Hi friends! I’ve been crazy busy with school and work lately, but I wanted to stop in and show you a few pictures of my space in the Sweet Clover Barn in Frederick, Maryland. The Barn will be open this weekend and will feature many new vendors in the newly renovated upstairs portion of the barn. I won’t make it to the sale this month but I definitely encourage you go check it out!
Last month I did a pretty dresser with a mirror in ASCP Duck Egg blue and absolutely loved how it turned out. Something about aqua over dark wood is just gorgeous when the wood peaks through a little bit, and I’m noticing that Duck Egg has a really nice depth to it. Given that one of my favorite colors is aqua and my space at Sweet Clover is full of bright colors, I couldn’t help but do another one this month. Aqua in a room is kind of like a great pair of blue jeans — it looks good with just about any other color and works with many different styles and ages. To paint this piece, I removed the hardware and drawers and gave the entire piece two coats of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Duck Egg blue. I tried to go light on the areas on the side […]
I’m a sucker for furniture with great brass hardware, so when my mom found this table with great brass pulls and caps on craigslist, I eagerly snatched it up. It sat in my living room for a bit while I debated what color to paint it. I even asked everyone’s opinion on Facebook and got a few votes for emerald. Loving the green and gold combination, I decided to mix my own emerald green ASCP using the combination I used on my Eastlake table. My original mix was Antibes, Florence, and Aubusson, but I didn’t have much Florence, but I figured that Antibes and Aubusson would do basically the same thing. Unfortunately it turned out much smokier than I intended, so I decided to go a different direction and make a mint by adding some Pure White and Provence. It was a happy mistake because I absolutely love the way the […]
For whatever reason, the trend in barn sales and updated vintage home furnishing shops seems to be painted furniture. At the Sweet Clover barn sales, almost all the furniture is freshly painted with the exception of big farm tables and other pieces that have a natural, chippy painted patina already. It’s not like I’m not one of those vendors who doesn’t paint anything– I actually paint almost everything I sell. That’s partly because in order to get something at a good deal, the finish can sometimes be beyond repair or I just can’t justify the time to refinish it. But it’s also because the unpainted furniture sometimes sits for a while, while aqua end tables and dressers fly out of the place faster than we can make them. I love a good piece of aqua furniture as much as the next person (heck, my room is painted in it). But […]
For some odd reason, I have a habit of picking up random chairs from thrift stores, yard sales, and auctions. I end up accumulating them in my basement until I have the energy to take on another upholstery project. So it seems natural that my space at the Sweet Clover Barn should be overrun by chairs. This month I have four in my space itself. I have a pair of these really fun cane-back armchairs on casters: I also have this cool mid-century channel-back armchair with funky orange upholstery, which is in great shape. And do you see that little high chair peeking out from the right side of the photo? As if those four weren’t enough, I also have two upholstered chairs out in the cottage behind the Sweet Clover Barn. Every month, Sweet Clover will be featuring a theme in the cottage, and will use pieces from a […]
Last night I finished setting up my space at the Sweet Clover Barn in preparation for this weekend’s sale. We’ll be open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 10 am – 5 pm. Hope to see you there! I only added two pieces of furniture to my space this month. The first is the herringbone table I showed you last week, and the second is a gorgeous antique dresser that I painted in ASCP Duck Egg. I gave it two coats, but I went light around the details on the drawers because I like the wood to show through a bit. The detail on the front was missing in places, but I think that adds to the interest and texture on the drawer fronts. I stole this photo from the Sweet Clover Facebook Page since Cassie of Primitive and Proper is a way better photographer than me! I finished this dresser with wax, […]
I’m busy working on some furniture and accessories for the Sweet Clover, and I wanted to share one of my latest projects. Photo from the Sweet Clover Facebook Page This table was in ROUGH shape when I picked it up. It was painted lime green with a really crummy paint job, and the top of it was all kinds of beat up. I decided to strip and power sand the top. I stained the top with General Finishes Java Gel stain, and put a layer of Varathane poly to seal the stain so that it wouldn’t bleed through the painted pattern. Then I measured and taped off the herringbone pattern, and painted two coats of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Duck Egg. I painted the rest of the piece Duck Egg and sanded it all down with a super fine grit sanding sponge. I opted to seal the table with poly […]
Remember a few weeks ago when I was talking about how much fun I had at Lucketts and how I wished I could be part of the community of vendors more often? Yeah, I made that happen. This weekend I will debut my booth inside that Sweet Clover Vintage Barn sale in Frederick, Maryland! Sweet Clover used to be the Stylish Patina barn, but Kelly gave up the barn sale so that she could get some warehouse space in Falls Church where she’ll be having monthly tag sales. The barn is full of amazing other vendors who have picked some great stuff for this weekend’s sale. Make sure to “like” the Sweet Clover Vintage page on Facebook to preview all the great stuff that will be in the barn this weekend. My mom is helping with the barn sale, so some of the pieces in this space are her work. […]
I mentioned last week that I’m really starting to enjoy pieces with more texture, rather than just the lacquered look. As I went through my images, I also realized that my favorite rooms that have shiny, bright lacquered furniture, temper that focus with lots of texture throughout the space. For example, this room has gorgeous, shiny bright yellow chairs. But you’ll notice that the black trunk has a bit of a patina, there’s a wood arm chair in the corner, and the wood frame on the wall, bamboo shade, and sisal rug all provide texture that tempers the intensity of the yellow. And the fact that the brass and those natural elements are desaturated versions of a yellow-orange help move your eye from the chairs through the space. Via Elle Decor This room below from Lonny has a gorgeous, dusty blue shiny finish, and shiny lucite chairs. But it also […]
One of my favorite furniture looks is classic furniture painted in bright, high gloss colors. The pieces provide such graphic pops of color to a room and provide a modern, youthful perspective on classic styles. Via Natty By Design While I still love the lacquered look, I’m really starting to appreciate pieces that use a layer of glaze or a little distressing over deep color–or those that have a natural patina from years of wear. These pieces still look modern, but have layers of texture that add subtle depth to the space. They also provide gorgeous color in a space without drawing the same amount of focus that bright, shiny lacquered pieces do. Via the Hunted Interior (Thanks Robin for the source link!) Via Liz Marie Blog Via Style at Home Via Natty by Design I’ve also realized that the combination of bright colors and a lacquered finish cause a piece to be very […]