Put your bread in a box

I just finished up one of the first pieces I bought, an antique wooden bread box. It needed some serious de-greasing, as you can see by the glass (the glass is not frosted) ewww.

I also was not thrilled with the little wooden squares holding the glass in, so I knew I needed to get creative with that. 

So after a fresh coat of paint and a new knob, we have this!

I bought some little metal "thingys" that you use on a picture frame to hold the back in. 



Ain't she purty?!

Kick up your feet

Today I thought I would share with you a before and after of one of my favorite pieces. I got an old antique foot stool from my mom and couldn't wait to fix it up.

As you can see it was definitely showing its age. Not only in the wear and tear but with the outdated fabric. But I knew this baby had true potential.

 The foot stool was originally a foot warmer with a built in heating element. Unfortunately it no longer worked :( But I was glad to see the lid lifted up for extra storage, cant have too much of that!

 I loved reading the warnings and seeing how much things have changed. They went along the lines of.. "If this foot stool catches on fire because you have used it irresponsibly, that's not our problem." Haha. 

So I took out the old heating element, tore off the fabric and old foam, took out the bottom of the storage compartment (It was cut completely wrong) and started fresh. Its amazing what a new coat of paint, and some new fabric can do!

I just cant get enough of linen! It is so versatile and gorgeous.

I almost want to keep this beauty for myself!

Without further adieu, here is a before and after shot for you...

Feeling Bold

Once word started getting around that I was going to start painting furniture my mom came to me and said, " I have a bunch of old antique furniture in my storage that you are welcome to paint up and sell." But this is what I actually heard. "Free...come and get free antique furniture." So we went to her storage and I grabbed three beauties. One of them being this end table.

I loved the retro styling, its not something you see all that often anymore.

I knew upon seeing it that just the traditional white or grey (my go to colors) wouldn't fit the personality of this table. So I knew I needed to go bold. *shudder*

As you can see it had some pretty severe damage to the top. The veneer was flaking off and parts of it were lifting off and needed to be glued down. So I went to town with a putty knife scraping all the old veneer off and glued down and clamped the parts that were lifting up. I sanded it all down, but decided I was going to try skipping the priming stage and going right into painting it. At Home Depot I instantly fell in love with the color called Plumage by Martha Stewart.

I lightly distressed the corners and edges, but didn't like the light wood showing through. So I dipped a q-tip in some dark stain and rubbed it over the exposed wood. I love the way this one turned out and am not surprised it became my first sale!

The only problem now is I am second guessing my first instinct to paint everything white! I guess that may not be a real problem :)

I am linked up at:

New Beginnings

As most of you know, I have decided to open up my own shop on Etsy called The Rusted Cottage. I plan on selling repurposed or repainted furniture, as well as homemade home decor etc. It has been so much fun hunting out the perfect pieces and watching them transform into something beautiful again. If you would like to see my shop here is the link: http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheRustedCottage

The one downside to selling your stuff, is no one ever gets to see the 'before'! So I thought this would be the perfect place to show the before and after pictures of the pieces I paint, as well as tutorials to the crafts I make.

My first project was an end table I found at a local thrift store. I instantly fell in love with the shape and the curvy legs.

With some furniture, the first time I see them I picture them a certain color. I knew this table would become a soft grey shabby chic beauty.

The top of the table had quite a few stain splotches from a poor staining job, but that is no problem!

I started by sanding the table down and fixing a few minor things that were broken. Then sprayed on a heavy duty primer called Shellac.

Then I hand brushed on a soft grey called Driftwood Grey by Martha Stewart. (As you can seen I have quite the work space :))

I then distressed it in all the places it might normally see wear and tear, added some new knobs and I was done!

So here are the before and afters:

The transforming power of paint never ceases to amaze me.

I am linked up at: