Roadside find: Gorgeous chair on casters!

September 10, 2013 Chelsea | StyleMutt Home

Warning: The following image may move you to tears and result in the sudden urge to donate to your local thrift store.

I found this chair left on the side of the road near our gym one morning a few weeks ago. Instead of making my turn for the gym, I drove straight across the street when this beauty caught my eye. I'm weary of pulling things out of tall grass. First of all, snakes. Second of all, spiders. Third of all, snakes. So I tried to keep my feet on that furthest patch of blacktop and reached over to pull it out...then I jumped out of the way, just in case.

Upon super close inspection, (since I had to put this thing straight into my car where I also had my 3 helpless little spider snacks, ages 3, 3, and 2), I realized it probably hadn't been abandoned for very long. No cobwebs, no dampness, and no other signs typical of long outdoor wear. So in the ol' van it went!

And it was finished before dark that same day.

Painted 'Spring Mint' by Behr

My latest mini-obsession is with very pale mint green paired with vibrant jewel tones. So I had to snap a pic with this gorgeous pillow I found on clearance at Target. Looks like watercolor doesn't it?!

Very minimal distressing that happened naturally as I applied the sealer

SOLD

The low-down:
-Gave the chair a good scrub down with the hose and a thick bristle brush, wiped dry and let air dry completely
-Sanded everywhere except for the cane using 120grit sandpaper
-Blue taped around the wheels and base of the chair
-Used Rustoleum spray on primer over everything but the base
-Painted 3 coats of Spring Mint by Behr using a 2.5" brush, (when painting cane, do not overload your brush with paint. Just dip in the very ends and then move over the cane in a circular motion so the paint doesn't get clogged or glopped inside the little holes)
-Using a clean rag, I applied Minwax Polyurethane clear high gloss sealer

Thank you so much for stopping by!

~Chelsea

This post was originally featured under Chelsea's Garage, now affectionately known as StyleMutt.

Dippin' into color

September 9, 2013 Chelsea | StyleMutt Home

Hi guys! Today I wanted to share about a recent trend that I've had mixed feelings about; color dipping. It's a painting technique that I've seen used on small items such as mixing spoons, to larger pieces of furniture.

I like it much better on the spoons than on that chair. I see that chair and just feel like it's incomplete. Ha! Nevertheless, it is a trend that is hard to ignore right now, especially in my line of work with refinishing furniture. I love seeing other techniques being done even if they're not my personal style.

I decided to give color dipping a try for myself. Even though I've been mixed about the look, the technique itself still seemed fun! I may not have tried it if I didn't have just the perfect piece: A bamboo and metal plant stand that I got from Goodwill over 3 years ago and never really used. It occupied a couple lonely corners of our home here and there until settling nicely into the garage for the last year or so to collect cobwebs.

I had always thought this bamboo plant stand would be much more functional if converted to a couple nesting tables. So I grabbed a hand saw and cut it down to size. After making my cuts, I took the legs off and spray painted them flat white by Rustoleum. Then I reattached the legs, measured how high I wanted my paint to go, and blue taped at the marks.

I brushed on a natural soft green for the 'dipped' color. And guess what? I really like these new little nesting tables!

SOLD

Anyone out there hot or cold on color dipping? I've warmed up to it.:)

Thanks for stopping by! Coming up tomorrow is a refinished roadside find from last week.

~Chelsea

This post was originally featured under Chelsea's Garage, now affectionately known as StyleMutt.

Dining Room Makeover, Phases 3 and 4 = Done!

September 6, 2013 Chelsea | StyleMutt Home

Today's post covers the high and low of painting; literally! Completing our dining room makeover was painting under the chair rail and then our chandelier. I know painting is not that fun of a task for most folks, but once you set aside a morning or afternoon and just dooo iiiit, oh my goodness, the feeling is awesome!

First, here is where we left off with phase 2, (which was replacing the dining set after we sold our old set):

Phase 3: Painting under the chair-rail

We chose the color Travertine by Valspar at Lowes

I especially love where it meets the soft minty aqua color of our kitchen! So fresh.

After I painted under the chair rail I was a hair away from dancing around our dining room and calling it done. Well, calling it done at least....the dancing part happens daily. Usually when I start getting impatient in my chair waiting for my kiddos to finish a meal.

Anyways, I loved the whole crisp and industrial look we had achieved, but knew I wanted the chandelier to be something funkier than it was....which brings us to Phase 4!

I spent some time researching clever chandelier makeovers since I wanted to keep the perfectly functional one we had rather than buying something else. While I did find lots of really cool before and afters, nothing was really what I was envisioning for our dining room. It needed to be vibrant, off beat, original, and youthful. My husband and I are, (for now), still in our 20s, and I wanted this space to reflect the playfulness of our young family.

Here is what I came up with: Splattering paint!

This was one of the most fun and easy home projects yet! I climbed onto the table and removed each frosted glass globe from our chandelier. After a good cleaning I turned each one over and placed a bit of blue table over the hole.