NORM ABRAM IS A FRIEND OF MINE......

Not really, but he should be.  Because Mak & Jill grace the pages of This Old House Magazine this month, with this amazing headboard-turned-bench!

Isn't it beautiful!?  

We made this bench a little over a year ago, and somehow the people at This Old House Magazine found it and asked if they could feature it in their next issue.  Uh - ya! This Old House?  Seriously?  We LOVE This Old House!!  Simon Wilson, (my husband - in case you didn't know) had This Old House on the t.v. all weekend long, back in it's hey day.  All weekend long.  He really did think that Norm was his friend.  Felt like he knew him well.  Norm taught him almost everything he knows!!  Really.  So not only was it exciting for us (Mak & Jill) but it was exciting for Simon.  

Have you seen the article yet?Isn't that so cool!?

Here is the cover of the magazine.  I know you will want to run out and buy it if you haven't already, and maybe frame it, like we did. :)

 

 See where it says Best low-cost blogger projects?  On the cover?  Ya - that's us!  They are talking about us - on the cover!! :)

Okay - enough about us.  For those of you who would like a little more detail about the "how-to", here it is.  But first lets take a moment to talk about shop safety.  :)  Not really!  Just had to throw that in there for all you Norm Abram fans.

 

Find a cute/interesting headboard/footboard.  Chop up the footboard to use for the arms.

Attach it all with the railings of the bed frame, or maybe some 2x4's if there are no railings...

 

Then attach it all with glue, screws, brackets - you name it!  Simon Wilson likes to build everything to withstand hurricane force winds, so he did all of the above.  :)

Then it's time to make a seat.  Simon chopped up an old coffee table.  You can also use planks of wood.  Get creative!

And then put a fabulous finish on it.  We always paint our things with Chalk Paint®.

 We LOOOOVE that stuff!  You can paint it and leave it raw to weather in the elements, looking chalky and beachy, or you can wax it (if it's going indoors) or you can do a number of other finishes.  We finished this project with a minwax stain/poly combo, to make it more weatherproof, and antique it at the same time.  Not or normal finish, but why be normal?

Here are a few more fabulous headboard benches to inspire you....

This is actually not a headboard bench.  Mak made this bench out of two chairs.  We LOVE it though, so we had to share.

This is another headboard turned bench made by Mr. Wilson.  Notice this seat was made using wood planks.

This is an image I found on line, and don't know who did it, but it definitely feels like a Mak & Jill style piece.  Love it!

And this is another I found on line.  Also beautiful, and very much our style!

So there you go.  Lot's of headboard benches and inspiration.  

If you are inspired enough to build one of these babies, we would love for you to send us pics so we can share it!  We'd love to see what you come up with!  And Norm, if you're out there, Simon says "We love you man"!

Thank you Annie Sloan

Hello Strangers! It's been a while! I don't know how people own stores, have kids and blog. And do all the other stuff in between. But I'm about to find out, because we have alot to share, and we are going to do it darn it!

This month has been crazy busy. Kids are out of school, paint classes are filling up, furniture is being bought by the boat load. Seriously. It's been a whirlwind. And we couldn't be happier. And we couldn't do all this without the help of a fabulous paint created by an amazing lady, and brought to us by an equally amazing company. Yes, we are talking about Chalk Paint® decorative paint.

Mak (Marjee) and I started selling Chalk Paint® about two years ago when we discovered it on line, ran out to buy it and give it a try, and were lucky enough to get in early and become stockists. If you don't know the history of Chalk Paint®, it was developed by Annie Sloan in England over 20 years ago, and was discovered by Lisa Rickert of Jolie Designs in New Orleans after her house was destroyed by Katrina and she was rebuilding and wanting to find a budget friendly way to make her kitchen cabinets look old world. The two fabulous women joined forces to create Annie Sloan Unfolded, to bring this amazing stuff to America. It is now made in Kansas City and sold by over 300 independant retailers in the good old USA.

We thank these women every single day as we open our paint cans and turn ugly, dated furniture into beautiful works of art. Seriously. We would not be able to do it all without this amazing paint! It makes it all so much easier than the old latex stuff we used to get at Home Depot. We never sand or prime. Just pop the lid on whatever color speaks to us, and begin creating. 

These are some of the amazing pieces we have created lately:

Marjee named this beauty "Old Man's Bar". Old Man's is a surf spot in San Clemente, and she pictured some cool surfer dude buying this beauty to use as a bar. In his hip beach house. Living his hip beach life.

Is it not just sooooo yummy!?

  

We just love the way this turned out. We really, really loved it. Yes. Loved. It's gone. Some hip surfer dude bought it. But he is using it to put his flat screen on. We were close!

What do you think of this little beauty?

 One of our regular customers, whom we love so much, brought this to us. He was getting ready to give it to Goodwill, and thought maybe we could do something with it. And we certainly did!

It was a little sad, and Marjee and Martine, our new intern at The Abode, whipped out some painters tape and Florence and Old White CHALK PAINT® and did their thing! 

We just love it!

Ombre baby!

And then how about another beautiful but totally different work of art:

 

Wow! 

 Is there anything you Can't do with this paint!? 

I