St. Augustine, Florida  

I'm at the World Golf Village Renaissance St. Augustine Resort for the week on business.  It's our National Meeting for our shareholders and vendors.  I haven't posted lately due to crunch time getting ready for the meeting.  But once I get home I hope to have more time to do some painting and some posting.

 

After some morning meetings on Tuesday, I had the afternoon to myself so I drove over to St. Augustine Beach.  Now, I get lost in my own neighborhood, so I was a little apprehensive about finding my way there and back, but the front desk mapped out my route for me and I made it. 

 

 

Started off with a great lunch at Panama Hatties - sat on the patio an soaked up some sun.

 

  Had a fresh Grouper Ruben and glass of Chardonnay.  Yummy

Off to the beach, I took a long walk and had it mostly to myself as it was chilly and windy.  I just zipped up my jacket took off my sneakers and spent an hour enjoying the surf and sounds of the ocean.  Being a midwesterner, I can't pass up a visit with the ocean if I'm close by.



 

Mora clock

The Mora Clock!!  I have been drooling for one of these from Maison Decor for months and months.  I finally broke down and bought one.  Amy from Maison Decor hand paints the clock in the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint that you select, then finishes it off with clear and dark wax.  I was so excited when it came to my front door!

 

 

 

It is LARGE - 52" long x 15" wide x 3" deep. I chose Chateau Grey (olive moss green) with taupe details. 

 

 

 

 I was going to put it in the family room, but it was too tall; instead I found the perfect spot in the kitchen

 

There's a great story about Mora clocks here  on the Maison Decor site. 

 

 

The clock looks good with my kitchen decor, but I've been planning on updating the cabinets, back splash, etc. since the remodel was over 10 years ago.  Now I have my inspiration and I'll design around the clock!

 

 

 

College Dresser

My son moved out of the dorm his second year in college and needed a dresser.  His old nursery dresser wasn't going to cut it.  Here's a picture of it after I started sanding it.  It was cute 19 years ago with a baby blue paint job and lime green pulls.

 

 

I sanded it down and spray painted it Rust-Oleum High Gloss Black.  I did a number of coats allowing it to dry between each.  Did a light sanding on the final coat and finished off with a Rust-Oleum clear coat.  Jon picked out the pulls to give it a very modern feel.

 

 

 

 

 I liked the way it turned out, but I'm not interested in doing another high gloss piece. It's so shiny that it shows every flaw.  To do high gloss properly, you'd need to learn to use a paint sprayer and I'm unlikely to go down that road anytime soon.

 

Another Snow Day

We're getting hit again with a snow storm, but this one is heavy and wet.  There are a number of people without power, we still have ours for now.  A number of years ago we had an ice storm that knocked out our power for 9 LONG days.  We bought a generator that year and can keep the furnace, minimal lights and the TV running.  Hopefully, this heavy snow won't pull our lines down.

 

These pictures were taken from my front porch, you can already see some branches broken off and laying on the lawn.  It will be a mess to clean up....

 

 

Pulls

Don't you love pulls!!  I have bought furniture pieces just to possess their pulls.  I love the detail and patina on vintage pulls, it adds so much character to a piece.  Here's some photos of pulls I have around the house.

 

My favorite pull has to be one of the three above or the three below - I can't decide, I love them all!

 

Graphite coffee table

On a whim I decided to paint my coffee table, it's a cheap table I bought at Nebraska Furniture Mart.  It's made of pine and shows all the bumps and dents.   

 

I decided it would look good with a Restoration Hardware feel, so I painted it with ASCP Graphite and distressed it on all the edges to allow the pine to show through. I mixed some clear and dark wax to finish it.

I'am pretty happy with the results, though I'm still struggling a little with the dark wax, it shows fingerprints and that is driving me crazy!  Am I STILL putting too much wax on or does dark wax just show these d@mn fingerprints...hmmm.  Anyone know, please comment.
 

SNOW DAY

Snownomi has hit Kansas City!  The highways are closed down, people have been stuck in their cars for hours and it's supposed to start snowing again this evening. 

 

Views of my back patio.  We got about 10-12 inches in 5 hours.

View from my front door.

 

Check out the mound on the birdhouse

 

YES, i'm still in my PJ bottoms - I worked from home fortunately and decided that I wasn't goin out and no one was comin by in this weather, hence PJ bottoms.
 

 

 

Sally wants to know what is all that white stuff out there and where have all the birds gone?

 

JunkFest Studios

I took a paint class at JunkFest STudios in Shawnee Saturday morning and had a great time!  The proprietor of this darling little cape cod house turned studio/shop is Robin Hammond and she is a delight.  Her shop is filled with unusual and unique painted pieces with a studio in the back for classes on painting and various other activities. 

This particular class was devoted to CeCe Caldwell chalk/clay paint. 

I brought in a small table to play with

I started with an undercoat of Vintage White, then layered on Smokey Mountain (a gray/blue).  With a light distressing I'm finishing it off with highlites of Dover White and I'll trace a French graphic on the top.  Here's some pics during class

                             

This piece will be finished at home and I'll post a photo once it's complete.
 

JunkFest Studios is located at 6115 Nieman Road, the shop is open from Noon-5pm and her number is 913.210.4444.  Robin is someone you want to spend the afternoon with chatting away while painting or shopping.  I had so much fun that I know I'll be back many times.

   

Happy VD!

Happy Valentines Day to everyone!  I received the cutest VD card in the mail yesterday from my dear friend Teri

 

 

Isn't it cute!  She makes all her own cards and sends to friends on holidays.  I feel lucky to make the list and enjoy her creativity. 

 

Hope everyone gets a little surprise today too!

 

 

Red French Renaissance Dresser with mirror

Isn't she a beauty!!  I'm calling her a French Renaissance Dresser beause she's so ornate, but i have no idea what her true roots are.  Found this piece at an estate sale - with the matching mirror for $35.

 

 

 

Here's  the piece was originally. 

 

It was in such great shape I only had to glue the missing trim back on - then off to painting.  I used Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint - Tricycle Red.  Followed that with a Miniwax Dark Walnut stain and finished her off with two coats of Annie Sloan Dark wax.

 

 

The construction is amazing, I don't think I've EVER seen a better made piece.  It's heavy oak with flawless joints and carvings.  Check out the drawers - the top two are divided into 3 segments.

Look at that detail on the bottom - it matches the top of the mirror.

I'm putting her up on Craigslist in the morning - I hope she finds a good home.