My kind of white and some tables for sale!

June 4, 2013 Chelsea | StyleMutt Home

White paint. We have a love-hate relationship. Before we moved into our home I had admired dozens of pictures of bleached white interiors with crisp white linens, bright white walls, and white painted pieces. These photos all looked fresh, crisp, clean, and peaceful. A big bonus in my mind since at the time we had 11mo old twins and one on the way; I was all about creating as tranquil a home as possible!

First, we painted our walls Ultra Bright White by Behr. - loved. Then, we brought in the white slip-covered furniture - loved. Then we acquired some pieces which I began to paint in the same white paint as our walls - oh no! Wrong, wrong, wrong! Too fresh, too crisp, too clean. Instead of looking tranquil I thought it looked sterile, cold and boring!

I lost my style in trying to replicate the same all white rooms I had admired from pictures. I didn't realize it wasn't me until we were living in it and it just felt all wrong! Since that time several years ago I have learned how I like to do white.

White + distressed + grainy natural woods = my kind of white.

Here are a couple tables I recently refinished following my ingeniously mathematical formula... ;)(photographs from our living room, all tables done in Old White by Annie Sloan Chalk Paint)

Harp table with stained wood top

Weathered indoor/outdoor table

Drop-leaf table

All tables have SOLD

Thank you for reading! This week I am working on refinishing my very first wardrobe. Never really been interested in doing wardrobes, but this piece pulled me in the moment I saw it. Pictures at the end of the week, (I hope)!

~Chelsea

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

Spring sale recap

May 6, 2013 Chelsea | StyleMutt Home

We had the most perfect weather on Saturday - and I woke up so grateful to be doing what I do. Grateful for the patience of my family who allows me the time to do this and do it right. Grateful for the support and encouragement of family near and far, good friends, and complete strangers who have stumbled across my business and given the kindest compliments. Grateful for not just the emotional encouragement from my husband but the use of his handy skills. And let me tell ya, he's got mad skills. And so grateful that my loving Father has blessed this business beyond measure and allowed it to prosper over my family.

It's all too much, sometimes. I feel so incredibly blessed.

So Saturday! I opened our garage door on a beautiful Spring day to show and sell the pieces I've been working on over the last few months. It took a while to accumulate the stock I had as working through the winter tends to be slower. Aside from the fact that I lose feeling in my hands after about an hour and a half in a freezing garage, the paint doesn't agree much with the cold weather either and gets goopy. But, I finally had enough pieces for our little garage to handle and set a sale date!

Here are some photos of the day!

I always offer refreshments. I want people to feel right at home when they step inside.:)

I didn't have my lights on during the before sale pics, so I got a quick photo in between customers. The big white lantern was an Ikea accessory that I found at Goodwill! It lit everything up perfectly!

A nod to Derby day

It was a wonderful day. I said goodbye to a few pieces, hello to some good friends, and met a lot of new ones! There are custom orders lined up and appointments scheduled to view the remaining stock of pieces. If you are local and didn't make the sale please contact me and I can send photos of the remaining pieces. Or check back in soon because I am working on filling my Etsy shop with the remaining pieces and will post the link here on the blog once that's ready.

Thanks for reading!

~Chelsea

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

Refinished antique dresser

April 23, 2013 Chelsea | StyleMutt Home

Hi All! I've got a fresh-from-the-garage piece to show you today! It's an antique dresser I spotted at my go-to thrift store recently, (Goodwill off Sterling Road in Sterling, VA). It had beautiful lines to begin with and was set on old casters, so there was no question it was coming home with me. But the layers of what appeared to be paint mixed with some sort of dark wash were not so pretty. Not to mention the veneer. I don't usually think anything of painting over veneer when I'm using chalk paint, because it adheres so well to anything, but the veneer has to be done well. No pulling apart. The veneer on this dresser was in such sad shape, the top surface primarily. So, over the course of 5+ hours I worked on peeling it all up, (see my previous post to learn how). After the veneer demolition, I painted everything, except for the mirror, in Annie Sloan's 'French Linen'. I used very gentle distressing after two coats of paint; just enough to highlight the details and lines of the piece. I really wanted to keep the integrity of this piece in tact, as it is a true antique, so I wanted to keep the makeover simple.

Finished product, ready for a new home!

Really crazy about these details. I knew they'd be fun to play up with a sanding sponge.

The mirror I left in it's original chippy paint/wash. The finish was a mess over the whole piece, but when I removed the mirror and had it by itself...I kind of liked it in a smaller dose.