Perfect Porch Chairs

My front porch is finally coming along. For as long as I can remember I have had a crush on these vintage style lawn chairs. All metal, shell backs, they kinda bounce when you sit in them. They make me feel like I should be at a family BBQ, eating a hot dog, or watching fireworks. Not really sure why, but that's the feeling they give me.

 Anyway, this crush started long before we built our home and I have always known that finding these beauties was going to cost me a pretty penny and there was a potential for them to just be old and rusty. I had spotted them for upwards of $100 each for new remade ones and for the old rusty type so imagine my surprise when I found these (likely reproductions) for just $40 each at the Funky Junk show! I bought them immediately within minutes of walking in to the show and I couldn't have been more excited about it. The pair don't match perfectly, one has flat arms, the other rounded and the seats are slightly different as well with one featuring wholes and the other just a little ditch for water to drain out.

I actually like the blue color the flat arm chair came in but the black I hated! Either way they both needed to be sanded stripped and repainted. I decided to go simple and just do white. However I strongly debated a two two with a dark red to match the front door.

This was my first time working with metal that needed to be sanded and painted with many coats. It was a little more work than I wished it was, but thanks to a perfect weather weekend I finished them in just two days. :) I spry primed and spray painted each chair with a high luster paint. The curved arms were a little tricky but in all I think they came out pretty nice.

When I bought them I wasn't sure what I would do about a little table in between and I am still not sure this is the answer, but it works for right now. Jason made this little wooden beauty in high school shop!

Here is a good side view of the chairs. I just adore the lines they have and did I mentioned that they bounce a little when u sit in them. :)

I had to break this out as a reminder of my little porch projects and progress...

This was taken in March....{Besides being bare look how tiny the plants are..}

and this was taken last weekend! So much more personality and it actually makes me excited to have visitors. (and the plants have gotten huge thanks to my husband and his fancy fertilizers}

Wine Welcome

My front door was white. As white as the trim on my blue house. Nothing special, just a factory white door. In fact, my whole porch area was really boring. Really this porch area had been driving me crazy since we moved in because the original plan was to have a red door (and that didn't happen) and a little different porch entry situation (which also didn't happen thanks to the city's weird rules) Anyway, with the sun shining one morning this spring I decided it was time for a change. With some pinot noir colored paint and some vintage windows I gave it a little pick-me-up which I think has made a ton of difference. Here are the before and after pics!

              BEFORE Pinot Noir                                  AFTER Pinot Noir

BEFORE

AFTER

And now for the vintage windows. I bought these at a little store in Sumner and painted a quick coat of white to make them look a little fresher and Jason screwed them in to hang them up. I decided on windows without old glass panels partly due to our wind and because they were a heck of a lot cheaper!

 All done! (I love before and afters they make me feel like I did so much!)

BEFORE Pinot Noir & vintage windows

AFTER!!!!

Now I just need to find the perfect bench/chairs/swing/something so I can sip iced tea on the front porch with Jason and the poodles!

a desk for me

I love projects. Fixing things up, creating new things, whatever it is, I just love to have a project. I had been wanting a desk for about a year now and of course I only wanted one that could also be a project. Well my husband made my dreams come true(like always he would add). For Christmas he got me a desk that did not fit our style at all, but was big, sturdy and made the perfect project. Here is how this Christmas present project came together.

Here is the desk when we got it home from the antique store.

Ugly hardware, a stain that doesn't match my house, and as you can see below some water damage and scratch marks.

For the desk I went with my usual snowflake white but paired it with a yummy light green to give it a little vintage vibe and match the fabrics I have picked out for the space. I also got 2 of my favorite knobs for the drawers.

 You can see that the puddy, sanding and painting cleaned the top right up. The workspace is now smooth and pretty white. 

Loving the two tone and how great it fits in front of that big window in my soon to be sewing space. I found the sign on top the desk while cleaning out boxes. Almost the exact same green! and the saying couldn't be more perfect for this space. "I'm not messy, I'm creative"

So here to another fix-up-pretty project and is sure to last in our home!

Before:

After:

inspiration in a closet

i am looking for the perfect inspiration for my closet....its the only space in my new house that will be 100% mine...(sharing space and agreeing on how to decorate is a challege in marriage) anyway..i want to go girlie...i want to go romantic...i want to go glamorus....here are some of my inspration photos...











i am leaning toward the pink and very light purple..maybe with black and white and crystal accents...but i really really like the dusty rose color in the last photo too...so hard to choose...but so excited to get started....