may just be my favorite yet

A while back I found this chair at a thrift store for $30. I think I ran to the car with her. Look at all the details… the carving, the lines, the possibility……the DIRT. Yeah. this baby was filthy in her ugly tan coat!

I had great plans for this girlie, but she sat and sat and sat and sat and sat and sat. You get the picture.

One day as I saw her sitting out on my front sun porch with cobwebs covering her I FINALLY saw what she wanted to become! She wanted to live in my mommy den!!! Before this piece I had only completed one upholstery project, and it hasn’t held up too well. I did learn some tricks from my past mistakes, so I felt pretty sure that I could handle this.

I started by stripping this girlfriend down to. the. bone.

It took FOREVER to remove all 1,376,999 staples holding this upholstery on, but I fought through. A few hours later she looked like this:

I then gave her a new coat with my favorite halycon green. At this point she looked like this:

She looked bright, but I knew the glaze and distressing would calm her down. :) I spent the next few hours painstakingly reupholstering her in this loverly brown linen like fabric I found at my favorite fabric store.

Now these next pictures stink… For SOME reason I took them with my phone instead of my camera. I know. Idiot.

The bottom piece wasn’t too bad at all. The foam was still in great shape…

That back piece?? A LITTLE MORE DIFFICULT. Once I got my technique down though I was rocking and rolling… UNTIL. Do you see that HUGE piece of foam? Yeah. That huge thing has to be stapled under a smaller piece of fabric. I had to call in my sexy secretary my hubby to help with that piece.

And here she sits ALMOST finished in my mommy den! Isn’t she divine?

Her loverly back…

Look at those little toes peeking out!

This is where the unfinished part comes in, BUT

I got this in the mail today to finish her up…. I couldn’t find this double welting ANYWHERE online without paying ridiculous shipping fees. The shipping cost more than the cord!! Did you say ridikurus?

Linked to:

Pray for me as I attempt double welting for the first time. I bought a special foot for my machine and everything… Pictures to follow soon.

Peace out.

Linked to:

Piece of Work Wednesdays at Primitive and Proper

i’m a little distressed and think a party would cheer me up!

Hey guys!  I love me a bloggy party. I LOVE LOVE LOVE hooking my stuff up and drooling over everyone else’s redos and finds.   Furniture Feature Friday over at Miss Mustard Seed’s has always been my favorite, and I look forward to Fridays over there.  I love going to parties, but I also love throwing a good one every now and then…SO…. I’m thinking of having a little partay of my own. What do you guys think? I know there are tons out there, but can you ever have TOO many parties to go to? I have tons of party dresses hanging in my closet all ready to go! I’m thinking of having an “I’m a little distressed party” showcasing furniture and items that you’ve distressed. Wouldn’t that be fun to look at tons of pieces that have been lovingly beat or sanded to death?? :) I know I would love it!! I can just imagine all the fabulous distressing you peeps will show off! Every week I’d choose a few projects that really caught my eye and showcase your blog. If there’s enough interest I’ll start our little get together next Tuesday! Please share your thoughts…..

Also, since I’ve been on a bloggy vacay I’ve lost touch with all the parties in blogworld… I would like to link up my projects I’m doing for A Little Distressed. Will you take a second and share some of your favorite parties with me? If you have  a party of your own please leave me a comment with the date, time, and what I need to wear. :) I can’t wait to hear from you…

Before I go I thought I’d share some recent pics of my little sweeties…. They are the best projecst of all!

Love and hugs,

sweet little farmhouse and an announcement

Those of you who have been reading this blog for a while know how I LOVE to redo a piece of furniture. (Those of you who don’t know me can read this post to find out WHO Loulou is). I love taking something old and undesirable and making into a piece that someone can love. Every piece of furniture deserves love dontcha’ think? My home is filled with family pieces and pieces I’ve purchased along the way… some I’ve alone and some I’ve rehabbed. Do you guys remember my grandmother’s shelf? It went from this:

to this:

I took this outdated hutch:

and turned it into something that makes me smile:

I took this HIDEOUS chair that was my great aunt’s

and turned it into a family favorite… It’s about to get ANOTHER makeover :)

I took an old chest from my boys

and made it fit for two Guatemalan Princessas.

There are SOME pieces that I’ll NEVER touch like my grandmother’s barrister bookcase

or this antique chest.

BUT there are pieces like this sweet farmhouse table that badly needs some lovin’.

Since there are only so many places in my house to fit a piece of furniture, Andrew and I have decided that we are starting our own little furniture refinishing business. I have lovingly named it “A Little Distressed” and have already started working on some pieces that I’ll be sharing with you. I am SO excited!! I’m hoping word of mouth will spread the news and that A Little Distressed will take off! The first piece I did to start my inventory is this old farmhouse table I had but had no place for.

I started by stripping the paint off the top with Citristrip and restaining the top in dark walnut. I painted the bottom with an “oops” can from Home Depot….it’s a creamy off white. I then distressed and glazed it to give it that vintage feel.

Here she is all fixed up! I love her and think she looks amazing…. Now I just have to sell her! :)

After I get more pieces finished we’ll really start trying to get the word out. I have a really good feeling about this, so we’ll see….

A couple of pieces I’m finishing up now are this cute desk and dresser. I’ll show the afters this week.

Thanks for sticking with me peeps. Blogging has always been my outlet of choice, and I’m honored that you guys are still trucking with me….

Love and hugs.

Linked to:

Primitive and Proper

Ok. I am a goober. and a dork. and an idiot.

Hmmmm. Wasn't I just wondering WHY I wasn't getting ANY comments?? It may be, because I had the comments on moderation!! I had like 50 to publish.... Yeah. I'm an idiot like that. Thanks to Lisa for pointing out that I MAY have a problem!

I love my peeps!

hello, hello, hello. Is there anybody in there?

Just nod if you can hear me.... Is there anyone home?? Thank you Pink Floyd for the inspiration of this post. I have been blogging on and off for years. I started documenting our adoptions and now blog about me and my crafty endeavors. I USED to have quite a nice following of bloggy friends. Then I took some breaks. Some LONG breaks.... I will admit that it's a bit disheartening coming back to nothing... No bloggy love... no comments... It makes me feel like I am talking to myself.. However, I don't think you guys have been sitting around just waiting on me! LOL! I know the blogging world rolls on. I AM back though. I have been completing SO many projects and will actually start blogging about them :)

I've missed all of you guys and have enjoyed playing bloggy catch up. I've been visiting all my old friends and have found some new bloggy sites as well. If you ARE here and reading would you PLEASE do me a favor, and let me know?? Just leave me a line or two. I blog for myself, but it is nice knowing I'm not out here all alone in bloggyworld.

Much love peeps!

let me console you….

I have been on a journey…a journey towards a room of my own….a place I can go and be surrounded by things and colors I love… a mommy den! I decided recently to change our walkthrough den into a space of my own. I knew I wanted to incorporate my sewing machine, which meant that I needed more storage. I knew that I wanted antique and vintage pieces. I also knew that I had to do it with NO money. Well. ALMOST no money. I started looking around my house and at things I had in storage. I was thrilled to find that I had almost everything I needed to make my room special. Although I had the pieces, everyone of them needed to be redone. I was so excited! Picking out new colors and planning how to reuse items is one of my favorite things to do in the world. I knew that I wanted a small TV for my mommy den. Something small that wouldn’t be THE focus of the room. I remembered this piece from storage and KNEW it would be perfect for holding the TV.

I don’t know if you can tell from that picture, but this baby was UGLY! WAY overvarnished and SHINY…. Super shiny. Super shiny and dinged up! I took off the hardware and stripped the top. I restained the top in dark walnut and painted the bottom in SW’s halycon green. I then distressed it and glazed over the entire piece to give it a vintage look.

I am now in LOVE with this piece. It looks like it lived the first part of it’s life in an old French farmhouse…not that I’ve ever been in one, BUT it’s the way I picture them :) I spray painted the original knobs in ORB and rubbed a little off. I removed the metal pieces that were originally under the drawers, and I like the look of the piece so much more without them.

I decided against having a very dark top. I just rubbed the stain in until I achieved my desired color. I’m happy with the way it contrasts with the paint.

The detailing at the bottom. Yeah. I hate those cords. I need to work on that….

Here she is in the room. I know I’m only teasing you guys with the one wall. The rest is coming up in installments. I’m not sure about the pieces on the console, but I LOVE the shelf with the platter and ironstone.

The wall color isn’t quite that orange…. It looks mighty bright in the pictures… It’s actually a deep terra cotta color that looks gorgeous with all my blues and greens. I can’t wait to show you the rest! I had such an amazing time redoing this piece and all the others in the room. This project was completely FREE for me. I had all the things I needed as well as the console itself. Not bad for free. What do you think?

Thanks for visiting.

I'm linking up to:

Blue Crickets Show and Tell with Silhouette!

The Thrifty Home's Refinished Furniture Party

Domestically Speaking's Power of Paint Party

The Romantic Home's Show and Tell

Funky Junk's SNS

jamaica mon

My goodness!  Has it been this long since I’ve posted?? Wow. What a crazy summer it was. Having 4 kids at home was fabulous but oh so busy. Andrew and I just got back from our honeymoon. Yeah. We’ve been married 6 years. It took us a while to get around to it with 2 kids and 2 international adoptions in our first 4 years of marriage! We’re so glad we finally took the time for US. We renewed our wedding vows and had an amazing time….. I’ve actually tackled some home projects over the last month or so, and I can’t wait to share some of my projects with you. For now I’m gonna share some pics from my trip to Paradise. I came home reenergized and ready to go!