ugly duckling chairs

 I found two of these ugly duckling chairs in Victoria - the second one is in pieces already

they cost me $6.99 for one & $7.99 for the other

the young man was not sure why the price difference

I wasn't sure why they were so cheap!

Some new upholstery (I didn't do it, that's why it looks so good!)

I found the indoor/outdoor fabric at Fabric Land at a 50% discount

had the cushions replaced with outdoor foam

 a lovely chalk paint finish on the wood with Benjamin Moore Antique Lace

and here they are...

I think they are too nice to go outside - but if they do

I won't have to worry about it!

Chair, before & after

 This little chair wasn't so bad... it's just that I wanted it to go with my newly painted desk

and the dark wood just wasn't doing the trick

neither was the old dated (and yes, dirty) upholstery.

A couple of coats of homemade chalk paint in Benjamin Moore ice cube silver

some gorgeous new fabric (Thank You Gladys!)

and ta da!  Isn't it cute!

Not that I don't love orange...

 As I was saying.... it's not that I don't love orange... I bought this beautiful orange fabric in Hawaii

 but I really don't love orange furniture.. I mean orange toned wood furniture... 

Look away again Men!  I'm painting wood, well veneer wood type product.

I think I've hated the color of my table forever so I finally decided to do something about it.

the top was going to be Benjamin Moore ice cube silver, the apron and legs, BM sun dried tomato.

 Not such a great photo, the legs look black but they are in fact sun dried tomato, and the top... well let's just say it's on it way to being antique lace. 

I found the ice cube silver a bit cool to go with the tomato legs...

 which brings me to the thing that started this little painting craze!  My beautiful new desk. 

Isn't she cute!  Not so in love with the nicotine stain looking finish...

 but she's going to be gorgeous in ice cube silver. 

see, isn't she pretty now!

Chalk Paint, Oh my.....

While in Victoria last week visiting a friend I stumbled across a wonderful store on Oak Bay Ave called French Vanilla.  I immediately fell in love with the painted furniture.  (Men, turn away, I am talking about painting wood!) The paint finishes were all lovely soft fresh colors, all done with chalk paint.  What!  a painted finish I haven't tried?  I purchased two tester pots, one in cream the other duck egg.  Check out Annie Sloan Chalk Paint here. Lovely!

When I got home I searched high a low for items I could paint (I wanted to do my dining table but alas I only had sample pots).  So an old metal table lamp that I had been thinking to spray paint black (yes, quite a jump I know) and a sort of tacky gold picture frame that was hanging around were my first victims.  They look GREAT in cream.  I'm showing the before pictures last because I always like to lead with the better photo!

I found this mirror on Oak Bay Ave as well in a consignment shop.  I think I paid $10 for it.  This really was a tacky gold frame but the mirror is in great shape and the detail work was pretty.

 It looks so good in the duck egg blue!  YIPPEE - that I just had to repaint over my cream picture frame.... much better :)
I purchased this little teapot trivet on my Coombs trip specifically to paint.

And here it is.... TADA.... using my very own homemade chalk paint.  I should say while the Annie Sloan paint is fantastic!!!  it is very expensive.  There are a ton of recipes for homemade chalk paint out there but I went with the simplest one I could find.  I had a 2oz tester of Benjamin Moore called Harbor Haze 2136-60.  I put 1 TBSP of plaster of paris in a glass jar, added 1 TBPS of hot water and mixed well, then added the 2 oz of paint and continued to mix until totally blended.  It has the same consistency as the Annie Sloan paint and went on the trivet perfectly.  The finishing touch for all chalk paint projects is waxing (this is what gives it the super smooth feel and the protection it needs).  The Annie Sloan wax was around $36 for 16oz and I am way too cheap for that so I have some Johnson paste wax coming from Ebay for $7. (can't find it anywhere on the Island) I can't wait.  If it all works out I'm mixing some sun dried tomato and painting my dining room table!

clickin' happy in Picnik

 Sweetie and I were out for an evening stroll and along the way I snapped a few pic's.  I love this old wagon at the base of my neighbors driveway.  The original photo below, well, it's not much to write home about!  But after clickin' away with Picnik the results are so rewarding!  No Way could I duplicate this though.  I didn't think to keep track of all the different options I layered on here.

 Another neighbors little vignette.  Much prettier after some tweeking!

 And the cute little driveway pumpkin suddenly becomes so much scarier!