Thursday, April 21, 2016

vintage lamps and side tables

Recently, I was able to redo some thrifted finds for our living room. I love how they turned out and what they add to our space. It's a huge feat for me to complete any sort of project these days, so that makes this one all the more sweeter.

I found two vintage Ethan Allen side tables which I bought for a total of $25 dollars. Then, I found two vintage metal lamp bases for a total of $20. They were in great need of some care but I loved the size, shape and prices of all these pieces. I knew I could figure out something that would work. I had great success with some products by Amy Howard which I was able to get at CAPPEL'S ACE HARDWARE in West Des Moines.

Here's how the pieces came together...



The tables looked like this before...


The lamps looked like this...


For the tables I went with Amy Howard's One Step Paint in "Ballet White". This is a specialty paint very similar to Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint. No stripping, sanding or priming is required and it has that "chalky" look and feel to it. It was great to work with. Coverage was excellent. I brushed on my usual two coats and then sealed it with Amy Howard's Clear Wax. Glad to find another paint option to work with and her color line is just beautiful. Definitely plan to try some new colors with this line of paint.


I got a recommendation to try Amy Howard's High Performance Furniture Lacquer (a.k.a- spray paint) for my lamps when I was looking for helpful suggestions on Instagram. This spray paint is awesome! I went with "Golden Egg" which is one of her metallic options (several other color options are available). I love the color and the quality of this paint... great new product for me to be able to work with.


Now for my DIY friends, I have a few lamp spray painting tips for you: 

1. Clean your lamp off thoroughly (I just use a little bit of Dawn soap and water).
2. Prep your lamp for being sprayed with paint...

tape off a portion of the cord and then put the rest of the cord in a plastic bag:

then I just tuck a paper towel over the light socket...

3. Prime. This is what I like to use...



4. Spray paint. When priming and spraying the paint here's some recommendations...
 ~have your lamp set up where you can circle around it as your spray
~follow directions on the can for shaking/mixing
~I spray in straight lines going up. Start at the bottom of the lamp and go all the way to the top in one smooth spray. Then slide over a little and start the next smooth line of spray paint going from bottom to top again. Work your way around the lamp in this way. (my husband taught me that trick and it is a great one. you can easily avoid drips doing it that way).
~Light coats and keep moving (I did two coats of the "Golden Egg".
~Allow the recommended dry time between coats

Hope that helps and gives you some ideas on how to fix up those big, ugly thrift store lamps that you want to buy :) Head on over to Cappel's Ace Hardware and get what you need. Tell them that Mimi sent you!
245 50th St. West Des Moines, IA 50265

Thanks for stopping by! 
You can find me on Instagram as m.vintagecharm

Linking To:
The Inspiration Gallery 
Rooted in Thyme 
French Country Cottage 

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

cottage updates and our pine plank floors

It's been such a long time since I last blogged. I wanted to jump in and share some updates on our little country cottage and offer some info on our pine plank floors which I often get asked about. The photos I'm using in this post are the ones I've posted on Instagram. It's just so quick and easy to share on IG so I do a little better over there. Feel free to follow along with me at the_cottager .

Although our home will always be a work in progress... I like how she is coming along. First things first, I purchased the sweetest little tufted sofa. It's the Watkins Sofa from Home Decorators in natural linen. I absolutely love it. It works great in our space.


I wanted to move forward with the sofa and beadboard on the lower level with the money I saved from the two markets I did. It was a good decision. The beadboard is up but still only primed at this point. I can't wait till it's all painted! It will be painted "Westhighland White" like all our doors/trim. I think it's the perfect off white color... not bright white but not cream either. That perfect middle ground. We also decided to go with a different paint color for the main level. I chose "Modern Gray" by Sherwin Williams. I love this color with all the natural light we get in this home. It's beautiful.

Here's a few photos (from warmer days) of our living and dining room...



I love this little french style table that I bought from a local vintage shop, JB Knacker .



Now that we are back to cold winter days... our wood stove is back in use. Brett got the large plank beadboard up on our open staircase wall awhile ago (again only primed at this point). I love how much character and charm it added to our living room space.




For those of you who are wondering about our flooring, here's the info on that. We did pine planks, grade 3 (1x8's) shiplapped. I wanted a whitewash look so we chose Sherwin Williams "Pickled White" oil stain. We brushed on one coat of this and were happy with the look of it.


For the finish... here's what we used. A water based formula was important for us to minimize the "yellowing effect". We did two coats of this finish.


We are really happy with how they turned out. They have a great rustic farmhouse feel to them. Pine is a soft wood so the wear and tear is just part of the look and it's really cost effective as far as flooring goes. Hope that helps.

So, I guess we are making some progress over here :) Home sweet home... we are so thankful for this little place. Oh how I wish we could plow ahead with many more projects but life is demanding right now. Here's one more photo... the last one I took of our dining area shortly after Christmas...