PROJECT ANNOUNCEMENTS - lookbook launch and more

I used my creative skills for the fall launch

of Janome Canada's next machine series.

It is called the M series and the machine is 

designed for all the MAKERS out there.

The LOOKBOOK for the launch has been

released and inside you get to see pages of 

creative ideas from Canadian artists including

several of my projects. I was tasked with

repurposing everyday items for use in a 

MAKER's space. Come check it out!

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PAINTING A COUNTRY DESK - white & grey

Last time I showed how to change the style of a

piece of furniture with trim and appliques but

there is something simpler to use as well. A

new coat of paint has such a strong ability to
change the look of old things. It can breath

new life into a something you wanted to throw

away and create a completely different style.

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CHANGING THE STYLE OF A DRESSER - chest dresser

I run across many dressers from this era but this
pieces was one of the nicer ones. It was made with
real solid wood, top to bottom. MDF is usually hidden
somewhere in most pieces of furniture built after 1968.

I knew I could take this COLONIAL style and work
some magic on it to get a nice COTTAGE feel in the end.

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TIPS FOR A SMOOTH PAINT FINISH - using annie sloan chalk paint

Anyone who owns a piece of my work

or has visited and touched the finish on my

furniture usually comments about how smooth

it is. There are many different things you can

do to get a smoother ASCP paint finish when

using a brush and I am sharing some of 

the secrets I use.

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NINE DRAWER DRESSER MAKEOVER - inside and out

I've been enjoying my summer holidays more than usual.

We took off early in the season to visit with GG's family

and once we returned home I spent more time relaxing.

The school year is going to be here soon and with that will

come the falling leaves and the need to get back to work. I 

have already started with a big shabby chic makeover.

Take a look and see what you think.

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PAINTING PLYWOOD FURNITURE - rustic red dresser

Have you ever seen a piece of bedroom furniture

made from plywood? There are lots of them out

there and they are probably home made by someone's

dad or grandfather back in the day. Plywood is great

to work with because it is super strong and you can

treat it just like solid wood, but have you ever wondered

how to paint it???

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MY FRENCH COUNTRY BEDROOM - no sew bed skirt

Two more areas of our new French Country
bedroom I haven't shared yet are GG's bedside
and the bed itself. This room is all about using
unique found pieces I love to make an oasis.
I have also offered an insight to how I built
our bed.

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YARD SALE MAKEOVERS - before & afters

This spring we had a yard sale to clear out many

pieces of great furniture that were not going to get

the attention they needed from me. I have a few

kind ppl who have sent photos back of the

makeovers they performed on the treasured
pieces they found at my yard sale.

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ANTIQUE WALL HOOKS - more bedroom reveal

Sometimes I look at other blogs and see photos of
beautiful homes that make me question if they are
real or not. I wonder how could I ever achieve that.
The finishes cost a fortune and my fortune is
dedicated to more personal things like groceries.
I bet many of you also feel the same way. I hope
when I offer tips and decor photos that it feels
more doable and affordable.

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JACK & JILL FARMHOUSE STYLE - burlap nightsands

I purchased a pair of pretty classy
late 1960's nightstands only
to find out one was a knockoff.

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SOFA TABLES - building and altering a table

GG started to question me right after I stopped to pick these
awesome wood things up off the roadside. They were heavy
bed posts that I knew I could use but in that very moment I
wasn't sure what my plan was. So I made up a cute story about
turning them into lamps and he was content at that. Conclusion,
even the most supportive partners still needs reassurance that the
junk coming home with them will be used one day. So girls
be as creative with your stories as you are with your projects.

Now let me show you what I did with them.

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A BENCH MADE FROM CHAIRS - turquoise & pine

If you are thinking of creating a bench from

a pair of chairs I'm here to offer a tip or two

on how it can be done easy by steering you

in the right direction.

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USING APPLIQUES ON FURNITURE - rustic french bedsides

There they were sitting one on top of the other on

the side of the street, two little wood boxes covered in

banged up black paint. I was heading the opposite direction

when I first saw them and had to make a uturn to get

back to them. Destined for the landfill yet made of wood

they had to be saved. Each had a drawer and an open space,

to display cherished things. They had great bones for

upcycling into something new but I would need some

other important pieces to transform their look completely.

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NORTHUMBERLAND BATH CABINET - repurposed glass door

One warm spring evening I was inspired as I passed by

a salvaged glass door I had leaned against the boxwood

hedge. It had been pulled out of storage while I was

looking for something earlier in the day. It came from

a weather beaten mahogany cabinet I found years ago

that was only good as parts for other projects. I wanted

to start creating something around this lonely pane of

glass right away. 

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FRENCH BEDSIDES - removing nails

Once upon a time someone spent time and money

to build this little black cabinet, and actually they

built a pair of them. They were definitely built to

last however I thought they could benefit from

some improvements. A color change for sure,

maybe add some interest on the drawer, and

potentially lift them up higher with new legs.

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BEDROOM CORNER - Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful woman who inspire,
nurture, and go way beyond. Today is the day you should do
NOTHING. Rest, relax, rejuvenate, and relinquish the reigns
to someone else today and see if the world does explode.

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FREE to FLEA MARKET CHIC - big cabinet makeover

A wonderful friend of mine picked up a roadside

treasure and stored it for me in her garage for a few

weeks. What I wouldn't give to have a garage of my

own, anyways back to the story. Once I had the extra

space she then delivered it all the way to my place. Gotta

love friends like this. She had sent me a photo when she

first found it but I had forgotten what it looked like. Upon

opening the back of her truck I became speechless ...

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BIG BEAUTIFUL BEDSIDE

This has been my bedside cabinet for years and

there is a boy version to match it for the other

side of the bed. It was a short, dark, typical

furniture outlet piece before I gave it a complete

makeover. It has been photographed a lot and is

pretty famous on Pinterest but there is one

important piece of information I haven't

mentioned for those wanting their very own.

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MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL- my french mirror

I really do love mirrors, I have always had a large number

of them in my home. I think it is an affordable way to decorate

and easy for many people to do. Art can be tricky but anyone

can hang a mirror. My french trumeau mirror has to be 

my favorite of all time. I always smile when I look at it, I

fiercely protect it when anything big is moving near it,

and when it had no place to hang I made sure there was

somewhere to keep it safe.

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KITCHEN REVEAL

Over the last little while I have rediscovered a few areas

in our home and the kitchen is one of the spots I have

focused on. I have also never really done a true reveal 

on this room so it's about time. It all started with a new

set of shelves and spilled over to refinishing the fridge

and even GG's coffee station got a makeover. I'm super

happy with the new look and now it's time to share our

little piece of heaven with you.

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FARMHOUSE WALL ART - easy tutorial

Today is my birthday as well as Good Friday and to celebrate
I thought I would share an easy project for your weekend.
I was browsing some graphics recently for an empty frame

I wanted to fill and I printed off this vintage cow image from

The Graphics Fairy. I did not end up choosing the image for

that project but this picture stuck with me and I wanted to see

it on the wall somewhere. After all was said and done I

made a few neat pieces of farmhouse art using animal
graphics and I took photos while i created one of them
to share with you.

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SMALL DETAILS OF DECORATING - electrical plates

My home is about bringing together unique worn white

finishes with vintage charm that remind me of simpler

times. A place we always want to retreat to and spend

time together. Vintage switch plates have definitely helped

me create that feeling in our decor. They have won my

heart and have such excellent vintage character they

added a special touch in many rooms around my

home. I have them strategically placed only where

we will see and enjoy them, I don't hide them behind

furniture. Take a look at some of these photos of our

electrical plates to see where they get used and you just

might see a few new angles of our home you were not

familiar with.

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SPRING BLOSSOM VIGNETTE

Last week the trees were all blooming

with tons of flowers and I figured it was

about time to cut some and build a spring

vignette for myself and shoot some photos

of a "new to me" piece of furniture.

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HOW TO MAKE ROADSIDE FURNITURE FABULOUS

I really did name this blog because
I do love working with wood. And
even more I love saving broken down
wood furniture from the landfill. Come
and see how I used these two roadside finds
to create one fabulous piece of furniture.

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REMOVING WATER MARKS, ADDING APPLIQUES, & CHANGING HARDWARE

I'm sharing with you how a simple three drawer dresser

gets a complete makeover in my house. Everything from
a new color and hardware to appliques and how to remove
white water marks from the top surface.

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PAINTING MY FRIDGE - with annie sloan chalk paint

The day has finally arrived and the fridge is finished.

It didn't cost a lot but did become a bit time consuming.

I was just trying to solve a few small problems and for

me it escalated into something bigger. If you have restraint

it definitely could go quicker for you.

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RECYCLED TIERED STAND - tips & inspiration

 

It doesn't matter if you stop in to a thrift store once a year or

once a week the abundance of metal kitchen ware is huge. I 

have been picking up interesting metal kitchen pieces for 

years and adding them to a box I call parts. In that box, I

collect all the bits needed to make recycled tiered stands.

Let me show you some of the ones I have made and offer 

some valuable tips for building your own.

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COLONEL MUSTARD DID IT - reclaiming a teenagers bedframe

Colonel Mustard did

it with the knife in

the board room!

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ANTIQUE SHOE CABINET - curved glass

Passed on to me from someone who knows what I
do, I was super excited the day I loaded this cabinet
into my truck. I have always wanted to makeover
one of these cabinets. Little did I know so much
time would pass before I could get started on it.

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LIGHT FIXTURE & ELECTRICAL PLATES

This light fixture in my showroom looks great

now but it took a long time figuring out how to
get it to look this good. I had found and bought
many different fixtures to dress it up but nothing
work right until I thought outside the box and
found this crystal thing-a-ma-jig at a yard sale.

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THE FRENCH SIDE TABLE - made with long legs

Happy New Year!

GG and I enjoyed our Christmas with my family again this

year, unfortunately we don't get to spend anytime with his

family and grandchildren on the east coast. We do have plans

to see them again this summer, but for now it is time to get

back to work and focus on planning that trip. One week into

2016 and I have a new project finished and ready to share with

you, a french side table I built.

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PAPER CONE WREATH - tutorial

This is a great project for some spare time 

on the weekend or a project to build with a 

friend.

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OLD HARDWARE FIND IN A SMALL TOWN BASEMENT - bedside cabinets

I found these handles in a home in a small Eastern

Canadian town. I was helping out by upgrading

some existing hardware on the main floor of the 

home and had spied these while I was looking 

for a tool in the basement. The cabinet they were

on was old and not being use. The handles were

bent and damaged and some falling apart. When

everything was all said and done I was more

than happy to get these handles in exchange for

the work I had done.

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2015 Christmas Decor

It seems over the last while we have had one wind storm

after another and as a result there have been a ton of power

and utility outages all over the area. We have endured a few

of these outages and I find myself choosing to do some

more holiday decorating or worse yet REDECORATING

what I already did. Please enjoy some of the photos of our

Christmas decor ... 

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LIL SHABBY CHIC HALL CABINET - IG and portuguese marble

4 the love of WOOD is now on Instagram but

the link has not been updated on the blog.

Some of you know what IG is and others have

only heard of it. I was asked by more and more

people to try it and a few weeks ago I started to

get the hang of it. I like it because it is actually

simpler to follow others on-line and quicker

for me to post quick pics right from my phone.

For those looking to follow on IG the ID is

@4_the_love_wood   

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EASY HOW TO MINI WREATHS FOR YOUR HOME - tutorial

THIS TUTORIAL IS UNIQUE BECAUSE I DO

NOT USE A WIRE FRAME TO BUILD ON

RATHER I USE THE EVERGREEN ITSELF.

AND I ONLY USE SOME WIRE AND A PAIR

OF ALL PURPOSE CUTTERS.

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VINTAGE DESK in VINTAGE TURQUOISE - annie sloan painted desk

All of the Annie Sloan paint colors have a high volume of

pigment in them, this is 1 reason it can be used to dye fabric.

The vintage color on this project to the left was mixed using

AS paint. The AS color Florence, a super rich aqua green is

an amazing ingredient to have on hand when playing with 

color mixes. To achieve this mix it only took a few drops

of Florence in white to achieve this soft turquoise.

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HOW TO CUT KNOBS SHORTER

These days there are tons of choices in pretty

knobs to use in our homes but what or how do

you deal with the extra long post they have

sticking out of the back?  It is there to help

everyone install the knobs on just about any

cabinet but a lot of the time they are way too

long for normal use. 

This is an article to help you deal with that problem.

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MARKET WEEKEND - the Olde Farmhouse

This Saturday and Sunday Nov. 14 & 15 is the Olde
Farmhouse market in Abbotsford and I will be there
visiting and shopping. Last week's market in Fort
Langley was a handful with a huge wind & rain
storm putting a damper on every aspect. I was
straddling a pool of water in my booth while smiling
and wrapping up purchases. The weather for this
weekend does call for some rain but I think it is going
to be so much fun. I have even heard the booth set-ups
are outstanding. Christmas here we come!

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MARKET PHOTOS - deja vu

The Deja Vu market that was held in North Vancouver

last weekend was great. There were a steady stream

of customers coming through the door. People were 

snapping up treasures in every booth. And the selection

of vendors was perfect, everything from baked goods

to vintage oil cans, all manor of reclaimed furniture

and custom made spool clocks. Here are just a few

photos I took while shopping and I have included a

ton of valuable links along with them.

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FURNITURE REPURPOSING - behind the scenes

While I'm under the weather and resting I thought

I would share some behind the scenes photos from

a past project that just might get you kick started on

your own repurposing projects or at least get you

thinking ....

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A LITTLE REST

I do not have a lot to update you on the goings on 

around here as I have been under the weather since

early this week. Flu & fever has now turned into

a nasty head cold but I am getting much needed 

bed rest and lots of time flipping through my

decorating mags.

SHORT VANITY TURNED INTO A COFFEE TABLE - inspiration

This article is about how this stylish

coffee table was re-inventing using a very

short and very vintage dressing vanity.

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WHERE TO FIND FURNITURE LEGS - distressed white nightstands

Where do you find furniture legs?

Antique stores sometimes have metal and wood legs to buy.

My Restore has even had a bin of furniture legs available to

purchase. During clean up week George, my GF, and I have

taken legs off several wingback chairs. George found legs

attached to a wet road side sofa and managed to cram it into

the van. The wet sofa has to be taken to the landfill but for that

fee I get some nice legs. I have bought many bargain coffee tables

with great legs at yard sales. A little deconstruction and VOILA.

Not everyone has a big vehicle to pick up road side finds or can

carry a saw in their vehicle *just in case*. The legs I got for this

nightstand project came from a very simple place that anyone

can handle.

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VINTAGE BOTTLE LABELS

I bought this pair of old bottles with the french labels

attached at a vintage market awhile ago. The seller had 

printed the labels on a home PC and glued them on the 

bottles. I love the bottles and the labels but recently

I moved them into the bathroom. The shower steam 

started to make the paper bubble and wave, looking

more shabby than chic, so I fixed them ...

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THE ALICE DRESSER REVEAL - with a fix it tip and tool suggestion

I've used a lot of power drivers in my time but the one I use now has

been my favorite for years. I first saw it in use when I was working on

a site job 6 years ago. The electrician had it and I immediately asked

about it. It is a cordless rechargeable tool that is super light weight and

has the power I need for most jobs. When I got home I bought one and

a year later I bought a second one I was so impressed. I've included a

photo of it in this post, you may just want one yourself once you see it.

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REPURPOSE A DESK INTO BEDSIDES - 3 drawer bedside cabinets

I found a solid wood desk on the roadside the day after we got

home from holidays. It was a perfect WELCOME HOME sign!!!

I would not have found it if we didn't have to go back to the airport.

When we arrived home from our vacation our luggage did not 

arrive with us. Through the window we had seen our bags did not

make it onto our plane, so we asked the flight attendant how that

all works and he explained the baggage will take the next flight. 

Our flight only flies into our home airport once a day so the next

morning we arrived back at the airport and there was our luggage

coming off the next flight. I hope sharing this info might help some

of you feel better if you see your luggage left behind. 

Now onto the beat up desk project ....

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THE ASPEN SIDEBOARD & APPLIQUES

I found an amazing sideboard before we left on holidays.

It was also amazingly expensive but I wanted to work

with it. It would be just like me to start a dozen projects

before going on vacation and that is exactly what I did.

So now that I'm back home I've been cleaning up all the

projects I started. Next on the list was to finish the 

ASPEN SIDEBOARD ....

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MY SUITCASES & A CABINET REVEAL

SMALL SPACE TIP:

My mother has always used old suitcases to store all

sorts of things, and the smaller ones are very useful in

tight homes like mine. I don't have a lot of them myself

but I do use everyone I have. I store favorite magazines

in one and books in another. I have all the glitter and 

glue for Christmas projects in a third. All my packing

stuff for shipping is kept in a fourth one. I like using

them because I can easily grab the one I need and take

it to wherever I am working. When you stack them like 

I have done they work well as a side table and it looks

pretty cool too.

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INSPIRED CABINET - with lion hardware

With having a vacation under my belt,
great weather, and an unexpected large purchase
coming soon I have been working up a storm
getting all sorts of projects finished. Today's
reveal is a piece I painted a long time ago and
has been waiting for the right inspiration to finish.

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