This past week has been a busy and productive one. I have been staying up late and getting up early to paint and get some more products ready to bring into the shop. Here is a look at some of the works in progress and some items I have finished this week. This nightstand is going through quite the transformation, I have removed the lower cabinet door, given it a coat of primer and will be adding a pop of color this evening! (Stay tuned for the final product) Spoiler Alert: These old window panes are being repurposed into a sandwich board for the shop! Right now they have been primed and will be given a fun color for the frames and a chalkboard to share info. I have also completed a collection of colorfully chic vases! Stop by and take one home for your weekend flowers! Tomorrow the Inner Sunset Farmers Market will be right around the corner! The new paint booth was built and used to paint these wonderful mid century metal candlesticks a fun modern copper! We also tackled this big hutch, a piece with great bones but a bad paint job. The hutch has been successfully stripped and will be getting the first coat of primer and paint this weekend! I'm really exited about this piece so I will be leaving the color a secret... I will post the final product and its before and after transformation once complete. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! See you all next Saturday!
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I am a firm believer in fresh flowers and the affect they have on our mood. The majority of my days are chaotic, stressful and just not long enough, but when I walk into my home and see a vase of beautiful blooms I remember that my days are also filled with joy, excitement and love. The delight I get from flowers stems (haha) from my amazing mother. A wonderfully supportive woman who has "World's Best Florist" on her resumé. I spent a lot of my childhood in her shop doing small tasks and as I grew older I may not have enjoyed those tasks so much, but I am very proud I know that the "pretty pink ones" are actually lisianthus with their beautiful tissue paper-like petals. Flowers are uplifting all on their own but when paired with the perfect vase their beauty is enhanced. All of the above vases are available for sale in the shop and online later this week.
If you have been following along, and I hope you have, you probably noticed that I love all things colorful, shiny and sparkly! This month at the Alameda Antique Faire I was drawn to a certain metallic...can you guess which one? Metallics are very versatile, they can create an entire glamorous setting or enhance a more subtle look. After a fun day wandering the market I brought some amazing brass treasures home and began to polish them back to the original shiny state. Photos are before being polished. After polishing brass some copper may rise to the surface resulting in pink spots. I am currently experimenting with a mixture of white vinegar and hydrogen peroxide which is supposed to transform any brass piece back to its fabulous metallic state! I'll keep everyone posted as to the results! Trying to be environmentally friendly and avoid the chemical cleaners I made a paste from 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 cup white vinegar and added white flour until a paste was formed. I then painted the paste onto the brass items let is sit for a few minutes, rubbed it in with a cloth, washed them off with water and then one final polish with a clean and dry cloth.
As I make my way through the swirling waters of first time entrepreneurship I surprise myself with what I can accomplish. I have always had a "can do" attitude which I admit has gotten me into a pickle or two, nothing a little MacGyver finagling couldn't fix, even so I have had a glimpse into the life of an electrician by wiring pedant lights, changing out ugly red outlets with new white ones and other handyman updates to the brick and mortar space. These are all projects I feel fairly confident in tackling, however building a website, social media and creating an online store...eek! As most of you know I am a few tech devices behind the rest of the world and these are the true challenges I face. That said I am so excited and happy to announce that delightful designs products are now available online for purchase and delivery via Chairish! Here are a few of the items currently listed on the site, more items are added daily! Click here to shop and check back often for new listings!
I rescued this large vase from a San Francisco thrift store (Apologies for not having a "Before" photo, I'm still working on being a better "Before and After" photographer). It was an awful shimmery brownish colored piece, but the shape was fun so I brought it home! I knew I wanted to do vertical stripes to play with the tall thin shape, as well as something that could be dressed up glam or playful. This was a pretty easy refresh project, a couple coats of paint and it was better than new! To add some whimsy I made a couple of large paper flowers. Having made paper flowers to cover the 8' x 11' wall in the shop I was able to pop these out fairly quickly. There are plenty of paper flower how-to's out there, my suggestion is to watch a few videos and then just start to play around with paper. I would recommend to start with simple printer paper as it is inexpensive and once you find a rhythm and style you like then upgrade to the pretty stuff. Vase measures 23" H x 10" W with an opening of 8.5" W I made a few different templates for the styles I liked but feel free to just grab scissors and start cutting shapes (for each shape I made 3 sizes). Fresh flowers are not perfect so don't worry about your paper versions being either. I am more of a perfectionist OCD type so I traced and cut each petal...after about 1/3 of my large wall was covered and the grand opening was approaching the templates became less important. :-) For the the flowers in the vase I bought a couple of wood dowels from the hardware store and took the white plastic tape I had on hand. Curl the petal edges, just a simple roll with your hands works great, wrap around the dowel and secure with the tape. Continue to layer the petals until you have the size you like. I'll leave y'all with a photo of the large wall. Stop by and see it in person!
First impressions. Whether you live in a small city apartment on the fifth floor of a walk up or a large suburban house with a spacious front porch there is always something you can do to make your entrance more inviting. These large planters will probably not be a good fit for the landing to your fifth floor walk-up apartment, for that I do have a smaller version of this planter. The larger size however will create a modern statement to any of the beautiful historic San Francisco homes or businesses. I brought these planters home the safest way I knew how, seat belted of course! Then taped off a portion I thought would be pleasing to the eye. The finished product is a fun contrast of shiny metal and matte cement (21.5" H x 14.75" W)! I currently (as of 6.11.2015) have a small (11.5" H x 8.5" W) lime green planter, found in photo gallery, and 2 medium (16" H x 12" W) unpainted and taking requests. And gave them a few coats of metallic copper paint!
Once home I gave them a light scuff and quiet a few coats of glossy white paint. To really make them shine I added a couple coats of clear gloss and added a felt to the bottom to protect them and any surface they may land on. Owls are wise, beautiful and powerful creatures. A bird of prey and a symbol of wisdom. I have always been drawn towards them and when I saw this set at the Alameda Point Antique Faire I had to take them home and bring new life into their cute little faces! I currently have two sets available for purchase, $75/set
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~ ABOUT ME ~Creative Owner of Delightful Designs, a boutique where furniture is given a new colorfully chic life! Read more...
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November 2017
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