marks my 900th post.  I first began blogging back in January 2009 so this December I'll complete four years of on-line journaling.  If I'm being honest here, I'm wondering just what, if anything, I have left to share with you that I haven't already yapped about many, many times before...

Last week I snagged this wonderful vintage French Provincial Settee (or love-seat) at our local thrift store.  Even though the old piece has been reupholstered with a horrible country blue Herculon (with pink braiding no less!) the bones are fantastic and the newly replaced cushions are in perfect shape!  The price was so far below it's value and so it was one of those no-brain-er purchases.  About $50!  Crazy, huh?  I snapped this picture just before taking my Miss Mollie for a walk...that's why she has her harness and leash on...  She is such a silly dog!!!!

Now...my cottatge white dream plan is to hunt down a soft white Trigger or a medium weight canvas-style fabric to reupholster the settee in.

No florals.

No pink.

Nothing but white.

(SWOON!)

Won't it be just the dreamiest thing once it's madeover?

I can do this style of work so it shouldn't take me too long once I begin...just need to make a place to work as my Mr. AGPMan's shop is a bit too dusty for white fabric!  Anyway, in place of the cushion cording I'd like to add tiny (truly petite!) reverse pleat ruffles and then double-welt cording for the outside trim.  Not sure yet.  Also haven't decided if I will paint this piece a matching soft white and gently distress it OR leave it dark wood.  Depends on whether or not I end up selling it or keeping it!

(I'm leaning towards painting it, of course!!!!)

I'm off to add more new things to my booth space and then this afternoon I'll be working on new things for my website!  I have my Miss K in tow with me until Friday and we have lots and lots of fun things planned today even though it's a working-week for me!!!

Hope your day is equally as wonderful!

Love to you...