painting, topiaries and blankets

Little bit of  a fun weather system moving through our area in the past few days. As I sit here typing this it sounds like I have rude upstairs neighbours banging on the ceiling as the wind moves the siding around my building.

I had intended to continue the couch series this week but when the weather is dreary my ektorp sofa doesn't see good light for photography so alas we all must be patient.

So instead today we can have a smorgesboard of a post just me yammering away on whats new and what I've been up to.

We are in major countdown mode to Christmas in the shop and by countdown I mean 4 days. Yikes. I know so many retailers already have their stuff up but in our space it isn't conducive to setup while people are walking around so we need to be closed. As it is my first year doing this setup my brain is running around like a psychotic squirrel trying to remember everything and I am sure I will still forget something but who will notice.       Likely only me right?

I have also noticed some bloggers getting their Christmas stuff together and the already heavy amounts of commenters bashing the bins beneath the stairs full of Christmas decor and while I do have those bins that are organized by room, I feel a little sad. 

That Christmas only comes with an association of work and money now.

What happened to the fun, the movies, the hot drinks, the decorating the tree, scotch taping your wrapping paper to the floor by accident. 

Why does that need to be work instead of fun?

It makes me wonder every year.

A few weeks ago I saw a photo, don't ask me where (problem with having instagram, Facebook  pinterest, you never know where you saved things) of topiaries on a shelf in clay pots. I got a bee in my bonnet to recreate the same thing in my kitchen as I am not huge on having stuff sitting in my window ledge as it isn't huge but, loved this idea as this window does get quite a bit of light.

i planted up different shapes and sizes of terracotta pots with saucers and cypress trees and eugenia topiaries



simple but gives my green thumb some fun inside. plus these thirsty plants are right by the sink so i don't forget to water them.

Next up, I have a lot of custom furniture work I am trying to get finished right now  and these chairs from the same owners of the white chairs just got their 

makeover this week.

Because they were just a set of 4 chairs they didn't really warrant a whole post but it's still fun to dress them up and do a before and after.


these chairs were sanded right down to the wood by a family member of the owner and the one on the right is after one coat


these chairs are done in queenstown gray by general finishes.

i topcoat these with flat out flat poly by general finishes and then a satin wax coating to smooth everything out and they turned out perfect.

the couple did not want distressing on these, just grey chairs so attention to detail when painting was a must.

plus i had fun with a pile of tartan blankets because i love them and could have a million in all the colours.





and for those that don't follow along on instagram i was having fun taking a paint brush vignette photo a few nights ago. i am burning my favourite candle in the garage (also known as my workspace) by illume in balsam cedar. trev keeps wandering into the garage and doing the big sniff. "it smells so good in here"

doesn't everyone burn candles in their garage?

and in that nice rain storm yesterday i went a hunting' for some good christmas vintage and came across a lovely pile of vintage tartan blankets. of course since i already mentioned i love them (and so do my customers) i brought a bunch into the shop.

Well that's it for me today. Need to get some more work done

Talk to you soon,

Meg

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