Tricycle Red Chair

Another chair has been completed for my dining room set!  This was another that originally had wood seat and the rest was white.  After my experience with the last one, I thought I would try a different route so that I wouldn't have the white showing through when I distressed.

So I spray painted the white parts with brown primer.  Primer, thinking that it would hold up better to a little sanding.  Then, once again (since I am a lazy painter) spray painting the whole thing black, followed by a bit of sanding.  

Hmmm....

The overall look, not bad.

BUT...

upon closer inspection...

 Not only did I do a poor job of spraying...

Yep, the white still showed through!  ARGH!

I even tried a little stain on the white spots, but the white paint didn't want to take the stain.  

So, spray it again, or do something a little different?

How about a little red milk paint?

 These were taken after one + a bit more coats of milk paint.  

And then another coat, some sanding, some more messing with paint after the white showed through again.  Still not thrilled...

So, a little dark wax...(and yes, I realize that I am using a lot of dot, dot, dot)

And...

I am actually quite happy with the finished result!

Sorry I didn't get more up close shots.  I tried, but they didn't turn out so great.  You'll just have to come by the house and see it in person!  

So now, I have 6 black chairs and one red!  One more to go to have a complete 8! 

Blessings,

Ronda

Chair Make-Over

 This chair has been sitting in my garage for a while now.  When we bought it at a yard sale, there was caning in the seat.  Since it was broken in places, we actually looked into how to re-cane it.  Jeff got so far as to take out most of the caning...and then there it sat.  No reflection on him-- I have given him too many projects!

I had determined that the chair was going to go in the trash, until a pic I saw on a blog one day inspired me.  I had nothing to lose, so I gave it a shot. 

It is far from perfect and I learned a few things along the way.  Don't know if I will ever have the opportunity to another chair like this, but if I do, I might do it a bit differently. 

And now we have 8 chairs to go around our farmhouse table! Two of them still need to be painted, but that's ok, they are fine as is.  Besides, Jeff still has table leaves to make before we actually need 8 chairs!

Blessings, 

Ronda

Craft Room Update Again...

I realized I haven't given you an update since hubby finished the closet reno. The closets in this room have never been terribly convenient.  They are shorter than normal and all the shelving in them was next to impossible to get to.  So I had him cut out the wall and put shelves all the way across so that I would have a place to store all of my paint supplies.  Since taking out the wall left an ugly spot on the floor, he decided to rip out the carpeting in the closet and put in flooring left over from my daughter's bedroom.  This is a temp fix until we save up the money to replace the carpeting in the entire room.  I'm kind of liking the way this flooring looks, though :)

I would like to figure out a way to hide the mess, but the shape of the closet kind of prohibits that.  I would welcome ideas...

Hadn't shown you any pics since I got all of my craft "stuff" put in this room, either.  My daughter thinks it may be tough to get to the thread that I want! Ah, well...it's cute, right?

Some things I found in my grandma's sewing box...

Which is actually the box down there on the bottom shelf.  I still have a small collection of paper patterns that I can't bring myself to get rid of, even though I doubt I will ever use them again.  

Haven't decided yet what I will put in the picnic basket...but I thought it was a nice addition to this room :)

And to answer the question in all of your minds....no, the kitchen has not made any progress!  Still living in a mess!

Blessings,

Ronda

A New Normal

 Welcome to my new normal....

At least for the next couple of months that is.  The kitchen renovation has officially begun!  One wall in the kitchen is going to completely disappear and one set of upper and lower cabinets will be reconfigured.  

 In the mean time, all the "stuff" that was in the cabinets has had to go elsewhere and the things on the countertop had to be moved to other countertops.  Didn't have much space in the kitchen to begin with, but now, despite the hole in the corner, it feels like the walls are closing in! 

And for those of you who told me I would get tired of a dark color-- I confess, I am ready for the red to be gone! Even though it has only been on there for a few years (3?), it is going to go away.  Unfortunately, the blue countertops will not be going away quite yet.  Those will have to wait until we can save up the funds. 

Hoping the next investment will be a new range :) Once again, when funds come available.  Stainless steel, smooth top! 

There are a few other projects on my radar alongside this one.  Hopefully I will take the time to blog about them!

Blessings,

Ronda

Progress

So, it's been more than 2 weeks since I posted anything.  I must not be cut out for the blogging world, afterall :(

I guess my problem is in always wanting to have pictures to show you.  And I prefer to show a finished project.  I actually had some pics of the craft room a week ago, but never quite got around to putting them on the ol' blog.  

Now I'm actually glad that I didn't as hubby and I spent some time cleaning up the room yesterday and now it looks MUCH better!  :)

So, the walls are all painted, the shelves are back up and I have actually put a few books on the shelves on the right of this pic. (Please ignore the UGLY green couchy-thingy-- it will go bye-bye as soon as I can find something to replace it!)

 This wasn't really the order I wanted these pics, but it is what it is-- I haven't had much luck moving them once I load them.  This next pic shows that we have big stuff in store for this end of the room!  The 2 closet doors used to be the same, but hubby cut out that wall so there will be open shelving there, also.  I had thought we would cut out the entire wall, which is why I didn't paint it, but obviously, it didn't work quite like that.  So, the remainder of that wall will be painted pale yellow, too.  

This will be my sewing corner.  I LOVE THAT! Being able to say I have an actual sewing corner! My sewing machine will sit on the desk (I will make a dust cover for it at some point), all my sewing supplies in baskets and jars on the shelves around me. *sigh of contentment*

The little window seat area will most likely hold a tv so that hubby and I can watch while I craft. The other desk area would be great for all of my scrapbooking stuff, or wrapping paper and ribbon, or a hundred other ideas that I have.  

Sorry this next pic is so bad.  I just wanted you to see that I even made up the bed so that it would not only look better, but it's also ready for company.  These are not the colors that I have chosen, but it works for now! The quilt on the bed I originally made for our guest room.  The embroidered pillowcase is courtesy of my MIL. It actually belongs to my daughter.  The bear I made out of an antique quilt that was full of holes.  

With the lovely warm weather we had earlier in the week, I took the opportunity to paint the window panes that I hadn't done yet.  

Thanks for sticking with me, even when I seem to check out for long periods of time!  I've got a ton of potential projects lined up for summer!

Blessings,

Ronda

Mourning

I had myself all worked up for a nice rant this evening.  Ok, maybe not a RANT...but I had myself worked up to a topic that has been on my mind.  But my thoughts seem very selfish and unimportant in light of events of the last week.  

Despite the inadequate news coverage, I have been trying to follow the Gosnell trial.  It is such a horrific thing to read about that I can only take it in small amounts before I have to turn my attention elsewhere.  What kind of society do we live in if we are so jaded that events such as these are looked on as not newsworthy?   

And then a few days ago the devastating news of the bombing at the Boston Marathon.  And I wonder, along with every decent person, "who would do something so horrendous?"  I am thankful that I live in a nation where things like this are NOT an every day occurrence because I know that there are places where violence like this is the norm.  I find myself repeatedly thinking, "Come soon, Jesus!"

And right here in our own small community, a young girl, for a reason no one is sure of, took her own life last weekend.  The whole community is in mourning, her family wracked with grief, her boyfriend devastated.  What do you do to help a family deal with this kind of loss? The church, the school, the community are all rallying around the family, just wanting to be there for them, so offer support, help, a shoulder to cry on, food to eat, a listening ear.  And yet, it is still an extremely private grief that they will have to wade through on their own.  One can only hope that they will seek out God and His peace, because we know that is the only way to make sense of any of these tragedies.  

The funeral is tomorrow.  Jeff is doing the funeral.  If you are not already praying, please pray with me for this family.  That if they do not already know the healing power of Christ, that through the loving hands helping them, that they can come to know Him and know His peace.  

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.  ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”  Revelation 21:3-5

Blessings, 

Ronda

Baby Steps

1 coat of Zinsser primer, 2 coats of clean white semi-gloss on doors, trim, baseboards, windows, 3 (!!!) coats of semi gloss on the wall and the cabinets and bookshelves!  Thankfully, the most time consuming part is done.  The walls will be a cinch after all this! 

What do you think?  Can I turn this into my own version of this?

Or, even better, THIS?

Step by teeny, tiny step! 

Blessings,

Ronda