Friday, June 17, 2011

Girl Just Wants To Blog; And, What I Will NOT Paint White



So many forces have conspired against my blogging this week: a crashed computer, the start of summer break, health concerns for one of my kids, and that little thing called my day job.

But the computer miraculously works today, one of my kids is deposited in Cleveland, Ohio to hang out with her cousins the rest of the week, the other is parked in front of video games with a friend, and here I am!

No projects to share today, but I thought I'd piggyback on something I saw on another blog and share with you:

"What I Will NOT Paint White-- or Aqua, or Black, or Yellow!"

So you know my spay paint trigger finger is itching to do some furniture transformations, but lest you get the idea that nothing in the house is safe from me, I thought I'd share some pieces that are staying au natural:

Please don't think I'd go all Judgy-McJudgepants on you if you have painted similar pieces. I do not consider furniture sacred and, well, I'm not a man. Men tend to think that if you paint "Real Wood" you are committing a cardinal sin. I say, keep your Oak bric a brac to yourselves boys, and get out of the way of my paint brush.

First up is my mom's desk where she used to sit and write letters on her personalized stationary. Our big yellow desk phone sat here as well, so I spent QUITE a bit of time there during my teen years chatting with boys, before chatting meant something different.




The top folds down to make sort of a buffet surface.

Now the desk sits in my little-used living room. The proliferation of stuff on and around it belongs to Molly, otherwise known as "Mrs. See," as she conducts her imaginary school room here. She uses white boards and markers, hall passes, the works, to whip her imaginary students into shape.
Work Hard but...Have pleasure doing it!

This year her class learned all the state capitals and the presidents! Some day this desk will be clutter and dust-free again, but for now, I'm glad that Molly can sit at the same desk as her grandma, and name-sake, she never met.

Next up is this cabinet:
It's not super-sturdy. One of the legs is just for show. I like how it has been that way since my grandparents gave it to my parents more than 40 years ago. I guess no one is in a rush to fix it.


This used to be in my dining room growing up. The back was lined with wild 70's wrapping paper that looks very similar to some of the fun and funky wallpaper patterns that is coming back into style today. I like how my mom wasn't afraid to jazz something up a bit to fit the style of the day. I store candles and linens in it.

And then there is the "Swan Table."



I think I may have shared it with you before. I used to love to sit underneath this table when I was a kid. Family lore has it that my grandparents bought this at an auction or junk shop somewhere.


Supposedly it had been in "Some fancy embassy in Washington." My grandparents drove hours with it strapped upside down to the top of a sedan to get it to my parent's house. Before my grandfather re-finished it, the beautiful carvings were completely hidden by stain.

So there you have it! 3 things I will NOT paint white.

P.S.


This post has me hankering to rearrange my blah living room to make it more user-friendly. Suggestions welcome! And yes, I see that the coffee table is WAY off center in this picture. Aargh.



P.P.S.

I can't find my followers anymore! They don't show up on my sidebar and I miss them. Thoughts?

13 comments:

Kristina P. said...

I love that coffee table!! I would love to find a really cool coffee table.

Ellen aka Ellie said...

Your followers are there when I look at the page, no worries.

I'm no Martha Stewart, so I'll just sit back and let others offer you "after" suggestions!

Unknown said...

Yep, I see your followers, too. Thank you for having the courage to actually keep wood furniture as is. While I love painted stuff (except aqua--I just can't get on board with that), some things truly are sacred and should be left in their natural glory. When I see some of the pieces folks have painted, I just cringe!

InMyOwnStyle said...

Hi Anna-

I am laughing so hard about what you will not paint white. I think the same thing, but always seem to go to white.

Sometimes the followers widget doesn't show up on my blog at times either. Not sure why, but it always reappears.
My best- Diane

Elisa @ What the Vita said...

My man isn't one of these men who love wood - he wants to paint everything wood in our house! :) But I love your furniture that you won't paint - such history attached to them! I wish I had furniture in my house that once belonged to my parents or grandparents. Everything here's from IKEA or from someone else's parents (Craig's List).

I love the windows in your living room. Have you considered some curtains to dress them up?

Susie - Walking Butterfly said...

I think you have some truly beautiful pieces and you have an eye (and heart) for what should be painted and what should be left alone.

I am living with a large maple dining room table and matching chairs that I have wanted to paint for years. BUT Hubs grew up with it and like you said, cannot imagine painting such a thing! Oh well!

Michelle DeRusha said...

I love the stories behind your furniture -- I totally understand why you won't paint these pieces. I have a leather-top table with an intricate scroll design in my living room that used to be my grandparents -- I won't dare paint that one. But most everything else has gotten a dose of spray paint around here, especially in recent weeks. I am on a spray paint binge!

K A B L O O E Y said...

Thank you for the tour. The pieces are beautiful and the family lore behind them is priceless. And I love Mrs. See. Someday that will be part of the story passed on to generations.

Kate Coveny Hood said...

I think that if a piece is already beautiful as stained wood and you'd be ruining the finish by painting it - then it's maybe just a tiny bit sacred. I'd have to really hate the stain to think painting is okay.

For your living room? What about a rug? Do you have one in another room that you could switch out?

I think you're followers look fine - but the section for Favorite Posts with "Favorite posts will go here" needs some work...

for a different kind of girl said...

I think I'm in love with the swan table. I wish I had a house where something like that would fit perfectly in. This half-baked/rapid fire construction I've settled into lends itself to nothing...though, to be honest, this cheap entertainment center I have down in my living room might benefit from a coat of white...

Cat@BudgetBlonde.com said...

Wow you have some really cool antiques. I love your mother's desk. It's gorgeous!
xoxo
Cat@budgetblonde.com

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