French Chandelier Makeover with Chalk Paint

We have been fighting a bad chest cold around here this past week. It hit me pretty hard and I was down for most of the week. By the time Saturday came I was ready to DO something even though I was still not 100%. 

Living Room Changes = A Few Reveals

I have been busy working on the living room make over and of course that means there are a lot of mini makeovers.

The first being this area by the fireplace. I have always loved this little vintage dresser that The Nana found for me back when The Hubster and I bought our first home. It has sat in this exact same spot for four years now and I was ready to find it a new home.

In came this beat up water damaged secretary that only a gal like myself could love. If you missed my post on what it looked like before you can click here. 

Now this space by the fireplace is lighter and brighter. I used Old White and Old Ochre for this piece. I debated on doing a different color but after playing around with it I decided to stay neutral with the piece since it is right by our fauxed fireplace which I love and will not be painting. If I used another color I feel the fireplace and the secretary would have been competing for attention. I just wanted them to co-mingle!;)

 Of course I had to distress the secretary in areas to give it that time worn feel.

The drawers which were in horrible shape came out surprisingly well I think. I was able to get most of the bubbles out of the veneer. The rest we will just say adds character!;)

I left the inside of the desk in its original glory. I always like to try and save some part of the original piece if at all possible. That and I wanted to tie the wood into the rest of the living room.

Pictures of the boys great grandmas! That is my Nanny holding my mama. The other picture is The Hubster's Grandma Lillian on the left. Sure do miss these ladies!

At the beginning of this year I had shared with y'all my frenchy chandy and sconces score from the local yard sale site. The chandy went up in the dining room back in February but it has taken till now for me to decide where to put the sconces. 

Since I was not able to hard wire them where I originally wanted them I asked The Papa to help me make them plug ins. It was a fairly simple project and only cost about $10 for the supplies.

Now one of the sconces hangs by the fireplace. We changed the light bulbs out to night lite light bulbs because other bulbs were glaringly bright. This way they look more like candles.

Next up I just need to finish accessorizing the living room and I will be ready to share its full reveal.

Thanx for stopping by today!:)

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It's a Shutter Thing

Be sure to stop by my Appreciation Party! You have till August 1st to submit your question for Annie Sloan!

This little set of shutters has made its rounds thru out our home. Mostly hanging out in the dining room but more recently hanging in the foyer. Since I decided to change that out they ended up here outside our master bedroom. It is just a little blah space not really large enough for anything but these. I really liked how they looked here but this little hallway is pretty dark most times of the day.

Out came the chalk paint.

I used the dry brush method. Duck Egg was the main color and then I used Old White on the centers.

Next came the waxing and I  must say that the waxing was not all that bad this time around! Since the shutters are small I was able to go ahead and rub clear wax over the entire piece instead of in sections. This made it go by much more quickly! I am also sure that since I was working on this project inside the absence of the 100 degree heat was a major plus as well! The wax did not dry as quickly which made it much more easy to work with. Left panel no wax. Right panel with wax.

I really like how the finish turned out but I am debating on wether or not to brush some Duck Egg on the spindles.

Urgh! Let me try and finish this once again. Every time I hit add caption to the last picture it deletes it!:( 
So here are the shutters all finished. I am not sure they flow as nicely anymore but I will live with them for a lil' while. They can always be painted back!:)


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