~FLEUR DE LIS CHICKEN WIRE MEMO BOARDS~

  First of all...I read yesterday on Karen Valentine's Blog (My Desert Cottage) that Blogger will be dropping the FOLLOWERS GADGET in early July (please visit Karen's updated post HERE to read how this information may not be accurate).  Please visit Karen to read more about how these changes might affect all us Bloggers in the future!  I spent most of Sunday evening trying to navigate my way thru (and joining) Google+ and by the time I went to bed I was fried.  I added a GOOGLE+ Followers THINGY to my sidebar for those of you who want to continue to find me and/or my Blog.  As I understand more I'll share more.  I'm so worried I won't be able to read and follow my favorite blogs and don't want to lose touch with any of you...

What a NIGHTMARE.  Bah!

 Can you believe the Memo Board at the very top once looked like the two above????  UGLEEE for sure!  Well...maybe not that ugly...but you know what I mean.  Very pre-fab and they'd definitely seen better days!

 Found both canvas pictures at Goodwill and ALMOST passed on bringing them home.  Originally I thought I'd paint them but the canvas was too stretched out and wompy!   But...I remembered SOMEWHERE seeing some great refurbished memo boards and asked my Mr. AGPMan to come to the rescue.

He removed the headers (with the sweet fleur de lis) and then ripped off the canvas.  In it's place he stapled on the chicken wire and then reattached the headers.

  After a quick paint job with a ratty trap chip brush and a LIGHT coating of dark wax (Annie Sloan) the Memo Boards were ready for a bit of distressing!

I love how they came out and they were fairly simple to do!

Hope you have an exciting Monday planned.  My Miss K and I will be watching Mary Poppins (she's never seen it) and if the weather stays nice we will be planting spring flowers in my backyard garden.

Love to you... 

PAINTING VINTAGE FURNITURE...YES! PRIME!

AWAITING HER TRANSFORMATION

Do you PRIME your furniture pieces before you paint? If you don't, I believe you should! I have found that Priming with the correct Primer/Sealer saves me a lot of time and headache when re-purposing and painting lovely old chairs, shelves, cabinets and tables! Primer helps to keep the chipping of your paint to a minimum and even helps when that pesky old stain and varnish wants to bleed through...

This charming old Rocker was found at an Antique Mall in Bethany, Oklahoma. I paid $25 for her and she has proven herself to be a simply wonderful chair. After patching staple marks across the top of her spindally back, she was primed with my favorite Primer and then painted with my favorite color of cottage paint! I sit upon this beauty every single day! Her entire transformation cost me about $50...can't buy anything new for that!

AFTER PRIMING AND PAINTING

I truly believe if you use the right Primer it won't matter too terribly much what kind of paint you choose. Just remember...oil based primer goes with oil based paint...latex primer goes with latex paint! My verrrry favorite Primer is Zinsser! Even thought there isn't a Primer that will successfully cover everything, this one does an amazing job! I apply it with a sponge brush and when the sponge wears out I just grab another one...they are cheap and no clean-up!

BEAUTIFULLY RESTORED

Next time you are in your favorite home improvement store, check this product out! For those of you who love to refurbish old finds, I think you'll find it is amazing! The manufacturer even says you don't have to sand off old finishes because the Primer sticks to almost anything! Well...I've found it to be true! I think you'll love it!

MY FAVORITE PRIMER - ZINSSER

Blessings to you as you continue to discover there is still a lot of life in things that are old...Rebecca

FUNCTIONAL TO FABULOUS REPURPOSED VINTAGE SEWING CHAIR

A SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL FIND

My Mr. AGPMan and I were just a young married couple living in a small Texas town when we snagged our first piece of vintage furniture. If the truth be known we didn't have much more than a dime to our name so buying anything we didn't absolutely need was truly sacrificial. I mean...our goal was to buy and then EAT food! Simple as that!

I couldn't have possibly have understood it then, but scrounging up the $15 bucks (of which $5 was loaned to me by my dad!) to purchase a tiny wooden love-seat and matching chair (circa 1935) put into motion a love affair with all things old. It's a deep love that remains to this day! (By the way...I STILL have those two old pieces and I promise to share them with you before long!)

The vintage Sewing Chair you see above is another old piece I own-I actually have two! They are such sweet little beauties and they are impossible for me to pass up! I've sold a few (thank you Michele-my California friend) over the years, but because of their diminutive size it is difficult to part with them. They fit almost anywhere and I simply adore how they look once they are transformed!

BEFORE HER MAKEOVER

Check out this "before shot". Sweet, but nothing especially wonderful! But, after a quick sanding, several coats of fresh paint and some 2die4 fabric, beautiful old finds such as this one can be lovingly transformed for use in our cottage homes of today!

GREAT FOR STORAGE

How we did it:

We began by removing all the wooden pieces from the square base of the chair. Each piece was sanded down and primed and then hand painted (not sprayed). I opted to paint both the interior and exterior of the base (I did use spray paint for the inside).

After the pieces were all dry and cured (at least three days or MORE!), the chair was reassembled (except for the lid). The flounce (skirt) was then attached with a staple gun (use upholstery strips for a neat, clean lines) up near the top edge. I left the inside of this one plain, but you can also line them with fabric!

PRETTY BACK VIEW

A tiny hand gathered ruffle was added to the lid after being re-padded with quilt batting (I opted to remove the vinyl cover on this part). The inside lid cover was replaced and then it was re-attached to the body of the chair!

Lastly, shabby cottage chic roses (in pink, of course) were hand painted on both the front and back of the chair. Wahhhhhh Lahhhhhhhhh! Done!

I placed this charming old find in front of a vintage sewing cabinet I found at yet another tag sale. The circa 1920's cabinet is much, much older...but I still LOVE how they look paired together!

UP-CLOSE VIEW OF FLOUNCE

Use your imagination when you're out shopping in your area for charming old finds! Hope you enjoyed another peek into my home! Promise...much more will be shared in the future! Would love to have you follow along...

"A thing of beauty is a joy forever. It's loveliness increases; it will never pass into nothingness..." Keats

Blessings to you on this rainy, snowy and stormin' Oklahoma day...Rebecca

~~~KNOCK ON WOOD~~~ REPURPOSED FINDS

CIRCA 1900-1920 SIX PANE DOOR

Even though I've been missing in action over the past few days I've been busy working! With my hubbs out of town last week I took some time away from stocking my website (new pretties coming this week!) to work on a FEW personal projects that I started several months ago but remained half finished. I couldn't wait to show you the end result of something that truly proved to be cottage wonderful...at least I think so!

When I first started my Blog (January '09) I shared with all of you a story of a cottage down the lane (a REAL Cottage, mind you!) that was being demolished to make space for ANOTHER retail shopping center. In the story I explained how we (um, my hubbs!) hauled all the vintage doors and windows to our storage shed for decorative use in both our home and a shoppe I hope to open later this year! My idea was to use one or two :) as a backdrop in some sort of decorative vignette! I've seen vintage doors used as "walls" for years in antique shoppes and I LOVED the idea. So, I incorporated that thought into something I hoped might work in my own home! This is now the second refurbished door we've chosen to showcase as something other than a DOOR! I think it adds so much interest and charm to our shabby cottage chic decor...

VIEW FROM UPSTAIRS LANDING

The beautiful old door you see was once the back entrance to the French Style Cottage that once stood dainty and proud! It's been totally re-purposed and now is proudly displayed in my upstairs landing!

After a thorough cleaning, the door was primed (sometimes old paint colors are difficult to cover) and then painted a soft and creamy pink. My hubbs used garden brackets to support the shelf he added to the top (at the crown of the door he also added a metal garden-rose arch~it is hard to see because I snapped the picture in the evening). As an afterthought we (um, HE!) added metal hooks to the sides. Delightful for hanging those sweet old hats! The shelf on top is perfect for displaying a pillow or two or even a favorite old photograph...

HAND PAINTED ROSES

Because our landing is fairly small we had to come up with a decorative find that was both functional and narrow. Across the front I hand painted a spray of fluffy pink roses and soft leaves in basil and pale fern. All the original hardware was in place making the door an even sweeter find!

Hope to share more with you later this week! Don't forget that gorgeous vintage corner cabinet is coming up soon! Now that's a sweetie and a real treasured find for sure!

Be creative, challenged and changed!

Blessings...Rebecca

A TIME FOR CHANGE

~ CREAMY COTTAGE WHITE~

(w/Hand Painted Pink Roses)

Over the past few weeks I've been busily working refurbishing pretty finds for my home. Aside from reopening my website and working towards keeping it stocked, (head's-up... I'll be uploading new painted pretties during the day tomorrow) , I've made a commitment to whittle down the things in my storage shed. Even though I don't make New Year's Resolutions (for the obvious reasons), I do set goals for myself each year. Starting last January I scheduled something to complete each month and so far I'm right on track! This is HUGE for me because my head is always spinning away with ideas. It's easy for me to lose sight of why I even bought something if I'm not careful.

The clock you see above was a real steal a few years ago. The only problem is that it was black! For at least 24 months I've whined about repainting it...well~ I finally did! I absolutely LOVE how it came out and couldn't wait to show it off. I placed it in my upstairs landing, just to the left of our guestroom door. Inside each door (top, middle and bottom) the clock holds all of our Miss K's DVD's! Since the little TV she watches is upstairs, it is a great place to store all her favorite Movies...

~ORIGINAL BLACK PAINT~

Even when the clock was black it truly was a delightful piece! It just didn't go with any of my things! Now that it's repainted I can't believe I put off doing it for soooo long! I love it! ACK! Sometimes I just hate my weaknesses! :(

~REPAINTED AND CHARMING~

This shot was taken at the top of my stairs (see the banister?). The room you see is our guestroom. This room was in Romantic Homes Magazine (2006) but has since be redecorated. Love it even more now! Change is good! Even when decorating in Shabby Cottage Chic style, every now and then I believe an update is sometimes necessary!

~SHABBY COTTAGE CHIC~

I painted the entire clock with a sponge brush a soft cottage white. The face of the clock was removed and in the corners I hand painted pink roses! I opted not to paint roses on the front of the clock's body (doors). As much as I love PINK ROSES (And I do! I DO!), sometimes I just think less is more...you know? Besides, I'm really wanting to hand paint some sweet little roses on the wall and if I also paint them on the clock, well...for me it will just be too much!

~UP-CLOSE VIEW OF CLOCK~

I left the original numbers and lettering on the clock's face in tact. I painted out the decor in the corners and replaced it with my own artwork!

In the end I'm very pleased with the results. I just wish I wasn't the world's worst procrastinator. I do well when it comes to getting things done for others...but I'm really terrible at keeping up with finishing projects in my own home! My hubbs helps keep me on track...

Hope you enjoyed a peek into my home. The closer we get to Spring I promise to upload more pictures, including those of the outside. I think it's lovely!

Blessings as you work at beautifying your own home...Rebecca

SHABBY COTTAGE CHIC LIGHTING

WALL ACCENTS FIND NEW PURPOSE

For the longest time I've wanted to show you all something that I believe turned out truly amazing! It is something my hubbs and I did to accent our vintage chandeliers...

A few years ago when our son was in the Air Force, my Mr. AGPM (A Gathering Place Man) and I took a trip up north to Omaha for a visit. On our jaunt from Oklahoma to Nebraska we stopped in some amazing places to shop...one place was Kansas City. I remember coming back home with an SUV full of wonderful treasures for our home! It was during this trip I found two decorative wall thingies (sp?) which I decided would be fabulous as ceiling/chandelier surrounds (or WHATEVER they are calling those things that go on the ceiling that light fixtures hang from)!

To be honest with you I wasn't 100% sure my idea would even work...so, I ALWAYS defer to hubbs on stuff like this. I mean after all, he IS the one that has to do the work. He ABSOLUTELY looked at me as if I was NUTSO! He did...he might deny it now 'cause he loves how everything turned out, but momentarily he did believe I'd lost my mind...

Anyway, after a little work :) :) :) he transformed both the wall pieces and made them into chandelier accents for the ceiling!

Since then we've mounted the surrounds in all the rooms in our home (all different styles and sizes). They are GORGEOUS and much less expensive than the "real ones" sold at a Lighting Store! Think ROSS, TJ MAXX, MARSHALLS, HOMEGOODS, etc. I see them all the time!

Tomorrow is Estate Sale Day! I'm off to dream about the goodies I'm HOPING to snag by being FIRST IN LINE! I'm getting out early! Whooo Hoooo!

Blessings...Rebecca