Faux fall mantel

It was important to have something a bit more permanent on the mantel for fall.  This spring and summer it was always changing with whatever flowers or greenery I brought in from the garden.  That means it was sitting empty a lot of the time too...I didn't like that part.

We spent the weekend at my parent's house in Wisconsin.  Homemade pizzas were made, marshmallows were roasted and apples were picked.  My mom and I even got away for a few hours to go hunting for treasures at the flea market.  I had some fantastic pictures from the weekend that I accidently deleted.  That will be the last time I delete any pictures on my camera, I will wait until they are on my computer from now on.

Anyway, one of the first booths we visited was my favorite of the day.  I found a couple of the medicine bottles and the poofs on sticks there...the vendor corrected me and called them Cornflowers. :)  Such a cute idea!  I love them and need to find out how to make them.

I picked up a few little pumpkins at a farm stand to tide me over until we make it to our favorite pumpkin farm in Michigan.

The wreath is a find from Home Goods.  They just opened a store about five minutes from me and I have to say, I'm pretty excited about that.  It was too small on its own so I layered it with a frame I found at Goodwill a while ago.   Not 100% sure the wreath will be staying here though...I have a feeling it will move into the living room to hang on a smaller mirror.

We definitely don't have a frame shortage going on here in the dining room :)

 

The little black dresser

I just couldn't help myself with that title.  This furniture before and after is dedicated to my Aunt Di.  She is a very patient person who asked me to paint this little guy up for her ages ago. 

He wasn't looking so good when I first laid eyes on him.  Orangey colored wood, ugly hardware....the usual. 

Aunt Di saw his potential though with the curvy top drawer and nice looking side profile.  It was the perfect size for a night table with lots of storage too.

I started out by filling the existing hardware holes with wood putty.  The trick to getting a flawless finish is waiting until the putty is completely dry before you sand.  A second application might be needed.

I gave the whole piece a light sanding and gave it a light coat of kilz primer before I started my first light coat of paint.  I ended up doing three coats on the top and two on the rest of the piece sanding with fine paper in between each coat.  The guy at the paint store recommended Shur-Line trim & touch up rollers when I was painting the front door.  The results were fantastic so I used them again for this project along with my trusty Purdy brush.

This story ends with new glass hardware and a little distressing using 100 grit sandpaper.  

Sharing with Miss Mustard Seed for her furniture feature friday party and with Primitive & Proper's Piece of work Wednesday

 

The painted front door...part two

Hello.  I hope you all had a nice long weekend.  We did some barbecuing, played outside and shopped for exterior lights.  I also started painting a small dresser for my Aunt who is waiting oh so patiently.  Today is a beautiful day and it looks like the windows will be open all week.  I love having fresh air blowing through the house don't you?

The front door is painted and dry.  I ended up putting just one more coat of the new color on.  I used Benjamin Moore's Aura exterior in black.  That paint is awesome.

Below is a picture of the door painted BM Black Jack, remember I thought it looked a bit bluish?  I'm scrolling up and down and don't see much of a difference in these pictures.  In person it does look darker and I'm happy with the way it turned out.  I used a low lustre finish so I think that makes a difference in the way the color came out.



Now let's talk about storm doors.  I found out that a door that gets more than a couple hours of direct sun and is painted a dark color is not a good combination for a storm door.  The glass will trap too much heat against the entry door and could damage it. 

For the first time we took the glass out and added the screen so my new paint job will last.  I've never liked the way the storm door looks and I'm thinking about removing it.  

Much better this way don't you think?  If we lived in a mild climate I wouldn't even have to think about it but our winters can be harsh and long and I wonder how efficient the wood door alone would be.  Anyone out there have a wood door without a storm door?  I would hate to have us freeze just for aesthetics. :)

I can't wait to see how the door looks with the new siding and will share pictures once things get started.