Shutter Island

Found some shutters at a yard sale that I knew I wanted to do something with. Cut the top half off and attached a couple of drawers that I had left over from another project.

 

 

From here I was a little stumped, didn't really want to build a top so I went to some thrift stores where I found a TV console that was solid wood, brought it home and promptly cut off the top. Hubby thinks I'm nuts. I also took the molding off the top and attached just the flat part.

 

I used some pallet wood to attach as molding for a more rustic look. OK..now what? I went on Hometalk and asked for opinions and got plenty of great ideas.

 

 

Modge Podged some funky papers inside drawers and gave her some color with some turquoise paint. Sanded the drawers and moved her to the shop to finish her up.

 

 

I tried out some pulls to see which ones I liked. I'm also going to add a bottle opener and a paper towel rack along with casters. I'll add the finished photos tonight.

 

What do ya think? Would you like this in your kitchen?

 

Naomi Grace

 

 

Shop opening and a stroll around town.

I am such a slacker where my blog is concerned. But not with my pieces! Have been super busy trying to get ready for a November 2nd opening. This is a joint effort between several business in our downtown area. We are trying to revitalize downtown Freeport, Texas and bring some visitors to town.

Beautiful fountain that is on the square, great spot for a cup of coffee on this fall morning. Lets take a walk.

 

 

Several of these buildings are available for sale. Should we go in the shop? Let's do.

 

 

 

I can see these windows in a home all decked out for the holidays!

I've had those little Egrets for years, gave them to Kenny, the owner of Coastal Alchemy, who promptly painted them red..hmmm, should have done that a long time ago. Pretty little things now.

 

 



 

Here's a link for more info on the  

opening

 

I hope you enjoyed our stroll! More to come.

 

Naomi Grace

 

Busy, Busy, Busy

Wow! It's been a couple of weeks since my last post..time sure flies when your busy. Busy is actually a understatement. Think I need to read some time management blogs. I have been keeping my one year old grandson and having so much fun. He's a hoot! I also have a couple of consignment pieces in the shop, and a store opening sneaking up on me. Thank goodness for the store owner getting things ready in the storefront. I'm so excited about all the new and wonderful things happening around me. Here is a link to my small little Texas coast town of Freeport. www.texasexplorer.com/Freeport.htm

I know this is a short blog but like I said, BUSY, BUSY.

Naomi Grace

Labor Day Ramblings

Hey all! What a week! Since my dear friend at the horse rescue has thrown out her hip, Ouch, I've  been helping take care of the horses. Of course this is a labor of love for me, while being labor intensive it still doesn't feel like work when you get paid with soft muzzles and neighs.  The rescue is full to the brim right now and we are diligently searching for homes for a few of the rehabbed horses.

I also been working on a little dresser for my granddaughter. My son and his wife just bought their first house, woohoo, can we say projects? Of course they are purists and don't want to touch any of the wood :(  but there are other things to paint. Walls, doors, the vent hood is screaming for a makeover...but on to the dresser. My son found it at a yard sale, it was a yellow, French provincial type without a mirror.

 

It is now a little Coral and Teal dresser that I'm not sure like?

 

Can you see how the top left drawer is a little off? I still need to work on that. I've tried it in all the slots, for want of a better word, and it's the same in all. I do like these little owl pulls that I got from Hobby Lobby.

 

and there's always this little smile to look forward to.

 

 

Krissy, my granddaughter and Cilla , my daughter, in the background. While I'm adding family photos might as well throw these in.

 

 

Top photo is my oldest son Brian, and my daughter Isabel getting ready to eat some birthday party grub. The bottom is me and my little grandson, Levi. Love that kid.

 

So to end, Happy Labor day to all !

 

Naomi Grace

 

 

Little Boy Blu

Hope everyone had a great week! It's been crazy busy around here trying to get the girls ready for the start of school on Monday.  Meet the teachers for both girls was last night and it has a bit hectic at my youngest daughter's school. We thought that would be the easy one, old school just new halls. NOPE. Lots of changes this year, but she's a trooper and we soldiered on.

Now for the reason we are really here. This piece is another estate sale piece and will be living here with me. I was lucky enough to find this Buffet, Table and chairs all from the same line. I tried to do a little research about the company, Myers-splait, out of Houston. Seems the first location was in Dallas, and the Houston Division opened around the 1910. So I'm guessing here, but I think this is from the 30's or 40's.

 

I really like this piece and debated for a week on the color, the wood was in good shape with the exception of the top. I sanded it all down and actually went ahead with some stripper..it had that yucky bubbled up Shellac on the legs. Then I stared at it some more..

 

I was leaning towards gray, and still am for the Table. But I had this sample of Blue, more like a country blue, which I didn't want. I also really wanted to try my Fiddes and Son wax that I ordered from Amazon. I love Amazon btw. Anyone reading this, I have a question. If you use this wax, is it supposed to be so runny? Mine is more like a gel...anywhoo. I went forward with the blue. Then I used a clear wax and then the final step was the Cherry wax! I also stained the legs, drawers and doors. So here he is.

 

 

And here's a close up of the finish.

 

 

I'm really happy with how he turned out. What do ya'll think?

 

Now to get to work on the table..

 

Naomi Grace

 

Busy and Productive week!

WOW! What a week this past week was! Say that 4 times real fast. Of course along with everyone else in the rest of the country we are getting ready for school to start. As a furniture painter I have been "shopping". Also did two mini room redos. My beautiful little girls have really helped me out this summer, doing chores without complaining, helping with the animals, helping at the horse rescue..ect.. So when my oldest daughter decided she wanted the "Teal Princess" as her own and has been shopping online forever, OK, for the last month, for the "perfect quilt", we finally hit the road and found one at Dillards. Here is how her room turned out.

 

She has "decorated" this room totally by herself, she is 12. Good eye right.

Now, after doing this my other daughter needed something too. I took Isabel's older dresser and repainted it to go in Priscilla's room. Get ready, shield your eyes...

 

 

Yes, I actually painted this a light, almost neon green and orange. You would have to know my youngest to know how perfect this is for her. One day I'll actually clean up the rooms before posting pics. These were taken with my phone, right after they had climbed out of bed.

 

Now THIS is what I'm working on this week and I am VERY excited about.

 

 

Many more pictures of this one to come!

Thanks for stopping by and please come back soon..

 

Naomi Grace

 

A different view

This post is going to be a little different. I want to share a little about the other side of my heart. Every since I was a little girl there have been animals around. Cats, dogs, hamsters you name it...I love them all. The one animal I always wanted and dreamed of was horses. This dream bites a lot of little girls. My older sister also was able to find a way, while living in suburbia to have a horse to ride. It wasn't hers, but none the less, she cared for and rode it. I was 10 years younger so I wasn't really able to tag along with her.

 Then my brother and I moved to Tennessee to live with my father when I was 9. My step mom's mother, are you following, lived on a farm where I quickly became very attached to this little round lady. Maude was her name and she was a very hard working woman in her early 60's back then. Grandmomma would head out to the garden right after breakfast,  back in to cook lunch, yes I said cook lunch, then dishes, taking care all the while of her older brother. Well on this farm I would ride horses, they were not real horses alas..they were horses made from natural gas tanks or anything else I could put the old saddle I found in the barn on. So way back then I loved horses, my sisters fault really. Seven years ago, at the age of 42 I was finally in a position to get my first horse. This is Lady, my first ever real live horse.

 

When I went to see her she was in a little chicken coop area, scared and lame. So of course she came home with me. She had a condition called pythosis (I think that's how you spell that) it means she didn't sweat, which was made worse by the fact that we lived in south Florida at the time. She also had Cushing's, you can learn more about the disease here.(http://www.petmd.com/horse/conditions/endocrine/c_hr_cushings_syndrome#.UggBESAo74g) I was able to keep her comfortable and healthy using a good dietary plan, and in return she taught me about love, and how to ride, and everything else I know about horses, which is never enough by the way. Here's my favorite picture of her with my daughters having a spa day.

 

Sadly Lady passed over the rainbow bridge in June of 2011, but I like to think she left knowing she was loved. Since moving back home to Texas last year I have been blessed to find a wonderful new friend that runs a horse rescue where I volunteer and board my horse Roho. For more info about the rescue, click here.https://www.facebook.com/YellowRoseHorseRetirementAndRescue?filter=1

 Here's a shot of him.

 

Roho is a Tennessee Walking horse and one of my best buds. So there you have it, when I'm not in my garage painting furniture, I'm at the barn hanging out with my four legged friends. Just wanted to share my love of these amazing creatures and to let you know that your never to old to have a dream come true :)