Hey! "I Was Too Excited To Start Painting That I Forgot To Take A Before Picture" People...

Come meet your leader Kelli from Pretty Painted Things and Other Things That Make Me Happy.  Some of you readers who have been with us from the beginning are familiar with Kelli's work.  For those of you who aren't well you are in for a treat, especially after you see TODAY'S Flip!

I will say there's not much our Kelli can't do.  She is constantly painting furniture, cooking, home schooling, involved in church activities, and being an all around awesome person.  She just is really really really bad at getting that before picture no matter how many times I remind her to take a before picture.  She'll forget.  Thus, she has now been promoted to Queen of The No Before Picture People.  So, in place of a BEFORE picture I'm showing you this picture instead....

Kelli made that!  Looks delish!  I'll give you the recipe in a bit.  Let's get onto the flip! 

Kelli recently circumvented the delivery of a chifferobe and a bed to Goodwill and had them delivered to her home instead.  Her method was simple.  Her good friend Tara owned them and she sent a quick text to Kelli offering them up before her hubby carted them away.  Kelli jumped at the offer as any one of us would.

Kelli chose to do these pieces in a soft cream/beige color and a very subtle blonde color, with just a few places that were bright white.  The handle on the chifferobe door was on the right side of the door. All of the knobs were modern silver and non-descript.  Kelli jokes that her OCD kicked in, since the knob on the drawer across from the chifferobe knob was in the middle of a wooden embellishment.  That bugged her and she felt compelled to even things up.  She filled the hole where the door knob was and drilled a hole in the middle of the door and replaced the knobs with some pretty, intricate metal hardware.  Kelli wanted the majority of detail to be drawn to these handles, so she painted some wooden knobs for the other drawers to blend in and not stand out like the middle knobs.

After Kelli got it all painted, she was thinking it needed one more thing, so she started distressing and sanding it.  She looked at one drawer and decided everything she paints does not need to be distressed.  She wanted to keep it light and clean, so dark wax wasn't a good option either. She decided to do a white wash sort of finish over both pieces instead (super watered down white paint, dry brushed on, then sort of wiped/daubed off).
 

Kelli admits that all of this detail work took a long time to complete.  When she got these two pieces they had already been completely spray painted a shiny white.  While white is a good base, glossy white demands several coats of paint.  She used her own home made chalk paint.  

After she was satisfied with the way it looked she then waxed everything to seal it.  Did all of this work pay off?  You BETCHA it did!! 

Check out these pictures...

So gorgeous I forgive her for not taking the before picture!  

You can visit with Kelli and see more of her beautiful work on her Facebook Page Pretty Painted Things and Other Things That Make Me Happy.   It's not just about furniture.  She shares recipes and let's us follow along on the fun stuff she does.  Speaking of recipes, here you go.

Kelli's Black Eyed Pea Salsa

1/2 Sweet Onion, diced

One Yellow & One Red Pepper, diced

3 Tomatoes, diced (You can used canned tomatoes. Fire roasted tomatoes add a wonderful flavor)

2 Cucumbers, diced

1/2 C. Cilantro (more or less according to taste)

1 Can Black Beans, washed and drained

1 Can Black Eyed Peas (Kelli uses a can that's labeled Sensibly Seasoned - they are just a bit smoky tasting and so good!)

Toss all ingredients together and squeeze the juice of one fresh lime over the salsa.  Mix and season to taste.  Kelli uses onion salt, pepper and a bit of cumin.  She says the salsa tastes even better the second day.

There you go!  A fantastic furniture flip on a Friday PLUS a recipe you can make this holiday weekend!  I betcha didn't expect that!  Now, go visit with Kelli at Pretty Painted Things and Other Things That Make Me Happy. Let her know you saw her on Furniture Flippin'!  Feel free to talk to her here via our comments section, too.

For those of you in or around Nashville, TN this beautiful bedroom set could be yours!  It's for sale!  

Thanks Kelli for sharing your beyond beautiful furniture flip!