Feeling Rich Friday

Boxes make me feel rich.  I love boxes - in particular wooden boxes.  When I was a little girl I had a dark mahogany "treasure" box.  It was the perfect size for keeping letters, cards, and pictures.  I'm not sure what happened to that box and I think I've been trying to replace it my entire life.

Finally I started to rescue boxes.  Some I left beat up, but most got a pretty good reworking.  Sanding, painting, gluing, nailing and re-lining. When they threatened to take over the house, I started to sell them and discovered lots of people love boxes to hold their little treasures. 

This little guy never made it to the sale shelf. He was just so sweet and perfectly shabby.  When I started working on him (some are girls, some are boys), he literally fell apart.  I glued, clamped and added screws. Now he's in tip-top shape.

I left his inside unlined because his overall design is a bit primitive. This picture really shows his "true colors"... The first two pictures are sort of dark.

I love the flower on top. So Victorian...

Now the "in process" boxes threaten to take over the house. These morphed out of my office/workshop because that room is full of the ornaments I'm working on for Christmas.  Yep - that's my buffet in the dining room.  Usually they're on the dining room table and we just eat around them.  Gives the concept of  tablescape a whole new meaning...  I do insist that we use placemats on top of the paint spattered garbage bag. Have to maintain some class, doncha know!

Speaking of Christmas, Gina over at The Shabby Chic Cottage is having a BIG deal Christmas show and I'M GOING TO BE IN IT.  Oooops - didn't mean to shout but I'm soooooo excited!

If you missed this office transformation by Sherry over at Creations from the Heart, do yourself a favor and take a gander.  It is outstanding!  She was part of Gina's Transformation Thursday. 

What is Shabby Chic?

It might be easier to tell you what this style of decorating is not. It's not clutter and filling every square inch with "stuff." The original Shabby Chic Style was a brain child of Rachel Ashwell and was completely clutter-free, to the point of being almost bare. It relied on "found" objects and furniture and simplicity.

Somehow or another this has morphed into some sort of hybrid combination of Country French, Victorian, and only the good Lord knows what else.

I've actually seen worse than the picture below, which is enough to make your eyes bleed and your nose run from the dust that is no doubt trapped in the folds of all that fabric.

Warning: Scary picture. If you suffer from asthma, DO NOT LOOK!



The pictures that follow more closely resemble what Rachel had in mind. There is a calmness to the rooms. This style lends itself to many color schemes, not just white or gray.

Notice no sofa in the room above? Interesting...

I would have to move that curvy little table to the side of the sofa (where I suspect it usually lives when the room is not being "staged" for a photo.) It is quite similar to my table that is on its way to a date with a can of paint!
I love this kitchen eating and prep area above. I think it is a close to perfection as you can get. (MM - you must admit the table has a sense of history and charm. It wouldn't look right with a fresh coat of paint.)
In this room I would have to switch out those armless chairs for similar ones with arms. They simply do not look comfortable.

Shabby Chic Night Stand

When it comes to furniture, I am probably one of the cheapest peeps on the face of the earth. When I hear people talk about 2 or 3 thousand for a sofa, my airwaves constrict and my heart races.

When I stumbled on this humble (but very, very nice) ugly end table for $8.00, I snatched it up. I made sure the drawer worked well and the legs were tight. Both are important to me as I don't like "fixing" furniture - I only like slapping paint on it. This piece was as tight as brand new.

I took a before picture but it seems to have disappeared so you'll have to take my word that the table was ugly. Very ugly. It had a scarred and cracked finish in a nondescript wood color they were so fond of doing years ago.

I like the Shabby Chic look. It seems to give a piece a sense of history. My husband hates it. Oh well. The world is definitely divided between these polar opposites. Since the table was next to my side of the bed he just rolled his eyes and left the room.

I took the hardware off the table which is a HUGE step up for me. I used to just try and paint around a drawer pull or hinge because I was too impatient to remove them. Sooooo typical ADD!!

I quickly ran the palm sander over the top surfaces. My new palm sander, a gift from hubby, has a little dust bag attached. Approximate time: 5 minutes

Next I slapped on a coat of primer. Approximate time: 10 minutes



After a couple coats of Country White semi-gloss paint and applying two water slide decals of flowers, I headed outside with my cordless Dremel tool, another gift from my husband. Paint application approximate time investment: 20 minutes


I ran the Dremel Tool around the edges approximating natural wear. I don't over-do this step. I've seen some Shabby Chic pieces that look like they have a terminal case of the pox. Not cool IMHO. Approximate time: 5 minutes

Close up of decal (be sure and slap sealer on any decals you use)


Check out what my friend Jennifer did with a very, very cool $5.00 table

And don't miss this post from Wendy over at the Shabby Nest. More about the wonders of white paint!