An Antique Bookshelf and an Antique Server

Two pieces in one post! I know, suuuuuper duper unorthodox, but I've got a nasty cold and I didn't sleep well last night and I'm just barely awake at this point, though on the plus side my cold is feeling a bit better.

      I've been a little short on the posting this week, but only because I'm working on several big pieces at once, so stay tuned for loads of new content by Sunday.

       Not only am I combining two pieces into one post, I'm going to be pretty short on the description side because all I really want to do is curl up and go to sleep. :-( I got both these pieces at this past week's Elephant's Trunk flea market. I didn't have my truck as it was in the shop all weekend. I felt oddly helpless and exposed without my bright yellow pickup truck when trying to furniture shop. My bestie Jess did her best to accommodate my furniture needs with her adorable wee little SUV (and it's hardly even an SUV, more like a station wagon on taller tires but she hilariously kept calling it a "truck" the whole morning). We barely managed to fit these two little pieces in the back of her "truck",  and I had to ride the entire way back from New Milford sitting on half of a folded down seat, but really, anything for my craft!!! lol.

         I did my usual song and dance with both pieces. I think the long pine table might have quite a bit of age to it, maybe even late 19th century. The bookshelf is from the 40s or 50s.

A Vintage Farmhouse Armoire in Shades of Green

I must admit, I was slightly dubious of the design plan for this custom vintage solid pine armoire. To begin with, I knew the top doors were going to be damn hard to do with both the pale pine and paneled and painted interior, also, I wasn't so sure about how the deep green would look with said pale pine. And as with most custom pieces I'm uncertain about, I just love how it turned out. It's so fun to go outside my comfort zone and explore new territory. I think the final result looks equal parts Shaker elegance and farmhouse warmth. The client wanted something that wood speak of the peace of deep woods, and I don't think a piece of furniture could capture that hearty airiness of trees and leaves and pines and earth much better.
            The exterior is my custom green 'Juniper' which I've used on a few pieces so far this spring. The interior is Juniper cut about 50% with cream, for a pale but rich shade. I sanded, stained, and sealed the drawer fronts and the raised paneling of the doors. The interior shelves are in the deeper Juniper color.

A Vintage Pine Desk in Red

Stick a fork in me. I'm done. All the way done. It was a long week, followed by an even longer weekend, and then this morning, like a trooper, I got up at 5am to go to the Elephant's Trunk flea market. Then I got home and worked all afternoon in the sun and forgot to wear sunscreen. And now here it is 7pm on Sunday morning, and I'm just desperately tired and a bit sunburned. And I'm in bed -don't you dare judge me.

      So one of the things that kept me out there working this afternoon was the deep desire to finish and photograph this sweet handmade vintage solid pine desk. I got it at the Mansfield flea market last Sunday and hemmed and hawed over the color for almost a week. I finally decided on a rich custom red I've named 'Plum Wine'. I used vintage ornate brass pulls salvaged from another project and recolored in a verdigris green, and paired the desk with a vintage solid maple chair in distressed cream.

       It's a handsome piece, sturdy and sound, and all the drawers work perfectly. I'd like to see desks used in some more quirky ways around the home. They are great for entryways, as media consoles, or even as bathroom vanities.

A Vintage Maple Table Set in Blue and Cream

I just adore how this sweet vintage solid maple dining set turned out. The client had me custom refinish their vintage solid cherry Hitchcock hutch last week, and now I've done this gorgeous vintage Hitchcock table and chair set to match for them. My favorite part is that while the chairs match the hutch, my custom mixed 'Essex Blue', the client selected a soft distressed cream for the table base. It's so carelessly chic that I think I'm going to do an entire blog post on mixing and matching different colors of painted furniture!  I refinished the seats of the four chairs and the table top and stained them gray to match the top of the hutch.

An Antique Oak Dresser in Blue

I picked this dresser up last weekend at the Mansfield Fleamarket. It was a beautiful morning and there were treasures a plenty. I scored this piece, and a coordinating oak dresser near the very end of the field, after I'd already purchased a fair bit of furniture, but I couldn't pass it up!
     The matching low dresser's drawers were shot, so I'll be turning it into a bookshelf or island. But this dandy was in fine condition. I painted the case in a bright blue almost the shade of my cottage, and refinished the top to play up the stunning solid oak. I used salvaged vintage brass pulls, recolored in a bright silver for a fun twist on a classic look. It's all set for a new home!

A Sweet Blue Cupboard

I got this funky little blue maple cupboard a couple weeks ago. It's cute as can be, solid maple, one piece, neat and tidy, and probably dates to about 1940. I couldn't decide whether to paint the 'counter' portion or sand it and re-stain it. Bringing it back to wood would take loads more work and time, but then I noticed the lovely grain figuring, it's got a bit of tiger maple in there, and I just couldn't resist.
       I painted the case in a custom bright blue that I've named 'Inkwell', and included the inspiration inkwell in the photo shoot. The architecture of the piece is fairly simple so I thought I bright pop of color would be just the ticket to make this little cupboard special. I painted the inset doors in a lighter shade of blue in the same color family as 'Inkwell', and the backboard and interior are in one of my favorite custom mixed creams. I liberally distressed the piece and sealed it with dark wax. I've staged it with my collection of vintage glass pitchers. I had no idea I had this many until I gathered them all up in one place for this photo shoot!

A Vintage Secretary in Yellow and Cream

I paid to the hilt for this vintage solid pine Pennsylvania House secretary, but it's just so unique and cool, and I knew if I passed it up, I might never get another one. I justified the splurge with the knowledge that it needed relatively little structural work, just a new look, and so the extra money spent would be made up by the extra time other repairs might have cost. Though really, I just needed it. I needed to repaint it. It was so forlorn, so ugly and dark, and with all those fascinating little drawers and scrolled sides, and tall lean form, it had so much potential.

         I didn't offer this piece up for custom refinishing because I had a vision for it that I wanted to see through to the end. I hope it translates well and one of you will love it enough to put it in your home. The color is Benjamin Moore's Gold Leaf mixed into a chalk paint. The backboard and interior are in a custom cream. I recolored the original knobs and door hinges in gold, and swapped out the drawer pulls for vintage bail pulls salvaged from another project.

         The chair is also a bit of salvage, a vintage Bent Bros. maple side chair that I plucked straight out of a dumpster. I've painted it in the custom cream and did a bit of decorative painting across the crest. And finally, in the theme of survivors, the magnolia branches are from my dear friend Amy's tree in her front yard. I thought they'd been killed with all the others in the horrible freeze we had a few weeks ago, but they didn't, and as you can see, they're blooming their little hearts out now.

A Coastal Sideboard

It was such a beautiful day today. And for the first time this year I had to slather myself with the sunscreen I found buried deep in the bathroom vanity. This was also the first day where I got to work outside the entire day. Every morning previously I've had to start in my workshop with the kerosene heater on to help transition from a freezing 32 degrees to a balmy 65 or so by afternoon. And isn't that spring in a nutshell? We start every day with a big sweater and jacket, still weary from the trauma of winter, and then by the end of the day we're sweating, the sweater and jacket have been tossed in the backseat, and the windows are wide open.
       So in the spirit of all things not wintery, I give you this very summery and coastal sideboard. It's a 100% solid oak Hitchcock piece that I scored last week at the Elephant's Trunk flea market. The client that snapped it up wanted it custom done in a playful coastal theme and I was fully on board (hehe).
        So I mixed up a new color, a teal that you only see in the clearest most tropical oceans, but that also happens to be the same exact shade as Ariel's tail in 'The Little Mermaid'. Through four coats of paint I layered variations of this color, both lighter and deeper so that, when distressing, I could get the full range of depth. I refinished the top in a driftwood gray, and recolored the bail brass pulls in a brighter, lighter shade of gold.