Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  The Painted Squirrel is taking this week to  travel north to celebrate the holiday with our family. 

I hope you had a wonderful holiday as well and I am thankful for all of you!

Andie

State Your Porpoise...

Don't you just love this type of furniture?  Solid, functional, and versatile! Dressers especially are popping up all over the house holding everything from coloring books to linens to occasionally even clothes!  The trick is to see one of these beauties and be able to envision it looking completely different with paint.  Enter designer Karen Dunlap (http://www.kmdinteriors.com/).  

Before

Before

Karen saw these two pieces in a distressed "Anthropologie" style for her clients daughter's room.  Of course, the hardware needed to go (seriously, 15 years ago, did they have any other hardware for furniture besides these little black winged birdie looking drawer pulls???)  At the end of this post, I am going to add a step by step guide to filling holes in your drawer so you can change the hardware.

The final color will be a Sherman Williams color called "Porpoise" - it's a lovely gray - but first I needed to fill holes, sand and prime the dresser and side table.

 Karen provided me with a sample of the final finish she wanted on a small piece of wood and it was obvious that the wood showing through the distressed areas of the sample was not the same brown of the original wood on these pieces.  I decided to have Benjamin Moore tint my primer to this brown, which has a bit more red in it than the natural wood of the furniture.

Another thing I noticed on the sample wood was that there were some whitish "aged" spots here and there.  It was very subtle, so I decided just to add a bit of white satin paint here and there on the pieces so when I sanded it back, just a bit of the white would show.
 It looks I frosted the edges!

After this step, it was just a matter of painting the top coat.  I had Benjamin Moore color match the Sherman Williams Porpoise color (SW7047) in their Advance product.  When the paint was dry, I took my sander and sandpaper to it to sand away areas that would normally show wear on an old piece of furniture; the edges, around the drawer pulls and corners.  I guess I got a little carried away because I "over-distressed" it!  I'm showing you the over distressed pieces so you know that you can always go back and fix it as I did.  It's a lesson in standing back and taking a look at it every now and then.



Distressingly Over-distressed!

Some areas I kept - can you see just the bit of white that came through on the drawers?  Love that!  I also love the reddish brown base coat against that gray.  So I repainted the areas I felt were too distressed.  When completely dry, I used a mix of burnt umber artists pigment and extender (extends the drying time) to age it further.  Simply paint it on and gently wipe it off and the dark brown of the pigment will settle into the lines and creases, giving it an even more aged look.

 Karen had to use her phone to take these shots for me as she was in the middle of the installation of the room, which is an exceptionally busy, sometimes stressful time with everything coming in at once.  Thank you for taking a moment to take them for me Karen!

HOW TO FILL HOLES

 You will need:
Small plugs the size of the hole (purchase at the hardware store)
Wood glue
Wood filler
Sandpaper or Electric sander (I use a palm sander)

Add a bit of glue to one of the plugs, making sure some of it goes over the edge and onto the sides.  Gently tap the plug into the hole on the inside of the drawer, being very careful not to split the wood of the drawer.  If your drawer starts to split, you likely have too large of a plug.  Pull it out and replace with a smaller plug.  Repeat in all of the holes.

I mean gently tap the plug in!  Also, make sure you've protected the top of the drawer and you aren't scratching it against the floor or table while hammering the inside.

 Plug should be flush against the inside.

 Turn the drawer over and fill the hole with wood filler.  There are many brands and I haven't found that one is any better than the other.  You do want to make sure you don't keep the container exposed to air for any length of time - it's fairly fast drying.

 You'll want to over fill the hole with the wood filler slightly and gently smooth the top out with your finger.  Let dry.

After it's dried, sand it smooth.

 Can you see the pit that formed in this one?  That happens sometimes as it's drying.  Just ad a bit more filler, allow to dry and sand again.

Holes filled, sanded and ready for a new hole to be drilled!

Busy Girl Painting and Design Dilemmas!

Good Morning!  When I first started writing this blog, it was easy.  I have so many ideas of what to write about and share with you that they practically wrote themselves down and I was able to write a week ahead!  It is still easy, except....when I'm busy painting!  I am going into my busy season with ornaments now and I need to find a way of working through my list and writing about the projects.  That didn't happen this week and so here I am on Sunday, writing for today's blog.  

Here are just a few of my ornaments going out this week!

I thought I would share with you a few design dilemmas solved by ingenuity (of the homeowner) and/or the use of paint.  I think we all have inherited some kind of awkward space or situation that needs to be addressed.  (Mine right now is my sitting room - more on that in the weeks to come!)

Let me start by saying that my sister in law is so creative!  I absolutely adore spending time with her and this past summer visited her in Memphis.  She solved a problem in her family room that I thought was genius!

Her fireplace started out similar to this photo (she didn't have a "before" photo, but she's promised to start doing that for me!  :)

Basically a brick wall with a fireplace in the middle and a raised hearth across the entire thing.  Having the brick removed can be pricey, and so she had a carpenter come in and build cabinets OVER the brick!

 

You would never guess there was brick behind those cabinets!  (The room looks dark because of my camera flash)



She had the carpenter just go around the hearth and to complete the illusion she had him but drawer fronts on the bottom to look like there is a drawer down there.  Pure genius!

I painted for a client with a long wall between the kitchen and family room.  She wanted to have a different color in the family room and so we painted this plant. (she helped me as this particular client is my very talented sister)  See how the color changes from one side to the other?  I've done this for others using just a simple checkerboard pattern.

Here are a few others that I found online that I think are great!



Hiding the big black box!

Great way to hide the thermostat - although you do need to make sure there is ample airflow around it

 Thank you so much for reading and also for bearing with me as I work the kinks out of writingthis precious blog into my crazy lifestyle!   I can't wait to show you what I'm working on this week! 

 

To Market, To Market!

This has been such a week!  Between Hurricane Sandy and Halloween and filling ornament orders, not much writing has gotten done.  I wrote today's post a few weeks ago and thought today would be a perfect day to show it to you.  Have a wonderful day everyone and don't forget to reset your clocks!

A perfect fall morning and my son had a baseball practice in northwest Washington DC.  Across the street from the field on an industrial block, I saw a sign for Union Market.  Since I had two hours to kill, I decided to venture over there.  What a great place to stop in! 

According to their website, http://unionmarketdc.com/, Union Market began life as Center Market back in 1871, but when the Center Market was torn down so the National Archives could be built, the vendors sought another property and after a few moves over the years, it settled at 1309 5th St. NE.  Some of the vendors have been there for decades and I love the industrial feel of the building and the busy-ness of a farmers market that is only open three days a week.
 

There were several "just olives" vendors, an amish vendor selling dairy products, an "all things smoked" vendor (I think I drooled a little bit looking over some of the smoked fish) and a flower vendor that would have made Eliza Doolittle swoon, her flowers were so loverly! 

I was rather incredulous when I saw the Honest Tea vendor - who wasn't there (below)!  Just a rack of drinks and a box for your dollar.  I have never seen the honor system used like that and it's a testament to the folks who frequent the market that it actually works, even though I was a little nervous for the owners.

See the arrow on the sign that says "Pay Here"!  Wow!

I was introduced to Patty Pan squash by a gentleman running one of several vegetable stands.  Patty Pan squash looks like a regular yellow squash that's been, well, squashed - it's short and squat and delicious!  He told me to prepare them by stuffing them with crab dip and goats cheese, and that sounded great, but I'm kind of a recipe girl so I looked up a recipe on Allrecipes.com, Stuffed Patty Pan Squash (with bacon!), that was a huge hit at my house - pretty much anything that includes bacon as an ingredient is going to get rave reviews !  I'm including the recipe at the end of this post for you to try.


Patty Pan Squash





Best Banana Bread evah!

After shopping, I sat at one of the cafe tables outside in the sun with a latte and my nook.  I actually felt mildly hip sitting there with my reusable tote bag overflowing with fresh veggies, locally creamed honey and some home made double dark chocolate banana bread!  The people passing in and out of the building looked like they'd been coming and going through those doors for years and many greeted each other as old friends. 

I am hoping my son has many more practices at that field and the next time, I will bring him over to the market with me to pick out his own vegetables and fruits to try.  I'll have to remember to pack more totes!

Stuffed Patty Pan Squash recipe:  http://allrecipes.com/recipe/stuffed-pattypan-squash/

Ingredients

• 6 pattypan squash, stem and blossom removed
• 6 slices bacon
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1 1/2 cups soft bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Bring one inch of water to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add squash, cover, and cook for 10 minutes, or until a fork can pierce the stem with little resistance. Drain, and slice off the top stem of the squash. Use a melon baller to carefully scoop out the centers of the squash. Reserve all of the bits of squash.
3. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Remove bacon to paper towels, and set aside. Saute onion in bacon drippings. Chop the reserved squash pieces, and saute them with the onion for one minute.
4. Remove the skillet from heat, and stir in the breadcrumbs. Crumble the bacon, and stir into the stuffing along with the Parmesan cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stuff each squash to overflowing with the mixture, and place them in a baking dish. Cover the dish loosely with aluminum foil.
5. Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until squash are heated through.

Faux Your Eye's Only!

I hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween last night!  I also am keeping our northeast friends in my prayers that power comes back on soon!

I am always amazed at the creativity of others.  I have had so many clients who have truly inspired ideas, but they just need someone else to actually do the painting for them.  This little table is one of those projects.  My client had this bare wood side table still in the box and she knew she wanted to use it for her guest room.  She said she'd like it to look like someone had laid their book and glasses on it and drifted off to sleep.  Lovely!  Even as she was decribing it to me, my inner squirrel was darting all over the place collecting ideas.

Bare Wood Table

I chose to use an antique book I picked up at a yard sale, it had lovely pictures and I thought that would bring some additional character to the table.

 OK, I know not everyone can paint the book and glasses freehand, but that's OK.  Imagine a more simplified book, say a Dr. Seuss book with gorgeous colors and simple drawings.  You could photograph the book open to the page you like, print the photo and then use carbon paper to trace it onto the table.  Then it's just a matter of painting the colors they used in the original book.  Voila, an original hand painted table for your child's room or a playroom!

When you are trying to make something appear to be sitting on top of the surface, shadows and light are the most important factors.   If you paint a darker shadow on the outside edge of your painting, the eye will read that your painting is three dimensional.  I usually will use a watered down slightly darker version of the table's paint color for the shadow.

The glasses I used were my own reading glasses and quite literally, I rested them on the real book on the table next to the spot where I was going to paint them, and painted the lights and shadows exactly as I saw them.  Note:  make sure you know where the light is coming from in the room the table will reside and make sure your light source when you paint is coming from the same direction.

I also changed the text in the book so the main characters were my client and her husband.  It was a minor detail, but really makes the table special to them.  If I were doing that Dr. Seuss table, I may be tempted to change the text to my son's name or maybe write his name in a tree - anything to make it personal.

My last detail was to the drawer of the table.  I painted a little monogrammed hankie that appeared to have folded over the top of the drawer.  Two coats of sealer and done! 

This project was a blast and I loved that my client had such a clear sense of what she wanted, but yet allowed me to take her idea and use my creativity to expand on it.  What book would you paint on your table?  Pride and Predjudice?  Where The Wild Things Are?  How about really giving your guests something to talk about and paint Fifty Shades of Grey!