Milk Paint.....

Have you used milk paint before?  I'm about to use it for the first time this weekend on a big piece of furniture.  I bought three colors: Snow White, Pitch Black and Driftwood.   I'm thinking of starting with the black and diluting it just a little with the snow white so it's not pitch black but more of a faded black.  So, what is this furniture piece you ask?  Well, after debating back and forth about built-ins for our Master Bathroom, I decided that I wanted to keep going with the furniture concept so I bought a china cabinet.  I love that this cabinet has the glass door with wood shelves on the top and drawers and extra storage on the bottom. I have some vintage bath accessories and old bottles that I'll display and I want this piece to have an old apothecary feel.   I found some old looking pulls at Anthropologie last weekend that I am going to use instead of the more traditional pulls that are on it now.  The drawers are slightly bow front and offer plenty of storage for the stuff you need but don't want to see and the sides are perfect for housing the trash bin and taller items. So, I'll be experimenting this weekend trying to give this piece of furniture a new look.  Here's what I'll be working with:

 

 

 

 

These are the pulls that I got at Anthropologie to replace the ones that you see on the drawers in the pictures.  These were on clearance and are not available on the website anymore so I'm not linking to it. If you like them and live near an Anthro, go there now.

 

  

Here's what the milk paint looks like.  I'm excited to see how this comes out. 

 

Quick update on bathroom progress.  Flooring will be done over Labor Day weekend.  Our schedule has been packed and we've been doing some floor leveling so that's taken some extra time and $.  But, it was necessary to do and it will be worth it in the long run. We're almost there.  I will not show any more pictures until it's done (maybe just one sneakie peek) so you can see the whole thing completed. 

 

Have a great weekend!

 



 

One Man's Trash....

I don't make a habit of going through my neighbors trash, but I have been known to browse through the big stuff when it's put out on the curb.  To me, there's no shame in it (although I must admit I feel a little awkward doing it) and really it's free game when it gets put on the curb.  I see people drive through our neighborhood and others close by on trash day picking up all sorts of stuff from lawnmowers, strollers, patio umbrellas etc. I wonder how lucrative this type of picking is?....I remember when our neighbor across the street from us set out a two seat glider and a hot water heater one night.  I saw the glider (which was broken) and asked HH if he would go check it out.  He said it was repairable and brought it to our house.  By morning, everything including the hot water heater was gone before the trash came.  Since then, HH has repaired and sandblasted the glider and it's now ready for re-assembly.  I thought it would look good on our porch but felt weird putting it out there without telling our neighbors that it was theirs.  We have great neighbors and they were glad we took it so now I can put it out there without feeling weird.  There have been other things that I've gotten curbside and sometimes I wonder why somebody would throw certain things away.  As the saying goes, "one man's trash is another man's treasure".  So true.  Like yesterday, I'm driving home and there is a big pile of trash on the curb from a house in our neighborhood that just got sold.  As I drive by, I look and see a big pile of fur and think hmm.... that looks like a sheepskin rug. I get home and wait for the appliance repair guy who calls to reschedule and then decide to go back to the curb to check this out further.  After all, it's trash day and the big truck should be coming in less than an hour.  Upon pulling up to the pile, I confirm that it is indeed a sheepskin rug and proceed to open it up to see what "surprises" are on it.  Seriously, this rug is pristine and HUGE.... So, I throw it in my car and get home to inspect more closely. Here's what it looks like:

 

I'm thinking since this house was built in the 60's that perhaps this rug was in the house when it sold and the new owners didn't want it.  Anyway, this is a very lush rug and of course our new puppy Kona was going bananas over this.......But being the puppy she is, this rug will not be out anytime soon...Look how long that pile is?  This is a serious rug.

 

This is the best thing I've found curbside so far. Other items of note are window shutters, a match to a tall white mid-century urn lamp that I already have (that was weird in a good way) , a retro patio chair like the glider and several pieces of lawn equipment that HH picked up and repaired.  Have you found any treasures in someone else's trash?  I'd love to hear about any finds that you've scored.   Have a great day!

The Guest House Shop....

Good day everyone!  Hope your week has been fantastic.  Just want share with you that I've opened up the online Guest House Shop and I'm carrying some awesome smelling candles and diffusers from the Aspen Bay Candle Co.  I have several from the Capri Blue Collection (Anthropologie sells these), Reserve Collection and the Traviata Collection.  I have personally used everything I am stocking and can testify to the quality of these fine fragrances.  The vintage section is sparse but I'm working diligently to add more items. Checkout is secure with Paypal so no worries there.  If you want to check it out click here and click on the shop button.  Hope you have a great day! 

Almost There......Almost.....

Has it been 13 weeks yet? Maybe more?  Ha!  Well, after numerous distractions, this weekend will be the weekend I finally get to paint the Bookcases, Bench and Baseboards in my daughter Gabriella's room.  HH (Handy Husbnd) has worked really hard to get this all ready and it looks great.  He's turning out to be quite the bookscase maker!  Although I don't particularly like painting, I am very excited to get this done for her.  I still need to make some pillows for the back seat but the main part of this will be done and her room can get back to normal.  It's funny, I used to get so inpatient with not having things done, but I've gotten to where I can live with a project taking a little longer (within reason of course) if there are other things that come up or things we want to do.  Thankfully our kids are very patient and they know that it will be great when it's finished.  So, what else have I been doing?  For starters, I'm still working on re-doing my office.  I have all of the furniture I need but  I'm still working on the details.  I have a chair that needs to get re-upholstered, a vintage chandelier that needs to get re-wired and few more things that need "tweaking". I bought a chrome and Lucite chandelier a few weeks ago that I think will be great in the office.  It's very modern but classic and it will be a nice element in this room.  The glass chandelier that is currently in the office will be re-purposed and used in the Master Bathroom.  I also found a great chair for my daughter Tatiana's room.  You might remember that she got a little seating area at the foot of her bed and I found another chair that will coordinate nicely with the one she has.  It's totally different but the same scale so it will work and give her more seating.  I'm finished with my vanity and I'm still looking for a little seat.  I'm looking everywhere so hopefully I will find one soon. I'm using my vanity every day and I love it.  It's such a nice change from standing in the bathroom. As always, I'll share the afters of all of these projects with you when they are finished.  Here's some pictures of the chandelier and the chair I'm working on.  Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend. 

 

 

Salvage Finds..........

Is it me or is it getting harder and harder to find salvage items?  In Houston, there used to be several architectural salvage places that were full of detail pieces, windows, doors and all sorts of goodies.  Now, there's really only one and it makes me wonder, "have we demolished everything that has architectural value"? It seems that the abundance of inventory that used to be is no longer, thus making these items even more special (at least to me anyways).  This past weekend, we went to one of our favorite places, Adkins Architectural Antiques.  I love to come here and look at all of the doors and ornamental iron. The detail on the old storefronts and doors is fantastic and the scale is so grand.  Truly works of art.  We have purchased many doors from here in the past and today we were looking for a new door for our Master Bathroom. I was looking for a door that had some glass so we could let in some natural light.  After looking through the section that had the dimensions we need, we came up empty. That is, until I was looking around at all of the big pieces and came across a pair of old french doors. It was love at first sight and the dimensions are perfect.  We need to do a little tweaking for the height but that's not unusual.  We purchased these along with some knobs for my vanity.  I'm so excited to see these put up. If you live in the Houston area and you haven't been to Adkins, you must go.  If you don't live in Houston, you can visit them online although the selection is limited.   

 

Master Bathroom doors.

 

I loved these metal olive baskets.  

 

Just one of the many beautiful doors at Adkins. 

The Goods....

Happy Monday!  Hope everyone had a great weekend.  Mine was overfull   full of trying to do a thousand things out of which I accomplished 10. Oh well, there's always next weekend....  I did manage to take time to make my rounds at resale and thrift shops and thought I would share some of my finds.  If you like some of what you see, I have listed several of these items in my etsy store. This week I will share some details about the next project we are going to do.  We will be starting it this weekend and I'm excited to share the details and inspiration with you. Until then, have a great Monday.



 

Not sure if I'm going to use it or sell it yet.  What do you think?  What would you use this for?

Love this old souvenir.  it's stamped ont he bottom Made in France Paris.  I have the perfect place for this (I'll share it with you at a later date).

 

I can't pass up gold glasses.  These in particular are FABULOUS!

 

 Great old set of Biographies.  The stories are wonderful and the books are art.

I'll take it...... I know I can use it someday........

For those of you who are like me and come across certain things and say to yourself "I know I can find a place for it someday", this post is for you.  Last year we were visiting family at their house on the lake and I saw this piece of wood drifting in the water.  You could tell it had been in there a while and  I loved the shape and texture of it so I pulled it out of the water and took it home.  I thought about making a lamp out of it but hated the thought of cutting this piece of wood.  It has been beautifully crafted by nature and I wanted to appreciate it as I found it.  After 8 months of thinking, I finally found a place for it.  It is now proudly displayed on the front of house with our house numbers on it.  I couldn't think of a better place for it (although it has been made to bring inside if I choose to do so at a later date).  My husband made a bracket for it so it can be mounted to the brick and the numbers are drilled in with the smallest and longest screws possible. The numbers are a brushed nickel and although I like them, I'm keeping my eyes out for something maybe a little more contemporary.  What do you think?