pink hutch and a little - er, big OOPS!!!!

 adventures in furniture painting has been so fun thus far, i get to paint and glaze and distress and make people happy with their old worn out furniture again! but this is another story...so i was commissioned to paint this beautiful hutch PINK! i love pink and yet, i have never painted a piece of furniture pink for a client, well that day finally came and i was so excited. so we picked up the piece and a few days later i got to work sanding & priming. then it started to rain here. and it didn't really let up or warm up enough for me to paint outside, and this piece was too big to bring inside. it rained and rained and rained! so finally, it stopped and was able to get the pink paint sprayed on, then it rained some MORE!  so after about a week, i got to work distressing and glazing and hand painting roses on the hutch. finally it was done! i never take this long to do a piece but, the weather was not cooperating! so anyway, it was time to deliver on sat. so we were loading up the piece on fri nite and (insert suspenseful music HERE) , BOOM!!!!!! It fell to the ground like a ton of bricks!   my hubby accidentally dropped it! it was REALLY HEAVY! so, we picked it all up, as it was now in pieces, and the next day he re glued everything and this week i'll be working some painterly magic on it! hubby apologized profusely and i accepted, and told him, these things happen. as long a he can fix it there's no problem. i guess it had to happen eventually, we've move so much furniture in the last 7 months it was bound to happen eventually! thank goodness my hubby is handy w/ the wood and wood glue! it's all fixed and as soon as it's re painted you'll never know the difference. of course, i had to tell my client, but she's a sweet understanding christian lady and took it in stride. thank you all for listening to me ramble on, but i thought i had to share what goes on in the real life of a business! until next time,  keep creating!
~decorating diva aka damaging diva!

a little cabinet make over

today i'm going to share a little cabinet make over from a few months ago. i got this cabinet from my neighbors, they were getting new furniture so they put several pieces out on the curb w/ a free sign on them. my hubby saw that and came and told me straight away. we grabbed the hand truck and proceeded to take it ALL!!! i still have 3 of the pieces in my home. a couple items like 2 night stands and a dresser went to the kids rooms and didn't make it out alive.:( sad too, cuz they were that french provincial style that we all know and love, but none the less flimsy. anyway, i digress- the piece i am sharing today is one that resides in my dining "room" to hold all of the kids craft/school supplies and our phone books. it is a great storage piece. when i got it about 6-7 years ago it was a dark wood tone w/ a weird eagle design in gold. i wish i had pics, but that was waaay b4 blogging entered my life! so i painted it a peachy color and hand painted vines and flowers on it. i left it that way until just recently in dec. i was changing my house to incorporate some blues. at that point i decided to make it over w/ some paint i got at the ReStore. then i glazed her w/ R.L. tea stained tinted glaze. i've kept the original handles all this time. i like to use original hardware whenever i can. a) it saves $$$, b) it usually goes with the piece because it was what was on it when built so it goes w/ the style and lines of the piece. that is not to say i don't ever change hardware, sometimes the hardware is too ugly to keep and sometimes i just want to give the piece a new look entirely and that can be achieved easily with hardware. i really like how it turned out, definitely a simpler version for me. what do think??? (linking to these fine parties: 

Cawffee {table} tawk

ok girls, can we tawk? about my cawfee table(S)? i love this one, it has a glass top {which can be a plus and a minus!}, it also has caning on the bottom shelf {which i love}, it's curvy {like me!} and kinda frenchy too! and then there's this one, it's creamy and longer so we can put our tootsies up from anywhere on the couch {big plus}, and it has cute doors w/ shabby chic rose appliques, and hidden storage {which is great to stuff things in when you get a call that someone is stopping by and you need to put on the"fake house", not that I ever do that!} so as you can see they both have some great qualities. so now i have to choose one, cuz hubby said i'm supposed to SELL this stuff, not MOVE IN with it! so what do you think? which one should stay and which one should i sell??? thanks for weighing in and listening to me tawk!
{EDITED TO ADD: My friend Victoria had a great point, the one w/ the glass top would sell faster because it's the more popular one! also, Hubby was not too happy when he got home and i had moved the curvy one back into it's spot and put the long one aside to take to the store on Wed....I have to figure this out by Wednesday!!! Uggghhhh! Still confused in Clovis:)}

{EDITED TO ADD {AGAIN!} : The longer table now sits in my booth at the store! I made the tough decision, now let's hope it sells! THANKS FOR ALL OF YOUR INPUT AND TIME, I REALLY APPRECIATE IT!}

I'm Baaaack!!!!

hello friends! i'm back from a mini blog hiatus! i've just been so busy w/ getting moved in{to my booth} and painting and the goings on of everyday life, that i had to take a little break from the blog. but i'm back now and i have some pics to share w/ you of my booth in the store i just moved into! so far it's going great- i sold a sign my 2nd day and i love my co-workers and the owner of the store. it's been nothing but a pleasure and a blessing! tyG!!!! also, i will show you this dresser that i posted about earlier,that was on my to-do list! i got it off of craig's list for FREE!!!! it was dirty, smelly and was in need of some PAINT! but- it had these beautiful original carved knobs and a cute shape, so i was ready to take it on. i wanted a special blue color- that i didn't have...so i mixed up 4 colors i already had and wa-lah! i call it dusty peacock:). she's in the store now, waiting for a new home. my problem is , i want to keep everything i paint! but hubby puts a stop to that! he's very supportive of me/him dragging all my stray furniture home to paint and lovingly restore...as long as it leaves in a reasonable amount of time! well, that's all for now- but i promise not to be gone so long this time! i have some more craig's list finds to share w/ you! until then keep creating!!!

hi my name is Decorating Diva...and i'm a copycat. {story of a headboard}

hi friends,
i'm just going to say it- i have confession to make- i'm a copycat {meow}! when i SEE something i like, i might have to copy it- but only because the original is so lovely, or cute or too expensive for me. in this case it's all about the loveliness Lindy created over at Cottage Hill. she made this exquisite head board out of PLYWOOD people! PLYWOOD! i would never have guessed when i saw the pics, that it was plywood! she did a fantastic job and if you have never been to her blog, please go check it out, she is very talented! she is also hosting a giveaway of one of her very own paintings, visit her to see how you can enter to win! so, i already had a little full size head board {before}

so i decided to paint it black and try my hand at her design. i emailed her to show her how i'm a copycat and she very graciously complimented my version. i asked her if i could do a post about the headboard and she again was gracious! so please go visit her blog- because she deserves all the credit for this one!Thanks Lindy of Cottage Hill! have a great week and keep creating!

new old bookcase

hello all, hope you're having a productive week! i sure am! so far this week, i've painted a lamp, recovered a shade for that lamp, painted a night stand, a round dining table and this bookcase. for now that's all i'm gonna show you! the others will come later:). this bookcase was given to me by my mil. and it has seen several coats of paint in several colors. when i got it i painted it green, then later i painted it my fave white, tiramisu. and put scrapbooking paper on the back wall of it. you can see that version here. so after i made my hutch, which you can see here. i had to move the bookcase out. so i repainted it tiramisu and then stenciled it w/ paint i mixed (black and brown). i just love this stencil, it's my sister K's. she once had it in her living room on one wall w/ a tone on tone golden yellow color. it was so pretty! anyway, i just love how this turned out! :) thanks for visiting, i will be linking up to some of the thursday, friday, sat., sun. link parties on my sidebar. please go take a look at what everyone has been up to! thanks again! have a creative weekend!

put it together!

hi everyone! sorry i've been away for a little bit! it's summer and it's go-go-go with the kiddo's these days! i've still been doing little projects here and there, but today i finished something that i really think turned out better than i anticipated. i'm not methodical, nor am i a big planner when it comes to creating or decorating. i just usually come up w/ an idea and run w/ it. hoping all the while that it'll work out! and if i run into technical difficulties i bring in the big guns, aka hubby ;) ! but today i did it w/o my hubby! i got this hutch top from my sister and bro-in-law. her hubby brought it home from a trash pile, but they didn't end up using it-much to my delight! so i brought it home and everyone that saw it tried to get it out of my hot little paint stained hands! but i held firm, knowing i love it and could do something w/ it. i thought all i needed was a base for it to rest upon. i figured something would come my way eventually, but i didn't have to wait for eventually! i was so eager to put this little honey to use that i started measuring all the dressers and such around and in my home. nothing was big enough until...i was outside one day and measured this cabinet i have outside under the kitchen window, it was serving as a buffet for when we entertain outside and also held outdoor necessities. it was also in my sons room at one time and held his toys and books and whatnot. we got it from the neighbors, they were getting rid of about 5 pieces of furniture (for free, on the sidewalk) and i took them all! anyway.... it fit the bill for the detached hutch top i had! yay! so i spray painted the hutch top w/ heirloom white,sorry i forgot to take a good b4 pic! then i had the task of making a door for the base cab. it had been missing one for years, while it was outside i had a little curtain covering the hole where the door should be. but now with it being reborn into a proper hutch duo, it needed a proper door! so i found a piece of wood, cut it to size, sanded the edges, added some bead board and an old frame i had lying around (i have a frame collecting sickness!) nailed them to the piece of wood and hung them on the cabinet w/ the original hardware! i save all the hardware from anything and everything and it really comes in handy! i did not have the original knob to that door though, it was missing when i got it, so i had to improvise. i had one vintage crystal knob( left over from an old desk i disassembled a while ago) and this old metal thingy that was a candle holder when i bought it, but the glass broke, so i put it on the knob screwy thing first and the attached the crystal knob. i took out this old book case and moved my lovely new hutch in! whew, i am wordy tonite! i guess i'm in detail mode- anyway!!!! i screwed the top to the bottom and wah-lah!!! my first HUTCH!!! i think i really like it! i decorated it w/ some plates,family photos,bird houses and this cool wood cut out thing i got at a yard sale for a buck! i like to sprinkle a few dark things around the house because i tend to go pretty light w/ everything else, it helps it not to get so light that everything floats away :) ! i'll be linking up to many of the parties on my sidebar so please go check out what everyone is up to! and thanks for visiting me! please leave a comment so i know you stopped by! have a fabulous week creating!

soon to be transformed...

LOOK at all the work i have ahead of me! i have recently been acquiring furniture and such to paint and sell. up till now i have just let work come to me little by little. but now I'm ready to get serious about what i love-decorative painting and furniture makeovers! i'll be advertising on Craig's list for now (cuz it's free) and I'll be looking into creating a website for my finished pieces and maybe some unfinished ones, so clients can choose their own finish. i will also offer services to make over YOUR existing pieces. i am very excited and nervous about this new venture in my life and i hope i can build a successful business that will bring joy to people with something as simple as a perfectly painted table or dresser. i also want to do this for my family and our financial NEED to get out of debt!!! so any prayers are appreciated! and this is just the tip of the iceburg of what i have to paint. so excited to create! i hope this works! "i can do all things thru Christ who strengthens me." Phillipians 4:13
thanks for listening to me ramble on about this:) i'm linking to transformation thursday @ the shabby chic cottage:)
this is a night stand that goes w/ the matching dresser above

isn't she a beaut' you'll see what i have up my sleeve for this {ugly} lamp!

freebie off of craig's list-the carved knobs are de-lish!!! i can't wait to paint this!