Although I’ve only been blogging about furniture restoration for about eight months, I’ve been a fan of upcycling for years.
During this time, I’ve picked-up some amazing pieces of furniture … but I’ve also managed to pick-up a few out-of-the-ordinary items I never intended to take home.

Some of these stowaways are sort of great discoveries .. and some things are a little horrifying.

With each new surprise, I’m reminded that this piece has a history from someone who loved it — sometimes, that history is a little more intriguing that others: Continue reading →

Have you heard of Hometalk?

If you enjoy the types of things I post about (and thank God for every one of you), you will love Hometalk!

Hometalk is a an amazing online community of Bloggers and nonbloggers talking about DIY, gardening, home improvement, and everything in between. It’s a site where you can ask for help or advice about your home, DIY projects or gardening. You can search through posts or pictures to gather ideas, or even find local professionals to help you with your home or garden needs.

Do you need some inspiration? Do you have an old piece of furniture, or some mason jars and don’t know what to do with them? This is the place for you!  There are thousands of inspirational posts and photos posted by members. If you find something you love, clip it to your board and save it for later.

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Yesterday I wrote that I would have a new project for you today. It turns out I’m a liar.

After bending down painting the entire weekend, I tweaked my neck and back. I am in a pretty immense amount of pain right now, and I might not be able to share a project with you today, so instead, I thought I would share a few of my favorite things (cue Julie Andrews).

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I have a new friend I would like you guys to meet.

Amy has a great blog called StowandTellU. I haven’t known Amy that long, but she’s one of those people you instantly click with. She and I are switching blogs today to spice things up a bit. She’s amazingly creative and if you get a chance, run over and check her blog out!

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Hi all, I’m Amy from StowandTellU, and I’m thrilled to be a guest here at Restoration Redoux. Shanna and I became acquainted through Blogtalk, and although she probably doesn’t know this, yet, I’ve been following her blog ever since I first saw her turquoise chalk paint side table and was sold. Her furniture and projects are truly impressive, and her style is so well defined. I’m honored to be her guest.

I’m married and have a 29yr old son, who is currently in grad school. I work full time as a billing specialist but have always enjoyed making crafts and salvaging old furniture. Up until March of 2012, when my mother passed away, I was spending most of my time keeping her company in her elder years.

Time didn’t allow for blogging, in fact I didn’t even know what a blog was. I took a class last summer on the subject, and low and behold I had started my own blog by October.

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Here it is guys!

A couple of weeks ago, I told the story of my parents living their entire lives dogless, only at the age of 60 to take the plunge and adopt a rescue dog who literally was hours away from being put down. I received so many comments after posting Sweetie’s Story because at the end of her longish post, I had no room to tell you the story about her brother: Bob.

Before I go any further my mom wanted me to show Sweetie’s picture from the Kansas Humane Society when they picked her up after living on the streets.

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This post may not be relevant to everyone, so if this doesn’t make sense to you … don’t worry.  You can skip it and come back tomorrow — or read more about News Feeds here.

Much to my dismay, Google recently announced it is ending its Google Reader product.

Out of all the programs I use throughout the day, aside from email, my Google Reader is the one that’s almost always on my screen.  It’s such a handy tool for reading all the blogs I follow in one convenient location, and I felt a little panicky when I read that it’s going away.

I’m sure plenty of other companies are scrambling to develop a replacement, but I thought I’d highlight one particular service I’m growing more and more fond of:  BlogLovin.  Although it’s not quite as user friendly as Google’s option, it has a lot to offer.

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I hope everyone out there is having a very blessed Easter.

In Wichita today, the weather is nothing less than spectacular, and the mood around our house is great!  We have family over to celebrate the holiday, plus Topher is still buzzing over the remarkable performance from our hometown Wichita State Shockers!!

We hope you take the time to joy the day and enjoy His blessings.

From our family to yours,

Happy Easter from Restoration Redoux! Continue reading →

OK my friends, once again I need your help.

The pendant light above my kitchen sink just wasn’t doing it for me. I decided to try something crafty with the globe, and I hate the way it turned out — let’s just call it “non-salvageable”.

So right now, I just have this  light bulb hanging out of the wall, right beside my pretty chandelier, and it’s making me crazy.

I went to Lowe’s and Home Depot to find a new one, but most of them looked like the one I hated in the first place.

So I am a Young House Love groupie and found out they have designed their own line of inexpensive lights at Shades of Light.

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Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a good weekend! I had lots of furniture pieces picked up by clients, so I feel a little less like a hoarder — which is a relief! I also worked on several projects, including the one I was going to show you today … but it hit a little snafu. Ugh, I hate it when that happens.

When I put the topcoat on the thing I painted, the dang paint started to bubble up. At that point it was already 8:30, and it was too late to start over. I’m working on fixing that today and hopefully will have it ready to reveal tomorrow.

So I thought I would show you some of my newest finds.

I went to pick up a table off of Craigslist last weekend, and while I was there I hit the vintage mirror jackpot.

Oh, did I mention they were super cheap? Score!

I couldn’t resist so I got this (please disregard all of the crap and the arm with pajamas on it reflected in all of the mirrors):

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