Changing Your Mind

Mind-Changing Dilemmas with Shifting Trends

I fib you not when I tell you that I have been accused of being 'fickle' on more than one occasion. And truth be told, when I squeeze myself under the microscope, I suppose I can't really deny it (nothing's as cathartic as admitting to your own warts, right). 

So given this disposition I seemingly have to mind-change from time to time, I suppose it is only natural that eventually there would come a time when I would regret a furniture transformation.

And Im sad to say that it has arrived.  The subject is our very own coffee table set, of which one of the end-tables can be seen in the picture above.  You see, Mr. Chuckles inherited some furniture from his grandparents years ago, and when I first started to foray into the world of furniture rehabbing, I naturally painted and refinished everything in the house, and these vintage gems were helpless in the wake of my brush.  When I stripped and re-stained the coffee table and one of the side tables, I hadn't yet come to appreciate the beauty and trendiness of the Mid Century craze. Doh.

At the time, we only had the coffee table and one end table on display, so I didn't bother refinishing the second end table (pictured above).  At Christmas, we had such a full house of people, that Mr. Chuckles decided to bring up the remaining (unfinished) table to accommodate all of the drinks and merriment. It was at this point that Ol' Blue Eyes started crooning in my head 'Regrets, Ive had a few...'.   You see ladies and gents, the unfinished one looked AWESOME. Especially since we have wallpapered our back wall in a trendy 70s-meets-contemporary pattern.

I suppose its only natural that your style changes over time, and where I used to love everything that looked chic and contemporary, now I am moving to more of a fusion blend of contemporary and vintage combined.  I really love all things MCM at the moment (in fact Im going to check out an MCM dining table set tomorrow that Im hoping to put in our small dining area)and suddenly, magically I love the colour walnut again when two years ago I thought it looked like vomit.

I j'adore the way the walnut makes a great organic break-up to all of the colours.  The refinished side table, and also matching coffee table now look too dark to me; I finished them in a really dark stain called 'kona' that I saw at a friends house and loved.  So that's that. Little ickle fickle me.  

So naturally I am now toying with the idea of stripping them (again) and reverting to the original walnut. The curves of the legs are so great and they remind me of the 'Brasilia' range of dressers and credenzas.   

Above is another closer-up shot of the Kona stain.  It is so dark that you can't see any of the wood grain.  Mr. Chuckles thinks Im a moron, and I can't lie, I kind of agree with him.  I actually came across an old picture of the coffee table in its original state the other day and my heart sank a few fathoms. 

Darn it all to hockey-sticks that I didn't have the vision to see how cool mid century walnut or teak furniture was going to be again.  And dang those bloody magazines for setting a trend that I used to have but then cast aside...  Now that I think of it, I just cleaned out the closet and have a bag of 'old' clothes that I don't wear anymore abound for Vinnies.  Hmmm. Maybe I should rethink that decision too. Maybe, just maybe, purple-suede platform shoes are going to make a comeback just to spite me.

If you have ever had your own 'refinishing regrets', please let me know, because after all, misery loves company. :)

Potterybarn-esq Sidetables with Chevrons

Sometimes when you just mind your own business, good things can happen! There I was, behind the wheel of the Mazda, bee-boppin' to some tunes, looking forward to a snack when I got home, when about a block away from my house I spotted a pair of wood end tables out on the curb. Just sitting there, abandoned and lonely. I saw them raise their eyebrows with hopeful longing as I drove by. Well I am a sucker for a good pout.  I promptly pulled over and gently ushered them into the hatchback.

5 seconds later I was home, and as  I unpacked them and had a little inspection and realized that someone had already gone to the trouble of stripping these down.  Remarkable that someone would go to all that effort only to later to cast them out to the curbside!

Not that Im complaining!  I set about painting them (no need to sand for once!).  I did a light gray wash, I basically just slathered the paint on and scrubbed it around really well to get a real minimal coverage.  I wanted them to look white-washed and rustic.

I painted out the little cute piece of trim in white.  Again, I kept it really rustic, I actually used a damp cloth to apply the white and just smeared it along, keeping it light and imperfect.

The tops are where the fun-factor comes in.  I used some gray and white chevron paper and modpodged it to the table tops.  It went on great, no bubbles or issues.  I personally find modpodge works better with a thicker paper.  I have used super thin paper before and it crinkled so badly.

I also find that when using modpodge it is really important to make sure that you use a good amount of modpodge.  If you apply it too thin you can't 'move' the paper around on top of it to get the perfect positioning.

On a side note, I have just down loaded the free photo editing software called 'Picasa' and really like it.  I am on the hunt for a proper dslr canon camera, but at the moment I used use my phone camera and edit the pics.  I haven't had a proper 'play' yet, but so far I really like picasa. I actually shot these pics on a super-duper gray and dreary day.  They are right beside a door, so there is some light coming in from the left, but it was not nearly as bright as it looks in the pics.  With that said, Santa, if you are reading this, feel free to stuff my stocking with a new dslr! 

Brutalist style mcm beauties!

Oh Lordy, am I excited!!  And no, it isn’t because the men’s US Open Tennis final is just about to begin.  Ok, it is a little bit.  I am a die-hard tennis fan and I love a good match up, and this one between Rafa and Djokovic should be soooooo-perb! Painting furniture is my number one addiction, tennis is my second (wine is my third :))  But no, I am over the moon excited about this absolutely fabulous furniture I picked up at the weekend!

Initially my plan was to paint it out a two-toned original wood/ ivory white (similar to this post here), but it is in such amazing condition that I am going to leave it original.  The colour and the finish on these pieces is as en-trend as Lady Ga-ga perched a-top an apple ipad wielding a whole-wheat vegan wrap.

I only have pics of the nightstands at the moment, but the entire set (headboard, longboy, armoir, mirror) are all equally amazing.

I did some research and this style of furniture is themed as BRUTALIST in the style of Paul Evans.  Im lovin’ it! It channels a real gothic vibe to it.

Here is a pic of the lovely matching mirror. Oh, and ladies, as an added bonus, the gentlemen I picked this wonderful set up from was not only extremely patient as I wrestled with my stubborn tie-down straps, but more than just-a little handsome as well.  :)