When your friends buy your furniture

Recently my beautiful friend Jenny who lives in Brisbane bought quite a few pieces of furniture from me and had them shipped to her home. Jenny and I met when we were in our late 20s - at Banana Bungalow - a slightly dodgy but extremely fun hostel in West Hollywood. I was backpacking by myself up the west coast of the US then heading to London and Europe for a year. Jenny and her (now our) friend Jodie were also heading to London to work and had stopped off in LA. We all got on like a house on fire, hung out for a year in London then all eventually moved home to Australia, Jenny with an English husband and three girls.  Jodie now lives in Sydney and the three of us still have fun together.  

Jenny has been saying she wanted some of my pieces for years but I never expect my friends to buy pieces as most of us have fully furnished houses already. So last year when Jenny made some purchases I was pleasantly surprised. This is what she ended up buying. Beautiful pieces and I’m so thrilled for her to have them in her lovely home. 

Firstly Jenny bought these lovely white bedside tables. I painted these in a bright white chalk paint with a dark duck egg blue interior. They have a waxed finished and gently distressed. I can’t remember what the original handles were like (probably timber knobs) but I replaced them with these bronze cup handles. 

Jenny also mentioned she was on the lookout for something with a lot of storage for her dining room. A few days later I came across a fantastic piece from America. So well made and a beautiful shape. I painted the base either ASCP Graphite or Fusion Ash - it’s terrible but I can’t even remember now. I should take better notes :) and the top I sanded back and stained and sealed. The hardware i polished up for a regal look.

This piece was fantastic - it even had a removable tray for cutlery and a built in polishing cloth. Here is the before photo. 

Jenny also bought these beautiful side tables. I absolutely loves these- really unusual and pretty.

Isn’t it nice when one of your closest friends loves what you do and buys your stuff. It really thrilled me, to be honest. 

I also wanted to say thanks so much for all the beautiful messages about Beth’s unit and the furniture. I really appreciate your time to respond and your kind words.

Thanks so much

Fiona xx

Furnishing a retirement unit for my Mother in Law

Hello! It’s been a crazy few months for us (actually a tough year) but I think we are finally coming back to a steadier pace of living. Phil’s mum has moved down from Dubbo and has been with us for a while. We recently found her a retirement unit in Strathfield and I furnished it as she wanted a full change from her old pieces, to leave her old life fully behind. 

The stand out piece is this buffet I found for her. You won’t believe the before photo. Paint and a little inspiration make a huge difference.

And here is the before: 

The middle door was actually a fixed panel so it makes it very hard to get things in and out so I just removed it all and filled all the holes.

For Beth’s bedroom she downgraded to a king single and luckily I had a large vintage bed head that fit perfectly. Jonty has been using this in his room unpainted for a while but he wanted to have no bed head so everyone was happy. A customer has given me the chair a few years ago and I had the beautiful bedside in my inventory.

I found Beth a lovely dining setting that she was happy to take unpainted. The upholstery was in beautiful condition and her favourite colour, green.  I also got her two vintage velvet tufted armchairs and a little nest of tables to use as a coffee table. I painted grain sack stripes on the nest of tables 

Here are some photos of it all together :I also bought her the throw and the pillow on the bed as a house warming present.  We also had new carpet laid and the walls painted. 

Yesterday I finally finished the last piece which was a beautiful footstool ottoman so Beth can rest her legs and feet sitting in the armchairs. I painted reupholstered and made a slip cover and I am so thrilled it turned out so well. My first time making bias and piping. 

Beth loves all the pieces and all the old ladies in the home keep coming into her unit to admire it all. She’s so much happier and that’s a relief for us all. 

What do you think? Love to hear

Fiona xx

Latest pieces

Good morning. We went to Balmoral beach last night for a quick dinner on the beach. It was so peaceful and relaxed. Nice to slow down for a little bit and surround yourself with natural beauty and happiness. What a beautiful evening and a beautiful city we live in.

This morning we went for a quick swim and coffee at Nielsen Park. So many people on the beach and in the park but never that many people swimming in the water. It was very cold and refreshing. I would have liked to stay longer but Jonty has a lot of homework, and Phil needs to go so his mother’s garden. Sasha is out to breakfast with friends so will be home later. I have a few ouecesnid like to prep and start painting this afternoon so it’s all good. 

I  have a few pieces available at the moment. I thought I’d share them here and just drop me a line if anything interests you. 

A French style mantle mirror that also looks great over a piece of furniture. 

61w x 90h cm 

$225

Available: not a piece I am inclined to paint. A stunning vintage claw footed walnut console table imported from Denmark. The carvings and patina on this piece are beautiful. If you wanted to use this as a writing desk you could just raise it by two centimeters with little rubber stoppers under the feet or beautiful as a console table. A few fine scratches that I have waxed and buffed to reduce visibility. 

A rare piece offered at a great price 

95w x 52d x 71h cm

$375

Pickup Lilyfield or delivery available 

Available: a sweet vintage console table with single drawer and fluted legs. Painted in FMP Lichen, a soft sage green and a smooth waxed finish. A nice narrow piece. 

68w x 32d x 76h cm

$295

Pickup Lilyfield

Available: I absolutely adore this little old cupboard- perfect for a large bedside or lamp table. The shape is really unusual and pretty - there’s even cut glass for the top. Painted in a pale stone chalk paint, gently distressed and a smooth waxed finish. Interior in a stunning duck egg. Removable shelf inside and lovely original hardware.

62w x 45d x 78h cm

$295. Now sold 

Pickup Lilyfield 

Available: these vintage bow front bedsides are very old and most probably hand made. They are just gorgeous. Painted in a lovely off white (Fusion Champlain) with Putty inside the drawers. Waxed finish and gently distressed. New bronze cup handles complete the look.

47w x 44d x 67h cm

$450 the pair. Now sold 

Pickup Lilyfield

Have a lovely day: we are about to have a bbq lunch. Always reminds me of my childhood. My dad was epic on the BBQ. He still is :)

Yours in paint

Fiona 

Pine chest of drawers in ASCP Old White

I was really busy with custom painting in January, it’s like everyone decided to start the year off with prettier furniture. On NYE, I kid you not, between 10pm and 9am on New Year’s Day I had 6 requests for quote on custom furniture. Was everyone just sitting around making New Years resolutions to have painted furniture? Ha ha, anyway I always love to quote and hopefully get the job. Jan asked for me to paint her pine chest of drawers. She is moving into a retirement home soon and wants to take the drawers with her but as she will only have a few pieces she wants everything to be pretty and bright. She decided on the old version of ASCP Old White and off white interiors.

Did you know that all the AnnieSloan colours are changing? This version of Old White is no longer available. Her new paint is much thicker and harder to get a smooth finish with. Not that I use ASCP much these days anyway but I don’t like that sound of even thicker paint. I love a smooth finish as you know :) 

The white looks so much fresher. This was a lot of white paint and effort but so worth it for a new clean look. Jan has also asked me to paint her bookcase and I’ll pick that up next week to do. She also bought a beautiful blanket box that I painted a pale stone colour and reupholstered in a stone coloured ticking (fabric from Spotlight). 

I think its all going to look beautiful together and hope Jan enjoys her move to the retirement village. 

Fiona 

My favourite piece this week

Hi everyone, how glad is everyone (in Sydney anyway) for the cool change that came through last night. The world’s weather is mad :)

I wanted to share a lovely antique cedar blanket box I painted and sold this week. My favourite piece of the week. It was made by the Ed Roos Furniture  company of Illinois USA in the 1920s and if it was in good condition these have been valued over $1000 US. However when I bought this piece, someone had already removed much of the peeling veneer. I sanded it all smooth and then gave it a good coat of Zinseer BIN primer. I painted this in a lovely putty chalk paint and then I stenciled a damask pattern on it to replicate old faded wall paper. I sanded it all over and sealed with clear wax. 

I have wanted to do a piece like this since 2017. When we were in Italy a couple of years ago we stopped for lunch at the tiny hill top town of Orvieto, famous for the black and white striped church.

While we wandered through the cobbled streets trying to find some shade from the searing heat,  I saw a blanket box in a (unfortunately closed for summer) furniture shop that I loved and used it as my inspiration. I managed to snap this photo through the window. 

I also finished a few other pieces this week. A vintage oak filing cabinet that had seen better days, now deep navy with antique gold hardware. 

And a vintage bow front chest of drawers now cloaked with peacock chalk paint - I’m delivering this to my customer Simon this morning and hope he loves it.

I also sold this very old and very beautiful chiffonier as is which is always great when it happens. I was thrilled not to paint this piece as the patina on it is charming. A lovely narrow piece that would be great storage in a hallway. 

I have a few more pieces I am hoping to share today. Thank goodness it’s a bit cooler to work.

Have a lovely day

Fiona XX