Sing A Song Of Steel Toed Shoes And Coffee Tables...

Some days I sit down to write and I can't think of one darn thing to say!  How so very much not like me.  Me! Me who's mind can wander all over the map.  Me, who can talk my husband's ear off.  I am sitting here at my twice flipped secretary desk and I can't think of the angle I'm going to use in writing today's blog post.  Let's just free flow it and see where that takes us.  Are you game?  I am.

On Saturday, I was riding in Daryl The Truck with my handsome handy husband at the wheel.  Carrie Underwood's song "Heartbeat" comes on.  In it, she sings "Standing on your shoes in my bare feet, dancing to the rhythm of your heartbeat".  I turn to my guy and say, "I hope he is wearing steel toed shoes.  Think about it.  She wants to dance with him by standing on his shoes like a little kid would do.  So, unless he is wearing steel toed shoes, I would think that having a grown woman standing on your shoes wouldn't be that comfortable and it would be hard to dance that way.  I could see dancing with a little kid like that but not a grown woman."  Once he realized I was talking about the song, he gave me a "You're strange".  (It's a good day when I can get at least three "you're strange" out of him before breakfast.)  Just to prove my point later on, we were sitting on the couch in the family room (no doubt watching NCIS reruns) when I got up to get a drink, stopped in front of him and stood on his steel toed shoes.  I said, "See?  Now imagine how much more that would hurt if you were wearing your tennis shoes."  He agreed and I didn't point out to him that he shouldn't be wearing his shoes in the family room anyway.  I let that one slide.

Speaking of shoes in the family room, (or living room) if I owned the coffee table that our flippin' friend Michelle of Vintage Appeal just refinished, I'd be livid if anyone put their steel toed shoes on it.  Now, if it looked like it did when she started it, I wouldn't be too mad.  Because...well, look at it!  It's rough!  It's probably seen more than it's fair share of shoes on it.

Michelle...she's adorable.  She makes my job easy.  I love logging onto Facebook and seeing her latest creation.  She shares them on my page and I just love her enthusiasm for her craft.  She's a sweetheart.  I'm always getting on to her (you should listen to me here, too) about putting her name on her pictures.  So, when they end up floating around on the big old world wide web, everyone and their brother will know she is responsible for that beauty.  (Sometimes I feel like stamping my name on my kid's foreheads for the same reason.  Other days, eh, not so much.)  

Michelle painted the table in General Finishes Antique White and stained it using their Walnut stain.  She then lightly distressed it and added a custom glaze finish. Finally she added three coats of GF High Performance. She retained the original hardware.

Let's check out the after...

Isn't lovely?  Now if you end up being the person that purchases this coffee table, do me a favor...keep your darn feet off if it!  It's too pretty for feet.

If you'd like to buy this coffee table or just ooh and ahh over more of Michelle's work, head over to her Vintage Appeal Facebook page.  She is located in Louisiana.  Get over there and tell her you saw her on Furniture Flippin'!

Thanks Michelle for sharing your work.  Keep 'em coming!

The rest of you.  Tomorrow marks my 300th blog post.  I haven't written it.  If you want it to be you, well, there's little chance of that happening unless you've submitted your before/after pics & details to me at furnitureflippin@gmail.com . 

See you tomorrow!

~ Stephanie

 

Holy Smoke, Copper Nugget & A Coffee Table

When I was a young girl, our family relocated to a small Southern Illinois town.  The kind of folksy area where the big draw each year was the Agricultural Fair at the Fairgrounds, the newspaper was just a weekly one, everybody owned horses, and there was a town named Moonshine.  Our dad thought we needed to have horses, too.  So, along came Holy Smoke & Copper Nugget.  That's not them in the picture but it is me on a horse with Dad holding onto me.  (I sure miss that man.)  My sister is on the horse ahead of mine.

Let me tell you about our horses.  Smoky was a wild one.  He was a smoky color which is how he got his name.  One day my dad and I took off on him.  I was probably six years old.  I was hanging onto Dad for dear life.  We went quite far on our ride.  We were miles outside of town in the middle of nowhere when for some unknown reason Smoky reared up and deposited us both on the road. (That hurt!  Especially since my dad landed on me.)  Then he was off.  Running.  We hitched a ride back to town from a neighbor who saw us walking and crying.  Okay, I was crying.  Another neighbor found Smoky and back to the pasture he went.  
 
(Blatant misuse of a blog!  Grandma Steffie showing off Presley on a pony from this past summer.  It's my blog and I can show him off if I want to!  Plus all of this will be tied together further down the page.)  New readers I have a tendency to ramble...

Since I told you about Smoky, let me tell you about Nugget.  Horses are smart animals.  And very good actors as evidenced by their appearance in multitudes of movies and in this story.  Nugget got his leg caught in a barbed wire fence.  He tore his leg up and we had to apply an ointment to it daily.  He didn't enjoy that.  So, we would come armed with carrots to coax him to us.  One day, we all loaded up in our green paneled station wagon and headed out to the country to perform this task.  The horses could see us coming, winding our way through the countryside.  We could see them from afar, too.  The fact that if he could see us, then we could see him, never occurred to Nugget.  Smoky didn't bother to tell him either.  (Not surprising.  Smoky was an "every horse for himself" type of animal.)  We watched both of them come running across the pasture with their mane flying.  When we got closer, Nugget began his Oscar worthy performance.  Like a flip of a switch, he stopped galloping and started limping.  I think he even winced a little.  He stopped short of turning on the waterworks.  (Why the Academy didn't take notice of Nugget is beyond me and one reason why I never watch their silly awards show.)   

Those days of horse ownership are behind us now.  When we again moved the horses were sold.  They lived out the rest of their lives in Southern Illinois as we made our way a little farther north in the Land of Lincoln.  Horses are still big in that area.  I can imagine today's furniture flip would go over big with the equestrian crowd that makes up Clark County.  
 
Take a gander at this coffee table.  We've all seen them like this before.  We may have even owned one in our lifetime.  Linda from EEK To Chic bought this one off of her friend.  It was "plain, boring and scuffed up" according to Linda.  As soon as she saw it, she knew exactly how she would remake it.  

You might recall Linda's two previous appearances on the blog.  This one which was the inspiration for one of my most favorite blog titles EVER.  "Flippin' The Bird".  

And this one, where you all marveled at how the pulls seemed to become a part of the guitar.  

Linda said this makeover was a challenging one.  She used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.  As she painted the background she would lay the picture on it to ensure that she was headed in the right direction.  It all came together.  She decoupaged the poster in place and finished it all with polyurethane.  

Check.  It.  Out.  

And two more...


Isn't that unique?  Somebody buy it!  It's for sale! 

EEK To Chic is located in Virginia Beach, Virginia.  You can find Linda and all of her EEK To Chic creations on her Facebook page.  Get over there and tell her you saw her on Furniture Flippin'.   

Thanks Linda for sharing your wonderful furniture flip.

Dear readers, you can see your Furniture Flips here, too!  Giddy on up and send me before/after pics along with all of the details you'd like to share to furnitureflippin@gmail.com. Your flip might inspire someone.

~ Stephanie

So Long To The Beer Pong...

When artist Denise Marie Saylor got her hands on this coffee table it had certainly seen better days.  It was a freebie from her daughter who also had received it for free.  Her daughter had it stored in her garage for quite awhile because of the terrible condition it was in.  Denise affectionately called it the "let's varnish while playing beer pong!" table.  

She writes, "It had oddly thick and peeling varnish with many many cup rings, or...cup dents? Anyway, I decided it was the perfect shape for the Betsy Ross table I had been thinking about doing."

 
After Denise stripped off the varnish (three applications and still needed lots of scraping and sanding), she applied Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Graphite to the base and Old White to the top.  



Then she measured out the flag and painted it on top with Napoleonic Blue, Old White and Emperor's Silk.  



She searched the internet for high quality images that she could blow up and apply to the skirting around the edges.  She decoupaged the John Hancocks and the Declaration of Independence to the drawer face.  She used an image transfer technique to apply the slice of a painting of the founding fathers signing the Declaration.

 

Denise writes, "The handles were mailed to me from someone I didn't even know!  She saw them on a dresser on the side of the road and decided I could use them, put them in an envelope and mailed them to CA from across the country!  I was so appreciative!  I aged those awesome handles with Provence, Florence, Old White and Graphite."

To finish it up, Denise edged the table in gold gilding wax.  She used artist's acrylics to age the entire thing and sealed with two coats of Artisan Enhancements Clear Topcoat.  

How amazing is THAT transformation!  There better not be one beer pong game played on that table now!  May I ask whatever happened to people playing quarters?  That game took skill!  Pfft!  Bouncing a ping pong ball doesn't take skill!  Bouncing a quarter is a different story, although I don't recommend doing so on this table.  Even though George Washington's face is on the quarter this table has been declared independent of such childish drinking games from here on out.  

You can see more pictures of this table on Denise's Facebook page - Denise Marie Saylor Fine Arts.  This table is available for sale.  Hurry though because it won't last long.  Denise Marie Saylor Fine Arts is based in Santa Clarita, California.  Denise has been painting and drawing her entire life.  Head on over to her Facebook page and let her know you saw her on Furniture Flippin'.

Thanks so much Denise for sharing your stunning furniture flip!  

Okay, dear readers...get your flips in now before summer arrives and you all scatter outside.  Or before I run outside and can't be found.  Remember the more details the better.  Email me at furnitureflippin@yahoo.com .

See you tomorrow!

~ Stephanie

Some Guys Have All The Luck...

...seriously!  One of those guys is my husband.  Hehehe.  The other guy would be Dennis from Cripple Creek Woodworks.  First of all, he is married to the sweetest lady named Caren.   Secondly, he has ALL THE LUCK when it comes to finding awesome roadside relics aka hitchhiking pieces of furniture.  

Now, we've all found our share of discarded furniture laying on the side of the road.  I recently found this one...

WAIT A MINUTE!  Back the Durango up!  "Why is Stephanie showing us something she found if this piece is about Cripple Creek Woodworks?"  I can assure you dear readers I am not trying to steal his limelight.  It would be IMPOSSIBLE to do that once you see the after of two of his recent finds.  No, instead Dennis did not take BEFORE PICTURES!!  I don't care how many times I lecture you all about taking before pictures, there is always a few of you who still forget!  Dennis!!  (Caren - you need to be in charge of before pictures.  I know I can count on you!)

Dennis found both of the tables in today's feature by the side of the road.  Both of them were missing their glass tops.  Did that stop Dennis?  Heck no!  He's a third generation woodworker!  He took these tables back to his shop, made them new beautiful wood tops and prettied up their bases.  

Check them out...let's look at the first one.  It has a wrought iron base that he painted teal and then rubbed a bronze toner over the details.  He added a reclaimed Long Leaf pine top, that was from a home built in 1845.  It was bladder sanded on the edges to give it a natural worn look. (Hey folks, this one is available.  I think YOU should buy it.)

And a close up at the details...

This next table was missing it's glass top and Dennis removed the wood frame that held the glass.  He replaced it with an American Walnut Plank top that he hand scraped and bladder sanded.  The base was painted with Annie Sloan Chalk paint and then glazed.  The top was lacquered and waxed.  This one ISN'T available because Caren wanted it for herself.  Can't say I blame her.

And let's look a little closer at this one, too...

Pretty gorgeous if you ask me!  Beautiful job!

Cripple Creek Woodworks is a Texas-based specialty woodshop, specializing in handcrafted, quality workmanship. Combining modern tools and techniques with time-honored traditional methods and vintage tools, Dennis can achieve any look you desire.  Some of the tools he uses date back to 1906.  You can check out more of his work on the Cripple Creek Woodworks website.  For you Facebook fanatics, he is also on there, too.  Head on over to his Facebook page and let him know you saw him on Furniture Flippin'.  

Thanks so much Dennis (and Caren who told me of your lucky roadside finds) for sharing your spectacular furniture flips!

Don't forget dear readers, your comments are always welcome here on the blog, too.  If you have a furniture flip you'd like to submit, email me your BEFORES and afters plus all the details to furnitureflippin@yahoo.com .  Now go find some discarded pieces of furniture and get to work!

Don't You Ever Look At Me Like I've Lost My Mind Again...

...that is directed at the people I encounter who think I've gone mad when I've grabbed something out of the trash pile and screamed, "Don't throw that out!  I can USE THAT!"  You people should know by now that there is an entire UPCYCLING REVOLUTION going on in the world.  Yes, there is!  I'm not the only one who does it.  And yes, if all of my fellow upcyclers/furniture flippers jumped off of a bridge, I would, too.  As long as the bridge was a little garden bridge in somebody's backyard.  I may be slightly goofy but I'm not stupid.

I love, love, LOVE when somebody thinks outside of the box.  That's exactly what today's featured flippers did.  

Meet the creative team behind Marmie's Empty Nest Creations.  They took 3 beautiful chairs, a coffee table, a headboard, 2 end tables, an old beatup desk top and some wrought iron railing that was in their junk pile at their farm and used their imagination.  

Twila and her very own *handsome handy husband Jerry took all of the elements pictured above and went to work creating the perfect seating area for a local business.  (Wow, there are alot of you *Triple H's out there!  We should get you all together some weekend for a play date while us wives go junkin'.)

Out of the old headboard, an end table, some wrought Iron railing and an old desk top they created a very unique bench.  Once it was built, they finished it in FAT Paint Warm White, Cream and a custom color mixed expressly to compliment the fabric.  

Here's the bench...

They painted the two chairs and coffee table to match.  The chairs were recovered in a coordinating fabric.  

Check them out...

A funny thing happened upon delivery though...they had created the bench at their shop and the chairs were done at their house.  When they got them all together they noticed the bench was a little too tall.  So, after this picture was snapped, they returned it to their shop and as Twila says, "amputated a couple of inches off the legs of the bench."  All is well that ends well!  It is now happily ensconced at Paper Blush and many a happy couple uses that area to pick their wedding invitations.  

It truly IS a "happily ever after".  

Now, doesn't that inspire you to drive around your town on garbage day and look for finds?!?  

You can visit with Twila and Jerry on their Marmie's Empty Nest Creations Facebook page.  Let them know you saw them on Furniture Flippin'.  They are located in Camrose, Alberta, Canada and they find great satisfaction in rescuing old pieces of furniture and giving them a second chance.

Well done!  Thanks so much Twila for sharing your furniture flip!  

The Park Ridge Project

There are times in your life when everything aligns.  This was one of those times.  I'm going to tell you about "The Park Ridge Project".  Meet Zach...

Zach is my very handsome oldest son.  He recently moved to Park Ridge.  This move necessitated an SOS call to me.  "Mom!  I need better furniture.  HELP!"  He felt that the hand-me-down furniture didn't suit his upgrade of new digs.  I was in charge of putting it all together.  On a budget of practically nothin'.  

The only requests he had was that it had to match the color scheme of cream walls and wood floors.  Easily done!  What doesn't match that color scheme!?  Am I right?  

I was alerted via text that there was a hitchhiking coffee table across town.  I hopped in the SUV and took off to rescue it.  Once I spotted it, there was no place close by to park.  Well, it turns out that was the least of my worries because this thing weighed a ton.  I had to drag it to my SUV and then somehow summon the strength to get it into the back.  Not an easy task.  See those scrapes on the side of it?  ALL ME BABY!!  

I started looking for colors to paint this when I came across a similar table on Ballard Designs.  Theirs costs $399.99 more than mine did.  Hehehe.  Here's theirs.

Here's ours after a good cleaning, sanding, painting and polyurethaning. 

I'll be honest with you.  I like ours better.  Look at the cute silver feet.  Those hammered silver candlesticks on it?  I paid $4 for them at my favorite second hand store, H & H Mercantile.  They were destined for Park Ridge, too.

I went for a walk one afternoon when two doors down I found ANOTHER hitchhiker...You bet I carried that baby right home!

 

Did the same treatment on him that I did on the coffee table.  I also painted his hardware silver to match the feet on the other table.

I stumbled across a bed on a local website for sale.  They were asking $30.  It needed some repair work but I knew it was nothing my handsome handy husband couldn't handle.  Here's the bed before...

A couple of the panels were damaged.  We replaced them, sanded, painted and poly'ed this as well.  

Look at how this sleigh bed went from sad to super expensive looking...

We had offers to purchase that bed but Zach wouldn't go for it.  Don't judge my pictures.  I'm not known for my picture taking skills.  That would be my neighbor Flo of Flotography.  She's the photographer.  I'm the furniture flipper.  

I stopped by our Salvation Army Store where for the very low price of a buck, I picked up this lamp.  

I went to a local garage sale where I found this chair.  The ladies manning the sale gave it to me.  FOR FREE.  (You have to say FOR FREE in a high-low sing-songy voice, that's how I typed it and meant for it to be read.  Try it.  FOR FREE.)

It is a solidly built chair.  I sanded and stained it.  Then my husband and I tag-teamed it when it came to recovering it.  The total cost to flip this chair was $9 for the fabric.  I used stain I already had on hand.  

Here's how the chair looks after...

 










Let's take a look at the whole Furniture Flippin' caboodle for this project all packed up and ready to be delivered...

Now, keep in mind that was just what was leaving our house.  It had another stop to make at his old apartment where that truck was completely filled.  

Zach was lucky to score a free couch from a friend that matched very well.   Here is a peek at his living room... 

We're not house stagers - I snapped that pic on a recent visit.  You are lucky there aren't four people in the photo.  We'll save that pic for a Craigslist ad if ever he decides to sell any of the furniture.  Don't you love those Craigslist pics?  ("Uh, does the guy wearing what appears to be a sweater in summer come with the couch? - Oh, that's NOT a sweater?  What do you mean he's not even wearing a shirt?  Nevermind.  I'll pass.")

Let's do a tally of costs for this project.  Paint, stain, and polyurethane all came from our stash.  We spent $1 for lamp, $9 for fabric, $30 for the bed, and $4 for candle holders.  $44.00* is what it took to pull off this Park Ridge Project.  Can you believe that?!?  $44.00.  Just like I said.  The stars aligned and I doubt that we would ever be able to pull that off again.  That being said, we'd be up for the challenge if someone asked.  (*Obviously I am NOT counting the cost of labor when figuring out what this flip cost us.  In this case, it was a labor of love much like the 23 hours of labor it took to bring that young person into the world.  I didn't get paid for those hours, so why would I put a price on this labor?)

The true test that we did well on this project was after we had it all finished and the furniture was set up in our garage.  A little five year old boy we know walked in and replied, "This is a nice house!".  

Oh, one last thing.  I wonder if Zach ever noticed that Triple H painted our initials underneath the end table?  It's there.  

Dear readers, we've reached the part where I would normally direct you to our featured flipper's website or contact information and encourage you to encourage them.  Since today I am the featured flipper, you can feel free to direct any comments you have here if you feel so obliged. 

~ ~ ~

Are you a furniture flipper?  Would you like to be featured on Furniture Flippin'?  We'd love to show off your stuff, too!  Email us your before/after pictures and all of the details to furnitureflippin@yahoo.com .  The more info the better or I'll just make stuff up about you.  That could be fun, too!  It's totally your call.  Don't forget to visit us on our Furniture Flippin' Facebook page, too! 

Stephanie

A Bird On The Table...

...is worth money in your hand.  Oh, that's not how that saying goes?  Well, I think you better check with Kristina of Stained and Striped.   She might tell you different.

Kristina describes herself as a wife to one and mother to two.  She loves to redo furniture in her spare time and sells her wares at the Hoity-Toity Peacock in Brenham, Texas.

One day Kristina decided to tackle this coffee table...

She loved having a blank canvas with this piece of furniture and initially planned on doing a Martha Stewart stencil on it.  She soon scrapped that idea after she noticed the stenciling wasn't quite turning out the way she wanted.  

It was on to Plan B.  She stripped and sanded the stenciling off.  She called a quick meeting with the creative minds at The Hoity-Toity Peacock and together they decided to fly off in a whole new direction with this coffee table.  

Are you ready to see what they came up with?

Here you go!

 
This fun and up-to-date coffee table sold almost immediately.  It sold so quickly that they now have a running joke that when something doesn't sell all they have to do is "put a bird on it".  

Did you spot the two little birdies kissing?  So cute!  I love how the wood slats look like wires the birds are resting on.  

To see more of Kristina's work, head on over to her Stained and Striped Facebook page.  Give her a "like" and let her know you saw her on Furniture Flippin'.  For those of you who live in her area, stop in and  see her items in person at the Hoity-Toity Peacock.

Thanks Kristina for sharing your superb furniture flip!

Who'da Trunk It?...

I'm glad there are so many talented people out there wandering the planet.  They come up with ideas and new uses for old objects that I would NEVER have thought of doing.  Or maybe that last sentence says more about me than them?  (My mind tends to wander and quite frequently I find myself singing The Smurfs theme song.  "La la la-la la la, Sing a happy song.")

But, no.  They are talented, creative individuals and today we are featuring....Jacqui from Porta Verde Studio. 

She began with this item...

I see a trunk.  Porta Verde Studio saw the potential for a new purpose and a unique home furnishing.   

Check out the wood detail and dull brass hardware on it.  Jacqui set to work on this piece.  She sanded, stained and varnished the wood.  Then shined up the brass.  The inside was given a new gorgeous liner and finally the trunk was turned into this...

A coffee table...an exquisite one at that!  Didn't I tell you it was unique?

The customer loved it!  To see all of the details of what went into this trunk conversion, including the lovely inside liner,  make tracks on over to Porta Verde Studio .  You'll be glad you did! 

Thanks Porta Verde Studio for letting us feature your furniture flip!

The rest of you...so that it remains in your head the rest of the day...here is the next line.  "La la la-la la la, Smurf your whole day long".  You're welcome!