Tuesday 7 January 2014

Just a couple of bits of unfinished business






A couple of weeks before Christmas, I decided to renovate an old corner cupboard that I had bought in the Summer. I saw it in our local and very wonderful charity shop in Stornoway, and  although it wasn't quite what I was looking for, I could instantly visualise it, painted ivory and bedecked with pretty bits and pieces, sitting in the kitchen corner. It was delivered when I was in the middle of some chaos or other, so was promptly shoved into place, where it sat, brooding darkly, waiting for me to give it the promised makeover. But the weeks and months passed - it became part of the furniture - vases and ornaments and books were placed on its shelves, items in the cupboard, and we became accustomed to the mediocrity. In fact, I even began to tell myself that it looked ok! But, no - when I came to decorate the house for Christmas, I knew I had to tackle it.
And -  like all those jobs that we keep putting off, the work itself only took a couple of hours over a weekend. I am so pleased with the result. It is exactly how I pictured it - ermm... all those months ago 









A visit to the same shop, a couple of months earlier, had me bearing home this Lloyd Loom chair in triumph. Just what I had been looking for to go in James's room. Not at all the right colour, but I could easily fix that. Hmmm - well, it turned out to be much trickier than I thought. I used enamel spray paint, which, in hindsight, was not the best thing to do, but once I had started, I really had to finish. Except that I didn't finish. The Summer holidays were closing in, and the house was going to be full of visiting family and friends - not the best time for furniture renovation. So - up into the attic it went, forgotten, until late Autumn, when the memory of it started to rise to the surface of my chaotic mind. Five cans of enamel later, I finished the painting, although it is still very patchy. I just felt I had to stop sometime!  I recovered the seat with some gorgeous fabric from an old curtain, and I was really happy with how that turned out. Anyway, the chair is now in the boy's bedroom, where it makes a comfy reading spot by the window. Maybe a wee quilt or blanket will eventually hide those paint streaks.


Meanwhile, I am just going to sit and admire this corner view for a while. 
Happy New Year xx

37 comments:

  1. The corner cupboard is lovely!

    Happy New Year!

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    1. Thank you - and the same to you xx

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  2. but having the visualisation is the important thing, and holding it in mind!

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    1. Yes - it did worked - eventually xx

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  3. Yay! Good job on both. I love the corner cupboard. I have the lovely ideas, but they don't always turn out so well!

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    1. Lol - mel, my head is full of ideas, but sometimes the reality is not quite the same xx

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  4. I've had so many projects that I put off for ages that only took a few hours when I finally tackled them. I will say that I should put off forever any project that involves paint, as I'm messy and just a really terrible painter. Still, it's amazing how much paint can improve a piece of furniture, as evidenced by this post.

    I've just started reading your blog (you kindly left a comment on mine during Advent) and am really enjoying it. I saw a reference to Harlan Hubbard and it did my heart good. I've also noticed that you have Food and Faith on your sidebar, a book that I loved. Anyway, it's so nice to meet you, and I look forward to reading more of what you have to say.

    Best,
    Frances

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    1. Hello Frances - thank you for dropping in - I love Norman Wyrzba's writing. Thanks for your comment xx

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  5. Looks lovely! Yay for your inspired upcycling! ♥

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  6. And I will admire your shelf from all the way over here!!

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  7. Wonderful new life you have breathed into your beautiful furniture.

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    1. It was very satisfying, Julie - I keep admiring them myself xx

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  8. The cupboard and chair look amazing, great job! I love finding something that no one else wants and transforming it into a treasure. Enjoy.

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    1. Hi tracey - it was very worth it xx

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  9. Both projects are great. I have always liked Lloyd Loom.

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    1. Hi Susan - yes I have another Lloyd Loom chair that was my mother's, but I don't need to paint it, thankfully xx

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  10. Oh wow! Both makeovers look lovely. I'm really into furniture that colour at the moment and want to lighten up all our wood. What paint did you use for the corner cupboard? Well done! Job done good! :-) xxx

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    1. Hi Claire - I gave it a rough sand down, then a couple of coats of magnolia emulsion paint as an undercoat,, and then two coats of ivory satin gloss. the finish isn't perfect, but then i was aiming at a more "distressed" look lol xx

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  11. May I compliment you on the beautiful 12 days of Christmas? May I also say that I do admire your way of transforming those thrift shop finds. Over here in NYC, any Lloyd Loom chair would only be found in an Antiques Shop. Wish now that I had purchased a lovely LL armchair i saw in the last century...good condition and good price too.

    Ahh well, nostalgia is part of my makeup.

    xo

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    1. Thanks Frances, i am glad you enjoyed them. The chair cost £10, - they often come up in the charity shop too. I hope you find one someday xx

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  12. Fantastic choice of seat covering and I love your corner cabinet/cupboard. It is a wonderful fit in the corner there. Also wanted to say that I enjoyed your Advent/12 Days posts very much over Christmas. Thank you for blogging what you are thinking and feeling and I wish you a peaceful January ... well, the rest of the year too but I find January works well with some peace and quiet and reflection. xx

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    1. Thanks Alison - yes it is nice to settle back and enjoy the routine again xx

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  13. I love your Lloyd loom chair makeover. It's a really nice colour you've chosen. I had some chairs a bit like that but stupidly left them outside in the Scottish winter and they rotted. Looking at your lovely chair reminded me of them. I must have a wee hunt for some more.

    Best Wishes
    Prim xx

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    1. Hello Primrose - thanks for your lovely comment. yes, we seem to imagine that things will be immune to the winter weather, but I have lost many a table and chairs too. xx

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  14. Love your upcycled projects xx

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    1. Thanks Dawn - they are quite fun xx

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  15. Anonymous8/1/14 12:37

    Hi, beautifully light corner it is now. Have a good and healthy 2014, I love reading your blog. I wish to comment on the first day of Christmas, the partridge in the peartree. I know it is and has been an open questian in the Britisch Isles, because pheasants are shy ground as low by the ground birds and would never sit in a pear tree at some heigth. But, watching many wildlife on TV this Christmas time and the Medieval farmingseries, I think I fnally cracked it. At Christmas people ate more then normally, knowing after that hard times could come.With very much snow it would have been hard to hunt for birds and hares and deer and the likes. But with yards high of snow wildbirds would also have a hard time scratching together enough food from under the snow. Experience must have made them know that farms and villages made that scratching just a little easier, orchards might have forgotten to harvest pears and apples and so even the most shy birds might have entered occasionally the orchards next to houses. So, an early snowy winter might bring pheasants and partridges close to homes and so an expression for such winters might have been: I have even seen partridges in the orchard, which in the song sounded better as : a partridge in a pear tree. I am heavly into language and olden times and there are expressions in my country (the Netherlands) that we now do not inderstand anymore, until someone comes upon the explanatation in an old book. For instance: "the sparrows drop dead from the roof " in my country means it is an extremely hot and dry summer. I have never seen t happen, but I can imagine strawdecked roofs, which normally keep the inside of the houses cool, can in a hot summer become so sunwarmed that they do not exume any coolness anymore. Or an extreme long and cold winter: the frogs are lying dead on the botom of the ditches" which means the water is frozen to beneath 2/3 of a yard, that being mostly the depth frost will go intio the ground, the winter has reached the equivalent of permafrost. So, I hope my explanation of shy partridges coming to the orchard near houses just means: it is really winter now. But now, are we having an Indian winter, an Indian spring or just an old wives winter? It is 13 C right now, ridiculous, but I will enjoy it as long as it lastes, better then the snowdunes etc. England and Wales have recently "enjoyed".

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    1. Hi - that is fascinating. I love the old expressions too - there are lots of Gaelic and Scots weather phrases too, whose meaning goes way back.
      We have had a very wet Winter so far here - hardly any snow, and very mild too xx

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  16. Fabulous makeovers - especially the cupboard!
    Liz @ Shortbread & Ginger

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    1. Thanks Liz - i am happy with the cupboard x

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  17. So glad you were able to finish your projects; I'm on a spree with that sort of as a new years' resolution of sorts. It's my motto this year: Finish what you started!

    Love your corner cabinet and chair, especially the cheerful fabric! :)

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    1. Hi Lisa - i have another couple of things not yet started, as well as all my WIPs, so i am going to finish those first too xx

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  18. Love, love the makeovers, so light and cheery.

    Thanks for your good wishes for Sara

    Xx

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  19. Wow, love the shelf! What a difference!

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  20. The chair is delightful! such a warm and golden shade too. I really like the renovation of the corner unit, it's as if it should have been lighter all along and looks super in your kitchen

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