Why I Paint Furniture

      Today was one of those days- a pretty straight-up crappy day to be honest. One of those days where everywhere you turn you hit a roadblock. My day job was fairly frustrating, I really need to lose 10 pounds, I spilled almost an entire can of polyurethane on my foot. I felt like crying all day.
 It was a doozy.
       And then some folks came to pick up a sideboard and my goodness if they weren't unbelievably friendly and kind. On Saturday I delivered a dining set to a fairly distant town, got caught in traffic, tried to take a shortcut, got lost in a big city (I HATE CITIES) and finally arrived at the delivery site flustered and two hours late. But you know what-  those folks were incredibly kind and lovely as well.
       It's a good reminder of why I do all this. Yes it's nice to play with the paint and furniture, and take things no one wants and give them another chance and a new home, but deep down, I'm doing it because all of you, who have graciously opened your homes to my furniture, have been down right amazing. It's super fun to meet you, hear your stories, learn about why you want a new piece of furniture, and what your plans are for it. There's always a story (moving, renovating, re-decorating, first time home buyers, down-sizing, upsizing, buying a vacation home etc etc). Every encounter is meaningful to me. All of you are incredibly important to Heir and Space. And honestly, it really really means a lot to me that you want to put something that I refinished into your home. It's sincerely an honor. So I just wanted to send a little gratitude your way, thanks again for your business, but more importantly, thanks for being such a gnarly group of creative, inspired, and cool people!
XOXOXO - Kate

An Antique Oak Dining Set- Schoolhouse Eclectic Style

 I love this dining set. How much do I love it? Well it was my dining set for a year before I decided to refinish it. The lines are wonderful, thick and chunky and handsome. The entire set is solid oak, very very heavy and sturdy and well built- and look at that table top! I collected the chairs individually as I found them, because these antique school house chairs are few and far between. I painted the table base and the chairs in a rich dark black gloss- oil based so it's utterly impervious. I sanded the chair seats, which was immensely exhausting, but I think the result was well worth it. Now that it's all dolled up, it's a wrench to part with it, but I like to swap out my furniture to keep everything fresh, and this one's already found a new (and wonderful) family. .
Befores and Afters Below

Autumn in Landscape Paintings

Are you ready? For Fall that is. I am. Mostly because of the starbucks caramel apple spice. I only go to starbucks in the Fall, and only for the caramel apple spice, which is like an elixir of the Gods. I'm also looking forward to boots/sweaters/jeans, my default outfit three seasons of the year.
              The Pottery Barn Early Fall catalog came out two weeks ago, so I've decided I've waited long enough to talk Autumn. This morning I picked up the loveliest vintage oil painting at the flea market. It's an Autumn scene. I'm not sure where I'll hang it yet- maybe in the master bedroom. While I mull that over, I thought we could look at some other pretty Autumn landscape paintings. What decor items do you put out to welcome the change to Fall?
Happy Sunday!

First, here's my new landscape painting:

It's signed on the back!

This one captures all the color and vibrancy of fall. 

I just adore this one. It's by artist Jamie Williams Grossman. You can find her blog here. I just added it to my daily read list. She adds new work almost everyday, and her prices are outstanding. I may need to save up and buy one!

This is a wonderful impressionist landscape full of movement and beauty. 

A wonderful example with a little group of deer in a sun dappled field. 

It looks like early fall in this antique impressionist landscape. A single figure walks along a country path. Very peaceful and serene. 

And finally a folky Hudson River School antique painting of a little village in front of a lake and mountains. 

A Solid Pine Buffet

This handsome piece is a match to the coffee table set that I finished on Monday. It's 100% solid pine and of the highest quality. I hand painted it with a durable black paint, and sanded, stained, and sealed the top. It's finished on all four sides so it could be used for a multitude of purposes- tv console, sideboard in a dining room, flat screen TV stand. It's sturdy as a rock as well.
Before and Afters below.