Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Palette of Metallics

I heart Diane.  I first met Diane a few weeks ago when she emailed me to inquire about the Metallic Secretary.  She came.  She saw it.  She LOVED it.  It went home with her.  She told me that she had a few other pieces at home that she wanted me to put my stamp on; a cabinet, a set of nesting tables, and a side table.

P1040138

She requested that they be done in a palette of metallics, using this lamp, this pencil cup, and these handles that she purchased (on clearance, she had me know) from Susan Goldstick as inspiration.

P1040139

I was positively giddy about this project!  After the secretary, which was my first attempt at a patinaed metallic finish, I was hooked and couldn’t wait to do more.  In fact, when I went to pick up the pieces from Diane, I had already began work on the Antiqued Champagne Gold Nightstands, so this was obviously something that was going to work well with my current aesthetic.  :)

I was also very excited when Diane mentioned using some different metallics because, as fate would have it, Deco Art had just sent me a couple of different shades from their Elegant Finishes Metallic Paints to try out.  For this project, I used Champagne Gold and Silver Sage (which I ended up darkening a little bit with some Burnt Umber craft paint.) 

P1040381

I have to say, I absolutely LOVED working with the Deco Art Elegant Finishes.  They are really, a true metallic paint.  It ended up looking very much like leaf.  Many metallic paints look like colored paint with flecks of metallic in them.  These are REALLY metallic looking when they are dry.  A few tips if you decide to give the Elegant Finishes a try for yourself:  1) Paint a base coat or tinted primer that is of a similar color to the metallic top coat.  (It doesn’t have spectacular coverage, and you will save yourself lots of time and paint if you do a similar toned base coat before you use the metallic paint.  I did not do this with the gold, so I went back and painted a gray primer where I wanted to paint the silver.  Live and learn.)  2)  You WILL get brush strokes, so work with it!  (Try to make your strokes very straight and deliberate.  Use a fine brush, like the Purdy brand one that I use, and a light hand.)  I found that using the glazes to add patina to the finishes worked great with these paints.

Here’s how the set turned out!

P1040203

The cabinet is really the centerpiece of the whole set.  The design was inspired by Susan Goldstick’s work, with the contrasting inset panels.  I adore the knobs!

P1040211

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

P1040209 

Diane liked a lot of things about the nesting tables, but wasn’t feeling the design on the tops before.

P1040194

We decided to keep the legs the same but tie the tops into the rest of the design scheme.

P1040205

P1040206

The side table had such great lines and details, that we decided to keep it simple with just the patinaed silver finish.

P1040212

P1040213

A few more to leave you with…

P1040207

P1040208

P1040204

I think this set is a great balance of harmonious coordination without being too matchy-matchy.  I couldn’t be more pleased with how they turned out, and (I think) neither could Diane.  :)  She also picked up the Antiqued Champagne Gold Nightstands!  Glad she’s embraced the metallic trend like I have!

‘Till next time!!

 

I’m sharing this project with the lovely gals over at The DIY Club!

DIY Club

Linking to:

The Shabby Chic Cottage, Domestically Speaking, Finding Fabulous, Miss Mustard Seed, The Shabby Nest, Tatertots and Jello, I Heart Naptime, Freckled Laundry, Thrifty Decor Chick

Monday, September 20, 2010

Antique Champagne Gold Nightstands

So, if we don’t change our name to “Clocks R Us”, we will certainly need to change it to “House of Metallics.”  Not only does today’s project feature those shiny glimmering tones, but I picked up 5 pieces for a client the other day (Hi, Dianne!!) who would like them done in a palette of (you guessed it) metallics!!  I, for one, can’t get enough.  Hopefully you agree with me and will keep on reading.  :)

If you remember, I picked up this great, heavy pair of nightstands a small while ago for $10 a piece.  I was drawn to their fantastic pulls and bun feet.

P1040131

I stripped the tops down with a heavy grit sandpaper and my handy dandy palm sander, primed the base with Bulls Eye 1 2 3 Primer from Zinsser, spray painted the base with Brushed Metallic Carmel Latte from Krylon (a lovely champagne gold color), gave it an antiquing glaze of burnt umber, stained the tops using Dark Walnut Minwax Gel Stain, and sealed the tops with Satin Finish Verathane.  I think they look like a million bucks!

P1040191

P1040187

P1040188

P1040190

P1040186 

P1040193

Watch out!!  I’m like Midas.  Everything I touch turns to gold.  ;)

Linking to:

Skip to My Lou, Making the World Cuter, Primitive and Proper, Domestically Speaking, My Backyard Eden, Somewhat Simple, Finding Fabulous, The Shabby Nest, Life in the Fun Lane, Thrifty Decor Chick

DIY Club’s Top Ten!!

Hey folks!  I have to apologize again for my lack of project posting of late.  I’m still waiting on receiving my new paint sprayer, which is holding up some of my large projects.  We have some other projects in the works, and picked up a bunch more stuff at yard sales this weekend (fall is great yard sale season in AZ!) so there lots coming just around the bend.  :)

In some very exciting TL news, my Pediment Headboard Bench was picked in the Top 10 projects for the September party over at the DIY Club!!  So exciting!!  Please, please, pretty please head on over there and give those DIY Gals some encouragement to choose our project for the big winner!  :)  They’ve decided that the winner will not be chosen by popular vote this month, but certainly your kind words on the matter will have some sway with the judges.  ;)

P1030776

We just rounded the corner to 600 Google Followers!!  Thanks SO much to everyone for being interested in what we’re doing here.  It blows me away.  Can’t wait to see what the future holds!

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Hickory Dickory Dock…

… I’ve been inspired to make clocks. 
They’re cute and they’re funky,
to useful from junky. 
Hickory dickory dock.

(Okay, so I’m officially a big nerd.)

So, here’s the story.  Once upon a time, there was a sad cabinet door in the free pile at the Habitat Restore.

P1030818

His brothers were repurposed into new cabinet doors for a fantastic armoire, but his second life was to take on a little more unexpected a form.

P1040134

With just some on-hand paint, the workings from a $1.50 thrift store clock, and a DiscHanger that I got in my Tour de Thrift goody bag, Mr. Nobody-would-even-pay-a-buck-for-me-at-the-Restore took on a fun new persona as quite fantastic clock!  :)

P1040137P1040136 

P1040135

P1040142 

I’m so inspired!  I want to go out and make everything into a clock!  Be on the look out.  We may just have to change our name to Clocks-R-Us.  ;)

 

Linking to:

My Backyard Eden, Domestically Speaking, The Shabby Chic Cottage, Tatertots and Jello, Under the Table and Dreaming

DIY ClubVisit thecsiproject.com

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

TL on FB

You read correctly!  Now you can get sneak peeks of our furniture finds and lots of other useful (and maybe not-so-useful) tid bits by “liking” our Twice Lovely Facebook page!  I’m jumpin’ on the bandwagon, because I need another thing to maintain.  ;)  You guys make it all worth while, though.  LOVE!!

Friday, September 3, 2010

French Country Hutch

We’ve had a bit of success of late at a little boutique in town that sells some pieces for us, the latest of which was this wonderful hutch that Cara did a while back.  But in a 500 square foot space, the loss of the hutch for display purposes in the store wasn’t going to cut it, so Cara and I started putting our heads together to come up with a good replacement on the quick.

I had this hutch top sitting in the workshop for quite a while. 

P1030399

I picked it up back at the Arizona Bloggers Tour de Thrift back in June, and was planning on making another Puppet Theater with it, but that was never high on my priority list.  Fate had a different plan!

My parents, as I mentioned before, are in the process of downsizing from our childhood home now that they are empty-nesters.  They offered me the dresser from my old room to “do my thing with” and (you know me) I’ll (almost) never pass up free.  :)

P1040026

As fate unfolded it’s serendipitous plan, the hutch I had laying around for far, far too long was a PERFECT fit on top of my old dresser!  This was just meant to be.

Since we needed this to be a quick project, and since I haven’t yet purchased a functioning paint sprayer (grrrrr….), we chose to go with a spray paint this time.  We used “Celery” from Krylon, and it’s a gorgeous color, perfect for the French Country look we were going for.  The back was painted a slightly more turquoise color of the same value, for a really subtle difference.  Cara did some hand-painted details on the back of the hutch that mimicked the motifs in the pulls.  Then we added an burnt umber antiquing glaze over the whole piece.  LOVE!!!

P1040028

P1040029

P1040031

P1040033

P1040030

P1040035 

P1040034

Hope everyone has a fantastic holiday weekend!!

 

Linking to:

Life in the Fun Lane, Somewhat Simple, Tatertots and Jello, Perfectly Imperfect, Domestically Speaking, My Backyard Eden, Shanty 2 Chic, Thrifty Decor Chick, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Thrifty Decor Chick

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Shabby Elegant Dining Set

A met a woman some time ago now who contacted me to buy the Lady’s Sitting Chair that was one of our first posts on the blog.  She loved the chair and wanted to build a mismatched dining set around it, with eight chairs (seven more) and a table made from a (big) old door.  We’re still on the lookout for the old door to suit, but we’ve finally finished searching for and refinishing the chairs.

Now, in my humble opinion, it’s difficult to pull off just throwing a bunch of different chairs around a table without it ending up looking like the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party.

alice-in-wonderland-new-art_2

I think some people can pull it off in certain environments, but, like I said, it’s difficult.  It’s much easier for a very ordered person like me to achieve a mismatched look in an orderly kind of way.  There are two ways you could go about this. 

The first method is by using a set of matching chairs and using varying finishes to achieve a mis-matched look.

PotteryBarnQueenAnnChair1 Pottery Barn

 

apartment therapy multichair1 

Apartment Therapy

 

Dining Room Table 1

All Things Thrifty

 

The other method (and the one we chose to employ for our mismatched dining set project) is to collect differing shapes and styles of chairs and to unite them using the same finishes.

bbf0fd3fce104018935557a2ead0cb51

Unknown Source

 

blue-mismatched-dining-chairs-via-ohdeedoh

Apartment Therapy

 

preppyint-11-l

Coastal Living

 

sarajessicaparkerset

Sara Jessica Parker’s Dining Room

 

So now, if you’re not completely photo-exampled out, onto our Twice Lovely shabby elegant mismatched dining chairs  (get ready for picture overload!!) 

They were all painted ivory and distressed, just as the first chair was.  We chose three coordinating fabrics for the upholstery: one was the damask used on the first chair, one was a paisley floral, and the other a stripe, all in very soft greens and creams.  Here was the first chair she purchased, which served as the inspiration for the set.

P1020868

 

And here’s how her friends turned out:

 

combo

combo

combo

combo

combo

combo   

I can’t WAIT to see them all gathered cozily around a table!  I’ll be sure to show you all when the project is completely completed.  ;)