Black & White

Last night, as Marc and I were settling in for the night, we started chatting about life in general. Well, to be fair, I was talking about life. Marc was watching the NHL playoffs. As hockey commentary streamed in the background, he paused and asked me, "What's up with all the big questions?"

I have been asking a lot of big questions as of late. During my delivery trips in The Marshmallow, the radio has been turned off so I can think and reflect. I realized that most of my 20's were spent discovering my calling. What was I put here to do? What should I be doing with my life? Where do I belong?

The answer to those questions started in the classroom but changed over time and now my "office" is among antique dressers and wobbly tables needing love and an overdue makeover.

My 30's feel like they are going to be an incredibly focused span of years. Things are pretty black and white in my 30's world. Clear-cut. Straightforward. It's easier to say "no" to things that don't fit my focus. I have finally zoned in on the few pursuits that I'm passionate about and utterly sold out for. I'm ready to chase them wholeheartedly as long as I'm able.

Maybe that's why I painted this piece the way I did.

Pretty much black and white, right? Well, technically it's a mixture of Curio and Typewriter on the top and Linen on the bottom, but you get the idea, right?

This piece would lend itself well to storage underneath a window, or a TV stand with storage for DVD's and games too.

It started out like this:

I bought this piece in Brenda Shirk's studio/shop Painted Table Designs in Elverson, PA. Brenda is a super talented stager and interior designer who has a keen eye for diamonds in the rough, like this one!

The original paint was pretty glossy and had drip marks. The veneer was chipping away in spots and the piece needed an overall spruce. I started off by scuffing the entire surface with 80 grit sandpaper.

The top was pretty but it had an unfortunate water ring in one corner.

I stripped it and painted it with my favorite 50/50 mix of Curio and Typewriter.

I decided to paint the body in Linen, which is the creamier of the whites in Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint Line. It has more of a yellow base, but it's not as warm as Marzipan. You can see how it compares here:

Linen was created to mimic the color of antique linen fabric - soft and neutral with subtle yellow undertones.

Beautiful, right?

When it came time to stage, I was happy to display one of my new horseshoe wreaths.

I bought a big box of old horseshoes from Morgantown Market and commissioned a local blacksmith to weld them together in various patterns to make three different styles of wreaths. This particular arrangement was spray painted in an oil-rubbed bronze color, which catches the light just right. Here's what it looked like before:

What's cool about these horseshoes is that they're authentic. They still had grass wedged in the grooves and I had to spend some time at the sink with my German scrub brush to get them all clean.

Here are the other patterns:

Aren't they adorable? I plan on sprucing them up with some Milk Paint and maybe a bit of burlap. They would make the perfect addition to any farmhouse-style decor!

The Marshmallow and I delivered the Linen cabinet to Morgantown Market this morning, and it's available to purchase. I've also added lots of cotton wreaths, cotton sprays, and a few other goodies so stop by and check out what's new!