I recently was contacted by a woman who requested that I come to her home in Los Angeles for a design consultation. She said that she had a lot of projects, as her home was being remodeled and the whole look of the homes décor was being changed. She wanted me to create some custom home furnishing items, such as pillows, a duvet cover and some patio furniture cushions, so she asked that I come to her house and help her create an Italian look. I was slightly reluctant because Los Angeles is a really terrible drive, traffic is always a nightmare, but I agreed. Come to find out she lives on Beverly Drive and her zip code is 90210. That is not Los Angeles! That is Beverly Hills!!!! I was, needless to say, thrilled about taking this job.

The home is gorgeous and my client is a doll. I have been working with her for the past three weeks and it has been so much fun. I have really enjoyed sewing on the plush silks and extravagant trims that we have chosen for the bedroom and bathroom. Creating outdoor cushions and an awning cover was fun to do, but even more fun to see her balcony transform into an outdoor living space that is cozy and inviting. As this project progresses I will be sure to share lots of photos with all of you, but for now I’m going to show off what we have done in the guest bathroom.

Before:

After:

The theme for today is white, so I wandered through the store and snapped some photos of white merchandise. We have lots of great items available here at Alchemy. This is just a tiny sneak preview.

A simple white ceramic pitcher sits atop an incredibly old, super rustic plant stand that is covered in chipping paint and exuding charm. The pitcher is filled with sparkly flower stems covered in sweet little buds. The ceramic magnolia is designed to hold a tea light. Two terracotta finials have an aged, antique finish and sit behind a gorgeous white coral. A vintage basket inspired by the sandy shore is filled with sea stars and sand dollars. The trinket box covered in pearls and crystals is the perfect place to store a few rings or a special necklace.

Stop by Faded Charm for a visit!!

This little night stand was a bit out dated with the cream paint job and gold accents. I gave it a stylish makeover with a fresh coat of white paint, some heavy sanding and a dark wood stain. The wood stain goes on after the sanding takes place and sticks inside the scratches that the heavy grit sand paper leaves. The stain also softens the bright white paint to give it more of an antiqued look. It now has an aged look with just the right amount on distressing.

The night stand was part of a bedroom set that also included a highboy dresser and a large six drawer dresser. Both dressers got a unique faux finish, by accident, but I really like they way they turned out.

This dresser had a gorgeous coat of white paint on it; I always start by spraying the pieces with a primer and then the top coat. I sanded it really well, stained it with a dark wood oil to antique it and then something interesting happened. The drawers had this awful floral lining in them that screamed 1980’s. For the life of me I could not remove this terribly tacky paper, so in a desperate attempt to get ride of it I brought out a can of lacquer thinner and poured it into the drawer. In doing so I accidently dropped a bit of the harsh chemical on the freshly painted dresser. Oh noooo!! Oh… wait, that kinda looks cool. (BTW pouring lacquer thinner into the drawer was a really stupid move, I wouldn’t recommend it)

The accidental spill ended up crackling the paint in a really interesting way. I then decided to embrace this “mistake” and doused the whole entire piece with lacquer thinner. The dresser turned out fabulously. It really gave it an authentic aged look as if the dresser is over 100 years old.

When I was painting this dresser my spray gun was acting up and my patience was running really, really thin. The paint started running down the one side, so I grabbed a damp cloth and kind of dabbed it to remove the excess paint. When the piece dried the side didn’t get good coverage, big surprise. Instead of hooking up my spray gun, filling it with paint, spraying the dresser again and then having to go through the painful task of cleaning up after all that, I decided to just give it a light coat of paint with a brush. I used a different paint than I had started with thinking it would blend well enough since I was going to stain it and sand it anyways.

Once again I discovered a new painting technique. The place where I had brushed on a different white paint took the stain differently; much darker. Like the highboy dresser and my lacquer thinner mishap I again decided to embrace this one. I decided to brush the corners of all of the drawers, the top of the dresser along the edges and the opposite side to create the dark stain effect uniformly all over the piece. After adding the white paint I let it dry, sanded it, stained it and then sanded it again to get the look I was going for. I really think this one has an old world patina.

Join Susan over at Between Naps on the Porch for her weekely blog party. It’s tons of fun!!

Do you have a small bathroom with a sink that exposes the pipes and is less than desirable to look at? I do! Recently I decided I must do something about this eye sore, so I created a skirt to dress up the sink. The skirt serves two purposes. The first is to look cute. The second is to create an area for storage of my trash can and cleaning bucket. 

This bathroom is located in my store front, so I didn’t focus as much time and energy into the quality and detail of it as I normally would, but it’s adorable none the less. Instead I made it very simple and really cheap. This is an easy project even if you don’t like to sew.

All you need is a piece of fabric and a glue gun; sewing machine optional. Hem the bottom and top of the fabric (for those of you who don’t sew use fabric glue) and then use hot glue to attach it to your sink. Then chose a coordinating trim and hot glue that along the top edge to give it a nice finished look. Instead of hot glue you could also use Velcro that is self adhesive. I actually used my sewing machine to ruffle the fabric to give it a full look, you could also do pleats or just a straight skit depending on your stlye. 

If you want to check out projects that other people have been up to get on over to Between Naps on the Porch for her weekly Metamorphosis Monday party!!

with One Song Designs

Artist and designer Sandra Moreno instinctively knew that she needed to create jewelry. She has been crafting unique designs since she was in high school and has always paid special attention to detail. Very early in her life she used her creativity as a way of expressing herself and has always strived to reach her full creative potential. She started collecting vintage beads, buttons, Swarovski crystals and fabric during her childhood and has continued to do so as an adult. She recently purchased a huge collection of antique, vintage and seed beads from various places throughout the world.

Sandra uses the newly obtained seed beads, along with her many other sparkly treasures, to produce her most recent line of jewelry, which she calls “magical posies”. To create this one of a kind line she uses a technique called French beading to form flowers, leaves and butterflies out of wire and tiny glass beads. She has had great success with this unique design. Because of the popularity of her posies it has inspired her to take the designs beyond rings, necklaces and bracelets to headbands and decorative bottles.

Sandy named her company One Song Designs which means “one universe”. You can find her creations at Alchemy fine living. Stop by the store for a visit! We just got in a whole bunch of new merchandise from this awesome artist.

I love antique and vintage furniture, accessories, lighting; basically all things old, used and well loved. Chipped paint is gorgeous, tarnished silver beautiful and cracked figurines are so charming. I really prefer the old over the new, but sometimes a budget calls for creativity. In this post I demonstrate how you can take just about any piece of furniture you have around the house or you find at a garage sale, flea market or thrift shop and achieve that look that I love so much.

This adorable cabinet started off just plain old white. In a previous post I explained the technique I used to add color and distressing to give it an antique look. I decided after antiquing this piece that it was still in need of a little something else, so I added some carved wood appliques, painted the knobs and added two bands of color. All of this was done with a paint brush, spring green paint, heavy sanding and Old English oil with a dark stain in it.

Applying the appliques. This is a multi step process that requires patience….

first step…	second step…	third step…
paint ‘em green	sand ‘em	paint ‘em cream
fourth step…	fifth step…	sixth step…
sand again	stain with oil	glue ‘em
seventh step…	eighth step…	ninth step…
measure & mark	tape in place	use tiny nails

Voila!!! These appliques really add a nice touch and dress up the piece!

The video below shows step by step instructions as to how I added the stripes of color and the technique I used to give them an old world look. I wanted the piece to look as though it had been time worn and I really think I achieved an aged patina with a very authentic look.

If you have a piece of furniture in need of a makeover, but feel a bit overwhelmed by all of this information don’t forget I offer the service here at Alchemy fine living. Bring it to me and allow me to transform your furniture for you.

Old Piece

This piece, photographed above, is over 100 years old. It an Eastern European antique. The painted pine furniture from that region is my favorite. It has such an old world rustic charm. I love the way the paint is chipped, cracked and faded. I also love the time worn look that gives a sense of history.

I am experimenting with a faux finish technique to give new pieces the same look. The piece above retails at about $750. The piece below is a thrift find that I picked up for next to nothing, painted it, roughed it up with heavy grit sand paper, stained it and pounded it with a hammer. I think it has a very similar look and the best part is that I achieved it at a fraction of the cost!!

New piece that looks old.

I absolutely love Christmas time. I really believe that people should have Christmas lights on their houses all year long. I can stop and gaze at all the pretty lights for hours at a time with a big smile on my face. The smell of a pine tree filling the home is another of my favorites this time of year. There are so many ways to decorate a tree, so many different colors, numerous different themes; the possibilities are really endless.

I am absolutely hooked on Christmas tree decorating ideas. I was browsing Better Homes and Gardens web site and I am in awe of all the gorgeous tree ideas that they have featured:

Below is a tree that I decorated for the store and boy did I have fun! I started off by wrapping it in lights, then in ribbon and netting. I stuck twigs and gold colored orchids out of the top of it and a few through out the branches. Then I loaded it with ornaments. The more the better is the motto I live by.

Almost everything on this Christmas tree is currently 60% off along with any other merchandise in the store that would be considered Christmas. Stop by for great deals now through December 31st.

One of my most recent design and sewing projects combined deep reds, rich gold’s and wild animal prints. I had a blast at the fabric store choosing all sorts of plush fabrics and elaborate trims.

It is always so fun to see lifeless yards of fabric transform into fabulous pillows! What started out as a few select fabrics and a couple ideas scratched out on paper turned into some really luxurious and unique pillows.

I am linking this post to Susan over at Between Naps on the Porch for her weekly Metamorphosis Monday blog party.

Another great transformation takes place with just a simple coat of paint…..

I recently gave this vanity a makeover for a little girl who loves pink. Her mom gave me a pillow case from her room and asked me to color match the pink stripe that was on it. I took it to Lowes to buy my favorite brand of paint, Valspar, and to my surprise they are not able to color match fabric. I guess the fibers in it make it hard for the machine to get an accurate reading, huh, learn something new every day. I browsed through the hundreds of color samples until I found one that was almost identical and had them mix up a quart for me.

I sanded the piece really well, primed it and then sprayed it bright pink. After the paint was thoroughly dried I then sanded it with a really heavy grit sand paper along all of the sharp edges and on any spot that had carved detail to expose the white paint underneath. I think leaving the knobs white and the amount of distressing added just enough contrast to break up the overpowering pink.

After
Isn’t it cute?!

Susan over at Between Naps on the Porch is hosting her weekly blog party Metamorphosis Monday. Please join her if you want to read lots of other great projects and see some more great before and after photos out there in blog land.