A Smith Garage "Favorite"

Spring Hill Green Child's Chair

This chair would have gone great with the miniature Spring Hill Green Tablethat I finished back in March. Mrs. Smith picked up this sad little chair at a local thrift store for me to repair, and she had in mind that I paint it in Spring Hill Green from the beginning. Here is a before picture, just as I am gluing it back together with some Elmer's Wood Glue.

So, I painted this chair very lightly with CeCe Caldwell's Spring Hill Green. I wanted the oak to come through in the finished product. After getting the finish just right, I waxed it with CeCe Caldwell's Clear wax. I decided to wax it before sanding so that I would not lose as much paint when distressing the piece. It does gum up the sandpaper, but it keeps a heavy hand from sanding through all the paint. The sandpaper also creates a polished look after going over the piece. Here are a few shots of the finished piece out in the sunlight.

and a close up...

So - one more saved piece of furniture to add to TheSmithHotel. We'll bring this to TheVintage Barn Sale on June 2nd in Anderson at the Ponderosa Ranch. I'm sure it will sell there, so better get out to snatch it up if you like it...

Mr. Smith

Linked to:

Redoux

Miss Mustard Seed Furniture Feature Friday

Decorating Insanity

Coastal Charm - Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Art & Antiques at The Mount Shasta Mall

A new adventure awaits TheSmithGarage June 8th, 9th & 10th as I partner with local Redding Artist Dave Anderson at The Mount Shasta Mall. I guess there is an annual Antique Show to start out the Summer. Dave Anderson and I will partner up and have demonstrations throughout the weekend. Dave is a talented artist with several mediums. You may be familiar with some of his work from The Burlap Harlot Show. The elephant head at the front was one of his works.

He also painted the Ringling Bros. Tiger Poster/painting at the front next to TheSmithHotel booth.

Not being an "artist" myself - I wasn't sure what I could add, but Dave is a great talker - and he talked me into partnering with him at this event. So I will showcase furniture painting with CeCe Caldwell's paint, and Dave will showcase some of his work while I take a break. Sounds like a fun, LONG, weekend. Please come out and stop by our spot if you happen upon the mall that weekend. I don't know what I will have in store - but I am bound to bring a bunch of junk furniture and ceate masterpieces.

And I will have the CeCe Caldwell "Tower of Paint" on hand for paint purchases.

As I write this, I am working on a child's chair in Spring Hill Green as Mrs. Smith wants it finished for the Vintage Barn Sale next weekend. I am taking pictures and will get it on the blog when I have completed it.

Until next time.....

Mr. Smith

Traverse City Cherry Console

This is a piece that I have not had a chance to share with my blog friends. We have been very busy with Spring shows, and I have been painting furniture on weekends - at least some of them. Last weekend I gardened - we are supposed to plant in our zone on Mother's Day weekend (or when the snow has melted on Shasta Bally), well, both happened and the garden didn't get planted.

But - on Mother's Day Weekend we had a two-day show - The Burlap Harlot. And I actually decided to paint a piece at the show because I was tired of the dingy white, and I had a new CeCe Caldwell color - Traverse City Cherry!

The white console right-center in this picture is the before picture.

It's a nice piece, but there is not much character to it. It has been in our booth at Oregon Street Antique Mall for quite some time, and we really thought it would go quickly at the price we were asking - $60. It has  4 shelves inside, looks like it was a canning console/cabinet.

So, I was itching to paint something in my new Traverse City Cherry (Traverse City is in Upper Michigan, and they have a national cherry festival - thus the name of the CeCe Caldwell color).

I painted it during the show, and it really only took me about 2 hours to paint, sand (distress), and wax/polish. I am sure some people were amazed by the transformation. Almost had it sold, but the gal didn't want to wait around. I told her if it didn't sell that we would have it at the next two shows. I did however sell a quart of Traverse City Cherry to someone wanting to paint their front door the same color - so it was a hit.

I really liked the way the color turned out on this piece. Here is a picture of it at the show in Willows - The Vintage Country Flea Market.

As you can see, we have some other fine pieces of furniture in this shot. Doesn't that color just POP? We might just have to raise the price on that now. It has been fun trying out new colors. I just got a couple of others that I will be trying in the coming weeks - Pickerington Violet, Portland Rose, and California Gold. Come back by to see what's new at TheSmithGarage. And if you like the colors and what to give them a try yourself - check out our shop at www.thesmithhotelboutique.com.

Mr. Smith

Linked to:

Kammy's Korner Trash 2 Treasure Tuesdays

Decorating Insanity

Show Season at TheSmithHotel/Garage

So it is show season, and Mrs. Smith has been busy making sure we have a successful season this Spring as we visited Roses & Rust, The Burlap Harlot, The Village Country Flea Market and finally on June 1 - The Vintage Barn Sale. We have been extremely blessed this season to have a friend from church allowing us to use his twenty foot enclosed trailer. Wow!!!! We used to stage our stuff at Mrs. Smith's parents home (they have a 4-car garage). Then we would take trips back and forth to each venue until we got all of our wares out for sale.

Here is a shot of the rig we used. Mr. Scott's Excursion and Mr. Campbell's Trailer.

So each show has been extremely successful for TheSmithHotel. Mrs. Smith has such a variety of stuff, that we seem to do well - some shows we sell furniture, some we don't, some jewelry, and some not. It has been fun seeing how the business has grown over the past several years. We don't even have to clear out our booth at Oregon Street Antique Mall like we used to.

So, we have been selling all kinds of stuff - and it has been fun. Next weekend (June 2) is our last show of the Spring - and we will be bringing items and dropping prices significantly to make room for new stuff in the booth over the Summer. So come out to The Vintage Barn Sale and be looking for some deals at TheSmithHotel. We will be inside the barn with furniture stacked high (if you are there early enough).

And be looking for new furniture pieces in the coming weeks/months. New colors from CeCe Caldwells are coming out as well. You will be able to find those new colors as we get them on our website - TheSmithHotelBoutique.

Looking forward to seeing you...

Mr. Smith

Mr. & Mrs. Smith Create Subway Masterpiece

Go and check out Kammy's Korner where this blog was featured:

Not often does Mrs. Smith get the opportunity to paint - after all, that is my job in this partnership. Needless to say - I have been on the road quite a bit in the last two months, without much time to get some projects finished. Mrs. Smith asked me to clean up this "junk find" 4-drawer dresser and paint it black so she could create a subway sign piece of art. Well - Black I did not have, but CeCe Caldwell's has a Vermont Slate that gets pretty close when it is waxed and shined - so we went for it. Here is the piece we got from our friend Wanda for under $20.

Very simple dresser... I did not have to do much structurally to this - it is a pretty sound piece of wood. I removed the porcelain knobs that had a rose and some gold accents... and painted with Vermont Slate. After the first coat, I cross-sanded (sanded against the brush strokes) to get a smoother finish, then added another coat.

This is when Mrs. Smith took over and created some subway signs with different fonts - very simple - printing a large font then taping the sheets of paper together to make the words. She (and I hepled on one of them) traced the back side of the word with a pencil, then taped it to the appropriate drawer and rubbed the pencil lead onto the drawers. Then she removed the paper and carefully painted in the words with CeCe Caldwell's Young Kansas Wheat.

As you can see we have a London theme going on here. So after sanding with 150 grit over the entire piece, I applied the CeCe Caldwell Clear Wax (it was High Tea time as the wax smells so good - like honey). Then after waiting a few hours - I buffed the wax in to get a hard shinny black finish. I have learned after using the natural wax that you do not want to apply it too heavily, or you will have to wait overnight to finish the buffing. By applying a light coat, you get the same finish and it is completed in minimal time.

Also a nice touch - remember this is an upcycled piece of furniture - check out the drawer lining below. Gives this set of drawers a little more character. I did not add that - that was already in there - but I didn't feel it needed fixing. Someone will love this in their bedroom. Dreaming of London...

I hope you enjoyed this latest creation of Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Come back for more. This will be for sale at the upcoming Burlap Harlot show over Mother's Day weekend in Anderson, CA. Check out some of our other great pieces of upcycled and salvage furniture at TheSmithHotelBoutique.

Mr. Smith

Linked to:
Primp
Primitive and Proper
Funky Junk Interiors
Decorating Insanity Furniture Friday
Domestically Speaking Power of Paint Party
Kammy's Korner