French Grey China Cabinet

Here's one of our latest creations. This outdated 1960ish china cabinet is transformed by refinishing it in this beautifully current French Gray.

BEFORE...

AFTER...

French Provincial Buffet

So this week we sold 3 pieces of furniture at Antiques at the Loop! Very exciting... WAIT... that means we have to replace it. What's in the workshop? Nothing. Guess that means I need to get busy.

 

I found this small French Provincial Buffet. It looked a little tired and dated in the light pecan finish, don't you think? And after some paint, some sanding and some waxing...

I mixed some paint from partial cans in my workshop and came up with this charcoalish color. I like the way the white detail contrasts with the gray.

This piece is going to look great in someone's dining room. It's also the perfect size for a changing table in a nursery. This one is for sale at Antiques at the Loop in Mobile. Stop by and take a look for yourself.

Pine Corner Cabinet

I recently found this old pine corner cabinet at a thrift store.

 I loved the original pine finish... BUT it had this on it and the top was broken off.

 It had to go. When I pulled it off I was left with this.

I painted it antique white on the outside and decided on a cool blueish/grey for the inside. Then I distressed it using sandpaper and dark wax to give it an aged farmhouse look. Here's the finished product.

 This one sits proudly in our dining room (at least for now)...

Saturdays Around The House

Well, Spring is upon us. And if you live in the Southernmost part of AL, SUMMER is here. Today was one of those Saturdays that seemed to last forever, and that's a good thing. This morning I was in my workshop putting the finishing touches on some of the crosses I made Friday evening. Julie was inside playing around with some photography. We re-did Carter's room a few months back when he moved into his "big-boy bed". She was shooting some pics for the post she will be doing soon.

Here's a teaser for now... (more to come)

He's so proud of his room. He politely asks forces everyone who comes to our house to come see it.

Julie also helped me stage a couple photos of some new merchandise for the store.

I loved this old table the first time I saw it, but it's been in the workshop for months because I couldn't decide what color to paint it. This weekend I settled on "go bold or go home".  It's the perfect shade of awesome, don't you think?  It went in the store today.

This is one of the crosses I made this weekend. It's now for sale at Antiques at the Loop in Midtown.

 This is on our front door. We have some more of these at Antiques at the Loop if you're interested. Made in USA on reclaimed materials.

The Back Door... Made by Blackwater Folk Art (Julie's dad and stepmom) in Milton, FL. These are made on recycled barn tin and handpainted.

These blue owls are sold individually and can go almost anywhere. We hung these on a utility door near our back porch.

French 20's China Cabinet

Last week I got a call from a customer who wanted a piece of furniture painted. She had a 1920's china cabinet with a dull finish and wanted it transformed into a painted French piece with ornate detail. When I picked the piece up, it looked like this...

I really liked the detail work at the top and on the side panels. I decided to paint the piece my own mixture of mostly off-white, with a touch of gray. Then I added a mixture of brown and gold metallic to the edges and some of the trim. Finally, I dark waxed the piece and buffed it out with a soft cloth. The customer was very happy with the finished product.

Now this beauty sits proudly in her home on Dog River.

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REBORN is Born

Two years ago God blessed us with our first son, Carter, through the miracle of adoption. He came into our lives after a long season of trusting God to write the story of our family.

Along the same time, God allowed us to plant a multi-ethnic church in Mobile.

As we plan/pray/think about the future of our family, our hearts have been turning again toward adoption. There are so many questions. When will this happen? Will we adopt an international child (we would probably prefer this) or domestic? Only God knows the answers to these questions. Another looming question is how will we prepare to finance an adoption (20-30 thousand if international)?

As we sought to answer this question, an idea was born. For quite some time we have enjoyed furnishing our home with pieces we have salvaged from thrift stores, trash piles, or junk yards. We have even sold a few to friends or at local consignment stores.

So as we thought of creative ways to contribute to our "adoption fund" an opportunity presented itself. This week we started Reborn Interiors.

In addition to his full time work at All Nations Community Church, Chris will be selling his painted/distressed furniture at Antiques at the Loop. We moved in today! Surprisingly, they put us front and center- first booth on the right. This is one of the best spaces in the whole store because it is by the register and has prime window space!

Some of you may know that Julie's dad and step mom, Jerry and Pam Mitchell, own a Folk Art Company in Milton, FL. They make hand painted signs on reclaimed barn tin. They have been in business for over 20 years and wholesale to thousands of shops all over the US.

In addition to selling painted furniture we will be carrying an amazing line of Blackwater Folk Art.

You have GOT to see this stuff! We have seasonal items (Fall stuff is in now) as well as great unique gifts at affordable prices (my only commercial, I promise). We love the idea of buying from our family and supporting their business too.

We appreciate your prayers as we set out on this new adventure! And when you get a chance, come shop our booth at Antiques at the Loop.


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Vintage Patio Furniture Picking

There's just something about old stuff- especially old stuff that is made of METAL. And I don't mean that thin, lightweight material places like Target calls metal.

For months (maybe years) Julie and I have been on the lookout for some retro, mid-century patio furniture... You know, the kind your grandmother had on her back porch.

This one sold for $1,075 on VintageGlider.com

Bottom line... it's hard to find this stuff and just too dang expensive to buy when you do.
BUT.........last week something amazing happened as I was driving through an old neighborhood in midtown. I spotted this beauty sitting on the front porch of an old house.

It was conveniently sitting beside two of these! But the ultimate question was... ARE THEY FOR SALE???

The house was for sale so I called the Realtor, got the owners phone number and proceeded to give them a call. They were glad to sell the set which belonged to her late mother for a whopping $125. I tried not to sound too excited on the phone!
The chairs were still sitting on the same porch they were placed on in the mid 1950s.


They had been painted several times so they needed some serious sanding. I used a wire brush and a pressure washer to take off the flaking paint... not a fun job, but a necessary one if you want a smooth painting surface.

My mission: to fully restore these old metal chairs and glider to their original mid century charm.

After getting the rust off, I used a primer to seal and protect the bare metal.

Tip: always paint the bottom first. This way you don't mess up the  most visible areas when you paint the other side.

The chair on the right has been primed; the chair on the left has not.

Next on the agenda... choosing the right color. We decided on Rustoleum's "leafy green". Julie loved the color and it's a shade of green that you would have commonly seen in the 50's. We wanted it to look just like it did when it rolled off the assembly line. You can find this paint at the Home Depot.

The bottom is now primed and we are starting to add the green paint.

Julie wanted me to paint the basket weave part white so taping was needed. It was pretty tedious and time consuming but we were so glad we added this little detail.

We painted the white parts first in Rustoleum "heirloom white". Then after the white paint dried, we added tape and painted on the green.

The last step was clear coating the furniture with a high gloss protective enamel.

Here are all the finishes I used.

Ready for the finished product?

I had the set appraised by Desiree Tate, owner of Antiques at the Loop in Mobile. She appraised the furniture at $1,400. Not a bad return on $125. But we don't plan on selling any time soon. Hopefully now this old furniture can see at least 50 more years.