Big white bedsides now bound for Perth

The other night I had a nice little bit of synchronicity. I had to deliver a sideboard to Killara and just before I was leaving home a friend texted me and said I've seen some lovely bedside tables for sale in Pymble that are very Lilyfield Life. So I called the lady who was selling them and they were still available. I've bought from the lady a few times before - she clears out old houses when people are moving into nursing homes so she often has great pieces. When I arrived to pick the bedsides up, I happened to mention that I had been at a party the weekend before one street away. She had been at the same party! Mutual friends. Small world.  Anyway the bedsides are beautiful. Solid cedar and beautiful carved details.

I have a customer in Perth looking for bedside tables so I sent her the photo above and said what did she think. She said no too heavy and chunky. So I just started painting and listed them for sale on my page. She then saw the post and said "Wow I didn't think they would look like that I love them", so now they are headed for Perth.

Paint makes a world of difference.

I used a very soft French wash on these and love the subtle effect it gives.

I love my customers and that people ship my furniture all over Australia to have it in their homes.

Fiona xx

White painted drawers - very practical

I have a lovely white chest of drawers available. These would make a great change table for a nursery. They are solid pine - not something I paint that much as I usually look for vintage pieces but I liked the shape of these, the trim on the drawers and the cup handles.

I have painted them in a beautiful custom mixed white - not too stark but not creamy. Sometimes it's hard to photograph my furniture and really capture the finish. I delivered a sideboard on Sunday morning to a lady and she commented how it's way more beautiful in real life - and she loved the photograph.

Anyway these drawers are available - details below

101w x 55d x 84h cm
$475
Pickup Lilyfield

Here is the before photo - well not a full before as I sanded this piece right back. This is mid sanding :)

I'm off for quick coffee with a girl friend, then a delivery, a pickup and back to my studio to finish some vintage bedsides that I'll hopefully be listing for sale tonight

have a great day

Fiona xx

Navy chalk paint and lots of flowers

I hope you all had a good weekend. It seems to fly by so quickly. This last weekend we had no kids sport on so it was a little less busy than normal although I had a lot of furniture pickups and deliveries. Saturday morning Phil and I went for a walk in the park and then breakfast at our local cafe and our weekly shopping at the farmers market. It was nice to not be rushing off to sport. The markets are full of spring produce and the flower stall is, of course, my favourite.

I have been crushing on navy again and painted two chests of drawers last week in a deep navy paint. The bow front drawers sold before I could list it and the other one is sold pending. 

Beautiful cedar bow front drawers.

(I actually had two bow front drawers last week - both sold)

These drawers below are a solid timber with a walnut veneer. The veneer was in perfect condition so I just had to sand and not remove or repair.  I've taken a deposit on these drawers so I'm sure they have sold, but if you are interested in being Next in Line, just message me.

and before - this piece had a broken handle but I had a few spares of the exact same handle in my stash so it was a good buy and an easy fix. Never throw anything away - you never know when it might come in handy :)

Our garden is looking lovely. My grandad's orchids are thriving this year. I re-potted them about a month ago and fertilized them and have been watering them. Ha ha who would have thought that this love and care would work. I've been rewarded with lots of flowers.

This frond broke off so I bought it inside. I don't usually like cutting flowers from the garden but it's also nice to have some in our hallway.

Have a lovely week. I have lots of painting to do as always. Lucky I love it so much

Fiona xx

Vintage white drawers for Rochelle and Sean

Just before we headed off to Italy, I painted these drawers for Sean and Rochelle. These had been painted about 30 years ago by Sean's parents in a peach oil paint. Sean and Rochelle now wanted to use these in their daughter's bedroom so asked me to paint them in a crisp white. They live in Canberra so Sean brought them up to me in Lilyfield in his trailer and then the next weekend Rochelle's parents came and picked them up.  Such great customers.

I wish I had a photo of the peach - it was very dated as you can imagine. 

Don't you love white paint for instant freshness.

PS thanks for all the lovely emails yesterday about Jonty's new school. He is so happy.

Fiona xx

Available console hall tables and a new start

Hi everyone, I've been missing in action as we've made a few changes. Jonty's changing schools (to where he is going to high school next year, they are taking him early in a high achievers class) and last week was a week of school tours and uniform fittings.  Very exciting times for him and he's so thrilled and looking forward to an academic challenge for the rest of the year.

and on the furniture front....

I've also been staying up late to get my work done. One piece that's still available is this console table. It's such a great size and very elegant. As soon as I spied this piece I knew what I wanted to do with it. It actually was an old drop leaf dining table. I removed the leaves (and will use them for another project) and voila it's a lovely console table. Much more practical I think.

Painted in a pale grey and gently distressed. Nice little details very elegant.
152w x 48d x 77h cm
$425
Pickup Lilyfield

I also have a sweet demi-lune console table that I finished yesterday. I painted this in a navy chalk paint (ASCP Napoleonic) then deepened the colour even further with antiquing wax. I just love it.

 This is a lovely simple piece and will look amazing with all your blue and white accessories 💙

82w x 38d x 77h cm

$345

Wish us luck for Jonty's new start today. I'm as excited and happy as he is.

Fiona xx

Alice in Wonderland afternoon tea birthday party

Sasha chose to celebrate her birthday with an Alice in Wonderland afternoon tea party. She and her friends all got dressed up and they looked amazing. I love these girls - so creative and fun.

When we were setting up we needed a 9th chair and I realised this painted tufted chair was perfect as Alice's chair.  If you want to see how I revamped this chair you can see the makeover here. 

Aren't the girls' costumes just fantastic.

Jonty and I made these caramel cupcakes - (recipe here - nice and easy) - he's becoming quite a good cook. 

And Phil made a vanilla sponge with cream and strawberries as the birthday cake. He's the best cake maker of all of us.

Happy birthday to our gorgeous girl. We love you so much. 

Sasha is so lucky to have such lovely friends.

We are so lucky to have such a lovely daughter.

Fiona xx

How to white wash furniture with chalk paint

If you love the white washed look and want to replicate it, then I have made a little video you may find helpful. I think the most important step in white washing is that you start off with raw timber. Any varnish or previous coating on your timber will mean that the white wash won't be absorbed evenly.

Step 1 - Remove Old Finish. Sand or chemically strip the old finish off. If you are white washing unfinished timber like the wine crate I have in my video then you can just start with the next step.

Step 2 - Wash the furniture with vinegar and water. Dilute white vinegar with an equal part of water and use it to wash the timber. This solution will remove stains and dirt that may cause the whitewash to apply unevenly. This also enhances the timber's ability to absorb the whitewash. Wait for the furniture to dry completely before continuing.

Step 3 - Mix your whitewash. I have used one part Annie Sloan Chalk Paint to one part water. I used some left over paint I had on hand from another project.  You can play with the mixture if you don't like the color, and add more paint or water as needed. If you don't have ASCP you can easily substitute any water based paint.

Step 4: Paint the Furniture - with a brush or even a sponge or roller paint the furniture with the whitewash. I like to work in small sections at a time so the paint doesn't dry too much. 

Step 5: Wipe down - Wipe the surface of the timber with a slightly damp rag. This will remove excess paint and will give it a unique, whitewashed look. You can wipe as much or as little as you like. If you make a mistake, you can always put some more paint on it. Once you achieve the look that you want, allow the paint to dry fully.

Step 6: Top Coat - for the wine crate in the video I didn't bother with a top coat but for furniture I recommend you seal with a water based clear coat or wax for a finished look and durability.

Another Black beauty - vintage dresser

This is a piece I painted and sold prior to our Italian holiday. When i say painted and sold I really mean ; spied, bought, lugged home all by myself, maneuvered in and out to the car, removed hardware, vacuumed, cleaned, sanded, painted, waxed, buffed, replaced hardware, styled, photographed, priced, listed for sale and sold :)

How gorgeous are these drawers and hardware.

This week has been a funny one.... and by funny I don't mean fun. Somethings have gone well and other things have been crappy. I feel a bit buffeted by a storm. Nothing life changing or health related (I got a nice all clear letter from my recent mammogram) but just enough to take the shine off the week :)

On a lovely note, I did receive beautiful feedback on these black French Provincial bedsides that were recently shipped to Melbourne. Thank you Roseanna for being such a lovely customer. All the best for your new house and life xx

Here's to a lovely weekend for all of us. I have Sasha's friends coming for an Alice in Wonderland afternoon tea on Sunday so we have lots of baking to do. 

Fiona xx