REviving Furniture

I LOVE to revive furniture! I love finding a piece that is destined for the landfill and drag it home/shop for a makeover. 

 Over the years I have brought home some goodies and some epic fails too.  I have several fails that come to mind immediately.  One, a vintage tweed recliner w/ a matching ottoman.  It looked great! But boy when the sun hit it, it did NOT smell great! It had apparently been someone's chair before the invention of Depends!  David unloaded it and sat it in the sun to "freshen up", the next time I saw the chair David had hauled it out to the curb.    Another fail,  Another Great old tweedy chair.  Great bones! And LOTS of hair, pet hair.  As I started stripping the upholstery to recover it, hair was flying everywhere.  I ultimately had to get an allergy shot. But that chair DID get finished and sold soon after I listed it. :)

Before

My latest revival goodie is a Louis XIV armchair that I purchased from a friend's yard sale.  She had picked it up out of someone's trash and planned to redo it.  She stripped it and that is how I found it @ her yard sale.  I was instantly in love! I knew exactly what I wanted to do with this chair. I had just visited Restoration Hardware and saw something similar to my idea. 

To be struck by a piece of furniture like this piece is unusual for me.  I am usually hooked by Mission style and Arts & Crafts pieces.  There was no way this piece would fit in any room in my home so it was a definite resale piece. 



After

Sorry about the lighting. I need to take better pictures .......

I really enjoyed this project. I took my sweet time this summer and worked on it only when I really wanted to work on it.  It had over 300 upholstery nails in it but I loved it. 
David & I took it to the booth last Monday.  It made it to the booth and stayed about 5 minutes before a lady purchased it!

 Goodbye Louis!  Parting is such sweet 
                                   sorrow! 

A Sweet Ride Down Nostalgia Road

      Yesterday morning my husband woke up and said, "Let's go for a bike ride today."   My mind began to think about what I needed to do and what was on the boy's schedules.  I couldn't come up w/ anything.  I normally don't jump @ the chance to go on a motorcycle ride w/ David.  I always think about what a friend once said about riding w/ her husband - "My children need their parents, therefore I do not ride w/ my husband".   I think, "What if we wrecked, what about my boys?"

But yesterday several things occurred to me - 1. I believe that my death has a date just like my birth. It's already known by someone greater than anything I can do to avoid it.
2. My husband would die to protect me.  I know this for sure.  3. If the "Plan" was to wipe us out together, there are plenty of opportunities other than on the motorcycle. We spend a lot of time together. 

So I said "Yes"!  I dug out my boots and jeans that had been pushed to the back of my closet by  summer clothes and flip flops.  I tucked my id in the saddlebags (just in case) and kissed my boys goodbye. 

It always takes me a few minutes to relax and enjoy the ride.  After I relaxed I felt how perfect the weather was, not too cool, not too warm.   We headed up Lookout Mountain and I plugged my music into my helmet.  We turned off Hwy 35 to a road I didn't remember and began to ride along the side of the mountain.  I was taken in by the view and the shadows/sun, I didn't notice where we were heading....   We ended up back in Mentone and the bike slowed down as we pulled into a parking lot.  I recognized the building as a cafe we used to visit but it wasn't a cafe anymore.  It was a Coffee shoppe and Art Gallery.  We had a coffee and spent an almost an hour in the gallery of mostly local art.   www.KamamaMentone.com

Back on the road, music playing, winding through the mountain roads and we turned toward Cloudmont Ski & Golf Area.  We drove past a little cabin where we stayed many, many years ago and past the Dude Ranch where we rode horses w/ Parker when he was 3 yrs old.  We always remember it b/c Parker fell asleep on the horse. 

Riding down several other roads, we drove past the spots where we've canoed w/ the boys several times and over the bridge where we've jumped off  and swam under.  Then we came out @ the little country church where we were married.

Howard's Chapel, aka The Rock Church in Mentone

If he didn't plan all of that, he should never tell me b/c I loved every minute of it.  It was a perfect day and exactly what we needed.  Summer has been crazy and school has started. Normal Family stresses had taken a toll on me.  We have had major vehicle maintenance issues since March. The Yukon needed a water pump, fuel pump and then an engine. The work van had to have a Transmission.  My Land Rover needed A/C work and new tires (needed b/c they were BAD). The Washing Machine needed a new control board ( an ordeal that went on for a month) , ice maker went out on the fridge, we remodeled a bathroom and David traveled ALL summer.  And that doesn't include the normal issues of having a teenager in the house. These are just normal things that happen when you have a family and home but they build up and put stress on our families/relationships.

I needed a ride through the mountains w/ nothing but the man that I love and depend on to hold me up.  To listen to my favorite music and  remember the sweet things in our life that are special and that make up parts of our family. 

The day off costs us a box of Krispy Kremes as payment to the boys.

Back to School.....

David has taken the boys to The Canyon today for some rock climbing and swimming. I was left behind because I stepped on a red wasp this morning and have an extremely large toe :\ that can only fit in a flip flop. So I get a day @ home alone and  I finally have a few free minutes to catch up on my blog!

  Summer was CRAZY!! I was so wrong in thinking that I would have time to do many things that WE wanted to do.  Swim team took  up a lot of our time this summer (probably NOT doing that next year!)  and the garden took up so much time (but in a positive way).  We vowed to preserve and eat most of what we grew this year which meant that I spent more time canning and freezing our vegetables for winter.  That effort will be appreciated in the dead of winter when we are eating our own veggies. 

David spent 80% of the summer out of town on business.  We couldn't go w/ him b/c of Parker's summer football schedule so that left me home @ the boys.  We enjoyed the summer until August when the mosquito population took over our area. Being cooped up inside does not agree w/ anyone in our family.



visiting the Auburn aquatic center

Even though we didn't take a big vacation this summer we spent a weekend in Auburn for the State Swim Tournament, July 4th in Chattanooga @ the Choo Choo and a Lookout's ballgame,  many days hiking and swimming @ Little River Canyon, several evening trips to Chattanooga for dinner, movies and splash pad play and a visit to Cleveland to visit w/ cousins who were visiting from China.

Cooper @ the aquatic center

Cooper in front of the Stadium

family

Back to school



The boys started back to school this past Monday. Cooper refers to that day as "Mom's favorite holiday". NOT TRUE!   I "celebrated" by cleaning all of our rugs.  It was a nice start to the Fall.  I had been waiting all summer to deep clean them but it would have been a wasted effort since we have boys & dogs on them all day long.  We purchased a carpet cleaning machine last year and it has proven to be worth every penny.  I will attempt to clean rugs again when the boys go back after Christmas.  It's good for me to keep busy that first day that the house is quiet.  I miss them so much when they are gone.  But I adjust quickly :)

Fall for our family brings Football (Parker) and Soccer (Cooper & Oliver).  This year we will be coaching a team as well so it promises to be a busy season.  Parker had his first Varsity game this past Friday night. Guess what I forgot to take? My camera.   Hopefully I will have more opportunities to photograph him on the field.

I hope to get back to blogging regularly about Family, Furniture and Food.  For the people who read my blog - "Thank you" ! I appreciate your interest and hope you find something useful for your family.