OK. I Guess We're Ready!

I drive up to Krista's barn, Chirp headquarters, nearly every day to splash color on plain wood furniture.  I laugh every time I see their bright red truck smiling at me from the barn doors. 

Isn't this about the most perfect work place to spend summer days? 

Two more finished chairs. I just picked up 4 more in Cumberland.

A child's toy chest, which was once a tool chest. 

Once a tv console (remember those?!), now a dog bed.

I picked up 4 pieces of this 1960's furniture, which I actually had the same set growing up. 

I know there doesn't appear to be too much of a difference, but getting rid of the gold embellishments helps a lot. 

before....

after

work in progress...

finished. 

Krista refinished three of these 'Waterfall' pieces from the late 1930's. We thought this one looks like a tiny refrigerator.

Another high boy done. 

I don't know why we found so many dressers, but we just kept bringing them in. 

I had no idea we would fill this huge box truck. I thought we would load everything into our two pickup trucks and my trailer. But when we looked at all we had, we decided, the box truck it is. 

Krista trying to make room for everything.

and the chairs...awaiting their new homes. Wish us luck!

Sale at On A Whim Barn, near Luckett's, Virginia.

Saturday and Sunday, August 18 & 19.

Wish us luck! I hope we don't have to haul all this stuff back to the barn! 

Spools and Spindles

 

 Up in Cumberland this week, I checked out some yard sales in the area. This spool bed came from 

The Castle, a stone home built in 1940 in Savage, Maryland. The bed was stored away for years in the carriage house. 

 It was dirty and dusty but such a delightful find. 

But all those spindles/spools to clean, prime and paint!

But I love to get right to work on a piece the same day I get it, so after putting on my grubby clothes, I got down to it.

I decided to use spray primer to save some time on those curves. 

I kinda got in a zen zone painting them. 

They are just so cute. I imagined the furniture maker, slowly turning the wood to form these exact forms, spindle after spindle. I was happy to just have to paint them. Now to distress and wax the bed and it's ready for the sale this weekend. It will look so awesome with a lace bedspread and some of Krista's pillows. Can't wait! Come see us at our first sale at 'On a Whim', near Luckett's, Virginia, August 18 & 19.

Furniture R Us

This is where I spent most of last week. At the Sweat Shop. Whoooboydammit was it hot! If you don't believe me, see Puka panting above. Krista has two dogs, a blue heeler and Benny, a yellow lab. Benny is always underfoot. All day we say, "Benny move!" He then moves 6". If there's any hair in your furniture, it's Benny's. 

We pulled a lot of the furniture out of the horse stalls and got to work. Krista and I work in the same way. We mess up every space we touch. We start on 5 different pieces, do a bit, then go on to 5 others. We work in her air conditioned pool house (trashed), in her horse barn (super trashed) and I work on the small pieces, candle holders, chairs, end tables, at my house (more chaos). We can never find the right brush, roller, scraper, paint, screws, handles, screw driver, putty. We need three of everything! We say we'll get more organized when the sale is over. Yeah, right. 

But occasionally we do finish a piece. This is a darling little number that Krista completed. It will be a set of four mismatched friends that will have the same material to tie them together. 

Here are two other friends who will get a makeover.

That really ugly duckling yellow on the right will be a beautiful swan soon.

Yellow be gone!

Another finished piece. I painted chalkboard stripes, then numbers with chalk.

In case you wanted to know how many drawers there are.

Pillow Talk

Krista has been very busy at the sewing machine, putting vintage fabrics together to

 create these darling pillows. 

She recently scored quite a few antique doilies and runners and is incorporating them onto the fronts.

This little gem is my favorite. I'm having a love affair with grey lately. And this classic barkcloth is a beaut! I may have to hide this one away.

 

 A vintage tablecloth becomes a pillow covering. Love the butterflies.

Rustic burlap with a bit of a girly ruffle. Love the combo!

All will be available at our sale August 17 & 18 at 'On A Whim' near Luckett's Virginia. 

Our First Sale!!!

Good news for us! We are going to have our first sale!!! Come see us at:

On A Whim Tent Sale near Luckett's, Virginia, Rt. 15

Saturday & Sunday, August 18 & 19

10:00 - 5:00

Load, Unload, Glue, Sand, Paint, Load

Krista and I have been movin' and shakin'! With a little help from our 20-somethings (thank goodness for strong backs!), we were able to move a heap of furniture into Krista's barn over the weekend.

Pictured above is an old doll highchair seat that I've had forever. I put a couple little legs on the back so it would sit flat and made it into a little tabletop 'chair' for holding cute things.

The 137th annual Barnesville Picnic and White Elephant Sale were held last Saturday. I scored a bunch of stuff. A kid's highchair got a bit more distressed when it fell off the back of my truck into the middle of the highway. Whoops!

We also accrued at least 6 pieces of retro, black 50's furniture....for free!!! I love freecycle! Forrest and Michelle are good sports helping out (I did witness lots of eye rolling though)

During the week I truck on over to Krista's and we either work in the pool house on smaller stuff or in the barn on the bigger furniture. 

We have a new rule (after today) that we will take before pictures of everything so we can tell how ugly things we were before we worked our magic on them.

So, a before of a little coffee table with a glass top.

A couple coats of the very palest blue does wonders.

A little brown table is yearning for some paint.

done

Cheery little step stools. Would be perfect for a child to step up to brush their teeth or as a table top with  a bouquet of flowers on top.

I pick up these silver or stainless steel trays at thrift shops and yard sales, spray different colors and paint the center with chalkboard paint. We'll have little felt erasers and chalk included.

I adore milk glass. I love it's opaqueness and bumps.

They look so good as a collection.

This little beauty was the ugliest green.

But now she's sporting a soft yellow, to match the sunny skies of August.