Still paintin’

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Vintage Advertisement knobs

Work has gotten in the way of the bathroom decorating – I keep doing a little bit each day, but it’s slow progress. I’m sick of the sight of a topsy turvy bathroom, so hope to make better progress in the next few days. Once the painting is finished, I can at least get the room straight and work on the tiling replacements and blinds without causing (too much) chaos.

I’ve had quite a few custom orders to do recently and was particularly taken with some red knobs I made for a customer:

Vintage advertisement knobs in red

Wouldn’t mind some of those myself; I like a pop of red here and there. Please ignore the dirty hands and thumbnail, they’re an occupational hazard:-)

The furniture painting is on hold and each time I see a little window of space coming up, more work flows in and it gets put on the back burner. I’ve decided to get rid of some of the big furniture-in-waiting; it’s been waiting for months and months and there’s no light at the end of the tunnel. With work space at a premium, it makes sense to free up some storage and work space. Quite when I get around to tackling the removals is another matter; I keep putting it off, as I know all the lifting will hurt.

Jasper is sulking this evening. We’ve had rain, so he hasn’t had his little evening garden party – the one where he scoffs my lawn and wrecks the place, whilst I sit and watch him, ignoring the irate outbursts from the neighbour. Jasper has taken to eating the neighbour’s climbing rose and has a particular liking for the full bloom roses. He leans over the garden fence and helps himself to the prize blooms. I did explain patiently to my neighbour that the rose is technically Jasper’s. I bought the rose as a wedding gift for my neighbours and Jasper kindly provides the manure to feed said rose. Alas, neighbour doesn’t quite see it that way and runs out of his kitchen shouting “ Your *ucking horse”. We remain dignified and ignore him:-)

One of the swallows that nested in Jasper’s stable last year has returned this year, but without a mate. It sits on the beam in the middle of the stable, scowling down on us and occasionally dive bombing me. I don’t know who I feel the more sorry for; Jasper for getting bird poo all over his back, or the swallow for being gassed daily by Jasper’s Spring grass and climbing rose flatulence. 

Pics of bathroom to follow some time this year…

 

 

 

And it goes on and on and on

The two day bathroom refurb – er, let’s just say it’s taking a tad longer than expected.

The windows to this house are as old as the house, so that’s 50+ years old. It’s my belief that the windows have remained intact all this time due to an innovative and carefully executed plan of preservation, also known as ‘plonking on as many layers of paint as possible’. So, my first job of quickly sanding back the bathroom window frames, turned into scraping off the multiple layers of paint, right back to the bare metal (yup, my house has metal window frames). I could have just sanded I suppose, but all that build up of paint looked untidy and bumpy. The last paint job to the window frames, a couple of years ago, was carried out by my husband, who decided (and yes, this is true) to use white Hammerite. He didn’t bother sanding or priming, and the result looked like curdled milk, bumpy curdled milk at that. So Day One was spent getting rid of all that lot.

Day Two entailed a bit of filling and a lot of priming, then the lovely job of washing down the ceiling and walls. Alas, the spider sanctuary at the back of the sink is no more. By the end of the two days, the bathroom looked decidedly worse than when I’d started and believe me, that took some doing.

Since then, I’ve been doing a little each day and have painted the windows, skirting boards and door in Farrow & Ball ‘Dove Tale’. I’m about half way there with the walls, but like many refurb jobs, the ‘to do’ list is growing faster than the ‘done’ list. Hubby asked me what I was doing about the tiling and I got all defensive, saying they looked fine. They don’t, so I’ve decided to get rid of them and put something different in their place. It’ll look great if the images in my mind’s eye turn out half as good in reality.

Then there’s the matter of Roman blinds. I can’t find what I want, so it looks like I’ll be making some, or at least some little curtains, depending how my patience holds out towards the end.

I have taken some before and during pics, but I think they will have to wait until the bathroom has progressed a little more. At the moment, it’s quite difficult to see any improvement!

The rather large Wooster Silvertip paintbrush that I bought myself for my birthday has been christened. It was too large for most of my furniture, but has been very useful on the wood panels on the bathroom walls.

Hopefully by the time I do my next blog post, the bathroom will be finished and there will be some nice pics of an inexpensive refurb.

 

Meet Ted and some tools

I’d like to introduce you to Debbie and Ted. Debbie sells specialist tools for craftspeople and hobbyists… and as for Ted, well, he is the new assistant.

Debbie has just started a blog, which will be focusing on her long established business and the various types of tools she sells on her website. When you’ve got a few minutes, why not take a trip on over to Debbie’s and catch up on what she’s up to:   http://pagesoftools.blogspot.com/

p.s. Wonder if she sells any tools that decorate bathrooms all by themselves…?

p.p.s. This isn’t a sponsored post, it’s just a plug for a new blogger.

About time two/too

You may remember that I painted the kitchen last Winter. It was long overdue, being dated and drab, chipped and well, just plain embarrassing. And whilst speaking of embarrassing, my bathroom is equally as un-stylish. It was painted in the early 90′s, when we first moved here, then I painted it again a short while later. I used a flat beige on the wood panel walls, which I then thought looked boring, so jazzed it up with scumble glaze. It pains me to admit defeat, but let’s face it, that scumble look just isn’t coming back into fashion anytime soon, so I’ve got to do something about it. Either that, or I open the house up as a ‘What people lived like long ago‘ museum. I can see the line of trendies wandering around my ‘umble abode, sniggering at my scumble, saying “Did people really think that look was NICE?!!!”

So, decorating is contemplated; seriously contemplated. I just can’t keep telling people we don’t have bathrooms in Lincolnshire when they ask to use the loo:-)

Today was the fun bit – the pouring over paint charts bit, comparing colours and finishes. You know me by now; I’m not one for shine and using chalk paints has reiterated my love of matt. But my bathroom is very small and it gets steamy in there, so I need something durable and steam friendly. The ‘big paint company’ kitchen/bathroom paints just don’t float my boat – the colours aren’t my thing (would you want a ‘Primrose’ bathroom?) and the finish is too shiny. My requirements of matt, but durable (and paintable on wood) have hopefully been met with Little Greene’s Intelligent Matt Emulsion. I’ve heard good things about this paint.

I’m hoping my colour choices will receive more critical acclaim than when I painted the lounge. I spent days comparing various shades of cream, before choosing one called ‘African Ivory’. The walls were duly painted in that really exotic and beautiful shade of cream, carefully chosen, so as to be tasteful, yet unique.  My Mum came to visit shortly after I’d finished decorating, walked in the lounge and said “You can’t go wrong with Magnolia can you“.

I haven’t ordered the paint yet, but it’s looking as though a pale, muted, duck egg called ‘Drizzle’ will be used on the wood panelling, with a warm ‘greige’ shade on the skirting boards and door. I’ve got some Farrow & Ball ‘Dove Tale’ and also ‘Elephant’s Breath’, that I use to paint furniture, so one of those will do nicely for the Eggshell bits. My house is 1960′s built and Little Greene do some nice retro colours from that era. I pondered over a duck egg shade called ‘Brighton’, which is a 60′s shade, but thought it might look too bright in such a small room, so ‘Drizzle’ is the flavour of today, but it might all change by tomorrow…

The blinds that I have up in the bathroom are in keeping with the current decor (yup, very shabby), so they will be replaced with something new. I’d love to have a bash at making Roman blinds, but I just don’t think time will allow it. With just 2 days planned for the sanding, priming and painting, I can’t see that there will be any spare hours for sewing.

So, that’s my plan. Two days off work. I’ve had no time off for the past couple of years – I fully expected work to go quiet in the New Year, allowing me to grab a few days, but (thankfully) it didn’t and it still hasn’t, but it’s time to take time before the house starts falling to pieces and people start gossiping about Lincolnshire houses not having a bathroom:-)

Embarrassing ‘before’ pics may just make it onto the blog – we all need a giggle now and then:-)

The Pine Dining Table

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Farrow & Ball 'Dove Tale', Painted pine dining table

Here’s the pine dining table, made by my Dad. This is the before painting:

Farmhouse pine dining table

This is the after:

The paint is Farrow & Ball ‘Dove Tale’.

Time for coffee and cake I think:-)

 

 

Jack of all trades

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Farrow & Ball 'Dove Tale', Painted pine dining table

What a peculiar life I lead at times. I have 3 jobs and each have been busy this week. Firstly, I’m slave to the Barrister’s Horse – he does the thinking, executive job, making all the important business decisions, I just follow orders and do the labouring, menial, getting your hands dirty stuff. Secondly, I’m an admin assistant for my hubby’s work. This exciting (*cough*) second career involves mountains of correcting hubby’s typing preparation and printing of electrical reports. Thirdly, I like to keep my hand in with the law stuff, so regularly take on projects that I immediately regret, once I realise it’s an area of law that I know bugger all about. This minor set-back is hindered by my lack of legal resources. When I was studying, I had endless research resources at my fingertips; extensive law libraries and electronic databases. Now I have to make do with my dated law books and begging downloads from barrister friends.

So, following a busy week, it was back to the usual weekend routine and Jasper’s morning visit to Church. The Church car park has a litter bin that’s lined with a crinkly bin liner. For a long time, Jasper was afraid of the bin and the noise the crinkly bin liner made. He would avoid the ‘bin monster’ like the plague. Unfortunately, he has gotten used to the bin and has even grown to love it. I did point out to Jasper this morning, that rummaging around in a litter bin and licking the inside of a discarded McDonald’s cup, wasn’t conduct befitting of a barrister’s horse, but he just ignored me and carried on. It’s okay though, I don’t think anyone saw us, so the secret is safe:-)

The pine dining table is finished and I’ll be putting some pictures on the blog tomorrow. As contemplated, I plumped for Farrow & Ball ‘Dove Tale’, which is one of my favourite shades.

Pics to follow…

 

 

 

How to really captivate your clients

Following on from my informative and educational post ‘The easy way to distress furniture’, I thought it would be helpful to share my secrets on how to Captivate Clients. We all know just how important it is to give the right impression; to give your business a certain kudos and to make a name for oneself.

A little while ago, I painted a couple of chairs and an occasional table. The pieces of furniture were to go in the shop window of a new venture, a posh vintage shop in Yorkshire. The pieces looked good when finished and yes, I was chuffed, so duly strutted about, fluffing my feathers and generally boring everyone to death casually letting slip that MY work was going to be the centre of attention in a new shop window. (I’m not sure the Jehova’s Witnesses or double glazing salesman wanted to hear about it, but what the heck).

I imagined exquisite, antique lace garments draped seductively over the edge of the chairs and then worried that the lace garments might just obscure my masterpieces too much. I made a mental note, to draft a contract for the clients, one that stipulated 80% of the chairs MUST be visible at all times. And then I made another mental note, this time to ensure the contract included a term that the table must be dead centre in the window, not pushed to the side, EVER.  Not even at Christmas, when the clients might have silly ideas about making way for festive decorations. 

I digress… The customers were driving over to pick up the furniture and I made sure that I wasn’t wearing the jeans with the rip across the bum wasn’t too scruffy. I even managed to wear mascara! However, I couldn’t stand on ceremony all day, as I only had a vague idea of when they’d arrive, so had to push on with some work. I was halfway through sanding back the top of a table when the customers arrived, so I quickly fluffed my feathers (again) and swaggered over went to meet them.

I could immediately tell that the customers were truly entranced and captivated by my obvious talent. They stared intently at me as I spoke about my work; they looked completely hypnotized by my charm and charisma (Well, if you’ve got it, flaunt it, thought I). So flaunt it I did and they remained mesmerized; couldn’t take their eyes off me in fact. I waxed lyrical, basking in the glory of it all.

After a few moments, my husband came out to say hello to the clients. He took one look at me and said “You’ve got a really black moustache!” ”Have I?” said I, looking at my customers, who just fell about laughing hysterically. It would seem that the sanding back of dark oak, when clients are due, might not be one of my best ideas! I did hastily explain that the moustache wasn’t a permanent fixture, and I was actually quite normal, but I’m not sure they believed me.

So, there you have it – if you want to captivate your clients, get a moustache. They’ll never forget you, that’s for sure.

It’s a family affair

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farrow and ball 'dove tale', Painted pine dining table

I’ve had a really busy week, so hadn’t had time to visit my parents until yesterday. “Oh I’ve made a table for you to sell” said dad. “It’s in the workshop”. So I nipped out to have a look, expecting to find a small side table, but was surprised to see this:

Farmhouse pine dining table

Not bad for an octogenarian!

The dining table is now upside down on the trestle table, waiting to have its legs and plinths painted (which I think will be Farrow & Ball ‘Dove Tale’). Pics of the finished table to follow…

 

 

Oh to be in England…

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Annie Sloan Antoinette, Louis chair

… Now that Spring is here.

Hasn’t it been lovely!? Everywhere has greened up and the late daffodils and blossoms look beautiful.

Making the most of the weather, I finished the chair I’ve been working on, which looked like this:

French style chair

And now looks like this:

Louis style chair, painted in Annie Sloan ‘Antoinette’

It’s been painted in Annie Sloan ‘Antoinette’, with the carved details in ‘Duck Egg Blue’ and a custom mixed sage green. I painted the other, matching one in ‘Antoinette’ last year and was pleased with the colour, so more or less did the same with this one.

Next up is likely to be a lovely Victorian chest of drawers, but quite when I’ll find the time is anyone’s guess, as I’ve a stack of orders to wade through this week.

The Old and the New

I’m working on some new designs at the moment. The vague idea came to me a few months back. Fairies. That was it. Fairies. I wanted some designs with fairies on them. I quite fancied doing a painting of  bluebells, because they are one of my favourite flowers. But that was just one design and I needed a few, and that’s where I came to a halt. I didn’t want the designs to be all flowers, but couldn’t think of what else would match. Inspiration is all well and good, but it helps if you can see the full picture, not just a tiny part of it.

So my ‘bright’ idea sat in my brain for a few weeks until I came across an old picture of some lovely toadstools. Of course, fairies and toadstools go together like coffee and cake; can’t think why the idea didn’t pop into my head before, but that’s just sometimes the way it goes.

So I had two ideas, bluebells and fairies, toadstools and fairies. Then I came across a really unusual picture of a tree house that looked more Harry Potter than Famous Five, so that image added to my collection of ideas. I need a fourth, but I’m not certain what it will be. I’d love to do a Jasper unicorn, but my artistic abilities don’t run to that and I just can’t see Jasper doing the decent thing and letting me take a photo of him with a papier mache horn stuck to his forehead. And there’s also the small matter of his waistline at the moment. I’ve been worrying about his weight for months. Despite eating me out of house and home, Jasper shook off a lot of weight during the Winter and looked a little too slim for my liking. However, the recent warm weather has brought a flush of Spring grass and he’s gone from slim to decidedly chubby in the space of 2 weeks. I just can’t see him looking like a fairy horse, when his overriding attributes are a large belly and matching bum.

I’m feeling very jaded today. I woke from a bad dream in the early hours and couldn’t get back to sleep. It wasn’t a nightmare, just one of those dreams that conjured up old memories. My late horse, Jason,  was in the dream and also my husband’s old horse, Jack, who was sold some years ago. Jasper was in the dream too, and I laid in bed, quiet and still, feeling sad that Jasper must miss his ‘dad’ and ‘uncle’ just as much as I do. Then there was an almighty crash, followed by snorting; it was Jasper throwing the tools around that are stacked just outside his stable door. I went outside to him and he was distressed and unsettled. Each time I tried to leave him, he got upset, so I’m stood shivering with bare legs and a coffee, soothing an agitated, heavy horse. For two hours.

The dawn chorus eventually came and I sneaked off back to bed, wondering if Jasper had the same dream as me. Funny things are horses; there’s a certain mystery about them and a ‘knowing’ that can be quite uncanny at times.