I hope you’ll join me on my never-ending search for beautiful pieces, with history, for your home. Find my curated treasures, in Booth #154, at the Antique Trove, in Roseville, CA. ~ Barbara
Months ago, dear friend, Cleo, brought me several of these seed buckets, from a piece of farm equipment. They’ve been sitting idle for a while now. Empty, they aren’t very interesting. But once you fill them with greenery, all of that changes! I chose succulents for my first experiment. Once in the shop this morning, I was trying to figure out how to display the “bucket”. Thankfully, the bucket has holes on the back, that are very helpful to use for hanging. I spied my little milk painted ladder, and thought it would be a perfect place to display my…
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I’ve been visiting the annual San Francisco Decorator Showcase Home for a number of years. While I really wonder about how practical the floor plan is, all I can say is “who cares?”! This home, which is on the market for somewhere around $20 million, is located in one of America’s best neighborhoods, San Francisco’s Pacific Heights and the views are incredible! Who cares, if the kitchen is on the bottom floor and the dining room is on the second floor and the master suite is 3 floors up? I guess it’s one way to stay in shape! Each room…
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Hi there, dear friends, I barely slept a wink last night, thinking about my to-do list for Thursday night’s Meet the Artist event. You know how it is, when you are getting ready to throw a party, you worry about everything! I ask myself, will anyone show up? Especially, since it’s supposed to rain part of Thursday. Oh dear! But, as always, I know it will all work out. Bob is going to be smoking turkey and tri- tip for sandwiches and a couple of wonderful guys are pouring their best wines. Steve and Jarl are wonderful artists, from Sausalito,…
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I sit here, talking to you, working on my second “fun size” pack of gummy bears. I purchased this packaging, thinking that it would minimize my gummy bear consumption. Fat chance! I just have more wrappers to deal with. Think of the land fill issues, Barbara! For heavens sake! Where was I? Oh yes, speaking of pigs, I’m sponsoring a milk paint/wax brush giveaway, over at The Rustic Pig! Claire, the darling face behind the blog, is a furniture painting mad woman! So, if you didn’t think your Mother’s Day gifts quite hit the mark, go get yourself some paint…
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Happy Mother’s Day dear lovelies!, It’s actually the day before Mother’s Day, as I write yet another spell-binding post, chronicling the life of a scavenger/furniture painter. My back’s on ice and I’m pretending my diet Pepsi is a Mai Tai. Not easy. Several months ago, in fact, before Christmas, someone brought two table bases to the shop. Identical, old, small table bases, covered in multiple layers of lead paint. Just precious table bases, that needed to be stripped, in the worst way. But, since I swore that I would never strip another piece of furniture, as long as I lived,…
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Easy come, easy go. Mr. Wonderful put shelves into this old lacquered Chinese cabinet. I bid a fond farewell to it this afternoon! Lee, a dear customer, had been coming to visit this piece and the two of them became fast friends! With that piece gone, I did lots of moving and shaking around the shop. The place looks brand new! Speaking of brand new, what did you get your mom for Mother’s Day? What?! You haven’t gone shopping yet? Mind if I give you a couple of ideas? No? Okay, great! Since you asked, how about you and mom…
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I found these six dining room chairs, that Mr. Wonderful could power spray for me. It all sounded easy enough. Sound familiar? If you’ve never had the pleasure of removing old foam from a chair, it’s something everyone should try, at least once. I never knew old foam could disintegrate into powder, once the fabric covering was removed. It was probably fifty year-old foam, with some poisonous chemicals in it that have since been banned! Standing over the dumpster, with a disintegrating chair pad, reminded me I was “living the dream”! Seems like I said the same thing, as we…
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Not a moment too soon, I finally have the furniture painting class schedule for May on-line. Last weekend, we had a great class, covering all the tips and tricks, using chalk-style paint. New, in May, we’ll be offering FREE Workshops, every Wednesday, from 12-1 p.m.! I’ll give you the low-down on both milk and chalk-style paints. I just ask that you call or register on line, prior to the class. Best news of all…! If you call or register on line, by Mother’s Day, May 12th, you can bring your mom, or even a friend to a 3-Hour Paint Class…
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Greetings, dear friends!, As Mr. Wonderful puts the finishing touches on tonight’s barbecued chicken, I thought I’d tell you about The Ruralist, at 57th Street Antiques, here in Sacramento. Tom Kurth and his partner, opened the shop just a couple of months ago. Tom used to share space with me and a few others, at Veranda Antiques, in Carmichael. I’ve always admired his style! This space is wonderfully displayed and well edited. There is a cohesive sense of order in the whole shop. Next time, Tom goes on a buying trip, I am going to follow him at a reasonable,…
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The act of making comparisons, robs us of the chance to feel gratitude for what we have. Comparisons steal our joy. Amen, sister! All of this wisdom has been pilfered from today’s post at Gwen Moss aka Leslie, is a retired psychology professional (I say that because I don’t know all of her many degrees and appropriate titles. All I know is that she really understands how our heads and hearts go together!) I told Leslie, in my comment to her post, that I had, just this past week, thought about photographing my house as it is, before I photograph…
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