White Winter Wonderland

 It's over!!  Halleluiah...whoever decided kids should take a 2 wk (18 days actually) winter break over the holidays must not have had any themselves.   Don't get me wrong. I love my babies, luuuvvv them ~ but 18 days is torture.  For all of us :p  Not to mention the hubs took 2 wks off at the same time which in theory sounds helpful, but really it's just an extra person 24-7 to have to cook, clean, do laundry, clean, etc. after.  We did lots of fun stuff though, took kids to all the parks, trails, even some new ones. We rode bikes, scooters and watched movies. And of course they had all their new toys from Santa to play with and yet toward the second week they were already climbing the walls and I was reaching for my merlot!

Phew, so nice to have a quiet, CLEAN home today ;)  For the 8 hours it lasts anyways!  How were your holidays? 

Prior to all that, I've been busy busting out some new pieces and the theme has been various shades of white.  With no snow here in Austin (yet) some white seemed in order this time of year.  First up is a dining set from the 1920's, and unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the chairs before it sold (bad blogger!)  OR any before shots...I'm just kicking myself...but it had a matching buffet that I did manage to photograph with the table before it all sold:

They had lovely legs and details that unified them as a set.

And of course there had to be some shade of blue somewhere...it's just not finished to me otherwise:

 I was a little bummed that this set sold as individual pieces, one couple bought the buffet, another lady bought the table and chairs.  It felt like I was breaking up a family that has lasted almost a hundred years together!!  Sigh....at least they got new life for more years to come :)

This next piece was a HUGE undertaking that I had no real idea what I was in for.  I had been looking for the perfect armoire/computer cabinet for my office.  My etsy shop supplies, sewing machines, and my laptop were in need of some better organization.  I saw this at the local Salvation Army one day and fell in love.  I didn't even think about how I was going to get it home (and had to pay extra for delivery), how much it was going to weigh (had to pay extra for oversize item plus an extra delivery person), or when it was finished being redone in my garage, how I  was going to get it inside the house (paid same delivery people to come back-they did so begrudgingly).

I had tested out some chalk paint in old white here.  I had to paint her by hand since I couldn't move it into my spray area yet as the table and chairs where being done at the time and the delivery guys wanted to put it down asap.
Here it is finished, and moved into it's new home-mine :)

I did a rubbed, time-worn finish and added some dark wax to the details to make them 'pop' a little more.  Then added some mother-of-pearl knobs from Anthropologie which I am still mulling over... And now for my NEXT project:

The inside - I am going to paint it I think, and try to stay away from the usual blues!  Any suggestions? And add some cork board to the door panels.   It's getting there.


Lastly, in my previous post I mentioned my daughter getting frustrated that all these pretty pieces were going to other homes and none to her...so at her birthday party in early December I gave her what she wanted most; a lift top vanity with crystal knobs.  Here is her reaction:

She was so excited, I just love the joy in her face (and the scowl on her brothers) ;D! 

Happy New Year to you and yours :)
XOXO