Friday, September 28, 2012

The Yellow Piano

In April, I received a Facebook message from a young man named Lance. He asked if I would consider painting a piano as a wedding gift for his bride, a gifted pianist. His thought was yellow and chippy, my thought was, yep, a yellow piano!! Count me in!


In the real world, one of the greatest blessings in my life has been the restaurant we own. It is obviously the main source of income for our family, but, it is so much more than that. The relationships that have been formed there have been life changing to me. We are so fortunate to meet many teenagers at a time in their lives when they are still figuring out who they are. Most of them have no idea how amazing they are yet. I know, but they don't. I love watching them grow through high school and college and beyond to marriage and babies. It is truly a thrill.

Lance was one of those kids. In high school, he drove 45 minutes each way to work with us, this was a purposeful young man. He met his (now) wife in high school and was just as intentional with her. They dated in high school and then long distance through college. She has his heart.

When Lance brought the piano to my house, his father explained that this was Lance's grandmother's piano. He said that she would be honored and proud to be a part of this gift. 


The theme of the wedding was vintage and the colors were yellow and brown. Thus, the yellow piano. The fabric on the seat is the fabric from Lance's wedding tie. Seriously, my boys need to take lessons from Lance!


I painted it using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Arles and chipped it with a putty knife for a truly vintage look. I LOVE, LOVE it! 

The sparkly crystal knobs came from Hobby Lobby...


And her gift to him? She played...beautifully... on the chippy, yellow piano that used to be his Grandmother's.




Linking to these amazing parties;


Pin It

Thursday, September 6, 2012

If I Could Marry Furniture....

I just love it when a plan comes together!

It doesn't happen all of the time, sometimes its a good surprise and others, ummm, not so much. This buffet turned out almost exactly like I had imagined it in my head and, I think I want to marry it.


I found this buffet and a matching china cabinet on Craigslist. The seller had recently moved and the movers broke the matching table and chairs, she was "over it" she said. I am fine with over it! I love over it! I am actually trying to devise a way to weasel my way into cahoots with a moving company...you break some, I buy the rest...hmmm. Working on it. I'll let you know...

I would like to start out by giving credit where credit is due. This is good furniture. I could have painted it a putrid green with orange accents and it would still be good furniture. I did not choose putrid green, I hope that's ok. 


I started by stripping the top with Citristrip. It is the only stripper that I use. I have never been disappointed with the results and it smells good. It has also never burned the skin off of my arms like some other products I have tried. I actually look forward to stripping :-) Seriously, it's the simple things that make me happy!


I then restained the top with Minwax Dark Walnut stain and coated it with 3 coats of varnish. I am a little new to the varnish game, but, its quick! It goes on easily without streaking and dries super fast. I kind of love it! Thank you Benjamin Moore guy for the recommendation! You rock!


I painted the base with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Graphite.It is not one of the colors I use often, but for this piece, it was all I could imagine. After distressing, I went straight to dark wax, skipping clear altogether.




 I. Love. It. As in, puffy heart love it.
Pin It