Today I’d like for you to meet another blogging friend.  I met her through Hometalk/ Blogtalk.  She’s somewhat new to blogging, so I hope you will take a few minutes and head over to check her out!!

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Hi everyone! I’m Shanna, and I’m so excited Angela is trusting me to write my very first guest post for her! Angela and I connected through Blogtalk, and I am in awe of her darling home and creative juices. I am honored to be part of her amazing blog … if only for a day.

I am a stay at home mom to a 15 year old daughter (who wishes to remain anonymous in my blog, in case I should embarrass her — which seems to happen with every breath I take), 3 dogs and a cat.

About a year ago, I started making-over vintage furniture. Word spread, and people started asking where they could view my pieces, and that is how my blog began. Customers not only wanted to see the finished products, but they were also interested to see before pictures and how the process transpired.

I am, in no way, a furniture expert. Most of my pieces are trial and error (and there have been some definite errors), but many of the times when I am about to throw-in the towel on a piece, I try something random, and it turns out better than what I was going for originally — and it’s a fun discovery when something gets painted fifteen times, but looks really, really fun and layered once it’s all complete.

That is a big part what my blog is about, letting people see that I don’t know what I am doing half of the time (either parenting or DIYing), but I just wing it, and so far I have only had to throw out one piece of furniture, and my daughter hasn’t been arrested, so I think I’m doing alright.

My business and blog has steadily grown over the past year, and I am thrilled to begin befriending fellow bloggers and amazing readers. Most of my posts are about my furniture pieces, DIY, recipes, crafts, and the chaos of living with a teenager plus four animals.

My goal for the next year is to complete, maybe, a few projects for my own home. I have some fabulous furniture stored (hoarded) in my basement, but with a constant stream of custom work for clients, I have had zero time to start my own projects (not that I’m complaining … I will never turn down a challenging piece).

Here is one of the first big projects I took on. My hubby and I went to purchase this Craigslist find, only to realize how huge, ugly, and smelly this baby was. I believe my husband words were “Just walk away”.

After some airing-out, I chalk-painted her up, glazed, and waxed her. Here is the before:

And the after — the handles look a little out of focus, but that’s really the shadow from the flash:

This is another Craigslist find. It started out scratched-up and dirty, but with some chalk-paint and TLC, she was revived.

Before:

After:

I found this totally eighties chandelier at a yard sale, and it’s amazing what a little spray paint can do! Never mind the fact that I asked my dear hubby to take a before picture with the crystals on and he forgot. Seeing as how there was seven different sizes of crystals on it, it took me two days in a hot garage to figure out how this puzzle went back together.

This was another yard sale find that had definitely witnessed better days. A client had this set as a Christmas gift for her little girl’s bedroom.

This was a $25 Craigslist find that smelled like something died in it, and was missing some trim. With a little aqua chalk-paint, some veneer strips, some distressing, lots of air freshener, and glaze, it now resides in a client’s bedroom.

Thanks so much for letting me share some of my pieces with you today!

I hope you stop by my blog at Restoration Redoux to see more!

Angela, I am so lucky to have connected with you. I really appreciate you having me over!