The Vintage Wardrobe

Quite a few months ago, we picked up this piece from a guy out in Brantford who runs a business buying and selling on Kijiji.  Originally I thought it was spectacular.  As time went, I just couldn't envision the finish I wanted on it, so in the garage it sat.  And sat.

Side-of-the-road find

 Right before Christmas, Mark came home from work with this piece in his truck.  I know it looks gorgeous now, but it didn't then.  For some reason, I still have a hard time envisioning what the finished product will look like.

Coolest Christmas Present EVER!

We spend every Christmas Eve with Mark's family.  We make a day of it - we drive to Bowmanville in the morning, and spend the day going for walks down by the creek, knitting, caring for babies, playing with children, and doing all sorts of lovely relaxing things.  Our family is very warm and welcoming, and a fun part of Christmas with the Vanderherberg's, is that there are usually guests.  It's such fun to spend it with others who may be a long ways from home, or may not have family members to spend Christmas Eve with.

 I must apologize.  It's been far too long since I've written a blog post.  Well, this weekend as I got hit by a nasty flu, Mark once again picked up a paint brush and accomplished a few projects that we had sitting in the garage.

Cotui Craft Fair - Sneak Peak

On Saturday, our church is hosting a fundraiser for the church we partner with in Cotui, Dominican Republic.  We are having a craft sale, and they asked the artisans of the church to set up tables to sell their wares to help raise funds.

Grey Bird Dresser

 This weeks project was an antique dresser I picked up at an auction a few months ago.  Between doing some Christmas baking, playing with my new laundry machine and caring for two teething babies, I squeeked in some time for it.  I painted it a colour called "Nimbus Cloud" by Martha Stewart, and added a little decal on the front.

Antique Dresser Video

Today I refinished this charming antique dresser.  While I did so, I created a video tutorial on working with milk paint.  If you're considering trying milk paint for the first time, this is an excellent how-to guide that will hopefully make your experience easy and successful. 

Dining Room Reveal

    We re-did our dinning room a few weeks back, but I haven't had a chance to show it off - mostly because I haven't had time to give it a proper cleaning.  Well, this weekend all of my sister-in-laws are coming down so it was a good excuse to spend some time making the room pretty.

'French Enamel' by Miss Mustard Seed

 Today I was stuck sick on my couch.  My loving husband took the day off to help me with the babies, and do my usual daily grind.  He told me that if he was going to stay home, he wanted to work on a project.  I thought that was an O.K. compromise :)

Life With Twins

I don't typically write posts about my personal life.  Mostly because I don't think most will find it very exciting.  But as many of you know, in June of this year, Mark and I brought home our firstborn identical twin daughters - Caroline and Hannah. 

Antique Side-By-Side

 This was my last 2 days project.  I have had this piece sitting in my garage for the past 6 months.  I picked it up from someone in Simcoe.  At the time, I was so excited to finish it, and then I just never got around to it!  Well, here's the finished product!

Miss Mustard Seed's 'Grain Sack'

Today I found that my local Home Hardware, where I purchase all my milk paint, now carries Miss Mustard Seed's milk paint line.  For those of you who don't know who Miss Mustard Seed is, she's who I aspire to be.  She owns a store, writes for HGTV, has a kick-ass blog, wrote a book, and just recently created her own line of paint.  All based around painting furniture.  Yes, she's my hero!

Painting over milk paint

The other day I had a request to change the colour on a hutch I had previously painted.  This was the piece that was in the magazine feature, and the customer wanted the exact hutch in a slightly off-white.  Despite our attempts to get her interested in another similar un-painted hutch, she was relentless.  So, I brought it into my garage and got started.

Barnboard Sign DIY

 This weekend I made a sign for my weekend out of an old plank of wood we found on the side of the road.  It was a project I completed for my newly decorated dining room.  I found an adorable green vintage clock at an auction, and found a larger replica at Ikea in the exact same colour.  So fun!  Below is a tutorial on how to do your own sign printing.

Milk Painted Piano

Today I painted my piano.  I'm working on redecorating my dining room, and this beastly piano was just so very unsightly.  So I thought, I paint everything else, why not the piano?  I mixed up some Homestead Blue milk paint, and away we went.

At Home Magazine Feature

Today I decided to go to my Mom's house for the day, just to have an extra set of hands to help hold my babies.  When I came, I noticed this magazine on her coffee table, and I began to flip through it.  Before long, I stumbled upon a feature done on the store, "Pure".  I supply a lot of furniture to them.  And would you know, one of my hutches made it into the magazine!  I am so totally honored to be a part of this feature.

Weekend in Ottawa

 This weekend we embarked on a trip to Ottawa to visit my sister Alicia, her husband Carl and their little guy Ethan.


 It was Ethan's first birthday and dedication.  We had a lovely weekend in their beautiful home.  We brought with us a hutch that we did for them.  It looked so stunning in their living room, that I had to take a few pictures.  I typically only see my handiwork in our garage, so it was fun to see it all set up and decorated.

Baby Room on a Budget

So we have finally finished the baby room.  When we moved into our house, this room was used as an office.  Pretty drab and boring.  Our budget was small (er, very small), so we did our best to transform the space into something cozy and bright.  I didn't want a room that was pink and tacky, so we went with soft, muted tones...

Our Vintage Trailer

Exterior Before

Exterior After

After a summer of renovating, Andrea and I have finally finished our 1976 vintage trailer.  It was a long summer of ripping out paneling, trying to locate those awful leaks, and painting to our heart's content.  And maybe a few procrastinating breakfast dates at the Jet Cafe.

Freebie Finds - My Teal Dresser

The Dresser Before

My husband likes to pick up junk off the side of the road.  It use to be metal, and he'd take it to the scrap yard for a few dollars.  Now it's furniture.  He's convinced I can transform and sell anything he finds.  I have to give him credit, because he's usually right. Well the other day this is what he picked up.  I thought it was butt ugly, and didn't want anything to do with it.  But, it was taking up room in our garage, so I finally committed to it.  I'm glad I did, because I love the way it turned out and decided to keep it.

Glossy Furniture Finish

So after watching multiple episodes of "Sarah 101", I started to become increasingly jealous of all these vintage finds that she sends to get professionally painted.  They come back absolutely gorgeous - a flawless finish with a beautiful sheen.

Today I went searching.  I read blog after blog of 'how to paint furniture', and I think I finally nailed it.  There's a step process that's important to follow each step.  Mark had some end tables sitting in the garage that he found on the side of the road, so I decided to experiment on those.

Left over milk paint

So in my garage I have a full shelving unit full of paint.  I love experimenting with different colors, so I'm always buying more paint.  I saw this idea on Pinterest and decided to give it a whirl with some of my left over milk paint.  My sister-in-law, Laura, was down for the week helping me with the babies.  This was our little project.  She picked these wooden salt and pepper shakers up at a thrift store for $4, and I gave them a new life.  My projects sure have scaled down in size after having the twins!

31 Weeks Preggers... and still going strong.
This past weekend, my husband and I embarked on a camping trip to Wheatly Provincial Park.  This park had the most beautiful birds.  We really enjoyed the chirping and calling of birds all weekend... never really experienced anything like it.  He snapped this photo of me when we went over to Pelee Island for the day and rented bikes.  Wow I'm getting large!

 Milk Paint

Today I tried milk paint for the first time.  I've read a lot about milk paint and have always wanted to try it, but had trouble finding it.  I finally found a manufacturer in Toronto, called Homestead House.  They have a whole line of milk paints and different organic, natural, and chemical-free finishes.                    
This is the hutch I finished, using their "Quaker Blue" colour.  I must say, I loved the finish.  Once it was all sanded down, the finish was smooth and flawless.  I rubbed on the Beeswax for protection and shine, and I'm thrilled with the result.  You can find it on Kijiji for $650.

How to repurpose an old chair

How to revamp an old chair

How to Paint Furniture

How To Paint Furniture... and make it look like a professional job.
A comprehensive guide to prepping, painting, and finishing a piece of used furniture.