Does a dresser need those? Nope.

This piece had been sitting in the work space for quite some time. A drawer was broken and I think a whole drawer was missing! We removed 3 drawers and had some wood cut do fit the empty space. We picked our gray paint and went to work. The leather handles came about when Amanda's husband handed her a pile of give aways and in it was a leather belt. Perfect! We love how it turned out.

Matchmaker

A returning client asked us to be on the look out for a coffee table. She gave us her budget and we were on the hunt. Sure enough we found one at a garage sale. She wanted it to match with some end tables we had previously painted for her. A little paint and some hardware and I think we found a perfect match.

Musical chairs

We collect a lot of chairs. If you took a peek into our workspace you would think we were playing a game of musical chairs. It seems we are always working on them. Refinishing a chair doesn't take too long and they always turn out great! Maybe it's that instant gratification thing, but we can't get enough.

Oops we did it again

We refinish furniture, so we head to Home Depot a lot. As we head to the paint section we alway check out the "oops" paint. It's cheap and sometimes you find a color you never thought of. In this case we found a perfect neutral. We new right away this paint was for these chairs. We love how they turned out. 

The Beast

Ok this piece was huge. It was a little initimidating, but when we started brainstorming with our clients our excitement trumped our fears. Our clients wanted a beachy surf feel, but it also had to blend with the other more rustic furniture on their patio. We love how it turned out. 

Third Times The Charm

This was one of those projects that had a few transformations before I got it right. 

I needed a kitchen island for very little money. So I found this work bench and this oak tablet top on Craigslist.

My first transformation was green spray paint for the base and just some sanding and waxing on the table top for a natural wood look. I lived with it for awhile, but it wasn't quite right. 

The next time around I spray painted the base white and knew I was getting close. 

After I'd lived with it a little longer, I found a tutorial on little green notebook blog for easy concrete countertops. Perfect! I followed the tutorial and I love how it turned out. -Amanda

A little Christmas cheer

We are suckers for the sparkly lights and pretty Christmas things, both new and old. So we couldn't wait to break out the decor and get to work! 

We have had some interest in people wanting help with their decor and that sounds like great fun to us! 

Here's a few little glimpses into our decor. 

We've been told the it's a Christmas experience and we couldn't think of a much better compliment! 

serious mirrors

We were given two mirrors that had a great shape and an awesome chunky frame made out of...oak. Not just any oak, orange oak. They needed a little help.

Sold

October

We keep this blog pretty simple. We post our finds and refinished pieces, with the occasional witty quip, but that is about it. 

It seems like this month was a good time to start telling you a little bit more about us.  And here's why. 

October is breast cancer awareness month. 3 years ago, on October 19, I (Erin) was diagnosed with a very rare form a breast cancer. 

Chemo was not an option as it has been found to grow the type of tumors I had, so over the next year, I underwent 7 aggressive surgeries. Some of which were quite debilitating.  

I spent a good portion of my time sitting in a recliner in my family room so I would not feel so isolated from everything.  As it was quite difficult to do much more than lay there, I started noticing the beautiful world around me a little more each day. 

Some days the light shown through the palm trees and reflected off the swimming pool brilliantly. Other days I would fixate on a family picture on my wall.  Each day I found something beautiful to brighten up the dark moments and make my day a little better. 

And so now I paint furniture. And collect trinkets. And repurpose finds because I can't pass them up. I just really grew to love and appreciate pretty things.

And we really want to share those pretty things with you. 

 

spooky repurposing

Finding fun little decorative accents makes us really happy.  You know what else makes us happy?  Using the fun decorative accents we find in our holiday decorating.  Some of our fun find will be coming a boutique in Gilbert in the next few weeks!

These fun finds, chalk boards, dishes and the like, help us style our own homes as well as homes of clients.  Holiday decor can be tricky, let us help you out!

the table revisited

We just couldn't leave these chairs unfinished.  They were begging to have nice new seats on them.  We love how the piping and nail head trim turned out too.  

Chairs $75 each, table $350.  The WHOLE SET $700.  This beautiful set is a steal.

Metallic end tables

These end tables were actually in great condition but the dark wood felt too heavy. A metallic silver finish is just what these end tables needed.

This is now the third time we have used this finish. We are always pleased with the results.

Opposites attract

Recently we snuck away, got a treat and headed to TJ Maxx/Home Goods. We kinda love that store and literally get lost in there for hours. When we came across these paintings next to each other we had to take a pic.

It perfectly summed up our styles. As it says in our bio "one spikes, the other pearls." Our styles are different but when we come together we love what we create. 

Curvy little tables

This adorable Queen Anne style side table is finished and ready to go! 

We used a new technique on these and kind of love the layered turquoise and slightly shabby finish. At 21 1/4" tall, 23"X28" oval top, these would also make great nightstand.  

$45

dining set

1940's Duncan Phyfe dining set. Solid mahogany table with 6 chairs finished in ASCP pure white with a protective poly coat. 

We love this table and the character it has, look at those brass feet! 

Table measures 58"  two leaves are 12" each for a total length of 82" at it's longest. 40" wide, 28 3/4" tall. 

$800 as is (chairs unupholstered) additional $120, bring us your fabric and we'll do the upholstery work for you! 

repurposing...

This plain bookshelf needed a little makeover and an old, distressed, wooden gate seemed to be just the thing it was missing.  

A little bit of creativity and the gate was a perfect fit for the back of the shelves.  This simple piece takes on a whole new life.

(of course the decor on the shelf needed some t.l.c. as well, nothing we can't handle)

One Man's Trash Another Man's Treasure

This statement comes true quite often for us, but we really couldn't believe this table was on the curb to be trashed, not donated, trashed. 

We are thinking more of a distressed white finish for this table. Maybe paired with an industrial chair like these from Overstock. We can't wait to get started.

giveaway!

If you're on Instagram, we're giving away this adorable cupcake stand this week! Follow @decodesigns and tag two friends. It's that simple! 

Arizona, it's not that hot.

This was an amazing find from our trip to Globe, Az. We are so excited to get to work on this dinning set, despite the toasty 105 degree weather.

Let's lighten things up

When these tables were brought to us they were black. Our client had just moved in to a new place and was ready to lighten things up. We just love how they turned out.