Okay so I am still keen to do up some old furniture in the French Provincial style. It will save me a lot of money as I have discovered that if it's French Provincial it's expensive to buy brand new : / We have a tiny budget so the cheaper the better. Plus I find that old furniture seems to be built better and I know it will last as it already has. There's also the benefit of it being more environmentally friendly to upcycle!
So anyway I have already started collecting pieces. I'm picking up an 8-seater dining set next weekend. Solid timber and cost half as much as an 8-seater set from a discount furniture store!! This is not the orangey one I talked about in the last post which turned out to have a large, badly repaired crack underneath. Pays to closely examine the furniture you wish to buy when buying secondhand! And I have put a gorgeous bed on lay by at the local City Mission. It was very cheap and will look gorgeous done up:
My plan is to paint it in Limed White quarter strength with Limed White full strength on the little carved details and then lightly distress it. I cannot wait and also cannot believe my luck at find it so cheap! I'll post progress pics when I pick it up.
As I mentioned in my last post I have decided to keep an eye out for furniture to paint up and look nice. In Tasmania it's so hard to buy brand new pieces of French Provincial looking furniture. There's not a lot around and what is around is expensive. You can get it a lot cheaper on the mainland but by the time you freight it here the cost is the same as buying an expensive Tasmanian piece!
So yesterday I ducked down to the local City Mission shop to see what they had. Some of their stuff is brand new and expensive which is not what I was after. However i did find a few really great pieces that I am going to go back in next week and lay by.
One is a large timber table which would seat at least 8 people. It has gorgeous carved legs and they are only asking $120. I reckon it's been looked over by a lot of people due to the fact it's an ugly orange-y pine colour. However with a paint and the top stained I think I can make it look as nice as some of the tables I have been looking at that go for $1500+
The second is a dressing table with mirror. It's pretty ugly superficially but with a lick of paint and some new handles it has a lot of potential.
The third one is a lounge suite. It's already in great nick but it's an emerald green colour which I think is why it hasn't sold. Given our house will be very neutral I think the emerald green might give a nice punch of colour. I'm planning on putting some neutral coloured cushions on it too to help tone down the vibrancy a bit. It's really green! But the fabric is in mint condition and is a lovely soft velvet. The couch, two armchairs and 2 footstools are under $300 which is a bargain given similar lounge sets brand new are in the $4-5k range.
I'll take some before and after photos when I do them up and you can see what you think :) I'm actually quite excited to have some new projects to work on.
Also I have decided to go with light grey curtains and sheers on the windows instead of wooden shutters. I still love the idea of wooden shutters but they are sooooooo expensive. I figure curtains will be a cheaper option for the immediate need of privacy and then later on we can always get wooden shutters.
I know I have been very slack about writing in my blog. I got really busy doing a Cosplay project (our group won the group section at our local convention- yay) and working and kids. Excuses, excuses I know! Mostly I have only being planning our finances lately so not all that interesting. Though a couple of days ago I found another kit home I liked the look of. It was very similar to the one we had chosen except cheaper so I asked for a look at the plans. Turns out the layout was pretty bad though so we are still sticking with the original.
I have found some new paint colours I like though (of course). The new colour I like for the Master Bedroom/WIR/Ensuite is Dulux's French Limestone. I absolutely adore this colour. I am thinking full strength on bottom and full strength and quarter strength stripes above the chair rail. And for the main areas I like the colour Limed White also by Dulux with the same deal of full strength on bottom and full and quarter strength stripes above the chair rail. Very French Provincial colour being a lovely taupe/grey/beige colour.
Most excitingly for me though I have discovered a blog which has gotten me excited about doing up a lot of our furniture to give it a new lease on life and make it fit the new house. I had forgotten how much I used to love it until this lovely woman's blog inspired me. It's called Lilyfield Life and is well worth a look. Lot's of gorgeous furniture that she has painted up and plenty of great tips to do it yourself. So hopefully if I can find the time and money I will be able to do some before and after photos for you of some of our furniture :)
