'Mr Secret Agent is Afraid to Stand Still' ...A Chalk Paint Story

Hello friends and welcome back to my nest.

I have been working on a couple of projects this week and have lots of photos to prove it.

Let's take a look, shall we?

I bought my Ethan Allen Sofa back in 1985. It was a very big purchase and way over my household budget back then, but I had a plan for the future.

I wanted to purchase a sofa that was well made and would last for years.

Well this beauty has lived up to that and more.

My best advice to newlyweds is to buy the very best quality you can afford. Don't go for the cheaply made upholstered pieces...they won't last.

 In my opinion, cheap will look cheap and you will end up having to replace it sooner than you think.

Especially if you have children.

You don't have to buy new either..I have seen sofas like mine at thrift shops.

All they need is a great slipcover.

I have plans to sew a custom slipcover for my sofa. I took advantage of a 50% sale at Joann's last week and ordered some white denim...lots of white denim!

I'll dress her up with some colorful throws and fun scrap fabric pillows.

Here is another sneak peak of a double project I have been working on. 

I can't wait for the full reveal. This is very different for me.

Last week at my Salvation Macy's I spotted this large quilted Euro sham. 

The colors were so cool and beachy.

I dug threw the pile of linens (who donates just one sham?) and found it's mate.

I love the colors and the pattern. They are green on one side and blue on the other.

And they are from 

POTTERYBARN!

So we are probably looking at around $40.00 to $60.00 each

They are HUGE, very thickly quilted and lined in white cotton.

I immediately knew I wanted to transform them into...

THE LARGEST BEACH BAGS IN THE WORLD!

Ok...maybe not the world, but maybe the largest in Warrenton, Va. 

I wanted to create a gusset so I flattened the bottom corners and stitched across.

Quickly breaking my needle.

A quick setting change and a denim needle fixed that problem.

I left the excess corner fabric to the outside and plan on sewing a large decorative button at that spot.

Like this!

I used a wide cotton strapping for the shoulder straps.

To give the bag extra strength, I sewed the ends of the strapping down about 4 inches.

The X inside the sewn box is your guarantee that this bag will not fall apart.

I left the original sham ties and they are now top closure ties for my beach bag.

She is all ready for the beach...or shopping...vacation or an overnight bag.

Not bad for a $1.99 investment.

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On to the next project!

I love it, but I have too much wood in this space

This is really an end table, but I think it is going to work quite well as a coffee table.

I have quite a bit of oak wood all around my home. Much of it you haven't seen yet.

The coffee table that matches this was just too big...way too long.

I wanted to break up the look of all this wood.

YUP...you guessed it...

CHALK PAINT 

The two tone you see in the metal at top right is the sun shining in

Here she is all painted and I just love it.

I mixed some Provence & Old White and got this beautiful pale blue.

The inlay is accented with a little OW which I watered down.

She looks fresher and more up to date.

Mr. Secret Agent even thinks the paint makes her legs look lighter

He loves it.

He smiled when he came home from work and said..

" I am not surprised that you painted something today...I better keep moving or I'll get chalk painted also"

He is so tolerant of my projects...love ya Hon!

I am really happy with how the table turned out and I think my white slipped sofa is going to look fabulous next to it.

Now tell me what you have been up to this week?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Until next time...be kind and stay creative.

Sharing this week with some creative blogs

Imperfectly Perfect

Elements Interiors

Hope Studios

Tea Rose Home

The Shabby Chic Cottage

The Shabby Nest