Showing her off today

I finished this awesome piece over the weekend. I had decided to add numbers to the drawers long before she was painted. Her colors are Virginia chestnut and duck egg blue. I love the mix of chalk paint and chalk and clay paint which gives a gorgeous natural finish. This baby is solid maple with dovetailed drawers and will last forever!! She will not be going into the shop, for now anyway. I have decided to sell her directly through me for several reasons. The first one being, she is 44"long x 36" tall x 20" deep and I just do not have the room to show her off in the shop and the 2nd reason is price - $295.00. No overhead for me means savings to you. If you are like me, you always look for a deal. So everything in my room # 0378 is on sale 20% and more off of my regular low price through May. I will always try my best to find, refurbish and sale my beautiful one of a kind antique pieces of furniture at a reasonable price in my room # 0378 at Southern Estates Antiques or direct. If you are interested in any of pieces, please do not hesitate to contact me through my facebook page or Southern Estates Antiques. I also have listings on craigslist.

A few new pieces I am working on this week

Here's a quick view of a few pieces I have been working on this week. I hope to have them in the shop soon. I am about half way through with the dresser. Still sanding and of course I have to put the knobs back on but I think its going to be a great looking dresser when I am through with it. I finished sanding and last minute details on the black and white table. I will post a new photo tomorrow.

Here comes more great furniture

I haven’t been on my blog very much lately. Now that warm weather is here I spent as much time as possible in my yard. I love beautiful flowers so I am sure I will not be able to resist adding a few additions for my patio. I went home yesterday and did not even change clothes before cutting my grass. Then back to my painting furniture. I have been looking for a studio so I can clean out my garage. I try to be very organized, but sometimes it gets the best of me. I have several beautiful antiques that I found months ago and sometimes I have to live with a piece before deciding how I would like for it to look. The ladies at the shop jokingly tell me I am OCD because I am very particular about the way I want my finished piece of furniture to look. I have purchased many pieces of furniture that I would love to paint a very bold color but I have found out most people are not comfortable buying “bold”, so I try to always keep that in mind when I am painting it for resale. I found an antique chest and I loved it until I realized a huge piece of molding was missing from one side. Bummer!!!! Yes, it was quite the bargain, but I had to walk away. I love tools but I am a little afraid of a saw, so if it needs major repair then it is not for me. I see all over the internet where people find a dresser in 3 or 4 pieces and take it home and like magic with a little work here and there, paint and magic…..it is a beautiful piece of furniture. I truly admire these women that can do that. I can't do that but here is what I can do. Check out a few pictures of my latest work. I especially love the table and chairs with a modern flare to it and its a solid heavy set. It’s so unusual and I am all about “different”!!

Days go by but memories last a lifetime!!

Memories.......42 years ago one day after Valentine's was one of the happiness days of my life....my only child was born. It has been an amazing journey. She always kept a smile on my face everyday and has always been a joy to have her around. Things got hectic at times and I felt like I was a taxi for all of her friends and I had a revolving door on my house, but those days are gone. Now its just me and my little dog, Selena. Stephanie has been blessed with 3 children of her own and the journey continues.

Getting ready for Spring!

I have been nonstop working a 40 hour week and then coming home and painting for hours plus all of the normal daily duties of keeping house. But its no stopping now because I have some more great pieces coming soon. My Greenville history chest sold last week and I was thrilled that she found a wonderful home. And many other great pieces also found homes, but I had an attachment to the Greenville chest. I am so pleased that I have so many wonderful people adopting my furniture and accessories and love it as much as I do. That is truly what makes me keep going and going when I want to just watch a movie. Every piece of furniture that I sell has a place in history. The big thrill for me is finding a wonderful piece with intricate details and that’s rare to find. Many years ago craftsman made these pieces by hand and not on an assembly line like today. Most of my pieces I keep for months deciding the color, the design and what would bring it back to its original WOW factor it had when it was first purchased. Again, a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone for shopping with me and I hope you will enjoy each and every piece for many years to come.

"What determines the price of painted furniture”

I just read an article from The Magic Brush, “What determines the price of painted furniture”. I could not have said it better. I really started painting furniture years ago for myself. Too much dark wood in a room just gives it a “drab” look even with colorful accessories and places like Rooms to Go are just not for me, so painting furniture was a no brainer. My home is a part of who I am and it tells a story from my youth until now. So here’s my story for the last approx. 5 years. My mother came to live with me which made me very happy. I had tried to get her to live with me for years but she did not want to give up her independence. I understand that!!! Nobody wants to depend on someone else to provide you with all of your needs. I get it!! She had to go into the hospital and I would not take no for an answer this time…..you are living with me!! For anyone that has never cared for an elderly parent, it’s a full time job!! Meals, bathing, medicine, nurses, doctors and the list just goes on and on. So now I have 2 full time jobs. I was running myself stupid!!! I needed a stress reliever. I love working in my yard and it would take me away from reality for a little while which was a good thing. I had a constant flow of people in and out of my house checking my mother and they would go on and on about my painted furniture and how I needed to start selling it. I enjoy painting and love antiques so that’s a good idea and that would be an ideal stress reliever too, plus that would help make a little extra money to help with the additional expenses of taking care of my mother. Perfect!!! So paint, I did!! First I started selling out of my garage and I quickly realized I did not have enough room. I am now at Southern Estates Antiques in Greenville and now I have regular customers that shop with me all the way from Columbia. I have met so many wonderful people and it makes me very happy that my customers like my antiques and accessories as much as I do!! It’s more of a hobby and a business. After all of my expenses such as paint, waxes, stencils, rent, gas and not even including my labor involved, I am lucky to break even and recoup my money already spent. I would starve to death and live under a bridge if selling shabby chic furniture was my only means of making a living. I lost my mother in August and painting furniture has become my saving grace!!! So watch out….I am a crazy painting person these days!!!

Happy to finally move into a larger space!!!

I moved into a larger space yesterday at Southern Estates Antiques. I really needed the space. I have several new pieces to show you. One of them almost stayed with me!! I love it!! Its a 24 x 24 old wood piece which would be perfect for your kitchen as an island. It would look even better with old wrought iron hooks on the side for hanging pots and pans or your dish towels. I finally got this awesome buffet into the shop. After finishing it, I moved it into my dining room to see how it looked and loved the details with the mix of chalk paint colors on it. Its the perfect piece for storage too. And another favorite piece is a storage bench painted in Annie Sloan duck egg blue. Here's some of my pics of my new space and I hope you will stop by an shop with me.