Color

A while back I read an article in the September issue of House Beautiful about color. There was a map of the US showing favorite colors in different parts of the country. 

I was surprised that orange was the favorite color of the Southeast. I would have thought orange would be the favorite color of the Southwest. I know orange is a hot color right now but I've never been an orange girl. 

Green won as the hot color of Louisiana. Anyone who lives in New Orleans and is old enough to remember the wood benches in City Park knows City Park Green. In the past 10 years or so the green that you see in the French Quarter has gotten lighter. 

Green is one of my favorite colors. To me the right shade of green is a neutral color. Think about Mother Nature...Green is all around us. There's so many shades to choose from. Green can either soothe or energize you.

Here are a few green combos. All photos are from Houzz.com 

Pink and Green...think nature...pink flowers, green leaves.
Perfect for a little girls room. 

Blue and Green...can be very clean and contemporary.

White and Green...this isn't your Grandma's kitchen but white and green is always in style.

How about Yellow and Green...

And yes...even Orange and Green...

Southern Girl

Had a getaway with the Hubs over the weekend. We spent the night at Nottoway Plantation. It's Louisiana's largest remaining antebellum mansion, 53,000 square feet, along the Mississippi River Road. It took 8 years to build the house. It was way ahead of it's time. There were 3 indoor bathrooms and they had their own gas well to heat their water. All of the wood in the house was cut from cypress trees from the property. You can't see from this picture but on the right side is a rotunda. The cypress was soaked in the Mississippi River for 4 years in order to get the curvature of the wood. 

This picture is the side of the home. See the balcony with the red ribbon. It's one of the 2 private balconies that we had with our room. 

Here's a picture of our front balcony. From our balconies we could see the river. My imagination went wild thinking of what life was like back in the day. Of course in my mind everything was beautiful, romantic and life was a piece of cake. NOT...

There was no air condition and the fireplace was the only heat in the house. I can't even imagine what the 
mosquitoes were like. 

Here are a few pics of the inside. 

This is our half tester bed. It's not original to the house but it's from the same time period. There are only a few original pieces of furniture in the home that were donated from family members. 

The camellia was the favorite flower of the original lady of the house. Here is the plaster and cypress moulding in the dining room. Notice the camellia's. 

Here I am in my favorite room in the house. The white ballroom. 5 of the daughters were married in this room. The windows would open up, the band would be on the balcony and you could dance in and out of the room onto the balcony.

Here's the Master Suite. Notice the bed warmer on the bed.  The door to the right is the master bath and closet. 

The dining room mantel and table. 

Night photos. 

Here you can see the rotunda. The restaurant is on the bottom floor, white ball room on second floor and family galley on third floor. 

The night ended with us sitting on our balcony watching the fireworks. 

Remember this cute little cabinet that someone had given us awhile back.

We were in a quandary...

To paint or not to paint... 

After all she's in perfect condition. Solid mahogany, no dings or scratches. It literally had one owner who had taken very good care of her. She had it filled with pretty little treasures from her travels. 

Well look at this baby now. 

We removed the outdated pediment. Painted her a pretty 
Behind The Shadow from Clark + Kensington and gave her a tiny little shabbiness. 

We learned a great lesson on this one. REMOVE THE BACK BEFORE PAINTING... so much easier to paint when the back is removed. 

Look at her pretty details.

This would be so pretty in a cottage style house. It could be used as a china cabinet, display cabinet, bookcase or just think about her in a little girls room. 

The back is painted a pretty sea foam green. 

We haven't given her a name yet. What do you think?

6 Brown Chairs

One of our return customers asked us to paint 6 chairs for her. 

First let me start by saying...Debbie, I said "DO NOT PUT ME IN THE PHOTO". Thank God it's only a partial shot of my back. That T-shirt is over 15 years old. It's one of my favorite painting shirts. So soft. If you were to see the front you could see every color of paint I've ever used over the past 15 years.

There's a lot involved in chairs. First we had to clean them with a degreaser to get off any wax buildup. Next we gave them a light sanding and spray primed them. 

A lot of people that use chalk paint skip the cleaning, sanding and priming. We thought since these chairs were going to be used daily it was worth the extra steps. 

Here they are after they were painted with our chalk paint in one of our favorite colors, Oyster Pearl. We can't say enough about this color. It picks up different hues depending on what it's around. It's more on a gray side. 

The next step is to give them a light sanding and poly.  

Then on to the next project.

1980's Update

One of our clients just built a fabulous new home. We're hoping that after she's completely moved in she'll let us share her beautiful home with you. 

We did a few little projects for her. Here are her barstools.

We did 4 of these to match her island breakfast bar. They came to us unfinished. We sanded, wiped the paint on then wiped it off. Next we added glazing in areas to make them look worn. We also added a few splashes of paint with a toothbrush for a speckled look. 

Here is a bookcase for the playroom, which I'm sure will quickly be filled with oodles of great stories.  . . . just in time for some spooky Halloween tales.  Just anothe example of how an ordinary bookcase can be painted for a fresh new look.  

We also did this cute little night stand for her little girl. It's a yummy minty green.

It came to us with the typical 1980's brown. On this piece we sanded, primed, painted glazed and did a little shabby chic technique. 

We love doing pieces for little girls. They always appreciate something new for their room.

Lots of Work

Our Workshop

If only we could have a real workshop. 

This is where we're working this week. 

In the backyard under a canopy.

At least the weather is cool and dry. 

Road Kill Rescue

Debbie and I were driving around one Sunday evening and spotted this cute little footstool sitting on top a pile of wood. She looked lonely and wet. 

I got out of the car in the rain to check her out. I saw this pretty little girl was minus one leg. Digging into the pile of wood a treasure was found.

Her leg.

All she was missing was a screw. We took her home dried her up, gave her new foam, paint and a pretty dress made out of a coffee sack.

Take a look at her now...(I don't know why we always call our furniture her)

It's true...one person's trash is another person's treasure.

History in Furniture

We have a client that had 2 french end tables that have been in her family for years.  She had them tucked away not needing to use them but not wanting to throw them away either.  They have little teeth marks around the edges from when her children were babies. 

How could she part with them?

Fast forward many years...

Daughter grows up, goes to college, enters med school and gets her first adult apartment. 

The end tables that were in storage for years have now found a new look, new home, and a new life.  This is our favorite part!   

Yikes, We're Backed Up

Right now we're backed up on our painting about 2 weeks thanks to Isaac. 

Here's our price list.

Dining Table Base Only $75
We don't recommend painting table tops
Dining Chairs $35
With Arms $40

Coffee/Side Tables
Up to 24" $50
24"-48" $75

Headboards
Twin $75
Double/Queen $100
King $200

Dressers
3 Drawers $100
4 Drawers $125
5 Drawers $150
6 Drawers $175

Distressing add 15%
Wax add 15%
Clear Coat add 20%

If you have any questions or special pieces you'd like us to look at give us a call. 

Don't leave anything too close to the curb . . .

     As you know, Karen and I are neighbors, with one house in between us.  We are always walking back and forth to and from each others’ house.  One day I was on my way over there and notice a cute green ceramic pot sitting next to our neighbor’s garbage cans.  I thought to myself – I’ll find a place for that.  I’ll grab it on my way back home, but for some reason I didn’t.  The next day Karen said “Did you see that pot Cindy was throwing out?  I picked it up!" No biggie, I’m glad she was going to reuse it.  Several days later Cindy asked Karen if she happened to see a green pot sitting right next to her cans, which had belonged to her mother, and that she was going to put a plant in it.  Karen politely returned it to her.  Moral of the story . . . don’t leave anything too close to the curb.  We’re always looking to recycle and reuse!