Tuesday, April 10, 2018

Another painted vintage secretaire

I had such a fantastic response to the vintage secretaire I recently painted so when I came across this vintage one made in Italy I decided to buy it. I took a bit of a chance on this as it came locked and without keys. I was lucky that I had a lovely vintage key at home that fit it. Phew.

vintage Secretaire Lilyfield life

This piece was made in Italy. It’s so tall and narrow so I think would be a great piece for a little corner of a lounge room or even kitchen nook. I painted it all in a beautiful taupe grey and the interior in a sea foam green. 

vintage Secretaire Lilyfield life

vintage Secretaire Lilyfield life

I’m really happy with how this turned out and it was snapped up right away with lots of interested parties. Lauren sent her helpful friend to pick it up within 3 hours of commenting sold, love a quick turnaround. She was absolutely thrilled with it and loved all the care I’d taken painting and restoring this piece.

vintage Secretaire Lilyfield life

It seems that these are really popular pieces. So I’ll definitely be doing more of them. Lots of work but don’t they look fantastic

Fiona xx


vintage Secretaire Lilyfield life




Monday, April 9, 2018

Fleur de Lis cabinet

Good morning! You’re enjoying my more regular postings. I have lots of lovely pieces to share. When I saw this piece I knew I wanted it to paint and had the exact look planned out in my head before I even brought the piece home. I love the carved fleur de lis patterns on it, I’ve never seen anything like it before. 

fleur de lis cabinet Lilyfield Life

Half way through painting the details white, I was wondering why I ever thought that was a good idea . So tedious but I do love the finish. It’s very similar to the cabinet in my lounge room. A very French look with lots of patina.
fleur de lis cabinet Lilyfield Life

fleur de lis cabinet Lilyfield Life

This cabinet is very handy as it was only 30 cm deep so works fantastically for a narrow hall. One of my regular customers bought it and has it in her bedroom with a TV on top. I drilled some holes in the back for cables etc. 

fleur de lis cabinet Lilyfield Life

fleur de lis cabinet Lilyfield Life
I forgot to take a before photo but it was very dark timber with lots of scratches and dings. I had to use a dark grey primer as it bled a lot even under the darkish paint, but I got it sorted after a couple of coats of the Zinsser Bin shellac. My favourite primer. 

Here it is in Ivana’s house. (With a few other pieces from me also)

Lilyfield life

Love seeing how people decorate and use my furniture 
Fiona xx

Sunday, April 8, 2018

How beautiful

I’ve taken a couple of weeks off as we are headed to the Commonwealth Games but I’m driving up to the Gold Coast by myself stopping to see friends and family on the way. Phil and the kids will fly up and meet me there. A friend has moved into our house to take care of Charlie. Good to have a break and get refreshed and re-inspired.


Yesterday morning I woke to see this sunrise from my brother’s house at Lake Cathie. How divine. 



Then last night I arrived at My friends house at Byron Bay. Tired but happy. 



Have a great day xx


Thursday, April 5, 2018

French provincial chest of drawers

I’ve got a lovely chest of drawers to share today. I was so pleased to have this piece available for custom painting. Anna chose to have it painted in an ASCP Old Ochre mix, with a timber top and sea foam on the drawers’ interior. 

Lilyfield life chest of drawers hand painted

I really love how it turned out. I hope Anna loves it when she sees it also. It’s always a bit scary doing pieces for custom orders in that my execution might not be what the customer expects but I suppose by now I have a good enough portfolio for customers to choose from and for them to get an understanding of my finishes.

Lilyfield life chest of drawers hand painted

The top looks so much better now. It was very scratched so I spent ages sanding it right back. God knows what the previous owners did on top of it to scratch it so much. 😉. I then stained it with two coats of stain (using a slip coat method) and then sealed and waxed it. Lots of sanding between coats and buffing to finish it. 

Lilyfield life chest of drawers hand painted

Anna wanted a little fun on the inside so asked for my special sea foam green. It looks so clean and fresh.

Lilyfield life chest of drawers hand painted

Lilyfield life chest of drawers hand painted

in progress

Here’s the before photos.

before photo

before

I have the matching dressing table to this piece also. Beautiful long elegant legs. It’s already sold and I’ll share in a few weeks when I’m finished it.

Fiona xx


Wednesday, April 4, 2018

An ASCP Duck egg blue & a teal console tables

Today I spent a lot of time glazing the acorn bookends. I’ve sold over thirty pairs. Seems everyone loves them. Let me know if you want to reserve some. They are selling fast.

acorn bookends

I had a good little production line going :)
duck egg blue console table Lilyfield life

I’ve got two console tables to share today, both also would work well as little desks. The duck egg blue one sold on Tuesday and the teal/turquoise one sold a few weeks ago.

duck egg blue console table Lilyfield life

This is a pretty table with a scalloped base and turned legs. I sanded it right back and painted it all in ASCP duck egg, gently distressed it and sealed it with clear wax. I added a vintage porcelain knob for a fresh look.  The colour of the paint is so beautiful against the dark timber.

The painting is available $300 (watercolour of Kiama by John Vander) 

duck egg blue console table Lilyfield life

I had a lovely phone call a few weeks ago from a lady Sarah who was tromping up and down Newtown looking at furniture shops and not finding anything she wanted. She ended up looking online and found my business so she called me. 30 minutes later she was rummaging through my inventory and selected the console table below and had it custom painted in a beautiful deep teal blue. 

turquoise console table Lilyfield life

She also bought this lovely French mirror I painted in a soft pale grey and antiqued with black wax. Don’t they look amazing together. The mirror still needs to be hung but I love how Sarah has it all styled together. 

She sent me a message saying how amazed she was by my beautiful furniture and how easy the whole process was. Love hearing good feedback from lovely customers.

teal blue console table Lilyfield life

Have a great day
Fiona xx


Tuesday, April 3, 2018

Regency serpentine sideboard - Lovely!

I adore this petite and elegant Regency sideboard. I’ve never seen one like it. It’s only little so it would also work as a hall console table or in a lounge room or bedroom with a mirror above it. I think it’s so classical and elegant so I painted it in ASCP Paris Grey and gently distressed it for some faded grandeur. 

Paris grey sideboard elegant drawers Lilyfield Life

The top two drawers are divided and felt lined and the bottom two I have painted white inside. 
Doesn’t it look lovely with my beautiful lady bust on top. 

114w x 46d x 76h cm
$550
Pickup Lilyfield or ask for a delivery quote 

Paris grey sideboard elegant drawers Lilyfield Life

Paris grey sideboard elegant drawers Lilyfield Life

In other news I think my iPad blogging is working well. I can easily make time in the evenings after dinner for blogging, much easier than in our hectic mornings. I’m about to hop into bed and browse my “Patina Style” book for some inspiration. After a shower anyway, to wash off all the paint and dirt :) I’m always grubby...

I had a lot of furniture picked up today so my studio is looking very sparse now. Until the morning that is and I bring some more pieces in for painting.
Sleep well
Fiona xx

French style white console table

French style white console table Lilyfield Life

Easter’s over and it’s back to painting. Lucky I love it. I have quite a bit of work to get done in the next four days so I’ll be working hard. Lots of acorn bookends to glaze (over twenty pairs sold already) and a large chest of French style drawers and a beautiful dressing tables plus a few other pieces to paint. I realised I haven’t shared this lovely French style console table yet. This is a piece I’m surprised that hasn’t been snapped up. 

French style white console table Lilyfield Life

This is a great piece for a hallway or lounge room. I have a similar piece next to my fireplace. 

French style white console table Lilyfield Life

I have painted the exterior in a nice bright white chalk paint and the interior of the drawers a bright green for a nice pop of colour. This piece is painted all the way round so it would also work well as a sofa table. 
145w x 50d  x 76h cm
$600
Pickup Lilyfield or please enquire about delivery

French style white console table Lilyfield LifeFrench style white console table Lilyfield Life

The one I have in my lounge room is a little finer but you could recreate this look with this one easily.







Fiona xx

Sunday, April 1, 2018

Homewares Lilyfield Life style

Hope you had a lovely relaxing Easter Sunday. Good to take some time out to breathe, relax, reflect whatever takes your fancy.   We went for a late afternoon swim at Nielsen Park, amazing to still be swimming in April. Still feels like summer here. We then had a roast lamb dinner at our house with Phil’s sisters. Lovely day. 

Neilsen Park

I have some lovely home wares available at the moment. Some of them I’ve changed up a bit to personalize, put my own spin on things so they aren’t just what you can buy in any shop. I have some lovely acorn bookends. Available in either pure white or antiqued white. 

acorn bookends

Acorn book ends
$75 a pair
Pickup Lilyfield or postage available 

acorn bookends

acorn bookends

Also available in pure white as below.

acorn bookends

I also have these lovely new rustic stools that I have painted French stripes and designs on. Inspired by vintage French grain sacks. The large stools would also work as bedside tables or side tables.
Large stools : 42w x 22d x 44h cm $78 each
Small stools: 34w x 21d x 21h cm $60 each
Pickup Lilyfield

hand painted rustic stool, French stripe

hand painted rustic stool, French stripe

I’ve finally been able to source these beautiful crosses. I have several available and they can be posted also. $90 each. They are so lovely.

cross statue

I had a few of these lovely timber finials that I painted white and antiqued also but they have sold out. I love how they turned out. 

finial Lilyfield life

If you see anything you like let me know
Fiona xx