Painted Queen Anne Chairs

I titled this one Back to my same ol' BS because a long time ago I frequently painted furniture. And I know it's so controversial! I get it!  And I totally agree that certain wood furniture, namely Antique furniture, high quality wood furniture, heirloom furniture, etc. should remain untouched. Or at least maintained so it lasts forever.  Certain furniture though, in my opinion is worth giving a makeover. In this case, I found these chairs for $10 a piece at a local online auction house.  I didn't know if they have a maker, in fact I couldn't locate a single name on any of the chairs. So I took that as a "go" for me bringing them a new life. 

As you can see, there was some wear in certain areas and I loathe the existing fabric. I'm just not a primary colors kind of person. The style is Queen Anne but almost with a unique top part that flares. 

And of course, I went to work ordering paint and new fabric.  I was excited to try Anne Sloan's Paris Gray as a base coat and Old White as a top coat with clear wax. I ordered three yards of Waverly Regency fabric from Fabricguru.com. And as much to my surprise when I started to carefully take apart the chairs and take off the existing fabric I found the original label. Statton Furniture, made in PA.  My research suggests these are very nicely made chairs indeed and are considered Heirloom quality to be passed on to future generations. I really started second guessing my need to redo the entire chair.  But I had already ordered my paint and Anne Sloan Paint is not cheap!  Anyway, they are still the same quality chair only now with a French Flare! 

This time around I thoughtfully removed each chair cushion using a flat head screwdriver and pliers and laid each set down in an order so that they could be placed back on the same chair later. Thankfully the batting underneath and black bottom fabric were all in great shape so I just needed new top fabric. The fabric is upholstery grade and it was really helpful to have an electric staple gun to get this job done. I carefully used the old fabric as a stencil and traced the exact size onto my new fabric.  I used fabric sheers to cut out the fabric and then stapled around all the sides making sure my pattern was straight and the corners were tight. 

I used the old black fabric back on bottom and that's pretty much it! Now for the fun part. The painting!

Anne Sloan paint says you don't need to sand or prime or anything, but I am old school so I like to give my surface a good sanding and then a good cleaning with a strong solvent.  Then I clean it to get all the dust off. In this case, I used one thick coat of Paris Gray and let it dry for a few hours. Then I used a lighter coat of Old White. I let that dry overnight.  In the morning I applied a coat of clear wax and let that dry for one day.  Then it was time to lightly sand so that the gray peaked through a bit. In my opinion, if I ever do this again, would be to sand before waxing, but I was following their instructions. Once I was happy with my sanding, I applied another coat of wax. I again let it dry over night.  The final day of this project was reattaching the chair pads with the four screws at the bottom using an electric drill. 

I think it's the season, but I especially love to lighten things up around this time of the year. Who knows, by Fall I may be taking out the black chairs again!  Oh! and with my three yards of fabric, I even had enough left over to make a wide runner for the table. Maybe a little too wide, oh well. 

Someone likes hiding under the table, I wonder if he notices the new chairs! 

 Happy Spring. I better do a garden tour soon as I have so many new plants this year! 

xo

Cathleen

Vintage Karastan rug

One of the great things about living where I live is the tremendous Estate Sales that pop up.  For whatever reason there are hardly ever any lines and people have nice things.  At a recent Estate sale for example I had my eye on a rug that was in their preview photos. I zoned right in on it and stuck a "Sold" sticker right away.  I don't really think I even looked at the price tag.     

I scored this beautiful vintage Karastan rug for a mere $250!   The colors were perfect for our dining room and the pattern very pleasing. It has a thick wool pile and even better after I put a 1/2 felt pad underneath it.  It's 8'8" x 12' Antique Ivory Medallion Kirman #781 American wool.

When I brought it home I went to work cleaning it.  I used my water hose, a bucket with soapy water and a scrub brush.  I hand scrubbed it and then rinsed it.  I also used my Bissell cleaner to suck out the dirty water. Unfortunately the amount of dirt that was coming out if it was too much for my little Bissell. I think it even started smoking at one point! I decided to let it dry and I rolled it up and took it to a great Persian Rug company that gets great reviews online.  At $3.40/square foot to have it cleaned, which for a 9x12 rug ran about $370 + tax. But in the end, it's nice to have a rug that feels brand new, yet from the 1950's with all the charm of a vintage rug. 

With care, this rug should last another 70+ years.  It's so well made and just absolutely stunning. 

I have been really drawn to cozy English style homes, so I've been wanting to incorporate more pattern, more mismatched furniture and having everything work. I have a ways to go to get that feeling, but I'm enjoying finding things that I love to fill our home.

 

I was ready to get new end chairs, but I think these Cheetah print Parson chairs go really well with the new rug. 

Happy New Year! 

xo

Cathleen

Dining Room

Does my table make me look old? lol I mean it is over 100 years old so maybe it's a little old fashion. It's here to stay so I can just dress it up with original hand made table cloths. Claw footed Tiger Oak tables are going to make a come back if I can help it. :) 

Also who's ready to skip to spring? We had a week of warms temps in NC and now it's getting chilly again. This past week has me ready to say goodbye to the cold.

Our family eats at this table almost nightly, except for when we have movie night. It's gets lots of traffic but the rug was made for that and the table gets better with age.

So much texture and pattern play here. 

If only there were smell-a-vision. These are glorious!

Just a few more months till spring guys!

xo
Cathleen

New Pics

It's been a minute since I've updated some of the house pics. Things change around here and I don't always remember to update everyone. Since I've last posted, right before my Mom came to visit in November we had the downstairs painted, which wasn't all that exciting, but it sure did freshen the place up. The downstairs used to be a flat sheen in a Sherwin Williams Agreeable Gray. Basically what the builders used. I wanted the paint to be a Satin Sheen and so I applied Paper White by Benjamin Moore *same as upstairs hallways. I loved it up there so figured it would work downstairs too.

Some close ups of the artwork too -mostly a mix of Etsy finds, original sibling art (thanks @Retrolyte) and Grandma's artwork.  If you're going to put a gallery in your house, I highly recommend mixing new art with old and mixing up the frames. Also using things that you love and make you happy. 

I also updated the rug, since the old one had a lot of damage from puppy nails. The potted plant in the corner was a holiday find and is still going strong. Bonus, my Mom helped me plant it while she were here.

A few furniture updates to the living room have been made as well and Joe and I slapped up some peel and stick wallpaper behind the TV.  Doesn't it look like real painted brick?  The windows were all trimmed with craftsman style wood trim a while back but I never got around to showing you.

I found the floral chairs from CB2 and I just love them. They add a nice vintage Italian charm to the space and definitely are the new focal point.

I found a new large area rug as well. Having a new puppy just really was a doozy for our floor coverings. Plus the old one was around for a while and had seen better days.

The black leather sofa from CB2 as well is called "Seville" and is made of Buffalo leather. The quality is suburb and should last forever.

I love how bright and clean everything feels now, especially in January when all the holiday decor goes and you're left with a clean palette again.  And someone over there in the corner is looking like she needs a little fun!

I'm going to spend some of January photographing some other rooms that haven't been shown in a while. As well as spend time thinking about the Master Bedroom color. 2020 seems like it's going to be a good year. 

xo

Cathleen

Dining Room - so pretty

Perhaps the most recently updated room is the dining room. It all started with a vision of a pink ceiling. Like looking at the sunset on the Pacific. It's a warm blush pink that is sophisticated and shiny. It's adds glamour without going overboard. In addition to painting the ceiling I used Paper White by Benjamin Moore to paint the walls. They needed a Satin finish too. Do you see the little pink glass on the walls? Those are vintage vases from my Mom. Perhaps the original inspiration.  The old rug in this room was an outdoor rug that I've had for years. It now lives outside on the patio. I got this fun vintage inspiration black and white rug from Overstock.

I blogged about this beautiful wallpaper here. It's from Anthropologie and I just love the pattern.

This was the day I celebrating winter break ending and the kids going back to school. I hope they never read this post. LOL.

Blush pink hydrangeas, a Neapolitan cake and Prosecco.

And just for fun, here is my table that desperately needs me to recoat it. I have all my supplies to sand and restain it. Just need to wait for better weather and a way to get it outside. It weighs a ton.

Thanks for the stopping by!

xo
Cathleen