Furniture season is in full swing at the shop and pieces have been finding homes left and right. So last week was a little bit crazy in my world. Most of the time balancing life as a mom with two very busy littles and a growing business is manageable (sort of). I try to be good at limiting how much I say yes to and knowing what my boundaries are…. with that being said, last week was a stretch. I completed 7 pieces of furniture, a few candle orders, my daughters fundraiser, preschool, swim lessons, dog training… blah blah blah. This list was so long and I had a mild moment of panic and had to remind myself that I don’t want this to turn into a force of stress for me. I started this little business as a therapy or “Ferpie” for those of you who know my story behind my name. And I want to make sure that I stick to that. Its so important. I know its not realistic all of the time.I feel like I am striving to allow myself some grace while at the same time gaining confidence that I can handle the challenges. I was able to get so much done and everything turned out great! The first piece that I wanted to share is a cute little highboy with tall legs. I painted this piece with Trophy by Miss Mustard Seed. I haven’t used this color in a few years and it really is a wonderful shade. The original finish on this piece was so different, it made me want to pull out some of that character. Milk Paint is a great choice with pieces like this, it has a transparent effect when watered down and sanded back. After 2 coats I sanded heavily with only a 400 grit.. it created this really smooth but a very visually textured finish. If you look closely the piece almost looks like watercolor and goes from a little darker on top to a lighter shade on bottom. Another reason why this paint is so fun. It gets creative for you, and all you have to do is sit back and be open to it.
Next up I received these unique bedside tables from my picker the day before I painted them. I was totally drawn to their character and wanted to get started on them right away. I chose Seagull Grey by General Finishes. This is just a very clean, crisp light grey. Perfect for simple nightstands. Matching anything, is a score. Most often they are hard to find. I really love that these are extra tall and I think they will work perfectly with a oversized bed. When staging photos I thought I would jump in one of the pictures to give a good idea of how tall they really are. I am 5′ 4″ but I would like to think that my boots add maybe 1″. 😉
With this next piece I instantly thought DIPPED. With its great existing separation detail above the bottom drawer made it a clear vision. Mike thought a pretty blue would be the way to go… but I just love the crisp contrast of wood and white (or off white in this case). This piece had some character flaws and it just added to its appeal in my mind. I could have filled over it but I really like it. I think its the imperfections of some of these pieces that draw me to them in the first place.
I had this great empire in my back stock for waaaay to long. I want to say maybe 8 months? I actually have another one even bigger and just picked up 3 more in a variety of sizes. I am so drawn to this style as I think most antique lovers are. They are very handsome and bring a dramatic presence to the room. I usually choose milk paint for these guys to bring out a naturally aged appeal but I wanted him to be powerful, simple and clean. The knobs are actually not original to this piece but came from another empire I completed earlier this month. I saved these in hopes of reusing them at some point and they just made sense on this one. I used another General Finishes color in Lamp Black. My secret to a very rich dark black is Maison Blanche Dark Brown Wax. It is the very best dark wax and really adds a nice sheen but also deepens the color.
My last two projects of the week were these great “nightstands” which oddly enough started as a vanity. I was hesitate to buy another vanity especially this style. Vanity style tables usually sit for awhile. I think its too specific of a customer and its usually not a huge interest piece. With that, I was still impressed with its detail and wondered if I could pull them apart to create matching nightstands. Much to my surprise they were only held together with 4 screws and a board across the back. After I pulled them apart, I filled the holes and sanded well. I posted a photo on Instagram and offered them as custom… they were quickly snagged and requested to be painted green. I love green.
That was a loaded post! You can see why last week may have been a bit of a stretch. This week is much more mild. I have a yellow piece that I started a few days ago, hoping to finish up by the weekend. This one is a keeper for sure!
xo
Amanda
ferpie and fray 