musty antique armoire?!

So I found this refinished gorgeous antique armoire recently while looking at the local online classifieds. It called to me right away - refinished in the perfect blue-green colour, in that shabby chic, rustic finish that I'm just in love with right now. It was love at first sight. So much so that I decided to ignore the slight but distinct... odour... emanating from it.

Beautiful! Where have you been all my life? A granary?

Gorgeous finish in real life - the camera didn't capture its true colour and finish.

I'm sure the lady who finished it must have found the piece in a farmer's granary somewhere! She did a beautiful job with the decorative finish on the outside and she did a coat of plain ol' white on much of the inside.  Usually, I'm more interested in starting from scratch, but this piece was so beautiful, I couldn't help myself! That, plus the paucity of good-condition antiques for me to finish myself, and I was sold!

BUT... The inside of the door, the top, the bottom and the back were all unfinished...  And after driving with it in the back of his SUV for almost an hour, my dear husband kindly said 'um, I think something smells and I think it's making my nose run.' Of course being as stubborn (and as in love with the piece) as I am, I downplayed it and suggested perhaps something else was the culprit (ha! Wishful thinking at its finest!). By the time we got it into the house, I had to admit the smell was starting to bother my sinus allergies.

I asked around and got some suggestions on how to deal with the stank.

1. Paint the unfinished wood.

Luckily I had a small can of Typhoon Lagoon kicking around from a free promo from

Glidden Paints from a couple years ago. It's not a perfect match (more blue than

blue-green) but it's harmonious enough that I hope it will look like it was planned to be that way!

2.  Fill it with bay leaves.

A tip from my mother, who has some experience in dealing with allergies and various stanks.

3. Seal it with lacquer.

Umm, I forget who came up with this.  Google search, perhaps?

4. Fill it with coffee grounds. 

Also from my mama. Though I think she said coffee beans, now that I think about it...

Despite the smell issues, I still love it (although now the armoire smells like sealant mixed with bay leaves and coffee and still a hint of mustiness!).  Here are some pictures (that you can't smell ha!) to show you why I still have hope that this beautiful piece will someday not make me want to dig at my sinuses with a fork.

What are some of your tips for getting that mustiness out of antique furniture? Do you think it's a hopeless case? Have I ruined it forever by trying all these zany methods?

This week I partied at:

terrarium-inspired planters

I'm digging the terrarium craze right now (ha! digging.....boo.  Bad pun.) and I've been thinking for a while now I'd like to create my own. I found some succulents on sale at the local grocery store a while back and they've just been sitting on my windowsill in their cruddy little plastic pots - waiting for just the right decorative pots.

I was browsing my local dollar store and saw these vases for $1.25 each. Cheapo! I thought I might be able to plant my succulents in these glass vases... I kept looking and found the rocks there too!

  Also cheap. $1.00 a bag.

I started by pouring in some rocks.   The plan was to then wrap the plant in newspaper, set it in, and fill in between the paper and the glass.

Pretty brilliant idea.  Except.  The plants were four inches and I think the opening to the vase was only about 5 inches.  This was a little problematic, as it didn't leave much room to place the rocks in and pull the paper out.

So I ended up dumping the rocks out, putting the plant in and using a butter knife to fit the rocks into the vase.  This worked okay, but I ended up seeing a  little more dirt than I had wanted....

Tada! The final products!

 

 

 

Some pretty vases for my window!



Ah, planting is dirty work!

Now this was my past endeavour with succulents... I hope my new ones fare a little better.  I think maybe there wasn't enough drainage (???).

Poor little guys. But the ones I planted in my garden survived!

Do you have any tips for helping my new additions survive (and thrive, if it's not too much to ask!)? Have you had any success with terrarium-inspired planting?

I partied at:

 

let me introduce myself!

Hi! My name is Kate (aka kathryn junebug). I've recently started perusing the world of the DIY and home decor blogs and I must admit, I've been incredibly inspired by some of the amazing bloggers out there. At the same time, I've often looked at projects and thought 'hey, I could do that!' (not so much the blogging, but the projects they proudly showcase). However, as a professional 'career woman' (ha!) I find that I'm not necessarily motivated to get my butt off the couch and get my creative juices flowing after working a full day. Sometimes it just seems easier to plop down on the sofa and flip channels than assemble all the required materials, clear the space and get down and dirty (in the crafty sense, people! This is a G-rated blog. Or at most PG-13 for suggestive themes, mild profanity and brief nudity. I kid, I kid).


I hope this blog will help me better plan my creative endeavours and document them along the way. Committing to posting at least once a week should help light a fire under my buns! I look forward to sharing my process and progress every week and hopefully through all the good, bad and ugly you'll find something that makes you go hmmmmmmmm...I could do that!


 As I write this I have C & C Music Factory running through my mind - and if you don't already know the song, here it is! Things That Make You Go Hmmmm  Enjoy having it play randomly in your mind over the next several hours days!