Birthday Surprises

So, this is what my husband surprised me with for my birthday:

Don't be a hater. I know it's weird. I've been stalking this thing in a sketchy little antique/junk shop in Greer for five years now. It's been buried--literally--under so much junk that no one else ever noticed it. I would go in a couple of times a year and the lady would say, "You're here to see the couch, aren't you?"

This is what I love about it:
--the carved detail on the legs
--the raised pattern on the fabric
--the style. It's ornate but not fussy. Mildly over-the-top but not outrageous.

It fits the style of our new stone cottage perfectly. Nevermind the fact that we don't yet have a rug, and the walls are a decided shade of light puke, and the original frothy curtains are still on the door. I have my couch=)

Vintage Chic

In between all the moving insanity, I squeezed two upcycles in. Quite honestly, they were welcome respites from the craziness. I would sneak away and do a little painting or some glazing to calm my Nervous Wreck tendencies.

My client, a new friend who saw Karen's coffee table on this blog, requested a similar style.

This coffee table is the typical vintage 70's throw-away piece that everyone is dying to get rid of...until now! This is one I had in my furniture stash available for upcycling:

With a base coat of white covered with a heavy burnt umber glaze, those details just pop. And this client has THE PERFECT ROOM for it--I wish I could do a blog post about her whole room...

Then she found a cedar chest--because who doesn't need a good blanket chest for these cozy evenings coming up?!--and I turned it navy with a heavy gray glaze. Well, it was a little too blue at first, so I reglazed it with custom navy and black glaze. That's why it's fashionably situated on a drop-cloth:

A very fun upcycle and a very sweet and VERY patient client. Thanks for stopping by!

A Wild Gamble

It was a wild gamble. A stone house finally came on the market, which is in itself a very rare occurrence.

But this one had a garage with a full basement. The husband needed no further convincing.

The two acres of woods and mature oaks included a creek. I've always wanted a creek...

The property included an ancient little cottage built in 1899 with hand-stenciled floors and original light fixtures. Who wouldn't want a rickety, musty old cottage to use for a furniture upcycling shop?

So we gambled. Well, that's what it might seem like, anyways. In a few weeks time, we had the old carpet out of our house, our hardwoods refinished, our bathroom remodeled, everything repainted, and the house staged. Our old house was under contract in nine days (all that remodeling over the years plus our savvy agent paid off!)

Bathroom remodel

In reality, we know that God was in control of every detail. It wasn't a wild gamble or we would have lost big-time. There were too many details to go wrong. Too many time-sensitive issues that had to work out perfectly. Too much to coordinate in too little time.

So...

Here's our stone house that God gave us.

Look at all that color! The stone is a mixture of marble, granite, fieldstone, and even chunks of glass from three different states collected over a period of several years in preparation for this house.

My bucket list is complete. And the unpacking begins. And the furniture starts up again--I have a few pieces already hanging out in my "new" cottage just waiting for their upcycle! Hazelnuts is back in business!