A newfound love in 'Duck Egg'

Hey there! I've been starting to get some technique questions and was thinking about addressing all of them in one post sometime soon, but one popular one that I thought I would bring up today is how do I pick my paint color/decide what color to paint which pieces? Here's the thing: I am definitely not a person who collects sample after sample of various shades of the same color. I usually go to the paint store with a specific color in mind and scan the rainbow of swatches until I see it. Perhaps it's because I always have 3 little ones in tow and do not have the time to stand there and compare, but I rarely pick up any more swatches once I've found 'The One'. Colors that catch my eye tend to be very earthy; in fact, here are some of the paint names in the Garage: Coral Reef, Sandstone, Duck Egg, Bayou, Pebble Beach, Cumberland Fog, and Spring Mint. At the moment the Garage is full of over a dozen pieces all ready for this Saturday's sale, and I have each of the above colors represented somewhere in the collection. I absolutely love how the entire group of pieces look together! So many shades of gray, tan, cream, aqua, green, blue..it looks like a cohesive group simply because they're all very earthy tones. I love how you can mix and match natural colors in the home. You don't look outside and think the trees clash with the grass and the sky....so if you have earthy colors in your home, you can really do anything you want! And 'earthy' doesn't have to mean dull or lacking bright colors... Why not have an aqua end table with coral throw pillows and a foggy gray coffee table? Nature works so well inside the home! I know not everyone has the same taste, and thank goodness for that! I love walking into homes and seeing how people show their own personality and individuality through their decor and use of color.

Ok, enough chit chat, (and if you have any questions at all please do not hesitate to contact me)! One of my new favorite colors to use is Annie Sloan's 'Duck Egg' chalk paint. Such a FUN color! It's saturated enough that you could use it year round, mixing it up with golds, dark greens, burnt orange and eggplant purples in the fall and winter, or lighter peaches, corals, grays and tans in the spring and summer.

 Here is a beautiful side table with dental wood trim, fresh from it's 'Duck Egg' makeover:

(29.5d x 22w x 23.5h)

~available for sale~

Here is a chunky wooden chair which had originally been painted forest green on the backrest and legs. I just painted right over the green in 'Duck Egg' and then distressed it enough to see some hits of green here and there on the piece:

(17.5w x 17.25d x 37h)

~available for sale~

The last piece before the sale on Saturday is a cute little headboard that is in the Garage drying from it's fresh coat of....you guessed it, Duck Egg :)

If you are interested in coming by on Saturday contact me and I will send you the address. I hope you have a fantastic finish to your week!

~Chelsea

'20s Style Desk Makeover

Hi All! 4 days and counting until our next Open Garage event! I am so so excited about all the new pieces in the Garage and feel like they're really coming together for a lovely cohesive collection. Fresh from a new makeover is this chunky 1920s style desk! I still cannot get over those extra large knobs, (original to the desk). Aren't they awesome?!

I refinished this piece in Annie Sloan's 'French Linen' chalk paint. I dry-brushed a very thin layer of cream, (Behr's 'Sandstone'), over the drawers, letting the 'French Linen' show through the brush strokes. Next, I heavily distressed all the trim and parts of the surface.

(42.25w x  19.5d x 30h)

~available for sale~

On an unrelated note, yesterday was our Mason man's 1st birthday. I couldn't imagine our life without this totally awesome little boy. What a joy he is to all of us!

Remember, this Saturday, March 31, 10am-4pm, Chelsea's Garage sale! Contact me if you would like to come by and I will give you the address!

~Chelsea

One week until the door opens!

Well, it's that time again! The Garage is full of fresh new pieces all ready to go to new homes. The door opens this Saturday, March 31 at 10am. I will be open all day until 4pm, so even if you aren't interested in any furniture please come check it out and say hello! There will be refreshments available, of course; it just wouldn't be Chelsea's Garage without some food around somewhere ;)

Here are some photos I posted after the last sale in February. To see some of the more recent pieces, please see my 'Shop' link in the left column.

For the address please contact me and I will be happy to send it to you! Hope to see you there!

~Chelsea

Beachy Stools - Get your kitchen ready for summer!

Hi there! Things have been busy, busy around here but I dropped everything when these stools got into the Garage. My lovely sis-in-law, Megan, replaced her kitchen island stools and gave me her old ones, (I've lost track of the number of pieces she's either found or passed on to me - what a blessing)! Anyway, I have been on my last thread this week trying to refinish a monstrous china cabinet in time for the March 31 sale and there have been some very frustrating moments. After hours of work on this piece and not even adding a touch of paint yet, I needed some time away for some *fun* work. This pair of stools was just the distraction I needed and it was so much fun giving them a fresh makeover just in time for Spring and Summer!

I sanded them down and then sprayed on some white primer, (Kilz odorless oil-based primer). Then I brushed on a coat of cream, (Behr's 'Sandstone', semi-gloss finish), and heavily distressed (using 220 grit sandpaper), to let the natrual wood show. Some areas I distressed lightly enough to just show the white primer underneath. The fun part was adding an aqua blue stencilled design to the seats! I love how the cream and aqua blue contrast one another - and with the subtle pops of white on the legs....! So yummy. If I had a kitchen island or counter bar, I would so be keeping these! But alas, they will be available at the March 31 sale :)

This candle is Coconut Milk Mango from Anthropologie. It was a birthday gift last June and it's one of my favorite Spring/Summer candles to burn - plus the can is so pretty :)

This weekend we are travelling down to Williamsburg to celebrate our Mason's 1st birthday! This little business of furniture refinishing has been a dream come true for me, but I have truly never known such joy as 'experiencing' my babes. They just rock my world every day. Have a fantastic weekend everyone!

~Chelsea

A very 'lucky' weekend

Hello friends! I know it has been a few days since the last post but they have flown by! St. Patty's Day was on Saturday so it's no coincidence that I had some luck this weekend. On Friday I added a gorgeous 1920s style desk to my stock in the Garage. An interior design/antique shop owner friend of mine called last week from an estate sale telling me she found this desk that she thought would look stunning after a little work. I was somewhat hesitant as I felt comfortable with the pieces I currently had in the garage, but after she sent a few pictures I was completely won over. So, now I have a desk to add to the upcoming sale! I have been working like a crazy woman trying to finish as many pieces as I can in time for our next Garage sale on March 31. Unfortunately, I have a bit of catching up to do with photographing finished pieces. So, I thought it would be fun today to show you a few fun pics from this weekend! They actualy have nothing to do with furniture, until the end, but I hope you enjoy them anyways :)

Nothing says 'Happy St. Patty's Day' like a green tutu, (much greener in person than in the pics!)

And she's off!

I had the opportunity to get my first haircut in almost 2 years! Thanks to my girl Julie over at LifeSpa for doing an amazing job!!

(Enjoying a PERFECT afternoon at Veramar Vineyard with some wonderful friends for a birthday celebration on Saturday - we sat outside and enjoyed a breathtaking view of the mountains, sipped on wine, nibbled yummy food, and laughed. A lot.)

This china cabinet with attached hutch became a work in progress Friday afternoon...

And by 11pm Saturday night, I turned the 3 glass doors into 3 beautiful wall hangings in distressed light aqua. Won't these be so pretty hanging on a wall side by side!?

(Stay tuned for what I make of the door-less China hutch!)

And finally, on Sunday, I had the privilege of getting a few hours alone with my girl, Shire. We drove out to Lucketts, a popular antique hot-spot about 45 min NW of Herndon, with no particular agenda in mind but we did find a few pretty things:

Okay, so the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint WAS on the agenda, but that was it. The bird, knobs, and candlesticks were lucky little finds :) The seafoam crackled bird said 'hello' to me as soon as I walked up to the second floor of this antique house. It had some friends in other lovely colors which I considered for a long 10 seconds, but ultimately, this little one jumped out at me right away. Birds always catch my eye, most especially when I have my Shire with me. She's tiny and has this itty bitty voice...she even 'flutters' around our house from one room to another in swift graceful movements. She is our bird. The candlesticks were hidden in a mess of hundreds of tiny little trinkets, but they were the first things I saw with their pretty peach colored flowers and seafoamy green candles. And their tag said 2 for $2 so that was an easy one. The knobs I just thought were pretty and I happen to need two knobs for the china cabinet's bottom two doors. Don't know if they'll be exactly right until I repaint the piece, but pretty knobs are good to have. I can always use them somewhere!

How was your St. Patty's weekend? I would love to hear!

~Chelsea



Antique spoons, chic recycling!

Hey there! Wow, it's incredible how much playing outside for 2 hours in the hot sun with 3 crazy tots can take out of you; I'm giving myself the afternoon off from the Garage to rest on the couch while my babes nap. So, I thought I would share a very simple, cheap and chic DIY project that would probably be useful in any home!

When we moved into our home a year and a half ago we instantly realized we needed an easy access place to hang coats. We have a coat closet but it's not that close to the front door...and with the extra time it takes to get 3 little ones out the door, I hated dealing with hangers. I wanted hooks! Now, some projects around our house were things that I had to research and really think about, but this was one of those rare occassions where an immediate light bulb went off and I knew exactly what we were gonna do.

I already had the white shelf that I was going to use to attach hooks, but I didn't have hooks and I wanted something a little more interesting to look at. Antique spoons! I went to the thrift store and picked up a handful of mismatched beautiful old spoons, bent them and then Husband, (and my bro-in-law), attached them to the shelf, (I was pretty pregnant at the time and no one really liked the thought of me painting, let alone using power tools, hah!)

Voila! A sturdy coat rack, (or baseball caps in the summer, Go Red Sox....or Phillies)

It doesn't bother me in the least to have all of our coats in plain view if it saves me from the hassle of hangers! And I love having a spot right by the door for guests to hang coats/purses as soon as they arrive...I think it invites them to relax and kick back that much sooner. :)



Couple a' Side Tables

Hi! We have hit the jackpot week of weather here! All 70s-80s and sunny. The Garage has been busy as there have been a lot of pieces going out and new ones coming in. As the turnover seems to be picking up pace I can't waste a single day of good weather! I usually do not work on the weekend and spend as much time relaxing with my family as possible. This past weekend, however, the weather was just too good to sit still. While our babes napped, Husband did some yard work and I got to finish several pieces I had been super excited to get my hands on!

First was this old stool I picked up at last week's auction. It's not in amazing shape, but I so loved the old, aged wood of the seat that I couldn't help bid for it. I gave it a coat of very soft mint green and then a thin coat of soft gray. I love the contrast- And I love this piece as a little end table!

(21.75h x 16w x 10.25d)

~available for sale~

The second piece was this little table that didn't have much too it except that it was solid wood and sturdy as could be. It's a bit small and I thought it would work great as a bedside table. I was further inspired by the fresh spring weather we've been given...and the fact that I'm starting to think about putting my daughter in her own room this year, (she currently shares with her twin brother and their nursery is a neutral, but FUN, Dr. Seuss theme)!

I typically do not go for 'cutesy' stencilled things, but isn't this just so cute for a little girls' room?!

(24.25h x 17.5w x 12.5d)

~available for sale~

Tomorrow I should be finishing up another dining table, my homerun from the auction! I can't wait to show you - it's a tiny bit bigger than the other one, shown here, but such a different look!

~Chelsea