refinishing furniture

How to Take Furniture from Trash to Treasure

furniture refinishing
Refinished Oak Hatbox Dresser

Refinishing furniture is an art I taught myself for my first purchased piece of furniture. I was fresh out of college, poor as anything you have ever seen and there was no Internet to help. I recognized an antique with good bones as we were browsing through a second-hand shop. Unfortunately, it was covered in black paint and red nail polish! Fortunately, I talked the shop owner down from $50 to $35, which was all the money I had. And now, my handmade and hand-carved hatbox dresser is worth (at least) $900. Woohoo!!

You can do this – Refinish trash or a treasure

Furniture refinishing – scary, messy, difficult, takes too long, don’t know what I am doing, I don’t want to mess up. Whew, that’s a lot of issues! You should not start with your family’s most cherished antique – that can be project #2.

Are you worried about the outcome? Begin with something small and not very valuable. Since our class is Fall 2022, you have time to hunt down something inexpensive and in need of a renovation. And next, follow directions – mine and the manufacturers of the chemicals. I can (and will) keep you out of trouble, but you always need to follow directions.

How we can Help

We can teach you the ins and outs and coach you through to a successful project. Whether you have a piece you picked up secondhand or something that has been in your family for a while, we can help. I consider refinishing a piece of furniture to be a great rescue story. So, in effect, I am helping to save something from a life of being ugly and unappreciated!

Supplies

We need a lot of supplies, but not to worry. You may already have most of what you need and tools are always reusable. https://www.bobvila.com/slideshow/beyond-the-brush-7-other-tools-you-need-to-refinish-furniture-50172 We are sure you will want to work on another piece as soon as you finish your class project.

You don’t need to be afraid. My first project, my cherished an old hatbox dresser is still with me. I am grateful I could give it a new home.

The Process

  • Cleaning – always clean your project piece with gentle soap and water – it may not need refinishing
  • Decide on whether to paint, renew or refinish
  • Choose your product – your chemical of choice
  • Get to work per product instructions and recommended safety precautions
  • Choose your final finish – many choices here from wax to varnish to poly – depending on the abuse it will get
  • Smile! You just finished your first piece of furniture!

Your next step

This class will only be offered once this fall. Our space is limited. Come make new friends and give a poor piece of furniture new life.

Home and Garden Workshops & Classes Contact for more info.

design a room

How to Design your BEST Room Ever!

design your room
If you are at this point and don’t know where to go, you might need this class.

Designing your room doesn’t have to be hard. You can do this, with a little help. My class will let you skip the decorator and go straight to a beautiful space you will enjoy.

Design Mysteries

There are some secrets, but not as many as you might think. This is an accelerated interior design/decorating class that will help you go from empty (or nearly empty) to finished in a few weeks.

The Workshop

This workshop consists of you doing all of the work I would normally do for you, if you hired me. Design your Room is exactly as it sounds – with a few pointers, tips and secrets, you will do the legwork and I will help you move in the right direction. There is a roadmap of sorts that should be followed. That roadmap keeps you moving ahead, not backwards to re-do something you have already done.

The Process for Design your Room

Whether we begin with a room partially furnished or empty, we work the same way. There is a checklist to go through and a way to go through it. In Design your Room, we use the same strategies as the designers.

For Instance

You never choose a paint color first – you might have one in mind, but you should never paint the room first. That almost always sets you up for heartbreak and frustration. Now, I know what you are thinking: ‘but Marcia, I saw on XYZ Show that So&So (some very famous decorator) always picks paint first’. Believe me, he/she didn’t just show up in a room with a paint color. The staff has already chosen all the little bits and pieces that will be used in the space. He/She might say they chose the paint color first. And you believe them. But they aren’t out there to help you. They are out there to make more money. I won’t lie to you, while I cannot say the same thing about them.

You can have an idea for a paint family, but don’t start with painting the walls.

Design your Room Workshop

So, please come join us for a very informative and fun workshop, while you create a marvelous space for yourself by yourself! Home and Garden Workshops & Classes or Contact me for more information.

create a blooming garden

Love Flowers? Create a Garden with Blooms All Year!

How do you create a blooming garden? In our upcoming workshop, we will help you do just that.

What is a blooming garden?

Create a blooming garden

If you have had my Blooms class (and you will need it for this new workshop), you already have a good knowledge of all the plants that bloom in our area. Now the question becomes: how do I create a blooming garden? How do I put it all together? How does it all work together and not end up looking like a jumbled mess? Can we really combine all those textures, colors, sizes, plants types and coordinate bloom times and colors and make it look good? And, can we have something blooming in each season or, even better, each month? The answer is yes, but it takes some work. Are you up to it? Let me teach you the particulars while you work on a section of your landscape. Then you can move on to larger garden sections.

The Process

  • Choose a specific area to re-design
  • Take measurements and ‘before’ photos
  • Make note of existing plants and what can be relocated
  • Take a site assessment – if you haven’t done this in the past, you aren’t gardening
  • Research for plants that match your site requirements
  • Plan your combinations based on your research
  • Install and enjoy your new plants

The ‘Fun’ Part

To create a blooming garden is similar to a work of art. Think about creating a four-season container with several plants. You have limited space, the container won’t be moved so you have a precise set of growing conditions/circumstances. But you do want it to look great all year. If you choose the correct size container, you may only have room for 6-7 plants that cannot fight, must stand out on their own and look good with minimal maintenance.

To have a garden designed so that it looks great 99% of the time means you have created something you can enjoy all year. And isn’t that a great goal? Take our class and you will create a blooming garden Home and Garden Workshops & Classes or Contact us for more information.

Read more: Love Flowers? Create a Garden with Blooms All Year!

Create the Best Plan for your Home Landscape

design your landscape

Want to know the components to a great landscape? Want to do it yourself, rather than pay lots of money for the design? You can learn to design your own landscape and create a working plan. From that plan, you can do a full install or take your time over several seasons. And you will save $1000s.

Understanding Your Landscape

You live in your home but do you understand what is happening outside your home – in your yard: how it is growing, what will work and what will not, what you need from it and how it looks to others, the soil structure and what difference that makes to a plant’s survival, the yard’s exposure to wind and traffic and noise? This workshop will help you put your ducks in a row and produce a custom landscape!

The Design Process

These are the steps we take when we design your landscape:

  • Investigation
  • Site assessment
  • Survey or plat
  • Taking measurements
  • Observation
  • Defining needs and wants
  • Accessibility
  • Determine hardscape changes/upgrades
  • Research plant material – what you might like and what is available
  • Set budgets – both time and money
  • Determine if you or someone else will install
  • Plan for beds versus lawn space
  • Place plants with consideration of size, color, deciduous/evergreen, fragrance, bloom time
  • Determine mulch and possible irrigation
  • Finished plans
Simple Landscape Full Plan

Does seem like a lot of work! And it is! But I can teach you how to create your own landscape plan that you or someone you hire can install. You will be proud, you will have exactly what you want and you will understand the world outside your home.

Why should we plan our landscape?

Do you want your yard to look like a cookie-cutter, development landscape? Do you want it to look one-dimensional, with the same plants across the front?

Or do you want it to look like you planned each plant addition. You coordinated the combination of plants for bloom and flower and have leaf color and different textures, shapes and sizes? Your plants will thrive because you took the time to determine your site requirements and whether or not the plant will work.

A planned landscape adds more value to your home, estimated to be about 10-20% of tax value. https://www.parealtors.org/does-landscaping-increase-property-value/#:~:text=Landscaping%20not%20only%20increases%20curb,type%2C%20and%20design%20in%20landscaping.

What’s Next?

Take our course on landscape design. This class will be part discussion and part work on your part. You will be supplying all the above info regarding your landscape, you will do your research and I will help you put it all together. Sound like a great plan? Of course it is. I have been designing landscapes of all types and sizes for over 40 years and I have been teaching landscape design for around 30 years. I can help you. Home and Garden Workshops & Classes

mosaics workshop

How to Create Mosaic Accessories that will make your Friends Envious!

glass mosaics
‘Mosaic Path’

Ever wanted to make something in mosaics for either your home or garden? It is an easy and versatile craft to learn. You can apply tiles, glass or broken pottery to almost anything; just decide if it will be decorative or functional, where it will go and what you want to see. Some of those answers will guide you to a project you will love forever.

Mosaics

Even though mosaic art has been around a very long time, present-day artists have taken it to new and exciting levels. In Mosaics for Home & Garden, you choose your project and colors and take home a decorative or functional piece of art.

mosaics project
Advanced Project

Project

For this mosaic workshop, you may choose almost anything as a base. First, you need to determine whether it will go inside or live outside – will this mosaic be for your home or garden? If it stays outside, it needs to withstand freezing temperatures, unless you want to take it in only during colder months.

Mosaics Supplies

Supplies can be pricey, but don’t need to be. If you want to use broken pottery, that can mean a trip to a secondhand store. If you want glass mosaics, you can buy in bulk to save money. Tools can be found locally or ordered online. https://www.dickblick.com/categories/crafts/mosaics/tools/

Design

For your project design, look to books, Etsy, Pinterest, etc. for inspiration. Draw up a pattern, or copy a free one, to the size of your base product. Figure where your color will go and use that to figure how much glass or tile you will need. Some people even use the simple designs from coloring books.

For more information about when Mosaics for Home & Garden will be offered, see Home and Garden Workshops & Classes or Contact.

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refinishing furniture

How to Take Furniture from Trash to Treasure

furniture refinishing
Refinished Oak Hatbox Dresser

Refinishing furniture is an art I taught myself for my first purchased piece of furniture. I was fresh out of college, poor as anything you have ever seen and there was no Internet to help. I recognized an antique with good bones as we were browsing through a second-hand shop. Unfortunately, it was covered in black paint and red nail polish! Fortunately, I talked the shop owner down from $50 to $35, which was all the money I had. And now, my handmade and hand-carved hatbox dresser is worth (at least) $900. Woohoo!!

You can do this!

Furniture refinishing – scary, messy, difficult, takes too long, don’t know what I am doing, I don’t want to mess up. Whew, that’s a lot of issues! You should not start with your family’s most cherished antique – that can be project #2.

Are you worried about the outcome? Begin with something small and not very valuable. Since our class is Fall 2022, you have time to hunt down something inexpensive and in need of a renovation. And next, follow directions – mine and the manufacturers of the chemicals. I can (and will) keep you out of trouble, but you always need to follow directions.

How we can Help

We can teach you the ins and outs and coach you through to a successful project. Whether you have a piece you picked up secondhand or something that has been in your family for a while, we can help. I consider refinishing a piece of furniture to be a great rescue story. So, in effect, I am helping to save something from a life of being ugly and unappreciated!

Supplies

We need a lot of supplies, but not to worry. You may already have most of what you need and tools are always reusable. https://www.bobvila.com/slideshow/beyond-the-brush-7-other-tools-you-need-to-refinish-furniture-50172 We are sure you will want to work on another piece as soon as you finish your class project.

You don’t need to be afraid. My first project, my cherished an old hatbox dresser is still with me. I am grateful I could give it a new home.

The Process

  • Cleaning – always clean your project piece with gentle soap and water – it may not need refinishing
  • Decide on whether to paint, renew or refinish
  • Choose your product – your chemical of choice
  • Get to work
  • Choose your final finish – many choices here from wax to varnish to poly – depending on the abuse it will get
  • Smile! You just finished your first piece of furniture!

Your next step

This class will only be offered once this fall. Our space is limited. Come make new friends and give a poor piece of furniture new life.

Home and Garden Workshops & Classes Contact for more info.