maandag 27 januari 2014

Adding charm with restyled vintage items

I love to give vintage pieces a second life. Since the moment I followed a painting class for painting furniture, I wanted to try it out. My first piece was a French style dresser in oak, with beautiful details, that I painted, and with the help of coloured wax and some distressing with sand paper, gave me the look I wanted. It now has a place on the 'mezzanine' of 'maison d'amis', where it fits wonderwell. It goes well together with the lime painted ceiling.



Next project was a dinner table and 6 chairs, all solid oak, but a bit dated and too dark. So I painted them a light colour and this is how it turned out.

Did you notice the yellow light fixture above the table? That has been replaced in the meantime, by a bigger one. The new one used to be a copper light fixture. I painted it and added some custom made red lamp shades. Now it is definitely more an eye catcher than the previous light fixture in this dining area of maison d'amis.


Maison d'Isabel also got some upcycled items. My parents used to have a French style vanity in their bedroom. Since they have replaced it, it was on the attic, waiting for someone to give it back its glory. I painted it with the same technique I used for the French dresser, and now it has found a new home in the master bedroom of maison d'Isabel.




My latest project started from a light fixture that once belonged to my parents. Still in good shape, also electrically. Again, with some paint, some wax, steel wool and sand paper, and, as a finishing touch, some new lamp shades, this is how it turned out.


Take care! I'll keep you posted!

donderdag 9 januari 2014

Bathrooms

I promised you a post on bathrooms. A lot of energy has gone into the La Moulinal bathrooms last year. Managing a project like this, from a distance, is not easy and needs a lot of following up and ... a lot of patience... but I am proud of the results and am very glad to be able to share this with you!


The most challenging of the project was the addition of a shower in the upstairs bathroom of 'maison d'Isabel'. The bathroom has a sloped ceiling, so not easy to fit in a shower. I also wanted to use glass on 3 sides of the shower to keep the feeling of space in the bathroom. More difficult than I thought. After a lot of research, Rothalux offered exactly what I was looking for, and the quality of the doors is excellent! We managed to fit in a spacious shower, with rainshower and thermostatic faucet (Hansgrohe).
I think you will like it. And I can testify: it is so comfy!






New showerdoors were installed in 2 other bathrooms of La Moulinal. All showers also got thermostatic faucets.