Furniture, Paint, Whitewash and Scotch

Paint.
There has been a lot of paint in my life this spring.

The entire beach house on Long Island was painted -- every room -- over 8 days.

I know, I was there and watched.

In New Jersey, That Old House was given a new wardrobe of white paint.

I know, I was there and watched.  

Time for me to pick up a paint brush myself

and put my own lazybones hands to work.

My sister Peggy and I need to haul our bottoms (and the rest of our selves) out to the beach house

and get to work on painting furniture out there.  She sent me a link to a company that sells

cottage and beach house furniture.  Oddly enough, it's called Cottage and Bungalow

 and it sells a coffee table called the Destin:

It's nice and roomy, beachy, would be great in our second floor great room.

It costs more than $2000.  Too many greenbacks for our beachy budget.

But in our upstairs family room out there, we have the coffee table you can see in the left in this picture:

Peg and I think that with a bit of paint, a little distressing and a slick of glaze,
we can give this old pine coffee table and its end table siblings a similar look to the

 Destin, and still afford to buy meat and the occasional small jar of Macadamia nuts.

Besides, that old coffee table holds lots of memories; it was in the family room of the house we grew up in.

Cottage and Bungalow also sells simple contemporary Windsor-style chairs:

Again, they are beyond our budget.

But painting these chairs, below - 1990s dinette chairs - currently in forest green and yellow stained wood, isn't.

Beyond the budget, I mean. If we don't go for Heirloom White, what do you think of turquoise?
I've got my crazy color flag flying this year.
Have you seen the new color on the front door at That Old House?
Wear your sunglasses.

There are quite a few older pieces of furniture out in the Southold beach house that will benefit

from a facelift of paint. If by quite a few, we mean a poop load.
I would love to use  Annie Sloan chalk paint for some of them,

as from what I've seen on the web that paint would give some of our pieces just exactly

that vintage bungalow-cottage-beach look we're going for.

But with our limited budget for the beach house makeover, and so many things that must

be purchased, chalk paint is probably not in the cards.  Have you used it?
I hear it does go a long, long way . . . .

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Home here in New Jersey, there's more furniture painting to be done.

I've got a couple of demilune tables parked in the dining room,

waiting (for months) for their transformations.  I planned to paint this one black:

 and this one creamy heirloom white:

But now, after seeing this table, below, in lotsa color incarnations, on the Oomph website,

I am having second thoughts.  I'm telling you , crazy colors are calling my name.

This table is called the Palm Beach Console and it costs more than $1500.

You should check out Oomph's website for the fabulous, luscious colors they use.

Last time I checked, they were using the Sherwin Williams' palette.  Nice.

 Also here at home, there is a kick line of outdoor furniture waiting to be painted

and put back on the newly painted porch.  Luckily I've got a big bag of
spray paint, and I know how to use it.

 I've also got a shed packed full of cute little tables, waiting for their glam makeover.

I can't resist bargains in little old tables and orphaned chairs.
Get thee behind me, Craigslist!
 

I know so many of you have painted loads of furniture

in shades of white, and in black.

But have you gotten into using brilliant colors for accent pieces?

My Mom went the eye-popping color route decades ago, which is why I sit in a chrome yellow oak chair

that once belonged to the New York City Board of Education.

Only way back then, it wasn't yellow.

I'm not sure what kind of paint my mother used, but it's held up to countless bottoms for 40 years.

As for the beautiful pieces of furniture in this post that are for sale online, I'm not saying they

are not worth their cost.  They are lovely pieces, well made.  They aren't right for me because I can't afford them.

But I've linked to the websites so you can take a look and be inspired.

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When we do get back out to the beach house, 

and can sit on the upstairs deck as the day begins to wind down,

the drink that may very well be in our glasses is The Muttini.

It was my Mom's signature fun cocktail, and it couldn't be easier.

My niece Alice blogged about it yesterday, so if you want

to read about its history in the family, you can check it out here.

I'm just going to give you the basic recipe.

Ladies and gents, The Muttini!

1 can frozen lemonade (pink looks nicest)

1 can of water

1 can of Scotch whiskey

A few ice cubes

Optional: a maraschino cherry, 1/4 slice of orange

Put the frozen lemonade in a blender.  Using the same can, fill it with water and dump in.

Then refill the can with your best not-so-expensive Scotch, and in it goes.

You don't want to pour the Glenfiddich or the Lagavulin into this, at least not if your husband is in the kitchen.

If you have a severe aversion to Scotch, you can use rye or bourbon,

but it will be sweeter, cloying, and not as delicious.  Otherwise, it will be fine.

Toss in a few ice cubes for slushy bulk, and fire up the Waring.

When it's all lovely and slushy and icy pink, pour into glasses.

Highball glasses work well, or you can use stemmed glassware.

Plop in a cherry, and add a quarter of an orange slice on the side for pizzazz.

No little umbrellas needed.

Pass 'em around on a beautiful tray, don't forget one for yourself, and listen to the compliments.

I've been trying to figure out how to go low carb with this using Crystal Light . . . .

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One more thing I need to do, and soon --

make a new header for That Old House.

She isn't yellow anymore.

 Maybe I should wait till we have new shutters for all the nekkid windows.

 But that could be awhile!  Have a lovely Friday -- Cass

Link Parties!  Friday is a-popping with them.

At Designs By Gollum, it is Foodie Friday.  For today, my food is Scotch.  Click here!

It's Feathered Nest Friday at the French Country Cottage.  Click here!

Miss Mustard Seed is gathering Furniture Friday posts.  Click here!

At Common Ground, it's Vintage Inspiration Friday.  Click here!

My Romantic Home is home to Show And Tell Friday.  Click here!

At The Charm of Home, it's Home Sweet Home Friday.  Click here!

Tea in the Parlor on Tablescape Thursday

Tablescape Thursday! Thanks to Susan of Between Naps On The Porch for hosting this fun event. Click here for more table-topping fun and inspiration.

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Meanwhile, I am going to have tea in front of the fireplace, and have a slice of Grandma Cake! Come with me, as I walk you through the recipe for Tea in the Parlor. . . .

Start with a parlor, a blank slate:



Paint it to your liking, and add ... well, stuff. Furniture is a good place to start.

Drive 200-plus miles to Sturbridge, Massachusetts, to order period-style furniture from Angel House.
Stir in some blood-curdling "we don't have that fabric anymore"
moments, dash to Calico Corners and order fabric to go!

Then,
wait ... wait ... wait for the call that the furniture is ready. Pester Angel House.

Pester Angel House again, till patient lady in the office begins to sound testy on phone. Rejoice when furniture is ready!

Send husband Howard and his ex-wife (00ps, ex-roommate) Mitchel on a 400-plus mile round trip in a rented truck to fetch new parlor furniture in Massachusetts to save whopping delivery charges. Offer to pay for their lunch en route. At Burger King.


Fall in love with the furniture.
Ask it to marry you, then remember you are already married.
And that furniture would make a poor husband,
as it has no means of taking out the trash.


Ruthlessly shove furniture around over and over again because
you can't find an arrangement that works.

Realize that for Tablescape Thursday, you can fudge it
and just use one wee bit of the room. Move appropriate furniture into place:

An Angel House (very comfy) wing chair, and the old
barley twist table your sister-in-law was donating to charity
and you snatched from her garage.Discover, too late, that the bottom side of the wing chair bears evidence of the
passage of a cheeky little white and brown spaniel who left a bit of himself behind,
on the upholstery fabric. Clean off for future pictures.

Add a bit of old table linen that doesn't need ironing, realize you don't have anything that doesn't need ironing,
so resort to last week's bit of old lace.


Add Johnson Brothers "Indies Blue" china, an old "Blenheim" pattern silver spoon (it hasn't been polished so just claim to like that vintage look), the cobalt and gold Meissen teapot, change your mind about the Meissen teapot as you don't have any cup & saucer to measure up to it, realize you don't have enough nice china and hear your husband scream all the way from midtown Manhattan, replace Meissen with unknown maker blue and white teapot, and, finally,
a slice of Grandma Cake to make it all worthwhile.



And there we have it....
Tea in the Parlor, or:
How To Get The Most Posts Out Of One Homemade Cake.


I'd light the fire, but it's a gas gizmo and I am mortally terrified of it.

And I still don't have a satisfactory arrangement of furniture in this room.
Someday.