I love a good Before and After, don’t you? It’s hard to remember to take a before photo because usually the item is not at all photoworthy! But once completed, putting the photos side by side can really show the huge transformation. Glad I took a before on this one! We just finished it yesterday and I couldn’t wait to share.

When we first moved into our house, I found these two mid-century wood pieces at the local Habitat for Humanity Restore. (One is sitting on top of the other in the before photos.) I’m not even sure what to call them. Credenza-like in shape but judging from the parts of them that were unfinished, they were built-ins during their former life. I believe they had been at the restore for quite some time as they had been reduced down to near free.

VERY dusty, I nearly walked right on by—as most any sane person would (and had)!  But I loved the clean lines, credenza-style and that they were double-sided (doors on each side!). As I stared at them for a while in the store I began envisioning what they could be and realized that we definitely could figure out a way to use them. Room divider, sewing tables, media cabinets, bookshelves. The ideas were flowing!

So I called up Jeff (he’s gotten quite accustomed to these calls) and he went by and brought them home. We laugh at the thought now. These things are darn heavy! And of course, they hung out from the back of his SUV a mile. He single-handedly unloaded them and later we struggled to bring them into the house.

Fast-forward 18 months later!

What we ended up doing:

I originally wanted to use these as a room divider and keep the double-sided cabinets as is but in the end there just wasn’t a place in our home that worked for that. Instead, Jeff sliced the 2 double-sided cabinets down the middle length-wise which gave us four single-sided cabinets that are about 13″ deep. I made that sound easy! Jeff is shaking his head. He’s so good to me. We used the longer ones for the top and bottom of our finished media cabinet. And then sliced one of the shorter ones in half to create the two pieces in the middle. As luck would have it, that created the perfect width for the TV to be placed in the middle. But we needed more height. So with my Dad’s help (a master at carpentry), we came up with a plan to add some 1×2 spacers between the cabinets to give us that bit of height to fit the TV as well as using thin Luann on the vertical areas that needed finishing. He also added a toe-kick at the bottom to raise it off the floor a bit. And finally, I  stained the new wood gray and cleaned up the old wood.

We are so happy with the result. Exactly what we need to hold all the TV components, kids games, videos, books…you name it and we’ve got it in there. Plus it only sits out from the wall about a foot so it doesn’t take up a huge chunk of space. Shut the doors and everything is contained in a sleek and stylish way.

And bonus, we had one piece leftover and are using it in the adjoining work area to hold the kids school-books and craft supplies.

I’m so happy we took a chance on the thrifted cabinets. Makes me want to swing by the Restore today to see if there are any other projects awaiting us.

Have a great Monday!

Join me in a couple blog parties? I’ve linked up to Apron Thrift Girl and Southern Hospitality.

Updating...

I enjoy working closely with customers to create a pillow look that perfectly fits their style.  I always have a few custom orders in the works and thought I’d share a couple recent ones.

I loved working with this first customer, Lisa. She was so kind and VERY patient while we waited for the perfect teal green to come about. It seems more often then not, the color desired serendipitously turns up within days of a request for it. But this time, the teal kept us waiting! But it did finally turn up and I knew immediately that it was just perfect.

Lisa had sent a few reference photos which were so helpful in getting to know the look she was after. The photos included the yellow floral print of her furniture, an accent pillow she had just purchased and a ruffly teal throw. Upon seeing the photos, I knew immediately what she was after and we came up with two gorgeous large teal pillows with ombre red centers. Aren’t they fun? It was a joy to work with Lisa. It took a while for the perfect color, but well worth the wait! And better yet, Lisa was very pleased with them.

And another lovely lady, Shonda…. I had such fun with her request for pink and brown to match her Pine Cone Hill bedding. When Shonda mentioned that she was up for mixing in some animal print, I knew the pillows were sure to be electic and fun!

Originally, Shonda had purchased a bubble gum pink pillow from my etsy shop and then contacted me about a custom order for a second pillow. We realized pretty quick that the bubble gum pink wasn’t a good fit with her more coral pink bedding and I was glad to have the perfect coral pink on hand (not an easy color to come across). I whipped up a new solid pink pillow for her and several other pillows to go with it. Adding bright yellow greens and ivory tied in the stripes of her bedskirt and the bit of animal print added sass. It was a fun project.

Do you have a certain room that needs that extra pop of color or uniqueness? I’d love to work with you on a custom pillow or two. Or in Shonda’s case, four! I don’t charge extra…it’s the same pricing as all my other pillows. Don’t wait too late…as the holidays get closer I get pretty slammed so now would be the perfect time!

I had the pleasure of getting to know Megan and Jenn at MC Adams Clothier this weekend. For my local peeps, MC Adams Clothier is amazing. Beautiful, well-curated clothing and great service to boot! You really should stop by. It’s right next to Char restaurant on Howard St. Just one block off King St.

Last month, Megan and Jenn so kindly asked if I’d come and be their featured local artist/designer during September’s Art Crawl. I immediately said yes as I’ve been thinking about doing some things locally with my business and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to get my feet wet. And what fun it was!

As I pulled up and started to unload a trunk-full of scarves and pillows, it began to drizzle which made us all groan but we rolled with it. The original plan was to set up outside with a antique couch to display pillows but moving inside their beautiful store turned out to be just as great. Cheese, crackers, wine, good company, beautiful clothes to browse, lovely customers and friends. What more could you ask for!

The above photo was taken of Megan and I at the end of the night. Megan is wearing my Red Roses Scarflette in wool. And I’m wearing a version of the  Shades of Grey Scarf (charcoal shades are available in my store, the one in this photo will go in my store soon!). You can just barely see the classy store decor from these photos…including a wall of black and white damask curtains. Wish I had taken more photos! The store is very pretty and inviting.

A couple more photos from the night.

Besides being among great company for the night, I especially loved the opportunity to hear customer’s reactions as they tried on scarves. Having done mostly online sales up to this point, I often get very appreciative emails after customers receive their items in the mail (which is wonderful!) but hearing the  immediate reactions at the Art Crawl was so helpful. I learned more about my buyers and what they liked about each style. And so much more. That type of information is invaluable as I continue to tweak which colors, styles and lengths are most desired by you all. I also learned that I need to learn how to take compliments better! It was nice to hear so many flattering words about the scarves but I’m still that introvert artist who has a hard time with getting any attention directed my way. But I smiled and thanked and hoped that was enough.

All in all, a wonderful experience.

Thank you, Megan and Jenn, for being so hospitable. It was fun!

Ah! Sand castles. Shell collecting. Roasted marshmallows. Pancakes on a camp stove. Late night family games around a propane lattern. Even the ants and sandy tent. We had a great little vacation this past week.

Um, no. We can’t claim the sandcastle above . Ours was a bit more…well…rustic?

Seeing this photo…doesn’t it look like Jerusalem or something? hmm. It may have lacked in finesse but we tried to make up for that in size!

Our kids are back in school but its been hard for me to get back into that mode. I’m squeezing every last bit out of the summer! Hope you are enjoying it as well!

Can’t wait to share our latest junking finds…we were traveling so sharing will have to wait til this coming Monday!