Insta-Friday!

Happy Friday!  Lots going on here these days as we make out plans for the barn, redo our kitchen, and prepare for a visit from my brother and his fiancee this weekend (and we've invited over all of our local friends for a cookout... I was optimistic about the kitchen! ;) ).

I spent my day yesterday teaching my friend's mother how to paint furniture.  We worked for almost 5 hours and had fun chatting through it all.  At one point she asked me "Are you sure you're not my daughter?" because we have very similar personalities and views.  It's also so fun to see someone just starting to paint furniture- the excitement and energy are inspiring!  After she left, I got to work priming trim in the kitchen which is how I like to have a good time.  It was so fun that I even spent my evening getting a second coat of primer on the trim while Chris assembled our industrial shelving.  Today I plan to paint the walls and trim!  If anyone local is looking for a good time... call me. ;)  I'll hand you a brush.

Since I am busy working on the kitchen and don't have much furniture to share, I thought I would share some of my instagram photos from the week... (You can follow me at cassie8978)


A peek at a dining table I am working on...

Peonies are blooming!  My Double Peonies just bloomed, too!

I promise I didn't sit on your bed while you were outside working... promise.

New kitchen lights from West Elm!  And yes, I have vintage style bulbs for them, but I hadn't bought them when the electrician was here and we needed to make sure they worked.

Yesterday on my drive over to my friend's house for our morning run this family crossed in front of me.... they scurried so fast that by the time I was ready to snap a picture they were far away.  Don't worry, there was no one behind me and I stopped.  I didn't take it while driving!

Aaaaah..... I love my new kitchen sink pendant from Lamps Plus!  LOVE!  What I don't love is painting trim.... I've been working on those windows.

And last night we got our stove back in place!  Woot Woot!  No more chicken nuggets and pizza bagels for dinner! Eh, who am I kidding- we will still eat that!

That's all I have for you in new pictures, but I thought it would be fun to look back and see how far we've come so far in the kitchen....


Yep.  I am happy with the progress!  Now to go get it all painted, clean up as much as possible, put the kitchen in some sort of order for the time being, grocery shop for a cookout, buy beer and wine, tend to the gardens, all in time for my brother and his fiancee's arrival Sunday!  Game on! :)

Hope you all have a fabulous Memorial Day.... This weekend I will be thinking of those in OK, and the poor wife and child of the beheaded British soldier.  My heart goes out to all of them.

Kitchen Cabinet Jewels

Happy Thursday!  Thank you SO much for all of the kind and encouraging words with yesterday's announcement!  We are over the moon about our new adventure and look forward to sharing along the way.  If you missed it, click on over to read our exciting news!

Anyhow, in the midst of all of this excitement, our kitchen is still a work in progress.  I have painted the cabinets this week, but I will share that process later.  For now I wanted to show you the cabinet jewelry.... aka hardware.

I had planned on creating rope pulls for the cabinets, but I decided that with the navy it would be too "nautical" for me.  I love the nautical look, but it is not what I wanted to go for in the kitchen.   I thought some classic glass knobs and pulls would really catch the light and pop against the dark cabinets.  I ordered 4 classic glass pulls and 8 classic glass knobs from D.Lawless Hardware.  I know that's not much, but most of our cabinetry went out the door!  Sayonara!

I just love how they catch the light....

It's a challenge to get a head on shot and currently we are still rocking the mustard yellow formica countertops, so use your imagination....

So shiny and pretty!

I love this shot because it shows how well they catch the light coming in.... this room was a dungeon before that wall was gone, so I am thoroughly enjoying any way to show off the light! :)

Are you a fan of glass hardware?  I think I pretty much always am a fan.... it's a classic look.  Paired with the navy I like to call it sophisticated cottage, or just sophisticottage.  Webster's, I recommend you take note and make that a word.  If you are a fan I highly recommend D.Lawless Hardware for your glass knobs.... the prices are the best I have seen around, and their shipment is quick!  Thank you to D.Lawless for providing me with the hardware for my kitchen cabinets!

While we are talking about the kitchen, let me tell you just how much Jake is enjoying the nice cool tile floor.  A picture speaks a thousand words....

Life is full of blessings right now, and Jake and I are full and content.

BIG NEWS!!!! We've Adopted a Bouncing Baby Barn!!!!!

Happy Wednesday!  Lately I have alluded to some stress in my life.... well, with our kitchen turned upside down most of you have assumed it was the kitchen causing me stress.  Yesterday I told you I hoped to have some news to share soon... Well, you are in luck, because today is the day for news!

For the past year, Sarah and I have been vendors at the Stylish Patina Barn.  We have loved being vendors there and thoroughly enjoy the barn atmosphere, the once a month sale, and the amazing team of vendors.  The current business owner, Kelly of Stylish Patina, has recently opened a new shop in Falls Church, VA (where she lives), and is starting a vintage rentals business there.  Did I mention she also does consulting and design work?  Oh, and is renovating her house?  Yes, I would say that is a lot of balls in the air!  Though she managed them all beautifully, she decided that she needed to let one of them go.... and that would be the barn sale business!  A couple months back she approached Sarah and me about taking it on.  After much deliberating, working out logistics, drinking coffee, thinking, losing sleep, drinking wine..... we decided to go for it!  We have teamed up with two other amazing women, Terri and Celeste of Catfish Studios!

Together, we have created.....


(By the way, our amazing logo was designed by Gwen of This Bold Girl.  She also did my blog design and is fabulous to work with!  She nailed it! )

Sweet Clover, LLC is the name of our new venture!  Sarah has been busy creating a lovely website for us which you can find here, and we also have created a new facebook page, so come on over and like us! ;)

So what will become of the barn?  Well, we have lots of exciting ideas and plans!  We will continue to provide unique vintage furnishings for your home, but we also plan to bring in local artisans' handmade wares and more!  So if you are a local artisan and interested in selling your goods with us, email us at sweetclovervintage@gmail.com.

This past month has been a roller coaster for us, and we are thrilled to finally announce publicly, scream it from the rooftops, that we have adopted a bouncing baby barn!!!!!!  Everything will be final as of June 1, so the June barn sale will be in our hands.

We wish Kelly all the best in her new ventures, and are so thankful that she wanted to pass the barn on to us.  I am a big believer in everything happening as it should.... the past 2 years have proven that to me.  If you recall, it was exactly two years ago that I decided to put my house on the market so I could partner in a shop.  The shop fell through, but we moved anyhow.... we LOVE where we are.  And if I was in the shop, I'd never have had this opportunity I do now.... so you see it has all worked out as it should and I could not be happier!  And I am thrilled to be moving ahead with 3 amazing, creative, and wonderful women as well as a diverse and fabulous group of vendors.

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Somerset Gold Antiqued Dresser with Mirror

Happy Tuesday!  Guess what I did yesterday....   well, the guys finished priming early in the morning, so I saw a window of opportunity.  I had no plans for the day other than working on furniture projects and basking in the glorious day, but instead I busted my tail to get my kitchen cabinets painted!  I will share later this week, but here is a sneak peek.  (You can catch most sneak peeks on instagram: cassie8978).

They were still actually tacky here with poly, but I had to sneak a peek with the glass hardware I got from D.Lawless hardware.  As soon as I took the picture, I opened all the drawers and doors.  I also did remove all the doors to paint, but again.... post coming later on that.  I just wanted to share a glimpse.

Anyhow,  I have a fun dresser to share today.... I have had a hankering to paint something yellow lately, and this dresser seemed the perfect candidate.  I bought it from the soccer mom that was referred to me.  Here it is before (minus its mirror).  In this picture you can see I had already removed some hardware and filled holes.  (By the way, I used my favorite filler, Wunderfil from Rockler, seriously the best I have found).

I gave it a good sanding all over and then applied 3 coats of General Finishes Milk Paint in Somerset Gold from Rockler.  Once I applied 3 coats, I used my orbital sander and fine sandpaper and gave it a good distressing all over.  Finally, to give it an antiqued look I used General Finishes Glaze Effects in Van Dyke Brown.

This was my first time using this product and I loved it!  It was so easy to use.  I applied it with a brush and then wiped with a rag.  It dries very quickly, so I found I had to work fast.  I love the finish it gave this piece!

Here it is in its new rustic somerset gold finish!

I love how the glaze settled in the details and keyhole hardware and made them pop!

I don't know why I don't work with yellow more often.  I really love the warmth and energy.... guess I am and always will be team any-shade-of-blue though. :)

Happy Tuesday!  I am off to school today for a volunteer appreciation lunch.  Emmy is pretty excited to have something special for me today, and I am looking forward to having lunch at the school since many lunches these past weeks have been ordered out! ;)



Sharing here:
Jennifer Rizzo

Kitchen Update (Lighting Choices Revealed) and Weekend Fun!

WOW.  What a whirlwind of a weekend it was!  It all started for me Thursday evening, when Barb Blair of Knack arrived.  We met up at Brewer's Alley for a yummy dinner and great conversation.  Barb traveled with her husband Jon, and daughter, Brynn, and I loved them all!  We all headed back to my house after dinner, where are kids pounced and doted on Brynn who was so sweet and wonderful with them!  The adults all hung out and talked... I could have talked to them forever.  Barb and Jon are so amazing and down to earth, and loved our pups, too, which is always a sign to me of lifelong friends.  And much to my happiness, they are also American Idol fans, so we got to catch the end of the finale together. :)  Friday we all headed to the barn sale, where Barb was signing copies of her new book!  Of course, I got my copy signed!  Here are Barb and I at the barn- a fabulous instagram selfie!

Barb headed out with her family after the signing to go to NYC for another signing!  I love having famous author friends.  Seriously though, I do think that Barb is one of the most inspiring people I know- smart, creative, down to earth, and a heart the size of Texas.

After she headed out, I held down the fort at the barn.  Once the day was over, I headed home to relax. This past month has been full of stress, and it's all finally coming to a close, I believe.  Hopefully I will have some news to share soon, but for now, here I am trying to finally just kick up my feet and relax....

Saturday I headed back to the barn for a full day of work, and then off to a friends' house to hang out with a couple other families and relax by a fire pit.  Sunday morning I stayed in my PJ's til 11 am, which is something I never do... it felt like a treat; a real guilty pleasure!  Once I finally got moving, I met up with Sarah and my friend Terri for some vintage fun shopping at the Lucketts Spring Antique Market.  We made a couple laps around and on the second lap I spotted this piece from a vendor called Olde Tyme Marketplace (they also blog here), which I knew had to come home with me and live in my new kitchen.  The color is a beautiful minty color that the picture doesn't do justice....

I fell in love!  I immediately called Chris to ask what he thought and texted that picture to him.  I also sent him this photo to show him how happy this piece made me feel....

He liked it, too!  So it came home with me and will be in our new kitchen next to the refrigerator!  It's got nice deep drawers and will be great storage.  I just need to give it a coat of polycrylic to protect the finish and seal in the paint.

Speaking of the kitchen, how about a couple updates!  First of all, the tile is in and was grouted on Friday.  I could not be happier with how they look....

This week the contractor is wrapping up his work, and then I will get started on the cabinet painting, and more.  The electrician will also be hanging lights this week, so I thought I would share a couple of my choices from Lamps Plus with you.  Some of you guessed right when I shared some of my favorites with you.

For the dining room chandelier, I ordered the Lacey Round Black Chandelier....

I just love its industrial look!  And for the pendant above the sink, I chose the Warm Bronze Edison Industrial Mini Pendant.

I can't wait to see them hanging! The room is really coming along and I could not be happier!

Hope you all have a wonderful Monday!  I am off to run some kitchen errands. :)

Gilded Gray Vanity

Happy Thursday!  I am SOOOO excited today because Barb will be arriving later today!  I am headed out to downtown Frederick with Emmy and Barb's family.  After that I plan to force Barb and her family to watch the American Idol results with me. ;) And Friday we are all headed to the barn for Barb's book signing! YAY!  I am also excited today because our tile is going down on our kitchen floor.... SWEET!  Hopefully Monday I can share some pictures with you- I will not have a post tomorrow, just too much going on; I hope you understand!

Anyhow, before I sign off for the weekend I wanted to share one more makeover with you.  I recently purchased this vintage vanity from a local who contacted me because she heard what I did.  She was the same lady I bought the beachy milk paint dresser from, as well as 3 other dressers that will be coming soon!  Here is the sweet vanity I purchased in its before state...

I am always a fan of gray and gold and have used it on a couple of pieces before, and decided this was a perfect piece for that combo as well.  I painted it with Paris Gray chalk paint, lightly distressed it, waxed it, and then added French Gilding Wax in Empire Gold to make the details pop and add a little glam!  I gave it a buffing all over with a rag, and here is the result.

I love the subtle touch of gold!

Well, I am off to have a fun-filled busy weekend, hanging out with Barb, working at the barn, cooking out with friends, and then finally headed to Lucketts Sunday with Sarah!  Good times!  Hope you have an amazing weekend!