Reusing Bleachers

Prepping some old bleacher seats to go in our office as shelves. They will be clean and white, but pretty rough when finished.

I will share when we get them in.

Mrs. Smith has been painting up a storm with our CeCe Caldwells paint. She's working on something special this week.

Mr. Smith

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

CeCe Simply White Oak Side Table

Always wanting to try something new that I haven't yet had the chance to do. Mrs. Smith and her dad (Marshal) picked up a pair of Oak Side Tables. They look like the big Oak pedestal tables, only mini... Here is a picture of one before I started in.

As you can see by the pictures - I worked on this while I was at the Mall still - I think this one was Sunday, since Mrs. Smith picked it up on Saturday. Not bad shape - it was a bit dried out, like it had been left outside in the sun or rain, no major damage, although you can see that one toe was missing...

Mrs. Smith has been wanting me to "pickle" an oak piece - especially an oak table. We picked up a full-size oak pedestal a few weeks back, but I wanted to practice before doing that. So to the best of my knowledge, and from reading a few blogs, and from seeing what she wanted in a few pictures...I set out to impress her with my talents.

I watered down some CeCe Caldwell's Simply White (it is the brightest white) and applied it somewhat thinly. I wanted the paint to get into the grain of the wood, but not cover the wood completely. After it dried - here is what it looked like.

Well covered from this picture, but ready for some sanding to get the majority of the paint off. I used a combination of 100 grit and 150 grit to get down to the wood color, but leaving the white that had soaked into the grain of the wood. It actually polished it up pretty nicely. A thin coat of CeCe Clear wax over the entire piece. I apply the wax with a 2" chip brush from Harbor Freight - nothing fancy, just a natural bristle brush does the trick. After letting it sit around for about 2 hours, I buffed and polished the wax into the piece. It comes out with a very high luster finish. Here it is happily displayed for mall walkers to see for the last few hours of the show.

Mrs. Smith was very happy with the finish, "...as am I". The plan, finish the other one with the same finish to have a matching pair to sell. That will probably get finished up this weekend. Then on to bigger and better things - the large oak pedestal table (with a leaf). Be looking for that in a future post. As for this one, we picked this table up for $3 - don't tell our customers - great deal hugh? Just wait until someone sees a pair of these babies in the booth...

Don't forget to be checking Mrs. Smith's blog as well - TheSmithHotel - she actually needs to get a blog post on the "other" table in the first picture and second picture above. (Updated - here it is - Mr.Smith finally let me paint ).

And here is an updated shot of both tables - stacked high in our booth.

...And Mrs. Smith's table at the bottom of the stack (only because it is the largest).


See you next time...this post is linked to...

Funky Junk Interiors Saturday Night Special
Domestically Speaking Power of Paint Party
Primitive and Proper
Beyond The Picket Fence under $100
Miss Mustard Seed
Redoux

Mr. Smith

Another Jack from a Trashed Nightstand

Day 3 at the Mount Shasta Mall. So glad that is over. Had a very productive weekend there painting, but wow did it drag on...and on...and on.........

Mrs. Smith's dad - Marshal, picked up this trashed nightstand. He didn't get a picture of it before he worked on it, but you can see that he used some glue and putty to get it in painting condition.

So I had in mind to paint it in CeCe Caldwell's Portland Rose (a very light pink). I thought it would be a cute girl's nightstand. Mrs. Smith asked that I paint it Maine Harbor Blue - so what do you think I did? ...Maine Harbor Blue...

So having all kinds of time Saturday - I decided to go one step further and paint a Union Jack flag on the top. I used Traverse City Cherry and Simply White.

I noticed that the drawer split just a bit, so I had to take it home to TheSmithGarage and glue it overnight.

Here is is finished with one of Mrs. Smith's little chicks and a mustache man postcard. Very fun and very fast. Freehand painting now since I have done a few before. just used brush widths. Hope you enjoy, Follow and come back for a few more finished pieces from the weekend. And something extra special coming soon - Mrs. Smith paints her first piece with CeCe Caldwell's paint - and it turns out to be incredible! You will want to see it.

Mr. Smith

Linked to:
Kammy's Korner Trash 2 Treasure Tuesday
Domestically Speaking
Primitive and Proper Power of Paint Party
Beyond the Picket Fence (under $100 - yeah - way under $100)
Shabby Creek Cottage - Transformation Thursday
Redoux
Decorating Insanity

French Inspired Coffee Table - Young Kansas Wheat

It has been a few weeks since my last post. Dealing with a few things around the house - along with some fun travel times at work. About a month ago, we found out that Mrs. Smith's dad (Marshal) has esophageal cancer. He is now undergoing treatment and we continue to pray for God's work and healing. Marshal is a great father-in-law, and we are all in the journey with him.

The show season is winding down - one more outing this upcoming weekend at the Mount Shasta Mall . There have been several pieces completed, just haven't had time to get them in a blog form.

So I have a coffee table that I picked up a while ago for FREE - it was a post on Craig's List. It was about 10 miles from our home, so with the price of fuel, I figured it cost me about $3 in gas to go grab it.

The white dresser behind was transformed into the Subway Masterpiece and the black dresser is still awaiting a transformation. I had just received some new colors of CeCe Caldwell's paint, so I was dying to try some of them out on our furniture. I have seen lots of two-tone pieces using the natural wood, so I decided this one would have a natural top and painted legs. I really like the Young Kansas Wheat color - it has a tan/beige look.

So I am trying to find some photos of this table completed. We moved it into the shop right after I finished it, but everywhere we have had it it has been covered up with stuff. Here are some photos I did find with the finished table.

Can you see it down there? It's behind that little white window on the floor. We had a trunk on top of it with a bunch of frames and mirrors stacked (this was at The Burlap Harlot Show).

Here is a shot at the booth upstairs at Oregon Street Antique Mall, I pulled back the burlap runner that mostly covered it. This weekend at The Mount Shasta Mall, I will not have ALL the stuff, just furniture. I will be doing furniture painting demonstrations throughout the weekend. Make sure to stop in if you are local and see how easy it is to paint your worn out and tired furniture to give it fresh new life with CeCe Caldwell's paint. I will have paint on hand and will give you some pointers on application and finish.
Until next time....

Mr. Smith

Linked to:
Primitive and Proper
Domestically Speaking
Beyond The Picket Fence
Primp

Ombre 3-Drawer Nightstand

It has been a week since I have shared a piece with you - my readers - and any visitors. This last weekend Mrs. Smith and I took part in Roses and Rust Home and Garden Market. Leading up to that event, I had worked on this little nightstand and wanted to create something different from my normal refinishing.

Here is a glance at what it looked like before the paint began. I could not find a better picture before, but this gives you an idea of the hardware and color of the wood.

The top was peeling away, so I used the "tower of power" and a little wood glue to keep the top where it should be.

So I have been wanting to do an "ombre" piece - and this had just the 3 drawers I needed to have a little fun. One drawer was a little dirty, so I decided to paint the drawers with CeCe Caldwell's Simply White. That really cleaned them up and created a finished look on the entire piece.

I used Georgia Clay as a color for the bottom drawer, then reduced down for each drawer by using Vintage White. The middle drawer was one part Georgia Clay and a half part Vintage White, and the top drawer and structure of the piece is one part Georgia Clay and 2 parts Vintage White. It created an almost "pink" tone to the piece. I can't say I love it, but I hope someone else will.

Please tell me what you think. I do appreciate the feedback. New pieces are bound to surprise. If you find the blog fresh and new - please follow along and I will be sure to "intrigue".

Mr. Smith

CeCe Caldwell's Paint is Here

Well - just before Mrs. Smith and I left for our trip to Seattle to celebrate our 20th Anniversary, our shipment from CeCe Caldwell's Paint came in on a FedEx Freight truck. We had just enough time to take it off the pallet and throw the boxes on a shelf that was recently saved (see it HERE ) that happens to still be in TheSmithGarage.

I am so excited to break into some of these colors and paint some of the "pile" that has been patiently waiting for this paint. Follow along and I will try to post a project a week - and maybe even a few if they are small. And if you are ready to jump in and get some of this paint, please feel free to order a can, or two, or three from TheSmithHotelBoutique . Within a few weeks, we should also have sample sizes available. Read more about CeCe Caldwell's paint HERE .

Did I mention we got a pallet with our paint? Looking forward to making something cool out of that pallet - let no wood go to waste.

Mr. Smith

20 YEARS!!! Wohoo!

March 14, 2012 - marks 20 years that Mrs. Smith and I have been blissfully wed. Okay, maybe not all 20 years have been blissful, but we make it work, and it has been fun - and getting better. We understand each other much more now then we did 20 years ago. God has been gracious to us - He has blessed us with wonderful children, an extended family, and very close friends over these 20 years. I wouldn't trade out Mrs. Smith for anyone else - no one could take her place in my life.

I am looking forward to many more wonderful years with Mrs. Smith.

I Love You Honey!

Mr. Smith