Latest furniture restoration and apple blossom time …
21/05/2013 § 14 Comments
I’ve been busy revamping tables. Firstly, a nest of fairly nondescript but very useful tables that we use every day …
before – boring, but useful
after – duck egg blue and still very useful
then, my wool cupboard in the studio …
before – cheap & cheerful pine
after – old white with romantic vintage panels
The cupboard is now back in the studio and brimming over with wools. At the weekend I bought a very tired little oak drop-leaf table. I uummmm’ed and arghhhhhh’ed over what to do with it. The lines are clearly 1930’s and it’s extremely well made. I had a hunch that beneath all that dark staining and old polish was lurking some beautiful oak …
before – tired oak drop-leaf table
some investigation was needed on one leaf
This wood was much too good to cover up with any paint treatment. I painstakingly worked to remove all the layers of gunk and my arm was really aching by the time I’d finished the treatment last night …
1930’s drop-leaf oak table
just look at the grain in that wood
I’m SOOoooooo pleased with this piece. That’s my grandmother’s Chinese biscuit barrel on top – full of her buttons – and from the same era! That’s the one my grandfather used to empty out to teach me how to count. It makes me feel quite – well, something indescrible – whenever I touch it. I haven’t known quite where to keep it, but now it has a proper home on this special little table.
“I’ll be with you in apple blossom time …”
That song fills my head whenever our apple trees are in full and glorious blossom. I hope you can imagine the delicate scent and the magical feeling of confetti petals falling whenever there’s a breath of a breeze as you sit on the bench with a morning cuppa …
apple blossom
busy bee gathering pollen
my constant garden companion
Flora Puddleduck
What have you been up to? It’s a Bank Holiday weekend here in the UK this weekend so we’re hoping for some more lovely warm sunshine, just like the holiday a few weeks ago. Fingers crossed?
Adaliza x
Bentwood chair revamp …
12/05/2013 § 13 Comments
before …
Bentwood chair
after …
Bentwood chair in Louis Blue
and all dressed up with a Rowan Foxglove Seat Cushion …
Sitting Pretty – bentwood chair revamped
I’ve a nest of tables and a very special little gate-leg table waiting in the wings but today is going to be dedicated to a total reorganisation of my studio. My cutting-out table was painted weeks ago and the shelves were just beginning to be organised but time has slipped past in a haze of sunshine (last weekend) in the garden, and a week or so of pottering about – it’s time for action!
I’ll be popping over to Wendy’s Handmade Monday later on today to see what everyone else has been up to.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend.
Adaliza x
Painted furniture and crochet …
14/04/2013 § 19 Comments
I bought these solid oak shelves a couple of years ago and have been meaning to restore them. They’re very solid and well made but dark oak is not very fashionable and certainly wouldn’t fit into my studio. Way back last October, I treated myself to a tin of Annie Sloan chalk paint and last week, the shelves and the tin of paint met.
dark oak shelves
Hey presto …
what do you think?
Annie Sloan Versailles
they’re smart and perfect for displaying an ever-growing family of crocheted pincushions (some can even be worn on the wrist)!
Shelves full of pincushions
Did I say some could be worn on your wrist so you’ll never be rummaging around looking for your lost pincushion?
wristband pincushion
a handful of pretty pincushions
I’ve become completely obsessed with pincushion-making. These all have an insert so the pincushions are heavy enough to stand up (even the ditsy ones) whilst there’s an ever-growing collection of wristband pincushions that will shortly be making an appearance in my Adaliza Etsy shop.
Now, back to the soothing process of furniture restoration and painting. Having completed the shelves which I have Sooooo many plans for, I decided to visit a local furniture recycling charity shop and I picked up a hideous little stool – orange pine and a disgusting tacked on cotton cover. The cotton cover removed, a bland woven perfectly acceptable stool seat was revealed – but oh those orange legs … another hey presto moment …
restored footstool with crochet seat cover
It’s really designed to be seen from the top …
crochet tweed stitch variation
crochet: tweed stitch
footstool renovation project – completed
and there’s another diddy little stool that’s undergoing the ‘treatment’ …
almost finished footstool in Antoinette – palest soft pink
The colour isn’t very easy to photograph. It’s a soft, pale almost plaster-pink colour. Very cool pink is how I think I’d describe it – not at all sugary. It needs to be given a bit of a rub down and a lot of elbow-grease to polish it up with some antique wax, but there’s no rush. Maybe a little crocheted cushion to sit on the top.
This little stool was at my great-aunt’s house and I have no idea where she acquired it, but I suspect it had some sentimental attachment as she kept very little that meant nothing to her. I do wonder whether her father made it – I’ll never know. I hope she wouldn’t mind it being freshened up – now at least, I’ll use it around and about – maybe in my studio or maybe as a prop in photos. One thing’s for certain, whenever I use it, I’ll remember her and smile – she was a very special lady who I loved dearly.
In other news …
it’s our wedding anniversary today and we’ve had a lovely day. I trundled off to the usual Sunday morning boot sale and bought a wonderful 1950’s picnic basket, complete with original china and sandwich boxes. Wow – I’ll show you soon, but it was my present to my man – we’re hoping to enjoy many picnics together this summer when life is more relaxed and everyone is back to full health and mobility again.
This is our mantlepiece today …
Happy Anniversary
I was given a pair of Limoges ‘salts’ – the two little gold ducks. They have tiny spoons and a lovely vintage box too. I love them and the day has been rather ‘ducky’ – here’s Flora who said a good quacky greeting this morning …
Hello Flora
happy duck
Hope you all have a lovely, relaxing week. We’re continuing with our r+r and I’m pleased to be regaining my desire to make things – always a good sign!
Do pop over to Handmade Harbour to see what everyone else has been making – I see someone else has had a very special anniversary over there. We’ve got a way to go to get to our Diamond anniversary – ours was 29 years today!
Adaliza x
