Saturday, December 7, 2013

Compassionate beginnings

Earlier today I posted a comment on my business facebook page really because I have been so touched by photo’s of Andra Grace, a dog that was tortured and drug behind a truck and left for dead. I had a friend tell me I may offend someone and I should not post comments about it on my business facebook page. My thoughts……..this is who I am and will always be. I will not compromise or apologize for having compassion for others to my sell furniture. Just saying!!!! I think compassion comes from the early beginnings of our lives. I can remember as a child asking my mother if I could go visit an elderly neighbor of ours. I would stay for hours with this woman. She always walked with a cane. We would bake her special desert (prune squares-it sounds terrible but it was delicious) , walk through her pasture and talk, sit by her old wood burning stove and I loved spending time with her. And my dad….what a wonderful man!! I have had every animal you can think of growing up. Daddy would always bring home starving strays he had found and we would get them healthy again. Older people had superstitions and mama put a little bible and a liquor bottle in front of me and I picked up the little bible. She said I would carry that bible everywhere I went. My dad died with that little bible in his wallet. It was worn and the pages were falling out of it, but he still kept it all those years. The only real argument I had in school was over a very poor girl that had nothing and all the kids made fun of her. Don’t get me wrong! I can be a real butt when I need to be and say some ugly words when I am mad, or driving on Woodruff Road in traffic, which my daughter fusses at me about, but I have a big heart and I will always fight for the underdog. Well, that’s my thoughts for today!! Stay tuned……I have got to get ready to fight the traffic on Woodruff so you may hear me cuss a “little”!!! lol

Thursday, November 14, 2013

To Know Me......

Here is a few things to know about me!! 1) I love to read Miss Mustard Seed’s blog. I think she is a down to earth nice person and genuine with her “how-to tutorials of furniture makeovers. 2) I would love to open my own shop and sale everything a woman would ever want. 3) I am loyal to my friends, family and my moral beliefs. 4) My favorite movies are the “happily ever after” love stories, but I do like action movies too!! 5) Please don’t ever ask me a question unless you are ready to hear the gentle truth. 6) If I see someone mistreating an old person, a child or an animal, I will be the first to run to their rescue. 7) I like spending time with elderly people…they have wonderful stories to tell. 8) I think kindness is contagious so I like to smile and say hello to everyone. 9) I love old sports cars and I use to own a 1967 convertible corvette. 10) I like for everything around me to be neat and tidy except my car and I hate washing my car. 11) I have a daughter and three beautiful grandchildren……2 girls and 1 boy!! 12) I am old school and I believe “your word” says everything about you. 13) God is first in my life and I talk to him every day. 14) When I look into my mirror, I see my mother’s eyes. 15) When I die, I hope I will be missed!!

Friday, November 8, 2013

Competition keeps life interesting

With all of the new chalk and milk paints available these days, everybody is jumping on the band wagon “so to speak” scheduling painting classes. There is someone new in the furniture painting business about every week. Competition keeps life interesting and it keeps my mind sharp with creative ideas to achieve unique designs with my vintage and antique furniture. One great thing about painting antique furniture is… it is almost impossible for anybody to duplicate it. Yes, someone else may paint it the same color, distress it, but it will never look the same……only because every person has their own techniques, style and uniqueness. The down side is the prices of top quality antiques are going up, up, up and it will make it harder to sell at reasonable prices!!! And I am all about keeping my prices reasonable! Vintage and antique furniture is in “high demand” because shabby chic and retro has become so popular. Most everybody likes it!!! There are still a few people that believe it’s ruined after you paint it. I can relate to that because I have several beautiful pieces in my garage right now that I am finding it hard to start painting. It is so much easier for me to justify painting a neglected antique. I have begun to free up some of my much needed garage space and I made a promise to myself NOT to buy anymore furniture for a while. It is so hard when I see an awesome antique just waiting for me to claim it!! It screams….make me beautiful again!! Lol I forgot how this business gets in your blood!! There was a time in my life that I would eat, breath and sleep the furniture business and it is happening all over again. Only this time, I am the one designing the finished pieces instead of the furniture manufacturers. Here’s a few of my latest finished pieces. This cocktail table reminds me of furniture from West Elm. I think it is a very cool piece (grey and white)!! I am always experimenting with colors and I found the perfect shade of grey. I will tell you that story next time!!

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Scored Antiques

I have been busy the past few weeks working on several tables getting them ready for the shop. By the time I get home it seems like its dark so I only spend about an hour each day on my painting. I don’t know about you but I am not looking forward to cold short days!! I found several moving sales and picked up some neat things I hope you will like. I scored a four (4) foot shelf that I like a lot!! I took several tables to the shop today and reduced several pieces down even more so super bargains here!! My brother just drove in from Alaska and will be staying in PA for a while. Even though he is a distance from me at least I know we can at least drive to see each other. Alaska is too far to hop in your car and drive to visit. He’s going to shop around for me to find some antiques and bring them to me!! Woo Hoo!!! Here’s a few photo’s of my latest designed pieces and a few photos of my shop at Southern Estates Antiques.

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Paint and bruises

It is hard to believe it is October already. The last few days I have been dragging around since I worked so hard trying to finish up my last piece to get it to the shop and it is still in the back of my car!! When I finally sat down last night, I noticed bruises from my knees up and then I looked at my arm and had blue paint everywhere and I just got out of the shower!! I know my eyes are not what they used to me, but really?!!!!! How did I miss that!!! I keep telling myself I am too old to be doing this and what do I do? Load and unload by myself again and again!! I looked like a gypsy coming home the other day with furniture all the way to the back of my front seat!! I could barely see out of the sides of the car!! Oh well, I guess it comes with the business!! Oh before I forget, I called the shop a few hours ago and Dave said another interior designer came in a bought several things from my shop!! Yeah!!!! That puts a big smile on my face and makes me very happy. Here is a look at my latest designs and I hope you like it!!

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

So Go Shopping!!!

I hope everyone had a safe and fun Labor Day. I try very hard to always be proactive, but I have been like a turtle this past week. I have two beautiful timeless mahogany dressers sitting in my garage and I still have not finished them. A vision of one is in my head, but I just haven’t wanted to get started. Maybe I need to start drinking energy drinks. My strong coffee just does not do it for me anymore!! Maybe today will be the day! I did decide to check out some of the department stores just to take a look at furniture. Some of my favorites is Anthropologie, The Pottery Barn, West Elm, etc. As you already know, I am eclectic so I love how these stores mix it up just like me!! I like the unexpected pop of color or fabric. Remember ladies, your home is a reflective window of you!!! I tell all of my clients, if you love it the minute you see it, if you can afford it… buy it with no regrets and you will surely find the perfect place for it in your home! It doesn’t matter if the color is not exactly the same shade of blue that’s in your room. Trust me when I say, it will blend in with your other shades of blues. You can make it happen with pillows, throws, rugs, lampshades, etc. My mother’s generation thought that everything in a room had to match, but in today’s world anything and everything goes!! Mix and match, odds and ends…… I visited an old friend a few weeks ago and she has beautiful expensive accessories and furniture but when you walk in, it just felt bland and sterile....not at all like her...happy and outgoing. She asked if I would help her, so we went to work and I touched and moved every single thing in there, threw in some pops of color and it was an amazing transformation!! It felt cozy and inviting!! Its like your clothing....don't you feel alive and happy when you are wearing a beautiful vibrant color?!! Happy dance!!!! Anyway, she loved it and when her sister came down from New York to visit, she could not believe how wonderful the room looked and felt. So the point to this story is….. step outside of the box ….mix a piece of painted furniture in with all of your dark wood and see how awesome it will look!! But beware, it is like eating potato chips, you won’t stop at just one!!! Wow, I was not planning on talking that much!! Anyway, there is amazing talent right here in Greenville and they add their own custom techniques and designs to each and every piece of vintage and antique furniture, so go shopping!!

Friday, August 16, 2013

Blue signature color

I think everybody knows by now that blue is my signature color. All shades of blue!! There will always be a little shade of blue in a room no matter what your color choices may be. I also like using grey. It is like using white because it’s very neutral so I painted this antique chest in a mix of Annie Sloan’s chalk paint for a medium to light grey with a stencil embellishment just to give it a little “wow”. I distressed a little heavier on this piece than usual. I like distressing but I personally do not like the killed it with a brillo pad look!! Just my personal like and of course all of us are different in our likes and dislikes so I do try to keep that in mind when I am refinishing a piece of furniture. Back to the color……..grey looks awesome with pink, blue, yellow, green, black……you name it. The accessories pull everything together. I ordered some replacement castors from ebay just in case I ever needed them and while loaded this chest into the car I realized it had castors on it at one time, so lucky for me I just popped them in. This chest is made of a very thick mahogany wood and it is massively heavy so now it is so much easier to move around. I wish I could showcase how beautiful so many of my pieces would look in a room setting. Maybe someday if I win the lottery!! Wishing thinking!!! Now about my day…..when I left work yesterday I took a chair and several accessories over to the shop. Before leaving I took a lot of photo’s to show people all the awesome things coming in daily from our dealers on Southern Estates Antiques Facebook. It takes many hours out of my day to take pictures, load it onto my computer, work with the lighting on each photo, save it, and finally load it onto Facebook. It doesn’t matter if its painting and selling my pieces or helping someone else sell theirs it is worth the extra effort and time to me. So thank you so much for following us on Facebook…you are the BEST. Here is a few photos of my space at Southern Estates Antiques. I am always open for any advice from another dealer, customer, etc. so let me hear from you.

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Adventures of treasure hunting

Here’s the latest adventures of my treasure hunting. I found an old dresser and mirror a few weeks ago and while loading it up I walked past a bedroom that had the most awesome old bedroom furniture in it. I asked if it was for sell too and the gentleman said yes!!! I immediately said, “I will take it”. They had sold their home and were moving to Florida and he did not want to move all of it and I can see why……..super heavy!!! What a great find though!!! I love the clean lines of it. It will be very retro once I paint it and will blend great with today’s styles. All the pieces are on old castors so it will be easier to move around. I ended up with five pieces and had to make three trips to pick everything up. It was so worth it!!! I have already started painting the old dresser and mirror. I am very happy with it so far!! I have been experimenting with mixing some of my paints together making custom colors for the next few pieces that I will bring into Southern Estates Antiques. I also have been using several of Miss Mustard Seed milk paint colors. Grain Sack has been painted on a mahogany arm chair with hints of Annie Sloan Antoinette Pink chalk paint. I am leaving the fabric seat in the original fabric of soft wide stripe pink and beige which is in mint condition. I just finished up some old folding antique chairs with original coffee grain sack material for the seats and I painted the chairs with Annie Sloan provence and old white. I custom mixed pure white with Graphite to make a soft shade of grey for an old mahogany chest on castors that I took to Southern Estates Antiques last week. I also have a bed that goes with this chest if anybody is interested. I also have a pair of rare antique french provincial night tables painted with Annie Sloan coco and old white, distressed and glazed for lasting beauty. So you can see…I have been very busy!! I never get tired of hearing how much people like and buy my furniture and accessories. That makes all of my hours and hours of searching, hauling, cleaning, painting, sanding, glazing, waxing and hauling again to the shop worth it!!! SO…..THANK YOU SO MUCH MY VALUABLE CUSTOMERS!!!

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

An interesting few weeks

It has been an interesting few weeks. I rushed out the door Wednesday headed to Southern Estates and was pulled over by a patrolman. I always stop at the stop sign, but this time I did not come to a complete stop before pulling out into Pelham Road, ugh!! I slowed down and pulled right out in front of a patrolman!! I knew I had messed up and here comes the patrol car lights!!! He gave me a warning ticket for disregarding stop sign…..Thank you Lord!! I won’t do that again…whew!! I live everyday trying to beat the clock and I have got to start enjoying my life a little more, so the past few days I haven’t painted anything. I met my girlfriend at Red Lobster for dinner on Monday night and had a great time even though I had to drive home in rain flooding the roads. I went home Tuesday after work and sat on the patio with Selena and just enjoyed watching my flowers grow and my little backyard rabbit. Its funny, because in my mind I think I can go and go like a Duracell battery but I forget I am not twenty-five anymore and every day I seem to wake up with a new ache or pain. Oh well, life goes on and I am just happy to be here!! I like to keep things moving in my room at Southern Estates Antiques, so I always reduce prices on a regular basis. I want my unique finds to be affordable to everyone. It keeps things moving in my room and it makes me happy to know someone has a beautiful painted piece from me in their home. I have about every color chalk paint, chalk and clay paint, milk paint, waxes, glazes, stains, stencils and knobs out there, so tell me your favorite color and what you would like to see or have. I will be your personal shopper and try my best to find it for you. Send me a message via facebook. I hope to hear from you soon!!

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Just go for it and SMILE!!

Every year seems to get shorter and shorter the older I get. It almost July!! I have been painting antique furniture like a crazy person trying to keep a variety of pieces always available. Painted furniture is not for everybody. Some people love it and some do not, but even the furniture industries sell painted furniture because it is a “hot” item right now. I have several dealers that tell me they always smile when they walk by my room because it makes them feel happy. That’s what painted furniture does to people. You can have a room full of exquisite antiques but the room feels drab and heavy without color. It doesn’t have to be bold to brighten up the room, just some color, any color!! If you know me, then you know I am eclectic and I like to mix vintage with modern. When I look around my house it makes me happy. I see memories from my past in family antiques, a little quirky, a little modern, a few painted antiques, a few pieces of unique art I picked up years ago, a collection of rabbits and birds that I love. All these things are a reflection of me! I sell to a large number of younger people only because they are not afraid of mixing it up. My rule of thumb is….if you love it, buy it. You will always find just the right place for it in your home with no regrets. I have learned that from past experiences myself and pasted it up only to get home and think, “I should have bought that”. Go back and it is gone!! Darn, I wish I had bought that when I had the chance. So, having said all this….get inspired to paint your own, buy it already painted or commission someone to do it for you. Just go for it and you will not be disappointed and best of all, it will make you smile and feel happy every time you walk into the room!!

Monday, June 24, 2013

I am always trying something new!!

I love summer for a lot of reasons. Of course the #1 is the sunshine and warm days, but most of all I find the neatest accessories and furniture during the summer months. I see signs everywhere advertising estate sales, my favorite, and moving sales!! I finished up several mahogany tables, a secretary, and three different styles of benches in the past few weeks. I will show you how beautiful they were, but some have already found new homes. When I start painting a tired worn out piece of furniture I can’t wait to see the transformation into something beautiful. I use milk paints, chalk paints from several different companies, wallpaper, glazes, and waxes. Every combination of paint and waxes are different so every final finish is different even if you use the same color. Sometimes I mix my own colors to make a custom color. I rarely take before and after photo’s but I really need to start doing that! It’s just amazing!! Okay, here is a few photo of my latest work.

Friday, June 7, 2013

More hours in the day thank goodness!!!

I love summer and more daylight hours which really means more things checked off my to-do list!! I thought I had my garage under control and then my daughter calls and ask if she can bring a few things over to put into my garage. Of course I told her it would be okay. Now I am back where I started….full and overflowing!!! I usually have several projects going on at the same time and in between jumping back and forth I’ll sit down with my computer. I started playing around with some of my pictures from past furniture pieces that I have done and decided to collage them. It just makes it easier to have them in one photo. For me anyway!! I love trying new things with paint and soon you will see some of my newest creations. I bought Annie Sloan's emperior silk (red) months ago, but had not used it until I decided to try it on this 1920's table and I love it! The dark wax gives a richness to the red and it looks awesome!! Here's a few collage pictures of a couple of my latest refurbished pieces!! Write me on here or facebook and let me know what you think.

Monday, May 13, 2013

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.

Sunday, May 5, 2013

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.

Thursday, April 25, 2013

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”!!