Introductions: Two cream bed side tables, Marilla and Girvinia
I just finished these two bed side tables for some very sweet and special clients of mine. These clients have a beautiful French/Louisiana style home being built here in Greenville and I am doing multiple pieces for this new home! There will be more introductions to come......yipee!We went with a cream tone on tone look for these two pieces, and I think their subtlety and beauty is perfection! I am not usually a fan of whites and creams.....but I am slowly but surely being won over to the "light side". {I believe in it every now and again....I promise, I do!} I definitely love this warm cream color and much prefer it over a "pure white situation". I absolutely think there is a place for soft neutrals in the home, and the bedding and linens picked to go in this room alongside these pieces, is absolutely stunning. I have never touched anything like it before, and the linens are loomed very near by in Asheville, NC.I love working with others who believe in special details, and who make conscious and intentional choices about what they choose to surround themselves with. It is why I do what I do.I hope you love Marilla and Girvinia.xo,Barb
Introductions: Another navy desk with beetle knobs
Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas season and had plenty of time to love on and share good times with family and friends! I enjoyed every minute of my two week break and did lots of hanging out with family, dessert and game nights with friends, lounging all day in my pajamas one day, shopping with my daughter, cooking {I am way into fresh garlic, cilantro, lime and sauteed broccoli, carrots and onions at the moment} and LOTS of reading!I am slowly getting back to work, and am really really excited about this new year! My book is coming out a bit earlier than planned! It looks like it will be a whole month earlier.....like, first week of April.....and I am so excited! WOO HOO!! I will be keeping you all posted on upcoming book plans and parties as the time draws near over these next couple of months! There is so much fun stuff happening, and I look forward to meeting up with some of you, and sharing this journey with you all!Now it is time for the first furniture makeover for this new year! Do you all remember this desk that I did with the beetle knobs? Well, one of my sweet clients fell in love with my design and wanted me to recreate it on a desk that she owned. The beetle knobs that I purchased were no longer available, so my client found some she liked at Anthropologie and we got started on her piece! I think it turned out wonderful and am super happy with it! Love the beetles!Fabulous wall calendar made by my sister Sarah, and it is available in her etsy shop, Cranny.xo,Barb Blair
Introductions: A hutch named " Antonia "
This lovely hutch is one that my dad scouted out and purchased for me a while back......and she has sat very patiently while I worked on "more exciting" pieces. This past week though....it was finally her turn....and I mixed up some custom milk paint and went to town.I removed the glass doors, as I felt like they totally dated the piece, and because I wanted to open it up and make it a bit more modern. I sculpted and covered the hinge areas with wood filler max {I may have even totally bragged to my dad a bit about how awesome my sculpting job turned out!}. Wood filler max is a bit more solid and has an actual grit to it, so it works much better than regular wood filler when you have a larger area to work with.....and when you need a little "grit" for blending reasons. This is not the wood filler you would want to use for filling hardware holes.....it is too rough and will show in your final finish.I wanted this piece to have a heavy "washed" look, and that is why I chose the milk paint...but also why I finished it the way I did. I love how it turned out, and once again am never disappointed with a milk paint finish. It delivers every time.Some of you have asked me about using a bonding agent with milk paint, and whether I personally use one....and I can honestly say that in all the years I have been painting with milk paint I have never once used a bonding agent. It is totally unnecessary in my personal opinion and cancels out the whole reason I use milk paint in the first place. I also never use anything but a sanding block when distressing milk paint, and find that using chisels and putty knives is not necessary. Milk paint distresses where it wants, leaving a more natural look than if I were to go in and start trying to force it.This is of course....my professional opinion.....but I have worked with these paints for years and have experienced consistent and proven results along with beautiful and sought after finishes that stand behind those opinions.If miss Antonia has stolen your heart.....she is available in the Knack Etsy shop and can be shipped nationwide.......right to your very own doorstep!xo,Barb
Introductions: A gray cabinet named "Bellanca"
This little miss, tested my patience more than any piece in the history of Knack. I am not even kidding you. I purchased it from one of my antique buddies based on a photograph {and a lot of trust!}....and don't get me wrong.... it is a great piece.... but it had hidden demons.
I knew the piece would have to be stripped down due to the lovely "smear job" that it wore in its current state.....and stripping with Citristrip is usually a piece of cake....but not today folks!I stripped this piece 4 times. Yes.....4. I learned much through this stripping job that I will take away with me. First of all, the top layer came off like frosting on a cake {normal} but then that bottom white layer was not to be messed with. I soon realized that I had to work with the stripper while it was really wet, because once it dried {even a little bit} it became one with the paint and hardened like glass. I was stumped because I have never come across this before.....but I then figured out I was dealing with a factory finish that was like resin. It was the only answer that I could come up with...and it fits the era of the piece. This finish was baked on baby!
Anyway....I did not give up......I persevered......not to say that I didn't moan and complain as I purchased multiple bottles of Citristrip, after wash, ruined brushes, and stepped in goo for about three days! I literally felt like a new woman when I rolled up all that mess and began painting! Whew! In the end the most beautiful blonde wood was revealed, and a painting surface that was as smooth as I'll get out. Painting this piece was a breeze...as the paint just slipped right on.And.......this is what she looks like now. Worth it for sure. In fact, she has already been scooped up and carted off to her new home before I could get her in the etsy shop.
My job is done for today.xo,Barb
Introductions: A white chest of drawers named "Gwyn"
This little beauty is a piece that I recently finished for clients getting ready to welcome their first little bundle of goodness into this world! The piece belonged to one of the grandmothers, but had been sitting in a storage shed for a while.When I first got the email with the photographs, I had been told that it had been painted an olive green color. As you can see in the first photograph {before stripping} it actually looks like wood grain. I was a bit perplexed and so I questioned my client about it and she insisted that it was painted. Well, when the piece arrived at the studio it all made sense. The piece had been painted..... in a greenish wood grain pattern...and I have to say.....it was well done. I would have been fooled.Since the client did not want any of the original olive "ish" color coming through the white when distressed, I stripped the piece to remove the painted finish. I was really surprised {again!} by the wood pattern that lay underneath all of the paint! Granted....it is a wood veneer {you can see the four panels of veneer if you look really close }, and not a solid slab of wood but still....it was pretty. I did consult with my client to see if they would like for me to leave the top raw wood and just paint the base, but they wanted to go ahead and paint the entire piece...so I obliged.....happily.We left the original handles on this piece in order to keep a little piece of grandmom attached to the piece.....and I think they fit the look nicely. It is rare for me to champion keeping original hardware on a piece....but in this case, the decision to keep them is a good one. It warms my heart to see people make intentional and meaningful decisions.I am happy......clients are happy.That's what I'm talking about.xo,Barb
Introductions: Another collaboration, a side table named "Cumulonia"
Well, last week I showed you all the first piece in a new series of collaborative work that I have embarked on with local artists......and today I am showing you the second!I worked with Annie Koelle on this piece, and when we got together for the first time to talk about the direction of our work together...... all I could think of were the beautiful landscapes that Annie is so well known for. Annie is an absolute gem, and I could not think of a more genuine, completely wonderful person to work alongside. I am being super intentional about who I choose to work with on these collaborations and am thrilled and honored that the likes of Annie Koelle would attach her work to mine.Again, once we nailed the basic concept I did not give any direction on placement, color etc. I totally leave all of that up to the artist......and so far I have been absolutely blown away by the amazing pieces these talented creatives come up with!My part of this piece was a bit of a challenge for me. The back of the piece had all kinds of holes drilled in it, almost like it had been used to house a small animal.....{I swear, this caused much discussion in the studio}.....and then the entire inside was covered in this lovely "cane/ wicker" contact paper. I removed the "holey" back and cut a new back. I started the removal process for the paper and ........it. was. on. there. for. good! I scored it and used a wallpaper removal product to no avail.....so I decided to just lather on some citristrip and walk away. I should have done the citristrip from the very beginning! It worked like a champ. Once the paper was removed, all the gouges filled, the wood sanded smooth and the new back in place it was time to get the base coat on and then take it to Annie.When Annie brought this piece back to me, I just could not believe how much I loved it. My mouth fell open.....I was totally stoked that the entire front and sides were covered in her soft billowy strokes....and I secretly wish that this piece could come live with me. I mean it when I say that this piece speaks to me....{ in soft hushed tones!}"Cumulonia" can be purchased at Knack {11 Lois Ave. Greenville, SC} or in the Knack etsy shop.xo,Barb
Introductions: Collaboration = Awesome desk named "Cirelai"
This is one of those posts that I have been dying to write for weeks! I am so glad to finally be putting into words what has been going on in my mind and behind the scenes at Knack for the past several weeks.I believe in strong collaborations and have been wanting to collaborate with other artists for some time now....but I just did not know who/ what/ how needed to transpire in order to make all of that happen. Well, it hit me about 3 months ago. I knew exactly what I wanted to do, and who I wanted to talk to. Once it all came together in my mind, the ideas flowed like milk and honey! {enter angelic music here} Thankfully, when I approached the special people of my choosing ...they were just as excited about my crazy ideas and immediately came on board!I chose the first artist {yes, there are more to come! yay!} because I absolutely love his work....but even more importantly I love who he is as a human being. I get to interact with both Eric Benjamin and his awesome wife Bekki on a regular basis, and I am really proud to connect myself with these two wonderful people.It was really important to me that I not dictate what any of the artists that I collaborate with, create on my pieces..... so with just a few basic thoughts about direction we were off and running!This desk is a collaboration between Eric Benjamin and I, and here is the run down of how it all came to pass:> I painted the base color, which I decided to do navy because I like navy. {This mind you is a decision that I did not run by Eric because we wanted it to be really organic as far as how the design played out}> I took it to Eric's studio and dropped it off....with no instructions except "Do your thing, and bring it back to me for the finish".......and boy did he ever "do his thing!" WOWSA!> Once the desk came back to me, {and I picked my jaw up off the floor! So gorgeous with its forest of trees!} I sanded, stained, and put my finishing touches on the desk.I can't say enough about how stoked I am with the design and finish of this piece, and I am thrilled with this venture into the collaboration world. So thrilled....that we did another piece together, which I will show you as soon as it is photographed......and then I teamed up with another artist who I will introduce you to next week! This is not the end of the collaborations.....there are two more artists in the works.....and the designs are going to be so wonderful I can hardly stand it.All of these pieces are available for sale in the Knack showroom located at 11 Lois Ave. ,Greenville, SC 29611 and in the Knack Etsy shop!Hang on tight folks.......things are gettin' good around here!xo,Barb
Introductions: A chest of drawers named "Enfys"
This little maple chest was cute...but not very exciting.........at all. I have been so busy with custom work lately that I have not had the opportunity to paint my own pieces....and so it was a real treat for me to be able to finally execute this design plan that has been in my head. I love triangles ....and I am totally digging these bright colors together. It is one of my very favorite new color combinations! {you will see more of this combo very soon in the Knack Christmas ornaments that are in production at this very moment!}I named this lovely piece "Enfys" which is Welsh for rainbow......and this piece reminds me of a rainbow with big white fluffy clouds. It's how my mind works folks :}Hope you all have a great Monday!xo,Barb