Vignettes - Exercising the Eye

Hi there!

I'm turning my attention to vignettes today, something I'm not very skilled at!  It is, however, something that helps to make a house a home.  It's attractive placement of the items we collected over the years.  It's the things we didn't throw away because we love them and they give us a memory and a good feeling.  If a person works on appealing to the senses in their home, it makes living there so much nicer!  To make our home more appealing, we must work on the smells, sounds and sights within.  So let's exercise our "vignette muscles" today with the first sight we see when we walk in the door; the entryway table.

I live in a small house, but maybe in terms of a New York City apartment, it is maybe....medium.  It is certainly half the size of the home we left in the country.  But, without children afoot, it's just about right for us at this time.

Side note:  A city lot is much much smaller than 20 acres!!!  

Anyway, back to vignettes!  Here's my entryway table.  It can be expanded by raising the sides, but it only gets done when the Grandchildren what something to play with!  

Today, I worked with some items I had around the house.  Two new books that have good neutral white covers.  Books are a great way to add height to a vignette.  I added this picture, which is actually a framed tile from Catalina Island.  My husband and I picked it up on our honeymoon in 2004, so...yes, I get a good feeling seeing this little work of art.  

The little bird was something I picked up from Hobby Lobby years ago.  I fell in love with the perfect imperfections and appreciate the warm yellow color.  Finally, the green glass piece is something I purchase with a box of glass items at an auction last year.  I purchase the boxes to resell on the online auction in my home town, but occasionally, I find things I want to keep or use to compliment the items I already have. 

Well, I hope I continue to exercise my "vignette muscles!"  It's fun and maybe with some pushing, I'll upgrade my entire house with the items I already have!  So, it doesn't really cost much to improve our surroundings!

Share your favorite vignettes below or give me some advice for this one.  I can use the help!  Until next time!

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Trunk Turned Coffee Table with Storage

Check out this fun project I've been working on all week!  It's a coffee table on wheels with some neat storage for all those items that can clutter a room!  I had so much fun painting, assembling and lining this piece!   

I started with an old trunk Mr. Amazing found at an auction here in our home town.  To be honest, I didn't know what in the world I was going to do with it!  It had a bold blue vinyl covering with some bruised and battered gold trim.  Keeping with the funky style the inside was made up of ugly brown particle board!

I started by cleaning the entire trunk and then giving the whole thing a good priming with an all-purpose white primer.

Then it took a day, some "manly tools" and a little assistance to attach the wheels and make the upper tray.  

Once the main additions were in place, I moved forward with some paint.  I added some white for another good undercoating then used an aged painting technique in a duck-egg blue.

My favorite part (and my first try at something like this) was lining the inside of the lid!

I still can't believe how easy it was to line the fabric up to the inside lip.  I had planned on using a thin piece of cardboard to pull the fabric around for a straight edge, but because I used a good cotton fabric, it wasn't necessary.

Next, I added some stenciling and then finished it off with a good black wax to continue the aging process.  The waxing was so easy, I let my Grandson have a go at it too!

Since I don't refinish much furniture, this project was a joy to work on!  I'm so pleased with the finished product. 

QUICK FIVE: PALLET WOOD SIGNS

For a more sophisticated home, signs may not be the right décor, but for all the rest of us, they are just as adorable as ever.  Check out these cute signs that are perfect for Valentines Day decorations!

1.  Renae Schmidt from Kansas crafted this sign and offers it in her Etsy store, My Craft Shed.

2.  Carrie Owens with Southern Cute Designs has this sign for sale on Etsy as well.  She makes her creations in North Carolina.

3.  Artist is unknown for this "together" sign, but Dawn Johnson pinned it on Pinterest.

4.  Shannon Putman posted this sign on Pinterest.

5.  This sign came from The Coop Design Co. on Etsy by Brianna Holley.

So that's it for Today's "Quick Five!"  I love the fact that an old piece of wood that was otherwise destined for the trash can become something so special for our homes.