Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers) – Page 9

A home for the hens

cottage, dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Hens

By Karla Nathan / April 10, 2012

Everyone around here is excited about the rehab of the chicken coop!

This old building has been through many transformations, and as good as I can guess, this will be its third time to serve as a home to a flock of birds. Its also been a woodworking shop, an antique store, a dog run, a hang out for my Jr High school age boys, and lately, a storage shed..

Now, back to being a chicken coop!

When I used this for an antique store, we ran electricity out to it, put on a new roof and painted it all a barely there, blush pink. I think the ladies will enjoy nesting in that flattering color. They will feel so pretty in the ambient lighting and soft pink walls.

(we still need to hang the feeder, right now, its just sitting under the bench. If we tried to feed them there, they would argue over access to the goodies. And it needs to be hung up so it doesn't get pooped in as much. They will be pooping in it no matter what, but higher is better)

We've provided a couple of mirrors so they can check themselves out. I hear that chickens enjoy looking at themselves.

There are also lots of roosting materials, an old lawn chair, and branches screwed to the walls all around like a jungle gym.

The old painting on the wall is simply for their enjoyment.

A couple of chandeliers that no longer work were hung up for more roosting, and for lighting, I hung a ceramic lamp with a cracked base that was laying out in the shed.

The bench we built to set the nesting boxes on is just the right height to store bales of straw. They slide right under it, and don't leave space for the hens to roost (and poop) on the straw.

No ETA on when the girls will be moving in. But we are set and ready to welcome them to their new home.

The building has two sides, the long, narrow one that the ladies will be calling home, and a big square room next to it that the cats like to hang out in.

This side is where we keep lawn furniture in the winter, supposedly. But other things tend to accumlate too.

I've valiently tried to not let things pile up in here, but I'm glad I let a few things slip, because this is the place I raided to find the pretties for the coop. Nothing nice, just some old beat up stuff too nice to toss and I'm glad it had piled up there for me to dig through!

I'll let you know what the girls think of it all when they move in.

A clutter solution

dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Kitchen remodel, magazine pictures or articles, paper cowgirl

By Karla Nathan / March 25, 2012

It has been wonderful having the two grand fairies staying here with us at the cottage part time. The best part is the morning, when they both come down the stairs with big smiles on their faces and hair sticking up every which way, with that sweet scent of sleepy babies. They both wake up happy and laughing and ready to face the delights of a new day.

The bad part? Clutter.

With extra people in the house and no space to put away all the kicked off shoes and scattered toys, the entry way was always a mess.

My solution was to drag this bench in from the garden (I found it at a garage sale about 10 years ago, and have had it outside since) and put baskets under it to toss shoes and toys in. I have space to add another basket for mittens, and probably should pick one up while Michaels has them on sale for 40% off, but was too cheap to buy all three at once.

The bench had a painted plywood seat, that was nicely chippy and I thought that would be fine, till I drug it all the way up to the house, and realized I was covered in ants. The wood had gotten all spongey and wet, and was nothing more than a nest for the critters, so I carried it out to the burn pile and cut another piece of plywood, wrapped it in fabric, and lined it with pillows I had in the closet.

Agnes Rosebud is pretty happy about the whole thing and I'm glad to have the shoes tucked away.

Now, we'll have to see if anyone actually USES the baskets!

Here is a picture of an earlier incarnation of the bench, I'd used it for an article in Romantic Homes a while back.

This pretty photo of Beth's class is from Kristi Knox Day

Speaking of clutter, our hotel rooms at Paper Cowgirls were really knee deep in it all. Between finishing up class projects we took, and working on our own teaching projects, plus helping Lisa with her kits, our rooms were like obstacle courses. Which is why Beth's little slide show is soooo funny. She is one witty gal. Here it is if you want to see it (its very short, only 5 pictures will silly comments)

Karla at the Crafting Obstacle Course

Mothers and Daughters

dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family

By Karla Nathan / February 16, 2012

Today is my Mom's birthday and like always, she has been on my mind a lot. I learned a lot from her, and wish that I'd learned more. We were very much alike, yet oh, soooo different in many ways.

She was a sewer and for a while owned an upholstery shop. I can't stitch a straight line, but at least I absorbed a lot of knowelgdge about how it was done by sitting under her sewing table for hours as she worked when I was a kid. I know the basics on how to do any of it, but its the actual needle and thread work that stumps me.

She took pride in perfect stitches and even knew exactly how many per inch she hand sewed into her quilting or upholstering.

But me? If I pick up a piece of thread, it automatically starts twirling itself into a million knots. So, I transferred her love of creating to paint and other craftiness. Sewing has always eluded me.

Even this crazy quilt that she made is not as random as it seems. I remember her showing me the individual blocks that she was putting together with mathematical precision.

She taught me to take joy in hard work. That a job worth doing is worth doing right. That a clean house feels, and smells good and is worth the effort it takes. Now, I certainly don't take it to the levels she used to, this is a lady who used to vacuum under the bird feeder out in the yard. I've never gone so far as to vacuum the grass, but I do like my home tidy and comfortable.

Mom taught me never to be afraid to tackle anything. Any big job can be broken down into smaller parts, tackled one at a time, just like her quilts were patched together square by square.

Twinkle thinks this picture is about her, like every photo I take. Even if I'm taking a close up of something on a table, she is posing under the table thinking that the camera must be about her.

Mom made this quilt for me too. Its one of my favorite patterns, Log Cabin. You can't see the detail in the center, but its a hand stitched drawing of iris. In person, it shows up nicely, but the camera doesn't do it justice.

In honor of my mom's birthday, I put this quilt on Sugarwing's new Big Girl Bed. Maybe she'll feel my mom's love wrapped around her the next time she crawls in.

I chose this bed because of the ovals. Don't they look like frames, just waiting for a painting? I have plans to add some pictures soon. Lately, there has been too much going on and I think I might have mentioned, and maybe whined a bit about the fact that I am NOT caught up.

Hopefully, Sugarwings and Dewdrop will learn from me, just as I learned from Mom, to love having a pretty home around them, and taking joy in making it that way. Whatever talents they have as they grow up, I want them to know that you can tackle any job if you do it one block at a time and that nothing is too big to face if you are willing to do the hard work to achieve it.

And that hard work is much easier to face if you find something to laugh about while you are at it!

My mom was FUN. I hope all of my kids and grands think I am too.

New skills

Dew Drop, dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, paper cowgirl, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / February 4, 2012

Congratulations to Agnes Rosebud for catching her first mouse! She might end up being as talented as her mom, who has a voracious appetite for chasing varmits.

Agnes Rosebud isn't the only one learning new skills. Dewdrop got a painting lesson from her big sis this week.

Sugarwings is a bit of an unconventional artist. She is always ready to set the paper aside and try something new. She likes to paint all of her small toys, and anything else that she can get a hold of. I figure, as long as its just watercolors and she is painting her own belongings, that is fine. I'll wash them down and she can paint them again later. She;d rather paint her toys than play with them.

She knows to ask before she starts painting any of my stuff that is within her reach.

Well, most of the time. Every once in a while she needs a reminder. I've not had anything too important turned pink yet, just a few tidbits and supplies.

We bought some markers for window panes, and she has this big window by my garden door that she likes to work on. I can see why she enjoys this canvas, I like to draw on the window with her.

Their father is a bit worried that Dewdrop will take this idea and redecorate the world with it. My thoughts are to teach them when they are little where they can paint and where they can't, but give them some interesting options. He's afraid that she is way too little to know the difference and might just color all of the walls she sees now.

But as a person who used to paint murals for a living, and who painted that faux brick floor that the girls are pictured on, its hard for me to limit them to just paper. Its good to see them coloring outside of the lines and being individuals.

When I teach a class, its hard for me to limit the kits to just exactly what is needed. I like to have a pile of extras for the students to pick through, so they can create a one of a kind piece, and do their own version of "coloring outside of the lines".

So, I'm gathering up a nice selection of goodies for the Paper Cowgirl class I'll be teaching in March, down in Texas. The class isn't full yet, if you'd like to dig through the pile of pretties and make a wreath with me.

It was the best of days, it was the worst of days

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family

By Karla Nathan / January 9, 2012

French by Design

Saturday started out Great. Extra Great. So wonderful that I wouldn't shut up about what a Great Day it was.

Seedbox

Beth and I met up to go to Bottom's Up. The BEST antiquing experience in KC. Gwen and Terry find the most intriguing dealers whose displays and talent are crammed to the brim with inspiration and wow.

Raised in Cotton

But best of all, we kept running into friends and spent lots of time chatting and catching up with fellow junking buddies.

I'd had a bad cold and a back ache for a couple of weeks, through the busy holiday time, and kept pushing myself to pretend I was fine and to keep enjoying the jingle bell season instead of letting myself get rested and over it all. Plus, Sugarwings had been sick before Christmas and I'd been traveling, and well, you know how worked up a person can get at that time of year anyway, add a few tasty little tid bits like that and moods can really turn dour and sour when the whole after Christmas let down period kicks in.

Yep, I was down, and tired and not quite myself. I've been trying to get my examples for the Birdsong Two classes done and nothing was clicking, because of my mood.

So, I took some time off from trying to be creative, eradicated all trace of holiday decor from my house, and zipped off to KC to Bottom's Up and to hang with my BFF.

Did I mention that it was a Great Day? And I was so happy, I was obnoxious about it. I desperately needed a day of pure fun.

And not only did I visit with friends, see beautiful old stuff, I BOUGHT a lot of beautiful, wonderful, old stuff. At beautiful, wonderful prices. Yep, Bottom's Up is a top-of-the-line place, but there are deals to be found there too. You can find exquisite, one of a kind, high dollar items, and you can also find exquisite, one of a kind, great deals!

What really made me happy was that I found just the ideas and supplies I needed to make my Birdsong projects for the classes!

Yep, not only did I come up with a plan, I found enough to make 25 kits, plus extras for examples and to practice on.

I hope to get them done soon and get the photos up.

I'm so pleased with the registration for Birdsong Two. Its filling up quickly. I've been away from my computer, so don't have an exact count, but its getting there. (you can still join us the last weekend of April if you'd like!)

Yes, a Great Day was just what I needed, Beth and I went to BU, as well as all the other pop up stores that are only open one weekend a month in the Old West Bottom's region of Kansas City, tucked into warehouses and abandoned buildings. The backgrounds of the stores are always interesting.

Look what we came across at one of the places, I can't remember which. There are LOTS of them now, all within a few blocks. Maybe it was at Bella Patina?

Anyway, its a buffet that I painted years ago and sold at my old antique mall booth.

Its always cheery to see one of my pieces out in the world. And I was feeling so cheery by then, I was almost punch drunk. I think I told Beth that I loved her a few times.

Then, things started to fall apart. I dropped Beth off at her home, just as the phone was ringing to tell me that Sugarwings was in the hospital, not far from Beth's house, luckily I was ten minutes away.

When I got there, I heard the story that she had been at one of those big, indoor play places at a birthday party, and had fallen from the top level, luckily hitting a bouncy slide on her way down before plummeting to the ground.

Her mommy was the hero that day. She couldn't find anyone to help her or to let them out of the play area, through the canvas sides. So, she had to scoop up our little fairy with her broken wing and carry her through the rest of the kid's obstacle course to get her out of the building! Up and down a slide, through the ball pit, etc, she ran while carrying her daughter. No employee came to help her or answered her calls to let them out a short cut.

All of the family gathered as soon as they could at the hospital. Her Daddy's truck wouldn't start, and he took off on his bike to meet my husband to get a ride from Lawrence, leaving his bike in a ditch when he finally met up with his dad and hopping in his truck.

When they arrived, my husband was limping. And wouldn't tell me why, said it could wait till we got our fairy baby transferred to the Children's hospital for surgery.

Apparently, he knew I had needed a fun day out and hadn't called me earlier to tell me that he'd stood on a dead log that broke in half while he was using his chain saw, and that he gashed his leg open with that saw. Well, that is my nightmare come true. I hate those things and have been dreading this for years.

Thank you all for your kind words and prayers while I was staying up at the hospital with our girl, who is much braver than I am. She is feeling better and uses her left hand and her toes to do about anything she wants to.

We are home now, and its hard to keep her quiet. It was a very serious break, and she is not to play outside for a while. Somehow or another, we are supposed to keep that little fireball tranquil a few weeks so she can heal. She has 3 pins in her elbow and some nerve damage in her hand, that the Dr. says should heal within a year. But its important to not bump or move it all around much for right now.

So, we are watching movies, and movies, and more movies. Today we all went to see TinTin in 3D.

I'm doing better now too. That first night, I concentrated on not fainting or letting my thoughts dwell on chainsaws. I was in more than a bit of shock, and didn't cope well with either accident. But both patients are sturdy and doing well. And I think that my Great Day with Beth helped me quite a bit and gave me the boost I needed to cope.

Sadly, while we were staying at hotels near the hospital a couple of days, our little Sparkle's health has deteriorated. Her kidneys have been failing, but now its beyond that. I came home to floors covered in, well, we won't go into that, you've heard enough. I bathed her, sanitized the floors, and called the vet. If you have any well wishes left to spare for my family, I'd appreciate some sent to "Special Sparkle" as Sugarwings calls her. She's frail and not doing well at all.

Thanks again for caring. I was too shaky to read any of my book, and newsprint just blurred in front of my eyes while I was in the waiting rooms. It was nice to have those sweet, caring Facebook and blog comments to read. Some people don't understand and wonder why I care what strangers have to say. But these weren't from "strangers".

Some were from our family, some were close friends, some were blog friends, some Bellas, some art buddies. All were people who cared. And reading those caring words really did help.

Thanks so much.

The ugly side of the cottage

dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), housework, Kitchen remodel

By Karla Nathan / October 1, 2011

We rarely use our front yard. No one even uses the front door to get to the house, I think it has now officially become the back door. The ex-front yard is just for the Dorkies to play in now. And it tends to get neglected, see how back the picket fence needs painting? I try to call it "charming" but its really just ignored and peeling.

But since Agnes Rosebud is so tiny, we've had to line the fence with chicken wire to keep her in, which makes it extra hard to paint. All that would have to come down before I could scrape the peeling paint off. So, I think I'll stick with fooling myself that it is charming and rustic.

Same thing with the deck out there too. I don't even attempt to keep flowers planted there, I know they'd just be dried up and forgotton. This could be a cute area, but if no one ever sees it, does it matter?

I've learned over the years that sometimes, you have to pick your battles. There is only so much time in the day.

But this was way beyond ignoring. This was some major repair work that needed to be done, not just cosmetic stuff. Our ex-front door way was rotting away. While we were having other stuff done, we decided to have the guys repair this too. We are getting better guttering, and had this siding ripped off, flashing installed under it, and then replaced.

See, better already! Now, I need to repaint this corner of the house, and my son is rebuilding the dog door area. We have ordered an energy efficient one that should help our problem with drafts (and snow blowing in on blizzardy days!)

This is another problem area that the guys handled for us. A weird gap between the new addition and the deck, that leaked water into the breezeway. More for me to paint….

Sorry, these aren't all that interesting are they? I shouldn't show the ugly side of the cottage. But its there. Every house has issues of some sort and the older the house, the more there are. It felt good to have a crew here working on stuff and fixing problems. Repairs are not as glamorous as remodelling, but probably are even more important!

What we did on craft day

dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), yorkies

By Karla Nathan / September 25, 2011

Beth came to a craft day and when we weren't playing with ephemera, this is how we spent our time. Playing with dorkies. But honestly, who is the dorkiest? I think we win for even suggesting this pose.

Sweet babies

antiques/junking, dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, Mayara, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / August 31, 2011

Miss Pixie Pie, is now a big sis! She has a cuddly little brother at her house now. We got over to see him a few days ago and I was able to get some snuggles. There is nothing on earth like holding a new born baby, is there?

We took the big sister home with us for a while to play with her cousin and give her parents a little break. The girls spent a lot of the evening just filling water cans. Its good to have well water, and not worry about water bills, water is such easy entertainment for kids this age.

Afterwards, they were a little shivery, so I fixed them hot cocoa. Not something we have very often in the summertime, so they were both pretty excited to get some. It was fun to have hot chocolate in the summer in the same way it is to have pancakes for supper sometimes.

After getting dry and warm, they helped me make dinner. I like to give the kids a hunk of bread dough and some bowls of cheese and broccoli for them to create their own bread sticks. Our fairy grand kid can play with dough for so long, we almost don't get it into the oven in time to have it done for supper. Pixie Pie was a bit more efficient than her cousin, she got hers done and ready to pop into the oven right away, so I just gave her more and kept her going on it. That kid doesn't mess around, she got them all whipped up in no time, while Sugarwings was still reconstructing the shape of her dough ball for the dozenth time.

Speaking of cooking, my gift for the new mom and dad might seem a bit odd, but instead of buying baby clothes or toys, I like to pack up a big bag full of convenience items. Paper plates, cups, plastic forks, etc. to hopefully save them some time while they are caring for the new baby. Its a hectic time, and its not always easy to get dishes done while caring for a newborn.

Cause watching a little one can sure wear you out!

Earlier in the week, we were lucky enough to have BOTH grands over for the night. Mayara is just getting big enough to come over and spend some time, now that her mommy is not nursing as much. She was so sweet. If I held up her dolly, and ask her to give it some love, she'd plant a big ole slobbery kiss on its head.

These girls are all pretty sweet too, I splurged big time and took them to the groomers for a make over, complete with matching bows.

Our neighbor, Holden thought they looked lovely.

Even with all the cute babies around here, I've been managing to get things done. I went to a flea mkt with Mary, and met up with Beth who was selling there. As sweet as all the kids are, it was pretty durn nice to have a grown up day with junking!

By the way, Mary is hosting her first swap and its a doozy. Its for glue book pages, and she'll provide the book covers, ring binders, plus an ephemera pack to get you started on making your book grow with more art when you get it back.

Our remodelling project has been finalized too.

Its good to finally get all of that settled and mark a date on the calender to start it.

Although, that means, that I have to start packing up my kitchen. Ugh.

On the other hand, it means that I get to pick out flooring and shop for something to build into a kitchen island. I know what I want, now I just need to find it.

I've been adding some things to the Boutique over the weekend, and a few to the long neglected Etsy shop too.

I hope to add more, but then I always say that, don't I?

This weekend we have family in town to visit, and will be going to one of our faves, the Renfest. After that, I have 3 days to get everything in my kitchen and dining room packed up and out of the room so the work can begin. So, who knows if I'll get more added to the shop. Maybe after the packing up is done.

I'll have more additions to the shop to show you in the next post, this one has run on long enough.

Almost Zero Dollar Decorating!

dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), housework, redos, sewing?

By Karla Nathan / August 29, 2011

During my frenzy of de-mousing the house, I gave my bedroom a deep cleaning. Sugarwings was spending the day with me, so it was her job to squirt the wax while I mopped the floor. There is a short period of time when kiddos think that helping clean is more fun than just about anything. Too bad it doesn't last longer. (and you should see how happy she was to hold the black light the time we went on a dog pee search- it was like treasure hunting to her. I wasn't quite as thrilled to find the glowing purple marks as she was. By the way, those black lights are the best tool around when you are housebreaking a puppy!!)

After moving all the furniture and cleaning under and behind it, I wanted to freshen the room up with a new look, but the way this room is laid out, if we want to lay around in bed and watch tv, there aren't many choices for rearranging. So, I did the best I could and moved around some of the mirrors and things on the wall.

The mirror had been in the bathroom before, I switched around a few mirrors and traded them out. Its not as fun as shopping, but it did make me feel less bored with the whole room. I kept the pillar where it is, but took the concrete angel out doors, and set an old vase with silks up on it instead.

The lamp came from the living room, and I pinned a blue millinery rose to it so it would match this room. I have a smaller alabaster lamp on the other side of the bed, so I kind of like having a near-matching set together. (both are from garage sales, years ago for about 5 bucks each)

Zero Dollar Decorating always gives me a lift, sometimes switches and trades are all I need to jump start a room and make me like it again. But, I can't quite call this mini redo that, because I did buy a few things for it.

While I was on my trip to Indiana, I found the alarm clock at an antique store ($11) and the new spread at either TJ Max or Steinmart for $40.

I also bought two indoor/outdoor throw rugs at TJMax for $12 each, but I pointed the camera the other way, so you can't see them here. They are a neutral tan with brown vines.

The most expensive part of the redo was a new sewing machine. I was too cheap to pay $25 for two shams to go with the new spread, plus I preferred using some vintage tablecloths and lace that I had to make some instead.

Half way through the project, I seriously jacked up my 6 year old, low end Singer and couldn't get it to sew anymore. I hate to admit that I am part of America's throw away society, but it would have cost more to repair than replace, so I zipped over to Walmart and got another $89 machine. Hopefully, I'll get another 5 or 6 years out of this one.

The table cloth I used on the top pillows was a little holey, so I patched it with lace, then added rows of sheer trim (a Bird Song Tag Book Swap hostess gift!!). The shams for the other set of pillows were made from curtains that I took down in the bathroom.

Yep, my redos had spilled over to the adjoining bath. Well, when I started moving mirrors around, it hit me that I'd never liked that curtain in there…. When we remodelled, I found it at the Goodwill for $5, it wasn't vintage, just second hand. And it was always too long, I kept thinking that I would hem it and never did, so I just took it down, turned it into pillow shams, and made something else to hang there, while I was on a roll.

My buddy, Lisa, had given me a gorgeous netting and lace bed set that was too nice to use on the bed in a house full of dogs. So, part of it is hung as curtains in the living room, the rest I cut up to make a curtain in here.

Since netting isn't private enough for a bathroom window, I sewed the fabric over some of the table cloth I'd cut up for pillows.

It isn't quite wide enough, so I hung a curtain panel on each side to cover that up. Everything is smoke and mirrors at my house, all made to look better than it really is…

But overall, I'm much happier with the "new" curtains I made. They go well with the Victorian Trading Co. outlet store shower curtains ($20, then dyed with tea, coffee, and Rit)

My husband is of course, just thrilled with more frills. (not really) But he rarely notices what I do to the house anyway, so its fine. He doesn't actually care.

I know I've told this story before, but it was years ago, so maybe its okay to tell it again? My Mother-in-Law was visiting, and my darling was showing her photos of our home in a magazine that had been lying on the table. He was very proud and telling her details about each room as he went through the pictures.

I was a little surprised to hear him so interested, but thrilled to hear him be proud of something I've done- like I said, I don't think he notices things around the house. So, I looked over their shoulders to see which magazine they were looking at.

It was NOT our house. He just thought it was since there were pink roses and chippy paint in the photos.

In this photo from earlier this year, you can kind of see the old curtains on the window. Just enough to see what I mean, about them being a bit too long. They hung down all the way to the rose trim around the tub, the new ones (next picture) are a better length.

(that rose tile is one of my favorite things about the room. While tile shopping, I saw it at a store in Topeka, but it was discontinued. They happened to have a few pieces left in the back room and sold it to me for 75% off. I had enough to put around the tub, plus one extra that I keep thinking I'll make a shelf out of.)

Here is the bedroom from a couple years ago. No, I didn't change much, but just enough to keep me from being sick of it. I'm easily pleased.

Here is another older photo.

Maybe it is more "edited" now. I was going for serene. To cut down on clutter, I also draped a small table topper over an extension rod in the built in cubby above the drawers. It was just a dust catcher, I had stuff sitting in there, not anything functional or really all that cool. Just a couple urns and a photo. I like it better covered up.

I like the whole room better now. I just hope that the bedding stays ivory. The first time it rains and the dogs jump up on it, might be the end of it. White might be smarter, it can at least be bleached to stay white… wish me luck.

Painting furniture with no sanding, some short cut tips

dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), how to's, how-to projects, paintings, Tutorials

By Karla Nathan / August 22, 2011

I've done a few other furniture painting tutorials (you can find them on my side bar, along with a lot of other how-tos), but those were mostly whites, creams, grays. Not everyone lives with "low color" like I do, a lot of people like some flash. I know my family does, they all think my neutrals are boring. So when I paint something for them, its usually bright and cheerful.

So, I thought I'd give you some tips for using deeper colors.

Our Hippy Chick was given this two piece set by her dad, it used to be his mom's. It looks okay as is, but dull for a fairy's bedroom, and this was meant to go in Sugarwing's room at her mommy's house.

Its been painted a number of times, looks to me, like the latest was a 1960s antiquing technique.

When I don't know who painted a piece or what they used on it, I always coat it with a BONDING primer, so my own paint will have good adhesion. If I painted it myself and know that it was latex with no poly top coat, I skip the primer and just paint it as is. But since so many things I paint are garage sale or flea market pieces, I have no idea who used what on it and I use primer in case.

Over the years, I've tried many of the brands of primers. Currently this is my favorite water clean up one.

There are gobs of primers out there, be sure that you are using a Bonding primer, that says it will stick to glossy surfaces, do NOT use dry wall primer, that is a completely different thing. Kilz will not work unless you also sand.

I NEVER ever sand or strip the piece before I paint it. Life is too short!

Now, if you are painting something really tough, like laminate or a high gloss laquer, maybe a quick sanding wouldn't hurt, just to give it some tooth. But for most furniture, a bonding primer will be just fine with no sanding at all, as long as the piece is clean.

For darker or deeper colors, use a gray undercoat to prime with. The white one is too glaring and will take more coats to cover it.

Speaking of coats, use good paint. Wall-mart paint is cheaper, but you use more because you are going to use more coats. More time, more work, more paint.

A quality paint saves you quite a bit. This Behr is my fave, it comes in many colors and usually only takes one coat.

For this, I let Sugarwings pick out the color herself. Its a Disney shade that is carried by Home Depot.

I chose Satin finish, that should hold up to little fingers and heavy use with no top coat. This is a good paint that will last.

After cleaning the furniture, decide if you want to change the hardware, if so, you might need to fill in the holes with putty, let dry, sand and then repeat. After the piece is painted, you drill new holes to match the new hardware.

If keeping the knobs, do you want contrast or do you want to paint over them? If this was going to be a cream colored piece, I'd have liked the contrast of the aged brass. But for a kid's room, I wanted the pulls to blend in. So I left them in place and just primed and painted right over them. (when I was all done, I dry brushed another shade over them so they would have a little more interest)

Pull out any drawers, and set them up on their backs to paint. It will save dripping.

Don't ever paint the sides, or the bottom of the drawers, or they will stick like crazy! I like to wax the sides of each drawer, for an easy opening and closing.

Also, I paint the interior of each drawer, just to make them feel clean and fresh.

If you are doing decorative work after the paint dries, acrylic craft paint works fine. I made simple stripes in multiple sizes with different sized brushes, and polka dots with a round sponge. Then painted some flowers on the bottom drawer, added vines to the doors, and accented the trim with various shades.

I am not a perfectionist. I like old furniture to look like old furniture. If its been painted a few times in its life, I like that to show. I don't sand it down before painting, or between coats. If you like the perfectly smooth look, you'll need to sand.

When painting around glass doors, make sure you scrape the glass off with a razor blade within a couple days of doing the job, or the primer will be hard to get off.

If you are painting a two piece set like this, let the paint "cure" for a few days before stacking them.

Any questions? Feel free to contact me.

Tools you'll need:

bonding primer
quality paint
opener
drop cloth – unless like me, you don't worry about your workspace floor! You can see mine has seen some painting over the years
a wet rag is nice to keep handy
paint brush
small sponge roller (for big, flat areas, this sure speeds things up)