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.

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!!!

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!!

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!!

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.

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.

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.