Sunday, July 24, 2011

Toned Down...

   As we all know, I love cute little shabby chic pieces & funky bright vintage restorations, but sometimes it can be too much. Case in point,  a shabby chic armoire I purchased a few months ago. I loved the over sized piece when I first received it { You can read about it HERE}, but after getting it into my house I realized it was too much shabby chic for one piece. I knew this piece would be truly appreciated more if it was toned down just a little bit...


It's still a shabby chic piece with the brush strokes & not being a perfectly smooth finish, but it is more simple then what it was before....


The shabby chic was a little too much on this oversized piece for me. 


This armoire has so many different opportunities for the ways it can be used, & unfortunately I am selling this piece because it does not fit in my house, but the possibilities are endless..

- A linen closet {add some shelves & some pretty linens}
-A TV armoire {Like I show in the pictures below}
- A closet armoire {add a bar to hang clothes}
- A craft closet {organization at it's finest}
-So many possibilities for one armoire... 


Crafty Armoire.


Linen Closet Armoire.


Another Crafty Armoire.


Laundry Armoire.


This armoire could obviously hold a bigger television, but I just used the one we had in our guest bedroom & it left a lot of room for decorating. 


Before...


After...


A little tip:

I have a personal rule of thumb I use:  For every one shabby chic piece in a room, two pieces should be more simple. For example, if my coffee table is shabby chic, my TV armoire & book shelves are more simply painted ( of course they can still be fun colors). I do this so that the room doesn't look cluttered and overwhelming, but also so the shabby chic pieces can stand out and be appreciated. A comfortable room has a good balance between all of the furniture & fabrics used. 


How was your weekend? Is it sad that hubby & I have not done much of anything this summer because of the heat? Yesterday we explored some cute towns not far from us on the water, & otherwise we have had a very relaxing weekend. Those kind of weekends are my favorite. I hope you all have had a great summer even with the crazy high temperatures! I didn't even do all of my projects I had planned for this weekend.. well, I  guess I have a lot to do this week! Thanks for stopping by...

34 comments:

  1. Great job Liz, love it!

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  2. AnonymousJuly 24, 2011

    I love what you did! For me personally, I prefer small areas sanded vs. the larger one's like the before picture. i'm sure it will find a good home!

    As for the weekend, just like last week it's been a bit hectic. I did manage to make it out to some yard/estate sales though & blogged about it today!

    Stephanie
    http://junkernewbie.blogspot.com/

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  3. AnonymousJuly 24, 2011

    Liz! I stumbled on your blog from Facebook an I've been reading it for an hour now! I love all your ideas and I'm feeling the need to go buy some mason jars! :) Hope you're doing well girl. -Josie

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  4. I like it MUCH more now! The previous shabby chic look had too much sanding for such a large piece. BEAUTIFUL re-do!!

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  5. I love the way this turned out! It is super chic and a beautiful piece to be proud of! HomeSavvyAtoZ.com is your newest follower! Thanks for the inspiration!

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  6. I came across your blog from another blog, and love it! I have been struggling with how to decide how much is to much so your tip was great. I love the shabby shic but not to much. You have some fun ideas & i have shared your blog with my sister who did the mason jars this weekend! <3

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  7. I love your "rule" on shabby chic items. I think you're totally right, but I never thought about it enough to make a "rule." I'd love to have you do a guest post about that on my blog, with maybe some pictures to illustrate the rule?

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  8. The piece looks fantastic- I agree, it was much too shabby. Here from moody Monday blog hop. Think I already follow you but will add myself to gfc if not! (You are on my bloglovin)

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  9. AnonymousJuly 25, 2011

    That looks great! I just finished my craft closet armoire- should have my post up later this week.

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  10. Great job! I'm hopping over from Home Stories A to Z.

    I love all your furniture re-dos and little diy touches.

    Would you by chance be interested in a blog series I'm working on? I'm hoping to highlight several people and their homes. The idea is to show people that you don't have to be a professional decorator or have a million dollar budget to make your home beautiful.

    I love what you've done with some of the rooms/elements in your home. Would love to feature some of your rooms if you are interested.

    Let me know!

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  11. Great work on the armoire, I think it looks much better. The original look was a bit OTT for the style of the piece. But it looks utterly gorgeous now! :D

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  12. Ooohhh, I do like it better redone. Looks fabulous!

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  13. Beautiful and very updated now. I agree with you on the heat, my poor hydrangeas are sad looking for it. Love your blog!

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  14. It looks fantastic!! I wish I had room in my house for one. I love that craft amoire.

    Ruth

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  15. Hi there, found your blog through the woot woot linky party. Love what you did, just gorgeous!! I am a new fan {follower} too!

    Michelle
    ourwonderfilledlife.com

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  16. Great job. It looks beautiful. Thanks for sharing at my Sizzle into Summer party.

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  17. Really lovely! I have one that I intend to use for all my crafty stuff. It's a dream of mine not to have to hunt for things before I can start a project.

    Happy new follower, hoping you can find the time to follow me back :)

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  18. What a great job! Fantastic idea! Thanks for sharing:)
    Hope to see you on my blog:)

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  19. I like the redo much more-too much chippy is not always a good thing-loved your advice about too much of a good thing isn't always that! Love the craft armoire idea too-nice job!

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  20. I love it. I have a question though...how did you get the brown to show through like that? I am a big time distresser but haven't attempted anything like that and was wondering how you did that!

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  21. I like the new look, and I like your rule! I agree that there can be too much 'shabby' in a room to ever be 'chic!'

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  22. Beautiful makeover, and I like your rule!

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  23. hi im having a giveaway for a beautiful vintage tint! please share the word
    www.bamitsvintageglam.blogspot.com

    thx xox

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  24. It really looks great. I like that color...is it gray? Is it black?
    Whatever it is, it is fabulous :)

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  25. Great restyle! Thanks for the tip too!

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  26. It looks lovely! Hope it will find a new lovely home soon. Thanks for sharing at Beach Cottage Good Life Wednesdays.

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  27. What a dramatic transformation!

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  28. I do like the piece better now and I bet it will sell quickly. Thanks for linking to the Open House party this week.
    xo,
    Sherry

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  29. Good rule of thumb regarding shabby chic! Love the piece.

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  30. I love white furniture, but I have to have it mixed in with natural pieces etc. The way you modified your armoire was great. I have a similar one that is oak and I am now in the process of painting it to sell. It was great to read your perspectives and see the ideas for so many uses for an armoire. I can definitely use those as selling points. Thanks for sharing!

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  31. very pretty hutch/armoire! great tip about the shabby chic!
    gail

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  32. So many people are dumping their Armoirs, they don't see the potential uses for them! I love what you did with this one!

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  33. That's a great change - I usually want to paint everything white, but it looks so much better in a darker colour! Thanks for the tip about shabby chic, I've just started trying to decorate so I'll definitely take that on board. Visiting from the Tea Party (a little late sadly!)
    A.x

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  34. Great post - and your whole blog is wonderful, so many great projects! I linked this one to my post project: armoires too today, well done!

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