Now for sale: Buffet + Bar cart {traditional with a twist!}

Happy Friday, folks! I'm excited to kick the weekend off with a couple of entertaining pieces - a matching buffet and bar cart! I've actually never done a bar cart before - the ones I see while out thrifting are glass and brass/gold and don't need any of my attempts at improvement. But, when I saw an all wood bar cart in perfect condition on old casters, I grabbed it with not the faintest idea of what to do!

Fortunately, I also snatched up this buffet on the same day which gave me a great jumping off point for creating a set! (I'm gonna go ahead and apologize now for the quality of the pictures - I had a tight window to get them done and it was during our darkest, rainy day this week while my kiddos ate lunch. These pictures were the least of our disasters this week, however, and I'm already looking forward to starting fresh come Monday! Just don't stare at my blurry pictures too long, I'd hate to awaken your vertigo.)

BEFORE

AFTER

I really wanted to maintain the traditional integrity of the buffet and decided to go with a classic color - a very soft, creamy grey. One of my favorite custom color mixes is Paris Grey and Old White, (both by Annie Sloan Chalk Paint), about equal parts of both. Rather than do any deep distressing, I just painted on two solid coats, applied the clear wax with a brush, and then buffed with a clean cloth. When buffing, I pressed a little harder with my cloth along the edges and details to pull some of the paint away, but it's nothing harsh. 

Seems a typical, lightly distressed grey buffet, right? But wait! There's more...

I'm not a totally traditional gal - I appreciate traditional pieces and design, but I personally prefer to put soft, unexpected 'twists' on such classic styles. Nothing that screams "whoa there, big fella!", (name that Seinfeld episode), but enough to give such sophisticated pieces a more casual, edgy look. I am in debt to Cate for helping me with this one - I knew I wanted to do something a little different with this piece, but I really didn't want to cross the crazy line. Cate's fresh eyes were so helpful and when she suggested leaving the inset panels in their natural wood state, I knew she'd hit the nail on the head. It was just enough of a twist without going overboard, maintaining the classic integrity of the piece.

And with a matching bar cart to boot, we're quite classy, indeed, today!

For a touch of glam I added aged brass pulls which I had removed from another piece last month. It was one of the easiest updates considering the impact they add to the simple cart. (NEVER throw out old hardware...unless you feel it's truly quite hideous!)

This set is now available for sale, $525. Email me at chelsea@stylemutthome.com if interested! 

To see what else we've got for sale please hop over and browse our Garage Shop!

Enjoy your weekend and thank you for stopping by!

A before+after, cool painting tip, and where to go

Hi guys! The last week and a half has been a little busy around here - in the very best way! The garage is filling up with new pieces awaiting their second chance at life, I've been restocking paint, and taking advantage of the plethora of Fall festivities this area's got goin' on. This was our entire afternoon after church last Sunday:

Shire Grace, 4yrs

The Temple Hall Farm Festival in Leesburg, VA. We think it's the best kept secret around! While many are fighting the traffic and crowds at Cox Farms and Pumpkinville, Temple Hall has so much more to offer and far less 'congestion'.  And camels. Because what's a Fall festival without camels!? They obviously go hand in hand. ;)

Mason James, 3yrs

It's also a great place to snap a Christmas card picture, pending you find someone with a steady hand. Last year's pic is at the right, this year's on the left. We had a better photograstranger last year. Oh well. I think the stone background is washing us out anyways...and by 'us' I mean everyone except my dark and handsome husband.

2014

2013

Moving on, (because I KNOW ya'll didn't come by to weigh in on whether or not we should use that top left picture for our Christmas card. We definitely shouldn't. Right?)! I've been a painting fool over the last two weeks and just wanted to share some recent pieces!

First up, this very special custom order for a very special lady - my Grandma Livi! She found this dry sink in her mother's basement years ago. She did a wonderful job restoring the wood, but recently wanted to give it a fresh look.

BEFORE

AFTER

I just love me some distressed aqua. It's the Best of the Best! ;)

This piece started off with some gorgeous, textured wood grain. When working with a real wood piece with grain like this, you can still play up the wood even when painting over it. On this dry sink, for example, I never once loaded my brush up with too much paint. I did 3 super thin coats until there was even coverage all around. Sounds like a waste of time, right? Why not just do one thick coat? Well, if I were to lay the paint on too thick the paint would have settled right over the wood grain, thus hiding it's beautiful texture. Using more of a dry-brush method, where I only dipped the very end of the brush in the paint, I was able to cover the piece with three thin layers and preserve the grain. Win, win! 

Since this is a super-duper old piece I wanted to give it some fresh, current styling. I surrounded it with my slow-grown Anthropologie kitchen collection which compliments the soft aqua color and contrasts well with the new rustic makeover.

Collection tip: When you love a store or a particular item that you can't afford large purchases from, just keep a sharp eye for items on clearance, or indulge in smaller affordable pieces every now and then. The stacked bowls were the beginning of my collection - as our family grew, we would add one new bowl per family member. 

On deck for tomorrow is my first ever buffet + bar cart set! You can expect the pieces to be traditional, but with a cool, edgy twist. I can't wait to see what you think!

Thank you so much for stopping by!

New Feature Launch: Portfolio!

Hey guys! The weekend is here and it's looking glorious - our garage is full of fresh pieces ready to be refinished, I went out with my little ones this morning to get some paint, (including a color I've never used before but have been dying to try), and Matt and I are goin' on a date tonight! I can't wait to spend time together; life has been full from dawn to dusk, (and a few hours in between due to a certain little boy's habit of coming into our room at odd hours of the night). It'll be a sweet time, indeed. (We're checking out MacDowell's Brew Kitchen in Leesburg - any locals ever been?)

To kick off the weekend we're launching a new feature today! Our Portfolio page is now up and ready for browsing. This page is exclusively for refinished furniture and home accent pieces, therefore is a great way to get a feel for our style and range of work. Before StyleMutt, there was Chelsea's Garage, and before Chelsea's Garage, I was simply refinishing furniture out in our garage and selling it on Craigslist. As that business grew, I started blogging about it on Chelsea's Garage. Although the business has grown to include DIY projects and home design elements, refinsihing furniture remains a very large part of what we do and will talk about on StyleMutt.

We are still in the process of finishing a couple more features which will cover more how-to ground for those of you interested in refinishing furniture yourselves. However, if you ever have any questions about anything you see here or are interested in trying yourself, please don't hesitate to contact us at info@stylemutthome.com!

Many of the pieces in our Portfolio album were custom orders refinished for clients - something we thoroughly enjoy doing. If you have a piece which you would like to give a fresh look, just email a picture of it to info@stylemutthome.com and tell us your vision. We'd be happy to work your dream to reality!

Have yourselves a lovely weekend and thank you so much for stopping by!