Tuesday, December 27, 2011

My Mother


My post today is in honor of my mother Betty who passed away last week. She was a wonderful, selfless and giving person and will be greatly missed.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Chair Re-Do - Vintage and Modern!

Here is the chair I posted about the other day - my sister suggested using a geometric pattern on the fabric so I chose this black and white and painted the chair white and distressed then added some black trim! I think the fabric added a modern twist to a vintage piece!

AFTER



BEFOREBEFORE






Thursday, December 15, 2011

TRUNK SHOWS IN 2012!








I will be starting to do more trunk shows starting in January and this time Beth Menke will also be a vendor with her great jewelry line. To book a show, you can just email me and we can set a date, you can host the show in your home or subdivision clubhouse, wherever you would like, then you come up with your invite list and either you can send the invites or give me your list and I will send the evite and keep up with RSVP's!

For hosting the show, you will receive a hostess gift in addition to a percentage of sales in product for Beth, and for me, you can either use that to go toward product from the show, furniture, or custom furniture painting services! Here are some pics of items I might have in the show. Beth is working on launching a new website and business facebook page so as soon as those are up and running, I will post some pics of her great jewelry!

To book a show or for more information, please email me!

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Chair to Revamp and Architectural Salvage

Here is a chair that I recently bought that I am going to recover. It's in great shape and I love the ornate style but the fabric is a little outdated so I am going to recover the seat and ATTEMPT to reupoholster the back part and add new trim and paint the chair so I'll post a picture when it's finished!


Here are a few pictures from Pinterest showing how to decorate with architectural salvage!


Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Customer Pieces and Etsy Christmas Items

Here are some pieces I am finishing up for Kristen. Her little girl asked for a pink desk for Christmas filled with school supplies so she can play teacher so I hope she gets lots of fun use out of this desk!

Here are some cute and rescued french provencial nightstands I just painted for Lynn!

Here are some cute handmade Christmas gift tags and burlap items I saw on Etsy today!




Monday, December 12, 2011

Vintage End Tables, Simply Seleta, Mercury Glass and Napkin Rings!

Whenever I go shopping for furniture, there always seems to be those long vintage end tables but they don't sell that well to be used as end tables these days although I think they still make great end tables. So I was thinking of another way to use them. Here is a piece I am working on - it is one of those end tables but it has spindles on both sides and not a drawer in front so you can actually turn it sideways. Paired with a tall mirror, it is great to be used in a foyer or hallway. Or these are also great to use as bases and put a cabinet, shelf or hutch on top and it really can look like one piece!




I was flipping through the December issue of Southern Living this weekend and saw an article on Selena of the blog, Simply Selena. I used to follow her blog but had never added it to blog list (which I'm doing today!) She had pictures of her beautiful home in the article.




I don't have any mercury glass in my home but I've been seeing it everywhere in the stores. These pictures are mostly from Christmas decorating but you can use it anytime and it is so pretty!




Another article I saw in Southern Living showed how one of the writers went to the Nashville Flea Market (which I've heard is great) and bought a bunch of vintage brooches that had loose backings and removed all the back part and epoxyed them on to plain napkin rings. That's a great way to use vintage brooches and I think it would be so cute just to have a different one at each place setting! (Pictures from Pinterest)

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Distressed Initial Boards - Great Christmas Gift Idea!

These distressed initial boards are great gifts and it's a cute idea to get the first name initials of husband and wife with last bigger initial in middle or it's cute in a child or baby's room with their 3 initials! It's also a good Christmas idea to spell out J-O-Y or some other word. I can do them in the distressed chocolate brown and antique white or any color combo and the boards are $12.00 each!

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

I have several of these shutters and these are so great to hold all your jewelry! Just hang your earrings or use push pins to hold necklaces and bracelets. This would be a great unique gift at $14.00 each - just add some decorative tacks or push pins! If you would like to order one, just let me know and you can pick your color/distressing (kbush422@gmail.com or 721-0578)!



Here is an adorable iron bench for sale for $45! These are great on a porch or patio or so cute at the foot of a bed to sit and put your shoes on! Let me know if you are interested.



Here is a Lane chest I just painted for Karen H. We came up with a color combo to go in a little girl's room to match a white bed with pink flowers! By the way, it's hard sometimes to find a pink color that's not too bright but I found this one, it's a Martha Stewart paint called Ballet Slipper Pink and I think it's a perfect pale pink.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Picking and A Passion for Pillows!

I went picking for stuff today and found some great furniture including a french provencial buffet and a country french kitchen table. Pictures of all of that to come soon!

I love pillows and they are a great way to change a room seasonally or just to change the color scheme. Etsy has some really cute pillows that you could buy or many of them are diy projects you could do yourself!

Felt is very inexpensive and comes in great colors and you can make these flowers using felt!



Burlap is great to cover a pillow in and ticking is nice, too...

Friday, December 2, 2011

Small Touches

If you are wanting to spruce up your house a little bit before those holiday parties, consider adding some small touches which can make a big impact!

Consider putting your dishwashing liquid in your kitchen and your liquid soap in your bathrooms in cute containers! For the holidays, you can add a Christmas ribbon or get a cute bottle stopper.

I love tea towels and hand towels and there are so many cute ones out there. I got this one at a store I love in Homewood called Harmony Landing and I just love it because it is so vintage looking

You can put your magazines or books in urns or woven baskets!

Keys can go in cute containers...

Switch out your switchplates! If you have the typical white switchplates, consider getting some decorative ones. This one in my house is not one I sell but I do sell cute iron single and double switchplate covers and outlet covers and I can custom paint them to match your decor so if you need any, let me know!

I blog all the time about knobs and drawer pulls making a big difference so if you have standard ones in your kitchen or bathroom cabinets, switching those out for cute decorative ones can make a big difference!

Etsy Page

Flickr Page

www.flickr.com
thefrenchfleashop's items Go to thefrenchfleashop's photostream

Followers

About Me

My photo
The French Flea is a Birmingham, AL based business specializing in selling painted and distressed furniture, rustic home decor and more. It reflects a love of anything french, rustic, shabby, chippy paint, distressed! We currently have a booth at Greystone Antiques on Hwy. 280 in Hoover and The Blue Building in Alabaster. We also offer custom furniture painting and will be your "picker" or personal shopper and look for pieces you are in search of! To contact The French Flea, call Karen at 721-0578 or email kbush422@gmail.com!