Friday, December 6, 2013

Deserted Hutch Found!

This beauty was sad, lonely, and abandoned. I see this a lot. People pass away and no wants their treasures. No children that grew up with that bowl that mom always put the beans in? No sister or brother that came on holidays and fought dad to sit in his chair? Abandoned in a heap in the garage, piled on top of one another and forgotten... I wish I had a picture to insert here as I've seen this many times. But lets move on. I want to show you some treasures I found when a friend that cleans these abandoned houses told her boss, a investor, flipper, that she knew someone that wanted this junk(!?!?).

 
 
Doing a little research on these! Beautiful Glassware from the 30's. Can't you just see them full of hard Christmas candies?
 
And now for the hutch. As I was standing in the doorway of this dark, detached garage, with flashlight in hand, I could see that there were several large pieces of furniture. I took a leap of faith and offered 80 dollars for the furniture I could dig out. He said, "tell you what, give me 100 and you can have whatever you can find", I smiled and handed him a Benjamin.
 
 
Footprints of the past..

 
This girl is big!

 
Tear drop pulls, love em

 
 

 
She just need some TLC.
 
And she got some.
 
 
On the showroom floor now, waiting for someone to love her.
 



 
She's beautiful now!
 
Treasures found! Have a great day hunting for your new treasures this holiday season!
 
Naomi Grace
 
 
 

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Fun with Veneer...NOT

I am resurrecting a old singer sewing machine for a client. I was a bit intimidated by the task at hand because I've never really messed with Veneer. The top of the machine was the worst part as it had a large chip that would need to be patched. I had some 2 inch birch veneer strips that I purchased so I held my breath and went for it...To all the professionals out there that are shaking your head, hang on and watch the fun, get a laugh.

 
I got out the trusty iron and pasted these babies on.  I trimmed them up, patched the other chips with filler and sanded.

 
I thought it was going great at this point, I mean its wood, it can be stained to match, right?
Cleaned her all up and grabbed the stain.
 

 
Epic fail! I then mixed up a burnt ember paint with a glaze watery mixture and slapped that on, this is what you see above. At this point I was in full out panic mode, well not really, I'm not really the panicky type. But I did sit at the desk and cry think hard about what I was going to do to fix this.
 
Finally it came to me, I have a antique singer sewing machine! So yep, I swapped the tops and stained mine to match.

 
This is after the first coat and not yet sanded. I will say that the original top, now that I've messed with it, isn't bad. I'll show you once I actually restore mine.
 
I wasn't going to write this one up but decided if it helps one person to NOT do this, then I'm good. Note to self, next time replace all the Veneer, do not patch, repeat do not patch...
 
Naomi Grace
 
 
 

Sunday, October 27, 2013

The Worn out Wardrobe

The grand opening of our shop, Coastal Alchemy is fast approaching. The count down has begun.. Six days and counting. We have been so busy trying to get everything ready in the store, well I digress, Kenny, my partner in crime, has really been handling the shop side while I've been focusing on inventory. I have a million things that I'm forgetting I'm sure, but if nothing else It will be a fun event. Several other unique shops will be opening with us so we are in for a fun night on Nov 2, Antiques, Art, Jazz music and wine..Whoop, whoop, my kind of event!

I have two pieces to finish up this week. One is a adorable enamel topped table with metal legs that needs very little done to it, along with two little chairs I picked to match it that need everything done to them. I sadly have no pictures of this little set yet..I know, what am I thinking. And the second piece is a behemoth wardrobe that is worn out from being in the elements somewhat. I don't think it was actually outside, but it was on a porch, or in a barn... you know the type.

 
Inside where all the dirt dobbers were.

 
Dirt Dobber nests everywhere, I know there is another name for those bees but for the life of me I can't remember it..in the south, we call them dirt dobbers.

 
This is a pile of nests that came out of the wardrobe, but there was a prize in this pile.
 
I found the original skeleton key hiding in here.

 
Time to clean the inside today, I got the whole thing sanded down, fixed some minor veneer bubbles and she's ready to be painted.


 
I'm going to do a antique white with a dark stain on this baby and hopefully she'll be ready for the showroom floor by Saturday. You my blog loving friends will see her in all her glory before then..
Stay tuned.
 
Naomi Grace
 
UPDATE: Done! Will post a couple of pics while still here in the house shop and more once I have it in the store and staged.
 
Well this picture didn't turn out well! I'll try again when I get her in the store.
 
 

Sunday, October 20, 2013

A Trip to Eloisas Palace

Last weekend the girls were out of school and we decided to sneak off to my mother in laws house for a visit. My husband actually took off work at the last minute and jumped in the jeep with us, so it was extra special.. He rarely goes along. 

Here we are getting ready to go to the fair Saturday night. See her treasures behind hubby? She loads me up for the trip home, just hang in here and I'll show you.

 
 The kids had fun..




So did my momma in law..Eloisa

 The girls with grandma


 
 She cracks me up..


 
We even took the big kid.. Kenny G
 
 
Now for the treasures we found at the palace, which is what we call moms house, not sure why, other than she treats you like royalty when you visit.
 
 
lots of table scarves and dollies.
 

 
I actually found this camera bag in a thrift store, isn't it grand?

 
She gave me this lamp..

 
and a few old, hand sewn quilts. She actually gave me this table too on a previous trip, isn't she the bomb? Love her, she makes homemade tortillas too...
The Chair is part of my dining room set that I'm going to restore, but that's another post altogether.
 
Just wanted to share a great trip and some of my treasures..
 
TTYL
Naomi Grace
 
 

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Hodge Podge

Good Morning! This is going to be a bit of a hodge podge of things I've been working on to get ready for the shop opening. Some of the photos are Pieces of Grace pieces and some are Coastal Alchemy's. This one is both..The Store Front.

 
Love this little Iron bed all decked out in Shabby Chic Bed Linen. A few other little Vignettes in the store.
 
This little hutch is almost a lime green. Love the serving station it is providing..Where's the cake?
 
 
Getting ready.

 
Everybody hangs doors from the ceiling, right?

 
See the little red Egrets? I've had them for years, gave them to Kenny who promptly painted them red...Why didn't I think of that?

 
See the funky light fixture made out of pipes?


 
 
A few more.
 
My buy more bonds cabinet.

 
 
Chalk painted console.

 
Love this lighting!

 
This is the little Shutter Island I made that was inspired by Becky at Beyond the Picket Fence. She made hers first.




 
I hope you enjoyed the walk around the shop! Come back soon!
 
Working on a cute tea cart that I'll be sharing soon.
 
Naomi Grace