Family Traditions: Chalk Painted Antique Secretary Hutch

Furniture passed down from my family will always hold a special place in my heart especially since I grew up with this antique secretary hutch in my grandparents house and when my mom was asked by my Granny if she wanted it, there was no question - of course!  More like, I thought you would never ask!    

As you can see, the hutch needed some love but had amazing bones.  They definitely don't make furniture like they used too!  My mom had the perfect place in her dining room but immediately knew the color wasn't going to work.  So...she got busy picking out the perfect color, Silver Mink by Maison Blanche Paint Company at Palmetto Home and Garden in Greenville, South Carolina.  At first, I was the skeptic because I had only used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and had great results but Maison Blanche did not disappoint!  Price and ease of paint were almost identical, not to mention Maison Blanche has some beautiful colors.  

We painted one coat of Silver Mink and then a second coat of half paint, half water just for some extra coverage.  I am the paranoid one who is always scared that after I wax, the original color will bleed through so I like to do an extra coat just in case.  By mixing the paint with water, it's a great money saving trick for the second coat!  We all know that chalk paint is not cheap.  After both coats were dry, I did some light distressing and a final coat of Annie Sloan clear wax.  

Side note: I lost the 'during' pictures due to my iPhone crashing but enjoy the afters! 

When hovering over any photo, you can "Pin it" directly to Pinterest.  

All opinions in this blog post are mine.  I am not a paid, nor endorsed user of any chalk paint company.  

5 Tips for an Easy Move

Before I get started into what my blog is all about, I want to share what made this move so easy because moving can be a very daunting and labor intensive task!  

Follow these 5 simple tips to make your next move more enjoyable and stress free. 

1. Purge (And a lot of it!)

The truth of the matter is that we all have items sitting in our house that we don’t use, have multiples of or just needs to be thrown out.  Before packing anything, take your house a room at a time and really purge.  Ask yourself when was the last time you used it and have lots of trash bags handy!   (Quick Tip: I used white and black trash bags so I could easily keep my Goodwill pile and trash piles separate.)

2. Neat & Tidy Packing

A mistake a lot of people make is trying to pack quickly and just throwing random items in a box.   Take your time to really put like items together or items that go in the same room.  By taking your time, you will have fewer boxes since everything will be neat and tidy allowing maximum use of each box.

3. Label Boxes

You can never label boxes too much!  Write your contents and room on all sides and the top because you never know which direction they will get stacked and this will make for less questions and more efficiency on getting the boxes in the correct room the first time. 

4. Hire Movers

This will be the best decision of your entire move!  Trust me – gas, mileage, fatigue and time add up!  To prepare for the movers; have all your boxes ready and furniture bare (sheets, bedding, etc...)  This will allow the movers to quickly disassemble the furniture and get it loaded.  By having all the sides of your boxes labeled, when the movers go to unload, the contents and room information will be on all sides making for a quicker process.  The more organized you can be, the cheaper your bill will be since most moving companies charge hourly.  (Quick Tip: Our movers packed and unpacked our 3500 square foot house in about 4 hours.)

5. Unpack Quickly

By hiring movers, you aren’t exhausted and have the energy and time to unpack quickly.   The quicker you can get unpacked, the quicker your new house turns into a home and then everyone’s happy! 

I hope by following these 5 simple tips, it will make your next move easier and less laborious!    

New Blog, New House, New Beginnings

I am new to the world of blogging but can't wait to take you on a journey of home renovations, gardening, upcycling furniture and maybe even a few southern recipes here and there.  I absolutely love to make an old piece of furniture come back to life, seeing God's creations bloom, designing rooms with unique pieces and making true southern dishes that are lighter in calories but still big on taste.  

In March I purchased my first home that had great bones but needed some updating.  It has such character and charm on the outside and I really wanted to make sure I incorporated that on the inside.  Lucky for me, my dad owns a construction company that specialized in home remodeling so they were able to tackle the job for me.  

Enjoy a few before pictures and I can't wait to show you the finished product.