Barbie loves PURPLE!

and she loved her restyled nightstand!

Night to Day!! Great Re-Do!!

Happily Ever AFTER!!

I help Red Rock Rose in Albuquerque, re-do their furniture.  This is a great before and after, which was sold before we started.
 Mary is picking it up - ENJOY!!

BEFORE

2011 ... Busy but Productive.

 

All in all,  a SUCCESS!        

 

Pottery Barn LOOK-A-LIKE Desk

This desk was a challenge, but the results PAID OFF$$$$

  

We started with a white French Provincial piece that several people saw promise in. Initially, the plan was to paint the piece a bright Easter color, but as we sanded it down we realized all the layers (& layers, & layers....) of paint.  It just kept peeling off! We knew we didn't want to invest the time it would take to strip it all off, so we took this project in another direction.

We painted the piece with a soft cocoa tinted primer, then covered it with a dark chocolate paint.  We distressed it so to mask the layered paints underneath.  Last, we protected it with a couple coats of polyurethane and finished it up with pretty vintage shelving paper.  

I wish it were still around so you could drop by and take a look at it, but it sold before I could get this post up.  (Red Rock Rose Boutique still has many of my pieces.)

Drab-to-Fab strikes AGAIN!!!!

Friday Project of the Week - My First SPRING FLOWER!!

           This FABULOUS plant stand (in it's final glory), originally came in like this mismatched mutt of a piece.  Yuch!

After thinking about it overnight, I decided this plant stand had a base with promise.  It could be interpreted as a stem and leaves (...imagine, if you will) and the top could be painted to look like a flower??  A mum perhaps!First, lots and lots of sanding - then we BEGIN.

  

I started with a light pink all over, then strokes of darker pink with yellow and green over each other in the middle.  After drying I began to draw petals with chalk, until the entire surface was covered.

I blew the chalk dust away and took a clear spray paint to seal it.

Once that dried, I took a white acrylic paint in a squeeze bottle and went over the petals.  Then,  I went over the top with 2 coats of high gloss polyurethane.  What do you think of my first SPRING FLOWER!!

It's still available at Red Rock Rose Boutique.

Strategy for DESIGNING YOUR CHIC BOUTIQUE!

After you've taken care of your shop's name, logo, sign and genre.  Whew!! ...  Set the vibe for your customers as soon as they enter the door.  It keeps them interested and sets the tone for the rest of their shopping experience.  Make use of colors that pop.  Below, the color Turquoise is our "pop".  (If you follow Pottery Barn Teen, you know their spring/summer catalog made good use of turquoise.  Do some homework and rely on experts and their ideas.)   Your products may help you decide what your color palette should be.  Also keep in mind the current and upcoming seasons and how your use of color will blend in (or not) with the following season.

 

Our customer loved the look and our use of colors!