vintage metal suitcases & my butterfly cabinet

I'm continuing to downsize my vintage suitcases (see post HERE) and today I have a vintage metal suitcase to show you.  I don't have a 'before' pic but it was previously painted royal blue.  I DO however have a picture of the interior before I took a paint brush to it.  Someone had creatively glued fabric over the original papered interior which is unfortunate...

It was my first attempt at painting fabric (I used chalk paint) but I wasn't risking very much!  It looks great now that it's white inside and out, and I love the dents which reflect a lifetime of use and abuse - so much character.  I have a hard time letting go of metal suitcases.  They're more difficult to find and there's just something about them that makes them extra appealing.  If you're interested in purchasing it visit my For Sale page HERE for measurements and pricing.

Here's a look at my two remaining metal goodies...a trunk and a suitcase in my dining room on top of my 'butterfly cabinet'...which I'm giving you a peak at...even though it's still not painted after 10 years! Hopefully sooner rather than later you'll see this beast in one of my 'the cobbler's children...' entries (see HERE for my first post and HERE for my second)...

The unpainted butterfly cabinet.  Consider this a 'before' shot!...

There's a ladder to the left which our little orange kitty cat Yasha uses to get on top of the trunk and suitcase...one of her favorite napping spots (yes, I put it there specifically for her, I'm not gonna lie!)...

Here's Yasha when there was a different set of suitcases (ick!) on the cabinet...

My driftwood log is on the right.  To give you an idea of scale...it comes up to my nose.  I'm only 5'1" but still, it's pretty big!  An ex of mine lugged this thing from the beach for me at my request.  Ah, the things people do for love ;)...

That's it for today.  Have a great one!

xo Tanya

'the cobbler's children have no shoes' part 2

....in other words, our furniture has gone unfinished while I've refinished pieces for my business!  For part 1 click HERE.  I've been working at getting some projects completed for our home lately in between furniture I refinish for sale.  Here are two more projects I completed for Matt and I.

I've always loved this first table...it's farmhousey and has that great shelf (I'm a sucker for tables with shelves).

before (needing repairs):

after:

 

This second one is a bookcase that I inherited from my grandmother.  It never ceases to amaze me how paint can update a piece of furniture.  The bookcase now sits in our study and is filled with books, magazines and vintage finds.  I took some pics of how it looks now but the mismatch of books etc. looks less than appealing in photos:

How do bookcases always look so uniform and nice on pinterest? (cause the REAL books are hidden right?):

Haha it's tempting to turn them all around so only the nice creamy pages show but that would drive Matt crazy!  Oh the days when books were all pretty with solid coloured covers and gold writing!

Below is how the bookcase looked all clean and fresh after painting.  My old turquoise glass water jug (U.S. estate sale find) sits beside it and the grey filing cabinet you can catch a bit of to the right (inherited from my grandfather) is going to be white and on big black casters come spray painting weather.

Before:

 

After this 'part 2' post you're probably getting the idea that our house is filled with nothing but creamy white furniture ...well that's mostly correct!  I prefer light neutrals and like to bring in colour with accessories which can be changed easily and as frequently as I wish.  Although, as you can see HERE, we do have yellowy green walls in our family room!  But I love the colour and never tire of it ('Anjou Pear' by Benjamin Moore).

xo Tanya

'the cobbler's children have no shoes' part 1

...err rather 'the furniture re-finisher's furniture goes un-finished'...now that's a tongue twister!  And so the saying is true, we have many pieces of furniture around the house that were purchased with the intent of painting, but have gone un-painted for years (a few I acquired long before I met Matt!).  Between projects for sale, I've been plugging away at getting them completed.  Here are the before and afters of a few recent ones:

Our bedroom trunk before:

after:

Our guest room trunk before:

after:

 

 

The 'coffee table' in our study before:

after:

It feels good to be able to truly enjoy these pieces now :)  Stay tuned for more to come!

xo Tanya