Thrifty Thursday ~ French Settee(new edit)

Woo hoo! I finally made it back to Bloggeritaville! What a long trip it's been. Is it 5:00 yet? I could sure use a cold one...java chip frappicino that its! Don't forget the raspberry syrup either, gotta have that extra kick when you're only getting 4 hours of sleep a night. Sleep blogging, ya know? My how the time flies when you're having fun. When you're finished here pack your bags and head to Bloggeritaville to join Leigh for Thrifty Thursday.

A while back I was dropping off some items at goodwill. I had a van full of old clothes so I went to the alley drop off behind the store. While the man was unloading all my stuff I spotted this beauty sitting off to the side. I nonchalantly walked over and gave it a good wiggle to see if it was sturdy. So far so good. It was extremely grungy, and I mean grUngy! I could see the potential though. I had been wistfully tearing out magazine page after page of beautiful french settees for years. I had just never found one I could afford. I asked the man if it would be going into the store soon. He wasn't sure. I couldn't help myself, so I asked if he had any idea how much they would ask for it. He eyed me suspiciously. I'm sure he could tell by the gleam in my eyes that I was an insane "junquie". "You WANT this?" he asked. "Well, yeah," I said sheepishly, realizing how crazy-desperate I must look. "Take it", he said, "You can just have it." I didn't even wait to have him help me load it. I hollered my thanks as I grabbed it and threw it in the van. I wanted out of there before he changed his mind or his boss walked out and saw me loading instead of unloading!

So here she is! I hadn't started blogging yet but took photos of the deconstruction so I would know how to put her back together. She isn't fancy and ornate but a little love and the right fabric will give her just the right amount of French Country charm for the porch.

It was so bad even Sunny wouldn't sniff it.

If you read my post about my shabby rocker you probably know what happened next. That's right, Hubby wants in on this project. Since I slammed the door on his ideas for the rocker I decided to make peace and let him refinish and stain the settee. Personally I thought it would look great with a nice coat of RED paint. I can't let go too much though. I will definitely be in charge of the upholstery. Now about that drink, whip or no whip?

Dawn

Hey everyone, just wanted to edit this real quick to say thanks to everyone who commented on this post. I had some unexpected stuff come up and haven't had a chance to make the rounds to visit everyone yet. I will be by in a few days though! Have a great weekend!

Dawn

Friday, 8/7/09 7:07 pm Pacifc time

Three or More Tuesday ~ French Country Chandy Shades

It's Tuesday so it must be time to share Three or More special items with Tam at The Gypsy's Corner. Please stop by and see who's sharing this week.

When we moved to this home the dinning room was lit by two long fluorescent tubes. I don't even think they had the box around them anymore. One day hubby came home and said he had found a light for the dinning room. My first question was, "Where?" He said a friend bought a house and didn't like the light. My second question was, "Why?" He said the house was a 60's, modern type house and the light didn't fit in, it was old fashioned and ... shiny brass. I was growing more and more skeptical each time he opened his mouth. I didn't even have to ask the last question because he blurted out, "Come on, it's FREE! Let me bring it home and if you don't like it I'll get rid of it." You're probably wondering why I wasn't jumping for joy. I mean, anything would be better that those two buzzing tubes glaring down over our only place to eat, right?



The problem was I didn't trust my husband's taste in decorating. I didn't want to go through the hassle if it wasn't something I absolutely loved. I could live with the tubes until I found the perfect frenchy chandelier. Besides I knew if I he brought it home and it didn't work out it would still be sitting in the garage for years to come. We don't get rid of things that easily. There is always some excuse for keeping things around. It's in our blood.


He continued pleading and promised I would love it. "OK, OK, fine," I told him, "Bring it home". Boy was I shocked when I saw the old fashioned, shiny brass, free light. It was a chandelier!

And not just any chandelier,

it was a scrolly, leafy,

frenchy chandelier

with not 3 lights,

not even 8 lights,




but 12 lights!

It has 8 arms, 4 with single lights and 4 with two lights. I instantly fell in love with it. I've pretty much given hubby carte blanche to bring home any thing he finds now. I bought white shades to recover and set out to find the perfect fabric. It actually took a couple of years! Then I stumbled upon this little cotton print. The colors were perfect and it had both a French and English feel with the paisley and roses. It also reminds me a bit of a bandana print so it gives that American farmhouse feel too.

I set about covering the shades and adding a scalloped sort of fringe to the bottom. Of the twelve I only messed up on one and absent mindedly put the fringe on the top of the shade! I've got one thing left to do and that's dust those beautiful shiny brass arms first thing in the morning. I certainly hadn't planned on sharing those "3 or more" dust bunnies I spotted. Dust bunnies under the couch are one thing. Swinging from my chandelier? I don't think so!

Dawn

Rooster on a Stick

I found this rooster at Raley's supermarket of all places. Yes, I'll admit to being an impulse shopper. I have to be because I always forget my list!

This base has sat on this corner of the porch for as long as my hubby can remember. His grandpa was an architectural scavenger long before "dumpster diving" became cool. And look, it has real patina! We have some other great pieces I'll show on a later post. What? Oh, the stick.

Here it is. The cats and wind kept knocking my new friend off his perch. I got lucky and found that the new rooster had a hole in the bottom. The base had one as well and often held small American Flags. I purchased a small dowel that fits into both holes.

Now he proudly welcomes all my visitors in true Charles Faudree style. Mr. Faudree's book "French Country Signature" is one of my favorites. His country cabin,"The Roost" is one of the places featured. I adore the iron dog drinking fountain, in this same red color, that welcomes his visitors... and their yellow labs.;)

Mr. Faudree says, " It is important to decorate a front porch, a porte chochere, or even a back entry to set the tone for the rest of the home." I know my blogging friends already know all that. I just like the way he talks about decorating!

My husband almost died yesterday when he caught me taking a picture of our front porch. I'm afraid it's been a bit neglected lately. There are grape vines and rose bushes creeping through the railing, over the rocking chair and within a foot or two of the front door. I told him he better get busy with the yard work because I need some "after" photos...

Dawn