Southern Bloggers Conference 2012

I am so excited to be attending the Southern Bloggers Conference in Raleigh this Fall! I still feel like I am learning so much about blogging and I would love to be able to learn more about how to grow a blog and obtain more readers. 

I am most excited about meeting like minded people who share my interest and love for decorating, crafting, and furniture painting.  The speakers that are lined up are great and it will be really awesome to hear some words of wisdom from them.  I have to say I am nervous and excited to be thrown into a room full of people I don’t know, but I am sure I will make quick connections and hopefully some new friends. 

I am linking up to the link party the organizers are throwing to meet some of the other attendees.  What a neat way to meet each other virtually.   Please check it out if you are interested in attending too!

April

Something a Little Different

I picked up a dresser for my closet at Goodwill a few weeks ago and it is very different from my normal style but I wanted to try something new and I really wanted to try a new Annie Sloan color, Aubusson Blue.

I really love the blue, this color is great on it’s own or with dark wax. I went with the dark wax because I really wanted to leave some of the natural wood colors and it needed a little spiffing up so the dark wax was a good way to do it.
The dresser is veneer but had an interesting grain that I wanted to see some of it.  Here is the before.

What a difference a little paint makes!!  And a lot of elbow grease in cleaning up those knobs with Brasso.



And look at that CUTE little elephant I picked up at a thrift store…

I planned to use this dresser in my closet because I want a place to put jewelry and accessories but after finishing this one I’ve decided to sale.  It’s not exactly what I want but it was a really fun piece. 
Sorry I’ve been away so long, finally have a new computer but still a bit behind because we are trying to get the old files off the old dead computer
April

Linking To:

Shut the Front Door or Paint it

If you follow me on Facebook and have for some time you may remember several months ago I asked about a front door color for the new house. 

A Heart's Desire

October 13, 2011
Ok readers I need your advice... I have to pick a front door color on the new house. The house is ALL WHITE, White with White trim and no shutters. I'm thinking color, but I don't want that to be all you see....What color???? do you think?
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Well for those of you that commented…Orange, Blue, Red, Green, thank you, they were all great ideas.  But a Pinterest find pulled at those heart strings and I knew it had to be closer to this. 


When we moved in the door looked like this…

Not a huge fan of hunter green.  When I posted the question on Facebook the builder had asked me what I wanted, a few hours later I got the call that they wanted to just paint it green because they had the paint on hand.  So I agreed, knowing I could change it later. 

This was my Pinterest inspiration

Source Via House and Home

Stunning, right?  One day I hope my front porch can look this glorious, but for now we are keeping it simple.  This was a great photo for me to use as inspiration because the glass door is similar to mine.

The thing that really kicked me into to gear to paint the door was a great little Goodwill find.

I found this Smith & Hawken lantern for $9.99 and it was the perfect addition for the front porch but I needed to get to work and paint the door to tie it all together.
I decided while I was at it to paint the little table grey to match the theme of my inspiration photo. I also painted the inside of the door the same color because it to was also painted green by the builder.

Here is a close up of the color, it was hard to get a good picture with the sun coming through the window. 

This is a nice change for the curb appeal.  I am very pleased with the color and really love the new color on the plant stand and my thrifty lantern find.

Now I just need a good book, I have the perfect retreat :)

Paint colors used:

Exterior: Benjamin Moore Palladian Blue, HC-144

Interior and table: Benjamin Moore Iron Gate, 1545

April

Linking to: 

                                  Sizzle into Summer Party  &

New Kitchen Island

Long story short…I have a brand new kitchen island and it was FREE!

Here is the skinny on how I scored it….
I know you are wondering why I needed one since we just moved into a new house.  The house did not come with an island but the builder staged it with one and he let us continue to borrow.  We really didn’t want to spend a lot of money and had found an acceptable one at Target for $250 but we were not 100% sold.  We really wanted a furniture look so I started the hunt on Craigslist for a furniture piece to redo and found the perfect piece for $50….it was an old dresser/sideboard that had character and we would only need to find a top for it and paint.  I called, and the lady had just sold it with in the hour!! Disappointed but back to the hunt.  
We knew the builder was wanting his back and we need to find something and soon.  I was talking to one of my customers that does kitchen remodels and also sales cabinets, asking  if he had any less expensive options. He said sure and it won’t cost you anything.  I was like, for FREE??? He confirmed and I still could not believe.  Even free I can be picky so I wanted to know what it looked like.  He had a picture and a drawer but otherwise I really didn’t know what the exact size was or what it looked like but told him I wanted it.  We picked it up a few days later sight unseen and I was so surprised.  I begged asked him quietly to let me pay him something, but he refused. 
We totally scored!!  This is a super high end cabinet line, furniture like piece with a granite, yes I said GRANITE top!!
I love it in our kitchen.  It is a little smaller that what we had in here, but it fits the kitchen much better.  
This is what it looked like when we picked it up…not bad at all!
  















This was actually a piece that connected to other cabinets so the end cap had to be fixed. Will helped me out with this and he said it was pretty easy to fix.  I knew I’d be painting so it didn’t matter.



I am so happy with it.  I probably would not have chosen this color granite but it works well in our kitchen and after painting the piece in Annie Sloan’s Chalk Paint, color French Grey and finished with clear wax it really made it pop.   We also added a pull and I thought this one was really fitting because it had a similar pattern to the drawer.

Now I have a nice wide drawer for my silverware and knives.  I still cannot believe this island was free!  I usually don’t have such luck.  The only thing I bought was the $3.48 pull.  I already had the paint and wax and it didn’t take much to cover this because it was in such good condition. 
 

What do you think?
p.s. I also had awesome luck at Goodwill the same day I picked this up…stay tuned for those neat finds….or start following me on Instagram to see sneak peaks.  (name is aprilletchworth)


April


Linking to:
                          

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   Jennifer Rizzo

                                                                          

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Sizzle into Summer Party

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Pinterest Challenge-Summer Edition

Hi Everyone!  I am joining in on the fun with the Pinterest Challenge tomorrow July 10th.  Be sure to stop by and see Katie, Sherry, Kate, and Michelle’s blog to see all the other projects. 

This whole challenge really got me off my butt an into high gear this past weekend working on all kinds of things that I had been putting off!  Glad to have the energy to get going on some projects. 

I decided to take a neat little window frame that I had and use it as my artwork for my backsplash. 

I’ve had this little picture for a while now and I really liked the window frame idea, I just had no where to use it.  I am glad I held on to, it was perfect for this spot above the sink.  I needed something nice and neutral.  My Grandma picked this up at a yard sale for $2 and this is what it looked like before.

My Pinned inspiration came from this picture….

I don’t know where the original source is!!! It is not pulling one and I pinned it a long time ago.  This is the best link I could find…HERE.  But credit to whoever did this…I love it!

I totally love the idea of using this little frame this way in the future and I am thinking of a black and white photo of our chocolate lab, Abbie. I did not, however, want to use a picture of the dog in the kitchen and I really wanted something neutral since the house is on the market.  So I just took the picture out and left the glass.  It can be my imaginary window, that I really wish was there :)

I cleaned it up, sanded down the edges for the wood to pop out and boy was that NOT easy, factory finish on this bad boy.  I wanted to add a little color but not paint so I waxed the finish with Anne Sloan's Chalk Paint Wax but mixed Duck Egg Blue paint into the wax.  It was my first time adding color to the wax and it worked really nicely.

I am very pleased with the way this turned out.  It is in the perfect spot now. 

Hope you are all getting a chance to complete a few projects this Summer.  Don’t forget to check out all the websites above tomorrow July 10th for the Pinterest Challenge.

April