Before and After Living Room, adding built-ins

My client came to me looking for new paint colors for their living and dining room.  They wanted to get rid of some the 'stuff' collected over the years, replace the furniture with smaller scale furniture and keep it a comfortable place for hanging out with family and friends.

The room felt dark to me, whether during the day or night.  I recommended adding some ceiling lights. The 2 downlights in the before picture didn't align with anything in the room, My client removed them and added 4 new slightly smaller recessed downlights. One pair centered above the fireplace and the other is more centered over the bookshelf (even though is looks a little off in the picture).

I recommended adding built-ins to display their photos and items they have through out the space. Changing them seasonally is a way to keep it interesting and not have to get rid of everything.  My client is a carpenter/handy man so he was able to do all the work himself and got it done quickly!

I chose a soft warm white for the millwork, not too bright so it worked with the warm colors in the house. 

Progress:

Glad to see my clients are enjoying their fireplace, even though there's no where to sit yet! 

Furniture will be in the next few weeks.

The green tape to mark where artwork will be.

My Lotions & Hand Salves

I now have a new Etsy shop to purchase my hand made lotions & hand salve!

I only use Organic Unrefined Shea Butter, Coconut Oil and/or Cocoa Butter, as well as local beeswax combined with Essential Oils.

Visit my Shop 

After many winters of dry, cracked and sometimes bleeding hands, I started investigating on what will heal my hands. I have tried many lotions on the market and nothing helped, they were just a temporary fix.

I discovered that these natural raw ingredients were best for my skin with many nutrients to keep skin healthy and strong. It is important to use organic & unrefined as most ingredients in the products at your local stores are not. The shea butter or coconut oil used in those products is extracted using chemicals because its faster, easier and cheaper, which takes away much of the nutrients as well as adds chemicals to them, such as hexane.

Read more here about Refined/Unrefined Shea Butter

I'm sure you will love these lotions & salves as much as I do.  Its safe for kids too! 

Save your tins & containers!

Please Recycle 

 You can send your tin/container back to me for a discount on your next order or hold on to it for your next lotion bar, which will be less without the tin.  See my etsy items for details.

 All the local raw honey & beeswax I use is purchased from Buzz 10 Honey. Owner, Susan Robinson, practices organic/natural treatments for her hives.

Thrift Store Find a Vintage Gem

I have been looking for a desk for myself for sometime. Perferably made of a good quality wood, open to refinishing if the size was right. Because this would be going in the family room I really wanted it to look nice & not feel like a place of work. I was dropping off donations at a local thrift store (just outside of Boston) and saw this desk sitting out front, right away I noticed it and knew it had potential. At just $12, I didn't even think twice and bought it. It was an old sewing machine desk.

Not sure if I had to completely refinish this, but I received some advise from an antique dealer: before refinishing see if this works (and it did!). Clean with Gojo hand cleaner and the finest Steel Wool 0000, it cleans and brings out the natural beauty of the wood. These won't scratch or damage the piece so I thought it was worth a try. The 2 items were just $5 at the hardware store.

I took this photo on a sunny day, so it appears much lighter than it actually is. I was relieved I didn't have to refinish it, just some elbow grease and it came out perfect.

Dovetail construction

Gojo, a cream hand cleaner, comes in many varieties. Its important to get the non- gritty kind, it contains NO pumice. The Super Fine Steel Wool 0000 will remove spills & most stains without scratching. You don't have to wear gloves, since you are using a hand cleaner, but they will get messy.

After removing the hardware, add just a small amount of Gojo on the steel wool and rub it on.  Cover the whole piece.  Then with a clean lint free cloth wipe off, this does take some time.

I wasn't sure the material of the hardware but once I started cleaning with steel wool ( I didn't use the Gojo for this) I discovered they were solid brass.  I researched some natural cleaners and found that squeezing a lemon, then rubbing with the steel wool worked great.

After cleaning I realized I forgot to take off this smaller hardware, this button you push to open the top and a sewing machine use to be stored underneath. No sewing machine there but I like that it adds character to the piece. After cleaning these I discovered they were made of copper and had a serial number on it.

I was happy to see made in the U.S.A. by SIMANCO, which stands for Singer Manufacturing Company. After some research, I learned that this desk contained the Singer Model 640 Sewing machine from 1969.

Before & after, discovering copper

Thanks for looking! I couldn't be happier with my new desk!