My latest purchases

A set of four awesome industrial chic stools (well they will be a little more chic once I am finished with them!)

I just 'won' them on Trademe tonight, haven't seen them in the flesh yet, but check out the gorgeous metal legs with just the right amount of rust...

I don't plan on touching the legs at all, just replacing the feet with some fresh new ones, and of course some new oilcloth tops...just need to decide which colour/print to choose.

Here is yesterday's auction win...

Sadly, that cool car in the background isn't mine...the photo is from the auction listing. 

VW Beetles are more my style of classic car anyway, in case you were wondering ;)

This is actually the third vintage office chair in a similar style that I have purchased recently, and the other two I have already had reupholstered...one as a keeper for my little Miss 7, and the other for myself.

I just realised I haven't taken 'after' photos of them or shared them on here, so must do that, soon!

Most of my headspace and energy has been taken up by our house for the last few weeks, since we have decided to sell it.  

There were lots of little finishing jobs left on the to-do list, so I have been working through those, and pleased to say I am pretty much done now. 

(Phew!)

The Real Estate agent is coming tomorrow for a photo shoot, and after that, I am very much looking forward to getting back into my workshop and spending my days working on the several commissions that I have lined up in there. 

Apart from Sunday mornings when I will be running around like a headless chook barking at my husband and kids if they dare mess up anything already tidied for the dreadly weekly open homes we are about to subject ourselves to!

xx Karen

Butlers Tray - Before and After

This is a recent makeover I did for a client...she brought me this butler's tray which I believe was originally sold as an 'outdoor' piece of furniture, and was stained with teak oil.  Here is what it looked like...

Nice enough, but just didn't fit the french country theme my client was after.  I gave it a good sanding to remove the teak oil, then sprayed it liberally with Oil and Grease Remover, to make sure the paint would adhere (having learnt the hard way about oil contaminating wooden furniture!) before priming it with Zinsser BIN.  I painted it with Resene Pearl Lusta, gave it a light distressing and here it is now...

A simple paintjob really makes all the difference to the feel of a piece :)

It can transform a piece of furniture that is just functional and useful, into something that you love as well.

xx Karen

Some more Taupe Dotty Chairs

I forgot to take a before shot of these, but this is what they look like now, thanks to my fantastic upholsterer.

The nine chairs found by my client consisted of a set of four and a set of five.  My upholsterer made new curved plywood backs for four of them so that they all matched.

 

New white feet finish them off for a nice fresh look.

If you'd like your own set of upcycled retro chairs, you can email me for more information.

xx Karen

Scenes that inspired me

from my recent North Island Trip... not more holiday snaps, just things that took my fancy...maybe you'll like them too...

Yes, I could live in a house that looked like this, no problem at all...isn't it gorgeous?  It is in Russell, Bay of Islands, and the beach is just across the road.  I think it had a sign outside saying it was for hire as a holiday let.

 Vintage advertisements from wartime, displayed in the National  Army Museum, Waiouru.

A gorgeous shop in a cute building in Cambridge

The one next door was gorgeous too...

I enjoyed browsing in the shop inside The Stone Store in Kerikeri.  They had some things for sale, and vintage grocery items etc on display...many of them looked familiar to me from long ago...and many more were well before my time!

 Kiwis will recognise the tomato sauce bottle - they are still going strong!  I had to explain to my daughter what the glass bottles in the crate were, and as I heard myself explaining all about how the milkman used to come around in a truck, and deliver milk, and we paid with tokens and not money, I felt very very old, like I was describing ancient history!  Oh how things have changed since I was a kid...I used to cringe when adults would say how it was 'in their day', and now I am doing it....arggggghhh!

The smaller glass bottle was of course for cream :)

I fell instantly in love with the pink fridge!

Oh and there were two really cute kids there showing off the pink fridge so I decided to take them home ;)

Awesome Art Deco building in Napier...unfortunately it rained the whole time we were there so I didn't get any other shots, but there are many many beautiful buildings there.

Treaty House, Waitangi...the birthplace of our Nation...an amazing spot to visit (as long as you don't go on Waitangi Day!)

I love these type of flowers, and sadly, they don't grow where I live...they make me think of tropical holidays...

Now, these roses would grow where I live, if I could only remember the names of them!

Back to reality now...the usual program of Befores and Afters will resume shortly...holidays are great but I can't wait to get stuck back into some paint tins!

xx Karen