"Cherish" Room - Day One!

After four months at Fabulous Finds, I am ready for some more space!  I'm inviting you on my journey of creating my 'Cherish' room, with daily blog posts for a few days documenting my room makeover! First, let's take a quick tour of the room to be transformed!

This bright green room was formerly the 'Kid's Room'.  There was a huge air hockey table in it that just sold, an enormous cubby unit if anyone is looking for a great storage piece for kids and there are still numerous collector's dolls and toys to be sold - at a great price! Come by the store and check them out! Although the green was perfect for kids, it was the first thing that was going to have to go! A little too 'electric' for what I was planning!

This space has one extremely high wall, a couple of angled corners, an open ceiling with a bar running at an angle . . .

and two windows in one wall which look into the main sales area.

I went to the paint stores in search of a good neutral color - not too dark but dark enough to show off all the furniture I paint white!  Looking through mountains of paint chips there was no color that I liked more than the color I used to have on the walls in my space at Melange when I was there, so I decided to go to Restoration Hardware and check out 'Silver Sage' - a kind of gray-blue-green!

 

That's it in the bottom right hand corner!  With paint chip in hand, I went to the nearest Lowe's and had the nice guy at the counter color match the paint swatch - not sure it saved me that much money since I had to buy premium paint in order to cover the lime green!  But at least I got it in eggshell finish - not a choice at Restoration!

The floors are cement, with a kind of gripper texture on them - kind of a nightmare since they 'grip' dirt!  I swept the floors and around the baseboard areas to get rid of anything that may drift onto the wet paint.  Then mopped up as much of the grime as I could get!

The floor looked pretty good so I started painting the walls around the edges - wherever the paint roller would miss - nooks and crannies and corners!

 Each time I reloaded my paint roller, I also swished the mop head over the floors thinking the wet would loosen some of the year old dirt.  I think I got it as clean as it was going to get - but I kept the wet mop handy for any paint drips!

 Then I proceeded to the walls - I was doing great but the six foot ladder I had was not tall enough to reach all the way to the top corners of that gigantic wall!  I finished painting over all the green and arranged to pick up an 8 foot ladder tomorrow! After washing out all the brushes, I thought 'Why didn't I check the height of the room before I started?!' Oh well! Lesson learned - you only have to wash out the brushes and rollers once if you've done your homework! See you tomorrow after day two - finish painting and  . . .

One Shelf - Two Ways!

It's amazing how refinishing something changes the whole personality of a piece.  

My friend, Valerie, was looking for a shelving unit 

to put in her dining room to display her platters and other dishes. 

I was looking for the same type of shelving unit 

to use for my fall and holiday displays at the store.

We each purchased one of these shelves and set to work refinishing.

Valerie removed the top scalloped board to give the shelf a more streamlined look, in keeping with her style - such a great idea!  Self - customized!!

Then Valerie painted hers a creamy light green to match her wall color 

and added a dark glaze over the paint to give a subtle antiquing effect.  

Valerie wanted a refined country look!

Now she has a beautiful shelf which enhances her white dishes 

and makes them pop on display!

I painted my shelf with Annie Sloan's Emperor's Silk (Red)
chalk paint. . .

 and then finished with dark wax to really bring out the details
in the rough finish wood.  The dark wax settled into the grooves
and pits, and added an antique look to the shelf.

I wanted a cozy hunting cabin look! 

Now I have a display shelf in my space at Fabulous Finds that will take me from the warm colors of fall to the reds and greens of the holidays! 

Even though both shelves started the same, 

they now have their own personality and style

to match the needs of the rooms in which they hang.

Isn't that what decorating is all about?!

Repurposed Bin!

My husband tries to act like he is interested in my 'pickins'!  When I got home from the Mes Amis Vintage Show this past Saturday he at least asked what I found. As I pulled this out to proudly show him,  he was about as excited as a hippo in the desert!
What could I possibly want with that old thing?!

Why couldn't he see the glory in my latest purchase?! I have plans for this!

What is it you ask?

Here's a clue!

You got it! It's the under storage bin from an old farm kitchen table!  Thanks so much to Anna Tichon from Found Vintage Rentals for letting me use this great picture!

The bin was used to store flour on one side and root vegetables,
 like potatoes and onions, on the other side.

Just look at the patina on this piece - you can't create this - 
a patina like this only happens over time . . .

Here's a close up of the underside -

If you only saw this close-up picture, you would wonder if this was bark from a tree . . .

or perhaps an aerial view of a landscape from 3,000 feet!

At a glance, the bin looks like a chunk of tree log! When I spy something like this, 

I wonder where it's been? Who used it? How long ago was it?

So many stories and visions come to mind!

But this bin is getting a new story!

 It's coming home to live in my space at Fabulous Finds as a display piece! 

Turned on it's side - it becomes a wonderful shelving unit!

 Once tossed away, but luckily discovered, it's now filled with cherished items!

A great display piece for fall and winter vignettes!

Detours in Life!

Life has a way of creating detours day to day.  I've been on sort of a detour since January!  With my husband undergoing major back surgery, which involved installing two rods on either side of his spine and twenty screws, I've had a little readjustment in my daily life! 

Mike is doing great and I have a new found appreciation of all the daily chores he did before surgery which I've inherited over the last six months!  Remembering to take the trash out on trash day has become a major focus for me on Wednesday nights!  God forbid we miss trash day - we only have one toter and sometimes it just isn't enough!

On top of major surgery, we've also been busy creating a new home for my mother in law!  There was finishing the building of the new home, cleaning out the old home, moving all the stuff to the new home, disposing of debris on the property and now selling the old home, and getting her boxes unpacked at the new home! Whew! 

 We make a living by rice farming, so despite major surgery and moving my mother in law,

 the crop still had to get in the ground!  Our eldest son, Max, was offered a leave of 
absence by American Airlines where he is a pilot, while they go through bankruptcy 
structuring,  and it came at a perfect time for him to help on the farm during Mike's 
recovery!  

With all the bumps in the road, it was hard for me to get out to Melange, the store in Historic Folsom where I rented a space to sell my treasures.  I was able to find a new space to rent, in a store in Marysville, a short 15 minutes from my home. So between 

nursing my husband, moving my mother-in-law, and farming rice, I managed to relocate 
as well! 


 
If you find yourself in Marysville, CA come on by Fabulous Finds, 506 D Street in Historic Marysville - I'm in the "Boutique" room!  I adore my new space as it has a used brick wall
 that adds to the 'shabby chic' feel!

I have so much to catch you up on!  Before and after furniture projects, new artists and crafters, and new stores I want to feature!  I've missed blogging and telling you about the amazing creations and talented people I've come across in the last six months!  I feel so blessed by all the community members who have helped us out during this time.  Detours happen in life - but sometimes you need to go down a different road to appreciate all you have, and I am truly blessed!