Beautiful Things Wednesday

Wednesday -

The middle of the week. No energy as in the beginning of the week and not quite Thursday where Friday is within reaching distance!  What better day to share some beautiful images?  (Images shown are not mine unless specified)

I always love more subscribers, so please join if you like what you see!

 

Enjoy!





Spring Wreaths

Only a few days till Easter Sunday and we are having family over for Easter lunch.  Time to bring out the springtime décor!

My girls and I had fun making Easter wreaths with chalk paint, a glue gun, some burlap ribbon and, of course, dyed Easter eggs. 

Ella and Sophie enjoyed blowing out the eggs over the kitchen sink and dying them, while I put a quick light coat of pink on the plain wreath we had purchased at the craft store and even painted a few eggs with it.


Ella carefully used the glue gun to attach the eggs and we made a bow with the ribbon. 

Voila!  Our own personal Easter wreaths that I will treasure for years to come...

Here they are with the rest of our Easter mantel. 

Ella grew the grass last month from seed for our "Haft Seen" table (this is the Persian holiday celebrated on the first day of Spring).  

This, added to my children's crafts they have made through the years and a few family pictures make it a personalized Easter mantle. 

 

 

 

 

All ready for Sunday lunch.  I only wish it would actually start to warm up in Maryland so it would actually feel like spring!

 

Cheers,

Suzanne

Lovely Round Corners

I found this lovely a few weeks ago..

Adore the round corners and detail of the pulls.

After a day of work, here she is...

The Small Stuff

I love vintage finds but it isn't always about the big pieces.  Some days it's all about the small things.  I found the neatest chair/ladder today.  At first glance it's a chair...

 

Making a Wash

While my house in a complete mess of unfinished projects and becoming more and more like the local thrift store,

I had fun making another YouTube video (it is fun to pretend to be Martha Stewart for a bit!)  It's on how to make and apply a wash of chalk paint on a piece.  Pretty short and basic, but I linked it up here in case you were interested in trying it at home.  I love the look a wash creates and after wiping it back, it looks divine!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkvmDfIWVzU

Cheers!
Suzanne

Faded Curtain Charm

My beautiful, shabby chic, french country curtains.  I found them a few weeks ago at a thrift store.  They were $3.79 per panel.  Yes, you read that right!  They are not factory made but were custom made for someone, at sometime.

 

French Blue

I love how each vintage piece is a true one of a kind gem.  This one in particular.

 

The top has been refinished with a rich, dark stain. The bottom is in the true Annie Sloan french blue, Provence and painted to show off all of its detail work. I then dark waxed it for a super smooth finish. Swoon!

 

Dining Room Makeover

Please bear with me this week as I transform my dining room.  I find the whole look to be rather dated (in a not so good way) and want to brighten it up.

Finding a New Home

It has been a busy time for The Painted Drawer on Etsy.  Oh, how I love to find old treasures new homes! 

 

 

 

 

Jama in Tennessee has put this lovely dresser to good use.  It's now by her kitchen door and holds all of her children's towels as they go in and out of the house to the pool.  Sounds like a fun home and LOVE the idea of her kids using the dresser!

Vintage Farmhouse Find

Some weeks I am out and about and nothing special appears.  Then there are times when I see a treasure and know it is a true find.  What fun!  I found this AMAZING vintage cabinet (which may not look too amazing here)...

Whitewashed Brick

Our family room has quite a large fireplace and hearth.  While the brick was attractive, it needed brightening up.    I like the texture and look of brick and didn't want to paint a thick coat on top to hide it.  I wanted to enhance it.

I started to think of the brick houses that I love.  The ones that have been painted white and left to distress through the years.  I love those homes.

So, I thought that this look was what I should try to achieve.

Big News!

The Painted Drawer will be at the Lucketts Annual Spring Market!  I am so excited.  This is a huge outdoor market held every year on the grounds of The Old Lucketts Store.  I was amazed last year at the amount of people and SO impressed with the beautiful furnishings the vendors had for sale.  My girls are already very excited to be my cashiers :)

Here we are last year with Miss Mustard Seed (I know, so corny!)

It was quite a week - besides the spring market, Celeste (the Annie Sloan stockist at On A Whim)

Vintage Love

I spent the day yesterday working on a lovely little dresser that I purchased last week.  It was in poor shape but had the charm and detail that I knew would pop with a coat of paint - not to mention the sweet ring pulls and keyhole drawers!

A mixture of white and grey created a soft, pale hue that has a slight tinge of blue to it.  Distressed to show off its true age and lines, then waxed for a soft and smooth finish -

vintage love!

Sophie's Spindle Bed

I woke up one morning last year and the first thing that popped into my head were the words "The Painted Drawer".  After all these years, the idea to turn my love of paint and vintage finds into something.

My mother and I used to spend countless hours at estate sales.  This was when estate sales were actually fun and there were still deals to be had.  I find them all a little pricey these days.  I bought this sweet little spindle bed about a decade ago at a house sale with my mother. I spent a few days painting it on our back porch and made it my little Sophie's bed...

Shabby Chic Love

Marilyn had curves and so do my two finds of the week!

The french demilune console table is one curved beauty.  Just listed on Etsy, it is true shabby chic love!  This piece was so much fun to paint.  I did it in a cream wash and then sanded it back to reveal the lovely stenciling underneath.  I also happen to love the legs :)

Goodbyes and Hellos

The past year was a huge learning curve - I mean, huge!  What I thought I really wanted - my own space - didn't turn out to be what I needed after all.  That's life for you.  I gave it a try so I will never think "What if?" but after much contemplation, I have decided not to sell out of Lucketts any longer.

Although I did love the pretty drive, Lucketts is not around the corner.  All of the time (and it was a LOT of time!) that I spent on my space in Lucketts, I hope to now spend on my blog and Etsy site.

I have so much to learn about the blog world and I know there is a lot I can do to make this a fun, interesting site to visit.  I hope to have more pictures to show, ideas to share, and am actually working on a little video paint tutorial.

This week I finished this lovely hutch in a mixture of Aubusson and Old White.  A wash of French Linen was also applied before distressing and waxing...