Busy Week

I have not been able to write in a week!  Either I have not had time to sit down at the computer to write a post or when I do sit down, my brain shuts off and I can't think of anything to write.  So this post is a short and sweet update about my week.

With it being the last week of school before the Thanksgiving break, the kids were a little antsy and excited about the break.  High school students seem to get more immature the closer a holiday gets.  I came home exhausted everyday and I didn't get much furniture work done but there was a little progress.

I decided to start working on an amazing waterfall front bedroom set that appears to be from the 1930s-1940s.  It has this beautiful dresser, end table, and a twin size headboard/footboard.  The dresser is almost finished and the end table and bed will be done soon after.

Also, there has been progress in my office.  I am sad to say that the room had previously been our "junk room" and had a collection of random things without a home.  So things have been assigned a new home and it is starting to look empty.  Finding a desk was a little problem.  I wanted a large work surface for crafts, sewing, and storage.  I had been stalking Craigslist for months but nothing ever caught my eye.  Finally, I got desperate and went to a few stores to shop for a new desk (gasp) which I just felt awful about.  How  could someone who refinishes furniture go buy a new desk?  Tragic.  But shopping new wasn't a success either.  Then, the other day I found it...on Craigslist, of course.  Now, I need to finish my curtains and get everything organized and in place.  It will be finished this week so check back for my office reveal post.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week and Thanksgiving.  Hopefully there will be several more posts between now and then. 

The Vanity and Lady in Red

Here is a little info and some pictures of my latest project.  The vanity was purchased in a bundle deal that included the Lady in Red dresser, the Antique Carved bed and a few other pieces.  The client was looking for a tall dresser and a vanity.  After searching a few days I found these pieces and went to check them out.  Once I saw them in person, I realized that the Lady in Red dresser was in worse shape than I thought.  The seller refused to separate the bundle so I brought them all home knowing it was going to be a lot of work.  The client loved the vanity and the dresser so I got started ASAP.

I started with the dresser which I initially thought was going to take forever and ended up not taking as long as I thought due to days off of teaching.  (Thank you Hurricane Isaac for the days off school work). 

Lady in Red before

Lady in Red before

Lady in Red after

Then the vanity, which I thought was going to be a fairly simple project took forever.  The vanity did have a few visible veneer problems but nothing significant...until I started working on it.  The veneer problems were worse than expected and this piece was resistant to anything I did to it.  Behind the mirror there is a stamp that read January 1939 and the casters were made of wood so I knew the piece was older and could have some hidden issues.  Between the vanity not wanting me to fix it and my regular job taking over my life, this project took way too long to finish.  She is finished now and will be delivered this week and I am on to the next project.  Its a beautiful vanity and I am so happy with the results. 

Vanity Chair before

Vanity before

Vanity after (client is still looking for handles)



Vanity after
I love the pop of red.  Its going to look great with the Lady in Red Dresser

Now I am ready for the next one.  I bought an AMAZING dresser last night.  I am in love.  I can't decide if I want to refinish it with my vision or post it as a "pick your color piece" and let a client choose.  It has a lot of potential and I can't wait to get started on it.  

Our Home - The Master Bedroom

Today's post is short and sweet.  It is a quick tour of our master bedroom. 

When planning for our room,  it was important that I didn't put too much in the room.  I didn't want it to become cluttered or high maintenance.  I wanted something calm and relaxing but still a little romantic. It was important to me that Brian was happy with the room too. I am not very girly but it is easy to go there in a bedroom if you are not careful. I fell in love with this bedding from Bed, Bath, and Beyond the moment I saw it. I knew I had to have it and I am so happy with it. Thank goodness for all those 20% off coupons! 

The headboard I built from scratch. I am very proud of this project because I built the headboard (designed the shape, cut the wood, nail and glued the frame together, installed foam and batting), sewed and put on the cover, and installed the nail head trim all by myself.  This was a big project and there were several moments where I thought I had lost my mind by taking this on by myself but it was well worth it.  I am very pleased with the end product and now we have this great one of a kind piece in our home.

Headboard

I also refinished the trunk at the end of our bed several years ago.

Door End Tables

I didn't want the traditional end tables. Of course I saw something similar on Pinterest (addicting isn't it?) and once I saw the idea, I couldn't get it out of my head. Traditional end tables would never do now. So this is what I came up with. I added a small shelf and braces so it would stand up on its own. The lanterns were not exactly what I had in mind but when I saw them on the clearance shelf I knew they were the perfect match. Each lantern has a timer candle in them which creates this soft light in our room during the evening.

Curtains

We have a set of french doors with a transom in our bedroom that leads to the back porch. The doors have blinds built in but the transom does not. At night when we have the back porch light on, it comes through the transom and fills our room with light. Finding super tall curtains to coordinate with our bedding that didn't cost a fortune and me actually like them was seeming impossible so I got impatient with shopping and decided to sew some. I used a ivory denim because its cheap and is heaving enough to block light and heat/cold. These curtains are about 10 ft tall, times 2 of them so we are talking about 7 yds of fabric.  This project could have easily cost a lot more money because lets be honest...there is some amazing fabric out there...but you have to pay an amazingly crazy price for it.   I also decided to stick go with the ivory denim because I didn't want to use something that would overwhelm the room.  I used material left over from the headboard to create a stripe border at the bottom. After sewing the white curtain with the stripe border at the bottom, I felt it was too plain for me so I got brave and used a stencil and fabric paint to create a design border at the top and bottom. I am really happy with the result and it keeps the light out at night.

Tomorrow I am planning on showing the finished guest room.  We have two spare rooms which one is already set up as a guest room and the other is constantly in limbo.  Sometimes its super clean and set up with our workout stuff and Brian's fly tying station and other times it is a storage locker.  I am hoping to have it turned into the Fisherman's Wife Furniture Office over the next few weeks. :)

Our Home - Main Living Areas

I honestly didn't know what to write about this morning and I promised myself I wouldn't go more than two days without blogging so I decided to give you a tour of our home.  It shows our love of the water and is filled with furniture I made or refinished and things we have inherited over the years.  Our style is what I call coastal casual. 

I am going to do this in several parts so I don't have one super long post and it will give me something to write about over the next few days.  I hope y'all enjoy!

Just some background on our house: We live in a rent house in New Orleans near Lake Pontchartrain.  My husband's job moved us here in January from Texas and since our time here is limited we felt renting was the best option for us.  As most of you know, renting has some great advantages but there are some huge disadvantages when trying to decorate and making it your own.  I have tried to make the least amount of nail holes as possible and I have tried to bring in color with accessories since I can't paint the walls.

So I started a blog...

and I am not sure how to do anything "bloggish".  It took me way too long to get my page set up and I am still not sure if things are working right.  Technology and I don't really get along.  I often have to call my brother to the rescue when it comes to anything that has a plug, wires or any kind of computing ability.  Also, if I am being honest, I don't find myself very funny, interesting, or much of a writer so the idea of me blogging is a little intimidating.  Having said that, I do have a lot to say about furniture and my adventure of starting my own business so that's what I am going to focus on.

Several people have commented about me starting a blog or have asked me to start one so I can provide more information about my furniture.  Right now most of my advertising is on my Facebook business page and they are not that user friendly and it is hard to give the story of a piece on my Facebook wall.  Hopefully this will provide the detailed information people are looking for and will be more user friendly for everyone!

Please be patient as I am sure the next few weeks will be filled with some growing pains but keep checking back for updates about available furniture and to check for new posts!  I will be trying to add all my past projects and add more information over the next few days. 

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