Peonies and Roses

Peonies are my favorite and when I mentioned this to my farmer friend she gave me her first three blooms of peonies, along with some peach roses, from her magnificent flower garden.  I noticed that this year is a particularly great year for flowers and she said she realized the same thing. She has so many roses growing everywhere around her property that as soon as I stepped out of my car I could smell the sweet scent of roses wafting through the air.

I brought the blooms to my house and placed them in a tarnished silver urn atop my dresser.  Now my room is filled with the sweet fragrance of peonies and roses.

I love the lush, round blooms of the peony flowers.  I wish they bloomed for a longer time, but that is my only complaint about these stunning blossoms and I suppose it makes me appreciate them even more.

Along with the wonderful fragrance, this homegrown bouquet, paired with my tarnished, "yard sale find" urn, adds such classic warmth and vibrancy to my bedroom. 

 I hope you are all enjoying your springtime posies too!

My Mom's Kitchen Design

My mom is amazing, talented, and optimistic. She and my dad have been rehabbing houses for as long as I have been alive.  Between  my mom's optimism and my dad's philosophy of always leaving places better than when you found them, they can turn any dump into a dream house.  

This is a kitchen from a recent remodel on a beautiful home in Loomis, CA.  My mom designed the kitchen and it looks spectacular!  

My dad built the butcher block top on the center island using reclaimed, old wood.

The top of the island is gorgeous in person! Even though you can see all the imperfections in the reclaimed wood, you cannot feel any of them because my dad planed all the wood and joined the boards so seamlessly.

There is a lovely window seat that looks out on the sunny mornings.

I love the subway tile back splash, the farm sink, and the dark center island paired with the white cabinetry.  

Happy Mother's Day to my mom and all the mom's out there!

Pretty Paloma Dresser

Paloma Chalk Paint is a soft, pretty, lavender with grey undertones.  Annie Sloan knows how to create beautiful colors!

I recently moved and I needed a dresser for my new room.  I had this old, black dresser in my closet at my previous house and decided to spruce it up and bring it out of the closet.

I love it so much more painted with pretty Paloma!  The crystal pulls and silver keyhole look lovely with this subtle shade of lavender.

I found the perfect pair of vintage lamps at a yard sale for $10 each.  They are actually brass, if you can believe it?  I have never seen brass lamps in this shape.  I love these unique, French shaped lamps so much, that I knew I would keep them for myself.

I love using Chalk Paint on metal because it adheres so well and looks so natural.  I painted so many layers of paint on these, that I do not remember the exact order or colors.  It was something like this:  Old Ochre base coat, French Linen second coat, a lot of distressing, then an old ochre wash followed by a little more Old Ochre with a dry brush.

I needed a mirror to complete my bedroom vignette.  I just went shopping at Loot and took home this large, shapely, vintage mirror that I painted a few months ago.  I got it for $10 at The Salvation Army.  The frame is a plastic material, not wood, but you would never know by looking at it now.  Chalk Paint does amazing things!  I painted one coat of Pure White on the mirror frame and finished it with a wash of French Linen.  Because the plastic frame was dark brown and had faux wood grain the one coat of Pure White makes the mirror look like white washed wood.

This post is linked to the parties on my sidebar.

Annie Sloan Craqueleur

I love using Annie Sloan's Craqueleur for achieving an aged patina.  I picked up this white, ceramic madonna wall hanging at an estate sale because I thought it was kind of cute.

It was plain, white, and boring, so I added some depth and character with a little Chalk Paint, Craqueleur, and gilding wax.

I love the Chalk Paint palate and whenever a customer asks me my favorite color, I am stumped because I really love them all. I painted the crown in Louis Blue, the hair in Coco, the skin in Country Grey, the cheeks in Scandinavian Pink, the clothing in Old White and Antionette, and the base in Paris Grey.

It looked soft and pretty after I painted it, but I wanted to achieve an authentic, aged patina.  I applied step one of the craqueleur, let it dry, and then applied step two.  I used a blow dryer on a high heat setting after applying step two.  Every time I use the Craqueleur I start to think it did not work because the crackle is very difficult to see before using the dark wax.  After thoroughly drying step two and having a little faith that the crackles, although invisible, were indeed there, I rubbed the entire surface with Annie Sloan's dark wax.  The crackles magically appeared, giving the madonna and baby a glorious, patina! For a finishing touch, I used an artist's brush to sweep a bit of gold gilding wax over the wall hanging.

This post is linked to the parties on my sidebar.