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!

Dresser for a baby girl {Before & After}

The weekend is here and it's lookin' sweet. My girl, Shire, and I are heading north a bit to visit my sister for the weekend! It's a real treat to spend time with both of those lovelies and I know it'll be over too soon. So, we're gonna move slow and drink it in!

Speaking of girls, I've had the absolute privilege of getting to refinish a dresser changing table combo for a sweet baby girl due to arrive this Christmas! The piece is for my cousin, John, and his wife, Jen, who are the expectant parents of this little one. When they reached out to me about refinishing a piece for her nursery I got right to work before even responding yes! I adore nurseries. It's such an honor whenever I have an opportunity to refinish a piece for such a thoughtful room. It's a special place where sweet memories are made. Sigh.

John and Jen were particularly open minded and allowed quite a bit of creative freedom for this project. Here is their piece when I found it:

Great size, plenty of storage without being overwhelmingly huge, sturdy, and a piece that'll certainly grow with the child. Their request was for something light in look, which this piece was quite the opposite of before the work started! 

And after, in white lacquered glory!

Handmade rope pulls and pink glass knobs are the stars of this show!

Glidden's Trim, Door and Furniture paint does it again! This uber thick paint, which is ridiculously durable, settles to a smooth, glassy finish in a nice high sheen. Love how it bounces the light and adds to the visual interest of this otherwise boxy piece!

THE SET-BACK: Like any solid Love It or List It, (HGTV), show, many Before & After stories have at least one challenge to work through. I was planning to cover this piece in Annie Sloan Chalk Paint's Pure White and give it some gentle distressing for a cozy, weathered look. I suspected there would be terrible bleed-through, (an unsettling discoloration that seeps through layer after layer of paint - a dreadful, but typical occurrence with old pieces), so I sealed it with two layers of Zinnsers Clear Shellac before breaking out the chalk paint. Even after sealing the piece and then painting, this was the mess at hand: See all that brown? I decided to change course and see what the Glidden Trim, Door and Furniture paint would do since it's thick as molasses and oil-based. It worked like a dream; the best dream ever!!! A big bonus with this paint is that it wipes clean SO easily - highly preferred for a piece that will double as a changing table. 

Thankful that this crises was averted! I was getting ready for a tough break-up with this piece and nearly called Jen to deliver the bad news. Not recommended to do to a first-time expectant Momma. Second and on? It's your gamble. 

So excited to meet the little lady to whom this piece will soon belong!

Refinishing furniture is something I've enjoyed for about 4 years now. I've finished hundreds of pieces, many as custom orders! If you've got something in mind that you'd like for your own home, please email me at chelsea@stylemutthome.com. I'd love to hear what you have in mind!

Thank you all for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend!