Ombre Painted Coffee Table

Let me just start by saying, I love painting furniture!  I do, I think about furniture all day, it's always in the back of my head no matter what I'm doing.  I do a ton of work on my pieces and I do it with love.  But lately the more I paint and the more I look for inspiration out there I feel overwhelmed.  I want to be unique and give my pieces a little twist here and there, like I did on this desk.  But it doesn't feel like enough.  Its easy to fall into trends or play it safe so that it will appeal to more people.

I had been staring at this coffee table (sorry it's not a great before picture) for a little while and everyday I kept thinking I want to paint a blue ombre effect from the center of the coffee table out.  I've never done ombre before but I wanted to try.  So I did a little inspiration shopping on Pinterest and I came across Dionne at The Turquoise Iris, she is a truly brave, talented, amazing artist!  She puts her soul into her furniture makeovers.  She is not painting furniture, she is painting ON furniture, the furniture is her canvas.  This makeover was definitely inspired by her.

I woke up early one day and said today is the day, I'm going to let my hands do all the painting.  I'm not thinking, I'm just breathing and letting my hands move the brushes, blending the colors, letting the paint be free.  The way the paint colors blended and the drips... oh my, the drips, they are my favorite part.  At first I tried to fix them because you know, furniture drips are a no no, but I loved the way the drips mended themselves onto the other colors and I decided to just let them happen.

I know this ombre painted coffee table is not for everyone but I love it and I enjoyed every minute of creating it!  I think from time to time, you need to let your imagination run wild and be free.  Forget about the rules, just go with the flow.  

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Traditional Modern Bohemian Desk

You've probably seen this style desk time and time again, usually in its brown state of life.  It's has a really classic, traditional style.  I wanted to create something different with it, kind of give it a little modern twist and add a dash of some whimsy in there too.  That is why I'm calling it the traditional, modern, bohemian desk.







I can't take full credit for this one though.  I sometimes like to rough sketch my pieces out before I work on them, and that is what I did.  My 6 year old thought it would be fun to color in my sketch with a pen.

When I saw what she had done I instantly got the idea of painting it a solid color and staining the top and the legs on one side only.  I gave her a kiss, thanked her and then told her not to scribble on mommy's sketches anymore.

I originally had other plans for the desk of painting it in a jade color.  I wanted to make the inside cute too, so I used the jade color inside and bought a medallion stencil to add some fun turquoise pops.  I used two ceramic vintage looking teal pulls from Anthro, and 3 coordinating knobs for the drawers on the other side to balance the dark legs.  

I finished off the back as well so that it can be floated in the middle of a room.

 Now do you see why I named it the traditional, modern, bohemian desk?  It's just a very eclectic style desk now.  It's not a modern desk, but the two tone and the stained sides give it a modern edge.  It's has a traditional style but it's not painted in a traditional way.  The mismatched knobs and the whimsically painted insides give it a boho vibe.  It's not for everyone but I totally love it!

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Etsy Shop Announcement

 Hello everyone!  I know I haven't been very present here in the blog but rest assured I've been keeping very busy.  Last month I finally opened up my Etsy shop for Lillys Home Designs I even made my first sale which was very exiting!  

I have been wanting to do this for an awfully long time and I finally got the courage to just do it!  I was very nervous and excited at the same time, I still am.  I don't know exactly what I'm doing but I'm learning.  Just like I did with the blog and the furniture.  I didn't take any blogging or furniture painting classes I just learned as I went, through trials and errors, lots of errors but I'm still doing it and I'm glad I've stuck it out this far.  I'm very happy with this stage of my life and I'm looking forward to what's in store for the future.

I'm very fortunate to have the unconditional support of my husband who is very patient with me, he helps me a lot and pushes me to believe in myself.  The nights have been long while I tinker around with all the new things I'm learning and tweak around to fix things.  I've been so busy I actually started using the dishwasher for the first time in my life.  I don't know why I waited so long, that thing is a life saver.

I will continue to blog because I love sharing my home projects and furniture work here with you guys.  I would appreciate it if you took some time to follow me on social media where I share with more frequency and it's easier to keep in touch.

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Now through 7.05.16 I'm running a 15% sale on all available items on my Etsy shop.

I would love it if you guys took some time to stop by my online shop.  Some of my pieces are located on the sidebar and my Shop tab below the header.  As always thank you for your continued support!