Saturday, May 31, 2014

Elephant Ear Dresser

More and more of my conversations with people are starting with: 

"I have this really old (blank). 
It doesn't look that great at all, 
but I really think you could do something great with it."

Here's the latest (blank):

grey and pink girls wood dresser elephant ear brushed nickel knobs

grey and pink girls wood dresser elephant ear brushed nickel knobsI'm calling it the "Elephant Ear Dresser" because from the moment my friend told me about it, I just felt like it needed to be grey and pink, and go in a little girl's room. I have this ribbon with grey elephants on it, and I guess it was in the back of my mind as inspiration for my next piece. I've never looked inside and elephant's ear, but I imagine it being pink. (Don't correct me if I'm wrong… let me believe the lie.)

grey and pink girls wood dresser elephant ear brushed nickel knobsI have a feeling this piece was originally green, then maybe someone wanted it pink? Thick pink? I'm a little confused on that piece of the painting puzzle.

grey and pink girls wood dresser elephant ear brushed nickel knobsI was lucky because a lot of the prep work had been done for me, because someone started scraping all the paint off. All I had to do was sand it smooth.

grey and pink girls wood dresser elephant ear brushed nickel knobs

It got a full coat of a coral/pepto bismol/bubble gum pink first, then I covered it all in grey. 
(See Godiva in her usual "helping" position? It looks like we were BBQ-ing that night.)
grey and pink girls wood dresser elephant ear brushed nickel knobs

grey and pink girls wood dresser elephant ear brushed nickel knobsI knew I wanted it to be owl grey. But I went into my stash of paint and it was nowhere to be found! I was so set to get this baby done, the sun was setting, and I needed my owl grey! I just ended up making my own. I added some "oops" beige to a dark grey I had on hand. Who knows if they were satin, flat, gloss… but it came out perfect. 


grey and pink girls wood dresser elephant ear brushed nickel knobsI also knew I wanted some peek-a-boo pink on the sides of the drawers. The drawers were in pretty good shape inside, but I always like to line my drawers with fabric. 

grey and pink girls wood dresser elephant ear brushed nickel knobsgrey and pink girls wood dresser elephant ear brushed nickel knobs

I chose this yellow/pink/grey fabric for the drawers.
grey and pink girls wood dresser elephant ear brushed nickel knobs

I also put the same fabric on the back, just to give it some "peek-a-boo" fun. The back of the dresser was also the only part of the piece that wasn't real wood. It needed some prettification. 

grey and pink girls wood dresser elephant ear brushed nickel knobsgrey and pink girls wood dresser elephant ear brushed nickel knobs

So with it painted, I distressed it so the pink would show through, and then used Miss Mustard Seed's Antiquing Wax over the whole thing. 
grey and pink girls wood dresser elephant ear brushed nickel knobs

If you know me, you know I fall in love with the imperfections in the wood.

grey and pink girls wood dresser elephant ear brushed nickel knobs

grey and pink girls wood dresser elephant ear brushed nickel knobsAs much as I wanted to go all trendy with the knobs, I went economical (knobs are expensive!) and I actually think the brushed nickel is way cuter and streamlines the piece. Anything else would have been too busy. 

grey and pink girls wood dresser elephant ear brushed nickel knobs

It sold, via Instagram, within 6 hours of posting it. That's a record!! It was actually spoken for by 2 different people within the first hour, but ended up in one of their hands within 6 hours. Better yet, if I could have made a custom dresser for the little girl who's room it ended up in, I would have made this exact dresser! She's one of my dance students. 

grey and pink girls wood dresser elephant ear brushed nickel knobs

Aloha, Rebecca
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Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Before and After - Antique Scallop Arm Chair

"You re-do furniture, right?"
"Yeah!"
"I kept seeing this chair on the side of the road, for weeks, and I finally picked it up with you in mind. Do you want it? Like, I'll just give it to you?"
"Really? Yes! Awesome! Where do you live? Can I pick it up?"
"Actually, it's in the back of my car right now. I had a feeling you'd be here. I'll go get it."

Do you have conversations like this?

Later that night I walked into my office at work and saw this waiting for me:

antique scallop arm chair vintage side of the road olive mustard Ivy & Co

Yes. That's my name, written in ball point pen, on the upholstery, just to make sure no one else stole this treasure. I'm sure thieves were lurking in the shadows trying to get their hands on this gem!

antique scallop arm chair vintage side of the road olive mustard Ivy & Co

Ivy and I got to work right away, pulling out about 300 staples. 

antique scallop arm chair vintage side of the road olive mustard Ivy & Co

And oila! It looked like this!
antique scallop arm chair vintage side of the road olive mustard Ivy & Co

antique scallop arm chair vintage side of the road olive mustard Ivy & CoOk, it took a little more than just ripping out staples and taking off the upholstery to get it to look like this. 

1. I sanded it down
2. I removed the arms because they were loose
3. I painted it bright yellow
4. I chose a vintage Hawaiiana muu muu that I was going to use to reupholster it
5. I painted it dark grey and hated it
6. I painted it dark olive and loved it
7. I distressed it slightly
8. I antique waxed it and topped it with VOC-free furniture wax from Miss Mustard Seed
9. I went into Sew Special and found this upholstery grade mustard scallop certified organic cotton print and bought 2 yards of it! I love scallops! The muu muu will get used another time...
10. I screwed the arms back on, reinforcing them with wood filler and wood glue.
11. I reupholstered it.

antique scallop arm chair vintage side of the road olive mustard Ivy & Co

I made that little Ivy & Co. sign for my first Craft Fair. One day I'll get a real one made.
antique scallop arm chair vintage side of the road olive mustard Ivy & Co


antique scallop arm chair vintage side of the road olive mustard Ivy & Coantique scallop arm chair vintage side of the road olive mustard Ivy & Co

It's for sale on craigslist and Etsy for $135. Come and get it!
antique scallop arm chair vintage side of the road olive mustard Ivy & Co

Aloha, Rebecca
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Monday, May 26, 2014

Custom Order for Cru - plus a Memorial Day sale!

My sister-in-law, Ariana, owns a little shop called Cru. (Isn’t that the cutest name? It’s her youngest son’s name.) I went over to Kauai to do her annual trunk show in November, which was Ivy & Co.’s first public event. It was so fun - click here to see pics from that event. 





My boho head wraps sold really well at her trunk show, so we arranged to have them sold in her shop. I just finished her 3rd re-order, and this time she’s trying out some of my head bands as well (single wrap, versus the boho, which wraps around the head twice, or hangs really long). Here’s what she’s getting:

bohemian head bands sold in kauai hawaii cru
These 2 kids & 1 adult head band

bohemian head bands sold in kauai hawaii cru
These 3 bohos

bohemian head bands sold in kauai hawaii cru
These 2 bohos and the vintage head band in the middle

 I am in love with this vintage one
bohemian head bands sold in kauai hawaii cru

bohemian head bands sold in kauai hawaii cru


These mother/daughter sets: 1 boho, 1 kids head band
bohemian head bands sold in kauai hawaii cru

bohemian head bands sold in kauai hawaii cru


What’s cool about this order is that Ariana and I chose all the fabric combos together. Normally she just gets whatever I send her, but when she visited earlier this month, we went fabric shopping and sat down to design them all. 
bohemian head bands sold in kauai hawaii cru

Cru shares a building with KUGA Visual Arts (www.kugava.com). 
They're located at:
 2-2535 Kaumualii Hwy. 
Kalaheo, HI 96741

Cru is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Saturdays from 10am-4pm, or by appointment. 

Follow Cru on Instagram: @crukauai
While you’re at it, you might as well follow: @kugavisualarts
And if you’re not following me, yet, get on it: @ivyandcompany

Have you heard about my Memorial Day sale on Etsy? 20% off ALL ORDERS, including furniture! Sale ends at midnight tomorrow. Just enter the coupon code: REMEMBER at checkout. Get your Ivy & Co. gear in time for summer! Head over to http://ivyandcompany.etsy.com

bohemian head bands sold in kauai hawaii cru

Have a wonderful Memorial Day, remembering those who served our country well.
Aloha, Rebecca
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Friday, May 23, 2014

Black-Washed Antique Side Table

As of May 4, my work schedule slowed down immensely. I've been pumping out furniture pieces during this down time. If you've been following for some time, you know that this year I've been obsessed with painting things black. 
(Click here and here and here and here and here to see what I mean). 
Well, here's another one for you. 

black wash antique side table vintage miss mustard seed typewriter 3 legs

I first introduced you to this little antique table in this post:
http://www.ivy-and-co.com/2012/08/upcycled-shutter.html

It was just simple wood. This little corner of my house is funny shaped, and eventually I found the perfect spindly corner bookshelf to put here and store all our books. Click here to see that post.

corner shelf book shelf grey

black wash antique side table vintage miss mustard seed typewriter 3 legsSo the little antique table floated around the house, until finally I was ready to part with it. I've seen this exact same piece painted in bright crazy colors, like turquoise and red, but that isn't really my style. 

black wash antique side table vintage miss mustard seed typewriter 3 legsSo I decided to "black-wash" it. 


black wash antique side table vintage miss mustard seed typewriter 3 legs

I used my go-to black: Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint in Typewriter

black wash antique side table vintage miss mustard seed typewriter 3 legsblack wash antique side table vintage miss mustard seed typewriter 3 legs

black wash antique side table vintage miss mustard seed typewriter 3 legsI painted the whole thing, and then sanded it off, heavier in some places to show that great wood underneath. 

black wash antique side table vintage miss mustard seed typewriter 3 legs

I finished it with a coat of Miss Mustard Seed Furniture Wax. Of course, all her products are VOC-free. 

black wash antique side table vintage miss mustard seed typewriter 3 legs

It sold already, to a lady in a red shirt, via Craigslist. 

black wash antique side table vintage miss mustard seed typewriter 3 legs

Aloha, Rebecca


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