Friday Update ~10/23/2015

I am here! I promise!  Things have gone quiet on the blog and much of my social media.  Just not feeling it lately plus I have been unbelievably busy.  This post started last Thursday and was supposed to be finished for Friday but I couldn't make it happen.  Even my friends were starting to wonder.  We see each other every few days usually (we all live less than a mile or two from each other) and I didn't see them for over a week.  I refuse to complain because I am so grateful for all the work but not going to lie...I am tired.

The past three weeks have been extremely productive even if the blog wasn't updated!  We went out of town for a wedding, finished the fire pit area, I hung the shelves in the bathroom (LOVE THEM), rearranged our living room layout, bought new chairs, finished/started several FWF projects, cleaned and reorganized the shop, my parents came over one evening, my mom visited a day, and Blittle's parents visited several days.  And those are the highlights.

A quick pic of us looking like fancy adults at the wedding.

MASTER BATHROOM

I do not have pictures of the bathroom shelves.  For now on, no more bathroom pictures.  The kitchen I kept mostly hidden and only showed certain parts until it was finished.  The final result, for the most part, was a surprise. The bathroom has been blogged about a lot and the surprise factor is out.  Now that we are down to the finishing touches, I want to wait until it is complete to post more pictures.  There needs to be a few unknown things for the big reveal.  :)


FIREPIT

The actual construction part of the fire pit and side yard is complete. I built some benches last weekend and we hung patio lights.  I still need to decorate to make it feel "homey" and set up the cooking area.  Blittle wants to build a smoker as well.  Still lots to do but we can enjoy the space while it is in progress.

FURNITURE

These chairs went home.

I will get after pictures later.  They are now a gorgeous blue and covered with new fabric.

This vanity is finished.

Again, I'll get photos of it in it's new home next week.


I built this cool out door table out of an old fence gate and legs the owner got from the Galveston Historic Foundation Store.

Now I am working on our entertainment center.  My mom bought it and wants it navy.  The table to the dining set she bought will get its makeover next week and I have two end tables to refurbish.

I hope everyone has a great weekend.  It is supposed to rain A LOT here over the next few days because of Hurricane Patricia (No, it is not hitting us but the rain will make its way to Texas).  The weather person is saying 100% chance over the weekend.  Pretty sure its going to rain.

Hopefully with all the rain, I can get my blog posts for the furniture before and afters done today or this weekend.  There will be a post about the fire pit are and the benches I built soon, too.  Another goal is to get all the quarter round installed in the bathroom and start painting the trim.

Friday Update ~ 09/18/2015

It's Friday!  This was the quickest, long week ever.  Things were super busy, I worked hard every day,  my body made me go to bed by 9:30 most nights (8:30 last night) and now it is Friday already.

FURNITURE

My shop is filled to the max.  I finished up my mom's dressers, worked on a desk, stool, and  sofa table for a client, plus had another client dropped off a vanity.  Earlier this week I shared our master bedroom bed side tables.  Love them!  Read about that makeover here.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

MASTER BATHROOM

If you follow me on Instagram you know that we have made tons of progress over the last few weeks.  The goal for the weekend is to have all the water lines and plumbing hooked up!

PAVER PATIO

Apparently I don't feel busy enough so we started the side yard/paver patio makeover.  Really, the bathroom is taking longer than expected since I took time off of the project to focus on furniture work and here we are in September already.  We want the side yard ready for fall and oyster season.  There is a plan for a smoker, fire pit, setting up a grill area, outdoor furniture and much more.  After lots of discussion we decided to hire out most of the prep work.  

One of the biggest struggles we have as DIYers is knowing we can do it.  Blittle and I did a paver patio at our first home.  There is no part of the project beyond our ability.  The problem is time....and energy.  We decided investing the money for someone else to do the heavy work was worth it.  And I am not going to lie, writing those checks have been painful but the work has been done in hours, not days.

First step was to tear out all the grass and frame the patio.  This work was done late last week then Brian and I framed the space over the weekend.  Today, the crushed concrete will be brought in and leveled.  That leaves us (we will actually DIY this part) laying the pavers and building the fire pit.

Blittle started the paver walkway to the dock last weekend.  The house originally had a concrete walkway that was putting pressure on the bulkhead and was broken.  It was the very first thing we tore out.  Seriously, our first weekend at the house we rented a jack hammer and tore it out making tons of noise that I have no doubt the entire neighborhood could hear.  Two years later we are putting in a new path to the dock.  We decided to do a simple paver walkway.  The grass will be removed and each paver will sit flush with the grass.  

And that's what I did this week.  This weekend will be busy with hunting, furniture delivery, birthday party and bathroom work.

Have a great weekend everyone!  To see what we are up to this weekend, follow me on Instagram.

Master Bedroom Bed Side Tables

At the top of my "must have" list for the mini master makeover was more folded clothing storage.   The first step was getting a larger dresser which I shared last week.  Next step, bed side tables with storage.

These bed side tables are another great find by my mom.  She is my personal furniture shopper.  :) Thanks, Mom!

Not sure where she got these but they are great.  And weird.  The wood is not super smooth.  It has these strange indentions in it.  They are actually considered small dressers so there is tons of storage space.

Before.

I decided to paint them instead of stain to match the dresser.  Matchy, matchy is not a design tactic I practice.  The room is in need of a little pop of color so I went with a light blue that is in our bedding.   Its a pretty contrast with the navy and white curtains and the newly gray walls.  Also, there were some problems with the wood.  The top pieces of wood were coming unglued so all of that had to be glued, pressed and filled to create a smooth top.  Other than that, the dressers are in good condition.  The original hardware was painted a soft iron to coordinate with the new hardware of the large dresser.

After.

It is nice to have a place to store more of my folded clothes and on Blittle's side, I have our extra bed sheets and pillow cases stowed away.  They turned out really pretty and are the perfect size for us.

The master bedroom mini makeover is almost done.  There is new bedding, bed side tables, dresser, curtains and wall color.  Now I need to get some decor and art on the walls as well as figure out what I want to do with the headboard.  Our current headboard was my first thing to build from scratch.  I built it for our New Orleans home and I do like it.  BUT when we moved to this house the headboard doesn't fit in between the two windows on the wall with the bed.  I built it oversized to compete with the 12-15ft tray ceilings and large wall in our NOLA bedroom.  It just isn't working for me here.  So do I sell the headboard and build or buy something else?  Do I keep it and just deal?  I haven't made up my mind yet.

The entire makeover will be revealed soon!  The bathroom, too!  We are so close to being done.  I can't wait!

Friday Update ~ 09/11/2015

Hi, all!  I hope everyone had a great 4 -day work week!  Here in the Houston/Galveston area it has been raining all week with a cool front on its way.  The weekend is supposed to be dry and gorgeous! Fingers crossed.

MASTER BATHROOM

We made HUGE progress in this room.  I seriously can't believe how it went from looking like a major construction zone Friday morning to feeling like a real bathroom by Monday night.  There was lots of laboring over Labor Day weekend.

Here is what we had Friday.

And this is now.

I haven't had much time to work in there this week but the plan is to get the tile caulked and faucets and sinks installed over the weekend.

FURNITURE

(HUGE SIGH)  I am having some finishing problems with the two navy dressers I have been working on for my mom.  It is extremely frustrating.  This is not my first, second or third project and I am using the same products I usually do so it is annoying when products act weird.  There is a chance it was the heat and/or humidity but that is something I always have to deal with so I really don't think that is it.  Those dressers should have gone home at the beginning of the week and yet, they are still in my shop.  On top of that, I am trying to finish up some client pieces that need to go home early next week.  I am feeling a lot of stress and pressure to get things done quick and my products (and weather) are making it hard.

I know I will get it done.  It just gives me anxiety when I get so close to or go over my completion dates.  I like to stay on schedule.

Earlier this week I shared our master bedroom dresser and was supposed to share our end tables' makeover yesterday.  Well, I didn't.  Things were just too busy (and I was too exhausted) to finish the post.  Sorry.  I hope to get to it this weekend and share first thing next week.

Here are the master bedroom dresser before and after shots.

MISCELANEOUS

We have tons of stuff going on right now.  The bathroom remodel.  Our side yard was tore out earlier this week to prep for our flagstone/pebble patio but it has rained all week (pouring right now...so bad the dogs stepped out to see the crazy wind and rain then turned around to come back in) and we have a muddy mess.  The other business (tell you more about that soon) has had a big week, exciting week but it has taken up a lot of my time.  Furniture projects in the shop.  Things are busy, busy.

SIDE NOTE:  I can't believe it has been 14 years since the tragedy of 9/11.  That day is imprinted in my brain.  I was standing in my College Station apartment getting ready for speech class, watching the Today Show.  Then everything changed.  I skipped school that day.  I couldn't tear myself away from the TV.  By the weekend A&M had organanized all kinds of tributes to be done during the football game.  It still amazes me that in a few short days this was organized.  (I am in the red section).

Please thank your first responders and service men/women.  It is free and easy and it does make a difference in their day.

Have a great weekend!

Ebony & Brass Buffet Makeover

So several months ago, a woman in my neighborhood contacted me about buying some furniture from her.  I am always in the market for furniture especially when it finds me...and is only a mile away.  A dining set that includes a buffet, china cabinet, dining table and 6 chairs was part of the purchase.  Originally I thought about keeping the buffet for me and using it as storage/dresser in our bedroom but it isn't the right piece for that.  Fast forward a few months and my mom expressed some interest in it.  She is currently trying to furnish their apartment in Houston and rearrange/change the furniture in their Mid-County home.

After some discussion, measuring, planning and trips to the storage unit, she decided to take the entire set!

Just a little note about the furniture:  The set has Max Barnett stamped on them.  Max Barnett was a well known furniture store in New Orleans that occupied the Art Deco building at 600 Carondelet until the 1970s.  The building was recently purchased and is currently being renovated into a hotel.  The licensing info I can find on Max Barnett says it started in 1908 but after the 1970s I am not sure what happened.


The furniture is great quality, heavy and well built.  It has been neglected a little over the years but I am hopeful all the pieces can be beautiful again.

The buffet had its makeover first and the result is stunning.  This is definitely one of the best before and afters of Fisherman's Wife Furniture.  I love that my mom wanted it stained (I didn't really give her a choice) and the wood was preserved.

Here are the before pictures.

Obviously the piece is in decent shape and is a pretty design but up close you can see the wear and tear its had over the years.

The pulls are brass so they were polished back to their bright, clean finish.  (See my How to Polish Brass Tutorial here.)

The entire piece was stripped and sanded before stain could go on.  Almost all the imperfections were fixed with sanding and I only had to fill a few places where the veneer damage was extreme.  Thankfully my mom helped out on this project!  Thanks, Mom.

She loves to paint furniture black.  Its a thing.  We don't even ask anymore what color she plans to paint stuff so I wasn't shocked when she said she wanted the piece stained ebony.  HAHA.  Of course.  The thing I love about Minwax Ebony stain is the rich, dark color still shows the grain.  The ebony stain and the mahogany wood are a perfect pair.  It took two coats of stain to get the rich color then I did 3 coats of clear coat.  

Pictures do not capture how beautiful this finish is.   

Here are the after shots.

Gorgeous! It has been given new life.

I mentioned before she bought the entire set.  So guess what I am working on this week?!

This guy was stripped and sanded today.  I am so excited to see its transformation.

SHARING AT:

Monday - Inspire Me Monday (Sand & Sisal,  My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Domestically Speaking, Sweet C’s Designs)  Made by you Monday (Skip To My Lou)

Tuesday -  Show and Share (Coastal Charm)

Wednesday:Wow Us Wednesday (Savvy Southern Style), Inspire Me Wednesday (Seven Thirty Three, Happiness is Homemade) Be You tiful (Art is Beauty)  Wednesday Before and After (The Dedicated House)

Thursday: What To Do Weekends (Crafts ala Mode ),  The Best DIY Party at the Handmade Hangout (A Glimpse Inside, Christina’s Adventures, From Gardners to Bergers, Redoux Interiors, Too Much Time on My Hands), Creativity Unleashed (Practically Functional, Shaken Together, One Project Closer, The Bold Abode, and The DIY Village)

Friday:  The Party Bunch (The Idea Room, 30 Handmade Days, Whipperberry, The 36th Avenue),  Anything Goes (Bacon Time),  Be. You. Tiful Link Party (Chic California), Creativity Unleashed (Practically Functional, Shaken Together, One Project Closer, The Bold Abode)  Fabulously Creative Friday (Jennifer Rizzo Blog)