Home Repair Minimalist

Back from the Simple Goods Show

The last two weeks it seems like all I’ve done is ride in cars and shop – but I’m told I do it well – Shop that is!
And proof of that is all I bought this past weekend. Just look at the haul.
Photo intensive post…beware!

After meeting up at the hotel on Thursday evening we all went off to get to bed so we could head out the next day.

Friday morning the 6 of us piled into our van and headed out – Doug likes to drive and we have a van so it was fun having us all in one vehicle.
It gave us all a good chance to get to know each other better and that we did…I think we all laughed more than we talked but it made for a great time.

First stop was Curry’s (their home wasn’t open this time) – they have the most beautiful setting I’ve ever seen – it sits on top of a hill and has several log cabins. They also bring in, restore and sell old log cabins.

The photos are of the shop, grounds and our group.
I’ll try and put the photos in order of how I took them

These adorable ‘cement’ snowmen were popping up every now and then.

Some inside the shop pictures…it was jam packed with people in there so very few photos – but it’s gorgeous in there

Inside the little cabin ladies were giving demonstrations

Inside the Smithy Cabin

And off we go with purchases in hand

Jill Peterson was there doing a book signing of her newest book 'Homecoming’ and I bought one…Jill is as sweet as her face.

The 4 of us girls – Linda, Me, Sandy and Grace in back

The group

Doug and I

Linda and Ben (they came all the way from Florida! And I thought we drove far for things!

Grace in red from Lancaster, PA and Sandy from New York

From there we headed on over to Miller’s – the day just kept getting better and better.
Isn’t it just gorgeous????

This is one of the cabins from Curry’s

There are a couple shop photos and the rest their home
Click in photos to view full album

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We were finished with all of this by 12:30 and decided to head to Waynesville, Ohio which was about 2 hours away but it was worth it.

We went to Olde Glory Antiques, Days Gone By and I think another one – all just wonderful.
We didn’t have time to go into the Wooden Sunflower – that’s going to be another trip – the shop looks fantastic: http://woodensunflowerprimitives.com/shoppictures.html

Looks wonderful doesn’t it!!!1

Then it was back to the hotel. Grace and Sandy were supposed to go to the SG’s vendors dinner but were too late. Guess we took too much time in Waynesville. I felt so bad for them.

We all went to bed early Friday night so we could be up early to get in line. I know…we’re crazy but you know what? Getting in line with 26 degree temps at 6 a.m was more fun than you would think. We met many wonderfully crazy people like us – now how bad can that be???
Between the 6 of us we took turns going to some of the outside vendors and going back into the hotel lobby to warm up.
There was hot cider and donuts for those wanting it and a nice bon fire to keep everyone warm.
Here are a few outside photos – click in photos to view album

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Here are a few friends I got to meet up with – many, many people but quite easy to find each other in the crowd.

Tiffany (Twigs) from Mercantile Gathering

Carmen from ‘Primcats House Blog’

Me and Kris Thomas

Me and Lauren

Me and Linda Fiorita

Me and Lisa Adkins

WE’RE ALMOST DONE EVERYONE….JUST A FEW MORE TO GO.

Our group just before heading out on Friday’s power shopping!!

We at all our evening meals at Jakes – we found the food delicious and reasonable and the wait staff was so friendly. I hope some of you who stayed over had a chance to eat there as well.

Ben got a small Make-Do chair in honor of his wife Linda finding her long awaited Make Do chair. He’s not crazy about those kind of chairs but being the sweet guy he is…he didn’t care if she bought it so Sandy gave him his own chair

.

Our last night together at Jakes

After dinner we all went back to our rooms and had Show & Tell (our purchases!)

Ours

Ben and Linda

Grace

Sandy

Here are close-ups of my purchases
Click in photos to see all of album

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Thank you Linda for these wonderful gifts:

And to you Sandy for your lovely gifts:

Grace…the dinner was so much appreciated and Ben…the gas was also appreciated!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

My husband and I haven't had so much fun with 'friends' in a very long time...there were 6 people with the same kindred spirit – even the men enjoyed themselves and provided us with some very funny moments...we just meshed that’s the best way I can put it.

And the only person Doug and I had ever met in our group was Grace...I've chatted with Linda through e-mails but that was it, and Sandy we never knew before then.

THANK YOU GRACE, SANDY, LINDA AND BEN for sharing this wonderful weekend with us.

There were more laughs, wrong turns, driving in the wrong direction and 'OPPS' coming from our mouths...but it all made for a wonderful memory.

On Sunday morning we headed back to Wisconsin, Ben and Linda back to Florida, Grace to Pennsylvania and Sandy to New York…

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Hope you all enjoyed this weekend with us through these pictures.
Karen

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A WIN WIN

Our previous post was an introduction of the talented artists in Chicago represented at our trunk show. And a giveaway.

Mona Thompson (on the left) of the wonderful sister blog Providence Ltd Design
(sorry, my link is not cooperating for Mona's blog. Go to www.providenceltddesign.com)
Design inspiration galore. And take a look at Mona's home on the cover of AT HOME IN ARKANSAS
Their feature 'Sunday Supper' is my go to for quick and original recipes.

Mona chose a copper cuff by Lisa York

There was not a second place but I just had to. Sue of The Zhush, a must see blog, has a daughter affectionately called Veve.

I cannot resist, the Sugar Cookie soap bars would be perfect.

The other WIN..............

Calling all bloggers!
A meet up in L.A.. For an incredible opportunity of learning, inspiration, and friendship.
The inaugural Design Bloggers Conference. Drool here

My winter schedule is quickly getting booked
January; Two weeks of intensive schooling in Las Vegas, thank goodness it is intensive, not a vegas girl.
The New York gift show and visiting friends.........who else is coming?

Closet and drawer clean-out.........next year

Have a wonderful week!
xo
Debra

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It's Di~Vine!

If you live in the Ogden/Salt Lake City area, you really should stop by Di-Vine Consignment(4510 S. 900 W.) this week for their Grand Opening Celebration! They will be having prize drawings today and tomorrow.

I became friends with the owner through some mutually beneficial transactions. She bought this cute headboard from me:

as well as this cedar chest:

and I purchased this bench from her (it was originally yellow; I repainted it).

Recently she let me into her "workroom" where she literally has stacks of furniture waiting to be redone/refurbished/updated/glorified (whatever)! She has her work cut out for MONTHS, if not years! She commissioned me to finish a dining set for her so she could sell it in her shop.

There are six chairs; one is an arm chair:

And look at these gorgeous table legs!

My first step was to sand down the table top...

...and that's where the trouble started. The veneer was loose and dry in several places along the edge, and the sander ripped some pieces right off. Argghh! The plan had been to stain the top, but missing veneer poses a problem.

I wondered, though, how bad could it be? So I filled in the missing places with wood filler, and stained it anyway. Yeah, not so good. Although wood filler is "stainable," in a large area you really miss seeing that pretty wood grain!

Strike 1.

Then I thought about "faux painting" the wood-filled area to simulate wood grain. I broke out my paintbrushes and acrylic paints, and gave it a go. Hmmm...it didn't seem too bad... Stain it again. Color's good, but the texture--still bad.

Strike 2.

Forget about stain. Let's just paint the whole top, and then see what glaze can do. Hmm. Not bad, but kind of bleahh.

Strike 3.

This is getting ridiculous! And yes, in baseball I would be "out." Thankfully it doesn't work that way with furniture. ;-)

In sheer desperation, I pulled out my leftover can of MinWax Polyshades in Antique Walnut. I had tried it on another project, and I was less than impressed. This time, I was hoping the maybe the color in the polyurethane would give an extra depth of color to the plain brown painted top.

Whaddya know...it worked!

{huge sigh of relief}

Magically, blessedly, it worked. The color was lovely; it glowed. I had to take back all the nasty things I said about Polyshades in the past.

As you can see, the apron of the table and the chairs were painted in Rustoleum's Heirloom White. I glazed everything with burnt umber craft paint afterward. Here are the pretty leg supports. They were a late arrival; they had been misplaced and weren't with the rest of the set!

Look at the beautifully detailed table legs!

Here's the pretty arm chair:

The owner was going to cover the seats herself. See the pretty fabric on the top of the table? It's brown with a turquoise and ivory pattern. However, as people have come to look at the set in the shop, not everyone has been impressed with her choice! So for now, she's going to leave the seats uncovered and offer the buyer their choice of fabric for the seats.

Here's a last pretty picture!

And coming soon...wait until you see what I got in exchange! (Hint: it wasn't money!)

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Ughh. I need help!

Remember the two free chairs I got back in August? Here's what they looked like:

They finally made it to the top of the queue, mostly because I am trying to get my garage cleaned out before the snow flies!

I made my two oldest children help me pull out 4,193 staples Saturday afternoon. That left me with this:

I wasn't feelin' the love for the medium oak stain, so I sanded the arms and legs down, and tried to darken them with Minwax Walnut stain.

I got this:

So not impressed. The grooves were really hard to sand out, which probably explains why the stain didn't take evenly...or well. It just looked muddy to me.

So I broke out the Heirloom White spray paint, and the burnt umber craft paint for a glaze. It wasn't great, but I was hoping it would look better with actual fabric on it.

After several hours spent re-upholstering today, this is what I have (keep in mind that there is no trim yet):

Guess what? I'm still not impressed.

What do I do now? I really don't see this in black, but maybe I should paint the legs brown? I've never been crazy about brown-painted wood, but it's gotta be better than what I've got now! Any other suggestions? Anyone? Anyone?

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Library Table

Yes, it's true...I cheated on my furniture diet yet again. I was browsing through Deseret Industries (Utah's own "Goodwill") last week, and I happened upon THIS:

Seriously, what's a girl to do?? I love the look of old library tables...it had to come home with me.

One of the drawers even has a lock! There is no key, but...it's CUTE!

A year ago, when we got rid of my husband's monstrosity of a desk, I looked everywhere for one of these...not luck. Eventually he bought a used IKEA Gallant desk for our basement family room. I cherished the hope that once this one was refinished, he would let me swap his IKEA desk for this one.

No such luck!!
**That man does not understand the concept of "furniture fate"!**
(sob!)

I refinished this desk in my favorite Sherwin Williams Creamy white with a walnut-stained top. (That may have something to do with the fact that I am had half a gallon of paint on hand.)