Now Available at The Sugar Chest Antique Mall in Pompano Beach!

Well, it's official.  We recently made the decision to lease a space within The Sugar Chest Antique Mall to showcase our refinished furniture.  It's been just over a week since we moved in and have had pretty good results so far!  

To rewind a bit, this isn't something we were really planning on, but seemed like a natural step forward for our brand.  That being said, we're still accepting commissions and we'll continue to rehab furniture that doesn't necessarily fall under the vintage/antique umbrella.  Those items will still be available on KRRB Classifieds).

We hope you'll stop by The Sugar Chest to see our space - Booth 3 Blue and let us know what you think! 

960 N Federal Hwy, Pompano Beach, Florida 33062

Open 7 days: Mon-Fri 10:30-6, Sat 10-6, Sun 12-6

Merci! Merci!

Angela

Quick Little Update

The title of this post is actually a bit of a double entendre - I'm doing a brief update on our blog...about a simple little update on a pair of chairs!

In a couple of weeks, my parents will officially have a pied-a-terre here in South Florida!  And Maison Bord de Mer has been given the opportunity to completely furnish / decorate the apartment.  Because of the locale, and my mother's aesthetic preferences, we are leaning towards a coastal chic style with a tropical twist.

We picked up these side chairs at a vintage furniture shop in Ft. Lauderdale.  Originally we had wanted to stain them a rich walnut color and reupholster the seats with a white and green leafy print fabric, but after finding a Hawaiian print fabric with a black background, we opted to leave alone the white-wash finish on the chairs.

After giving the chairs a proper cleaning, we carefully removed the original drab white fabric and reupholstered the seats with this fun hibiscus patterned fabric.  The chairs are finished and ready to be moved into their new home!!

Look for more updates as we complete other projects and get things moved into my parents apartment.

Merci!
Angela

Have you met Goldie Socks?

Remember that Seinfeld episode where Jerry goes to pick up his rental car but is told by the customer service rep that they don't have any cars available?  And he remarks, "You know how to take the reservation, you just don't know how to hold the reservation."  Well, apparently I'm pretty good at creating blogs, but not very good at maintaining blogs...and that's really the most important part of a blog, isn't it?

Sigh...

So, moving right along. One of our most recent projects involves a Plain Jane console table (think run of the mill hotel chain furniture) and a little black and gold paint.

Meet, Goldie Socks!

Originally finished in a red mahogany stain, this table was anything but interesting.  I didn't even think to take "before" photos because it was so uninspiring.

But after sanding the table, we painted it matte black prior to steel-wooling* the entire piece.

*Not a verb, I know.

Using two different grades of steel wool, we were able to achieve a nice distressed finish which allowed some of the natural wood to peek through as well as some of the red tones from the original stain. 

Next, we taped off the cabriole legs and painted the feet a shiny, metallic gold giving the table a "dipped in gold" effect.  Or, as some would say, we put gold socks on her.  Hence the name, Goldie Socks.

Our last step in refinishing the console was to apply Minwax Paste Finishing Wax to give it a soft, hand rubbed sheen which not only looks great but helps protect the wood and paint. 

Finally, we replaced the original snooze-inducing drawer pulls with these maybe-too-hipster gold finished arrows.  

We hope you like this piece.  It's a little bit masculine, but mostly it evokes memories of Hollywood Regency.  And if you want to make an offer on it, please do! Click on the BOUTIQUE link on the right, or follow this link to Krrb: Angela's Corner

Merci!
Angela

Beach House Decor - Because It's Summer in South Florida!

It goes without saying, Summers in South Florida are stupid hot.  And humid.  So when we haven't been away on vacation or hosting family and friends at home, we just haven't been too Gung-ho to get out in the garage and work on the many many projects we have.  We have, however, managed to add to our ever growing "waiting room".

But finally, we kicked our butts into gear and got a couple of projects finished, photographed and listed.

One of them is a lightly distressed, vintage Bassett dresser fit for any beach house. When we first laid eyes on this amazing Mid Century Modern piece from the 1960's, I just knew we had to have it.  Josh on the other hand couldn't have been more uninterested in it.  I convinced him of my vision and he agreed to buy it for me.

After Photo - A warm and sunny yellow gently weathered to give it an updated beach house feel.

Before Photo - Horrid pukish green finish. Dated dated dated.

This sad little dresser went through quite a few procedures before we settled on the slightly distressed yellow finish it ended up with.  The original plan was to sand down the disgusting avocado factory finish and apply a dark walnut stain.  We were going to properly "restore" this piece and bring the classic MCM (Mid Century Modern) lines to the forefront, but things didn't go as planned. 

After laboring for hours and hours with the sander, we were surprised to discover how beautiful the raw wood looked under the original candy coated finish.  If only we had went with our gut and simply sealed the dresser at that point instead of pursuing our original plan...we would have saved ourselves a lot of time!

At this stage, only the drawers had been sanded.

Here, everything had been sanded. Would have looked great like this!

Instead we pushed forward and applied two coats of the dark walnut stain.  Unfortunately, there were at least three different types of wood on this dresser, and all three woods accepted the stain differently.  The end result...not good.

So here we were, back to square one, resanding the undesirable finish off once again.

After applying two coats of stain. Not pretty.

Yada yada yada - we ultimately achieved a look we were happy with.  The cheerful yellow paint gives this dresser a modern feel that will look great in any room.  I'm kind of sad to see it go, because I've grown so attached to it.  But alas, that's the nature of the biz.

Looty Booty!

Well, I guess you can say our Estate Sale outing was a success this morning.  We had no trouble filling up our friend's pick-up truck and now our garage is jam packed!  

Our newest projects include an adorable antique Lane cedar hope chest - to be used as an entry way bench for some friends of ours, a low square storage chest with over-sized hinges which will get the classic MBdeM coastal chic treatment and a set of four Danish Modern dining chairs which we couldn't pass up.  We'll be reupholstering the seats and restoring the wood.  Not sure if we're going to keep them or sell them, but either way, they'll keep us busy.

We also stopped by a little consignment shop and found a great little antique side table with loads of character and a fun little story...but we'll save that for another post.  

And...We're off!

Well it's official.  We have just sold the first of our Maison Bord de Mer signed pieces.  And the icing on the cake?  We sold two pieces to our first real customer.

I'm actually going to miss these little guys.  The first piece, a 19th century writing desk was something I fell in love with and bought, knowing we didn't really have a spot for it in our home.  But I couldn't pass it up.  Unfortunately I don't have any "before" pictures, but it was obvious that whomever had previously owned them, didn't really appreciate what they had.  It had some paint splattered on it and some minor nicks in the desktop, but overall, it was structurally sound and perfect for a MBdeM makeover.

The second piece was a little three legged stool that I bought from an auction in St. Louis a few years ago.  It was quirky and had a funny little personality, so I bid on it.  I do have before pics of this little guy.  Prior to getting the MBdeM treatment, he had dark red legs and a rather dull oak top.  I had fun with this stool and am happy to see him going to a good home.

We're thrilled with our first "official" sale and look forward to many more.  This weekend we'll be hitting some estate sales, so hopefully we'll find some potential new projects.

Merci!
Angela

For the Love of the Craft

I've been asked if I use chalk paint on my projects.  The answer is no, and I probable never will.  When it comes to finishing, I don't really like to take short cuts.  I don't use spray paint and I don't like to slop globs of paint on unprepped surfaces in a haphazard manner.  I prefer to take my time.  I'm not a production focused factory trying to pump out finished goods.  I'm an artisan who is trained with woods, metals, paints, stains, etc. and I understand the craft of refinishing a piece of furniture.

When I was a kid, my dad used to watch This Old House and frankly, I wasn't a fan.  Fast forward twenty something years and I now receive their monthly publication.  I guess 5 years of architecture school will do that to you.  

It's no secret Josh and I appreciate good quality.  Whether we're purchasing B&B Italia or Herman Miller from Centro, or we're picking up an unsigned antique from an estate sale, our primary focus is craftsmanship.  At Maison Bord de Mer, we hold our work to this same high standard.  

Eames Lounge and Ottoman for Herman Miller and some Estate Sale finds.

We begin each piece by making any necessary structural repairs - not usually an issue.  Then we sand off the existing finish so that we're working with raw wood.  If we're planning to shabby chic a piece, we don't typically seal the wood before painting, but in rare cases we might.  Then we apply two or three coats of paint (with light sanding in between each coat) before giving the piece a weathered, distressed appearance.  

Distressing is the fun part, but you've gotta be careful not to over-do it.  We do a little bit of sanding and a whole lot of steel wooling. Not a verb I know, but it's what we do.  And sometimes, we like to give the piece an aged look by applying a stain which is promptly wiped off, leaving a tea-stained appearance on the paint.  Lastly, we sign the back or bottom of the piece and seal it with a clear topcoat!

Painted and Distressed wood pediment by Maison Bord de Mer.

Everything we do is done by hand.  No spray guns, no cans.  Just old fashioned paint brushes.  Why do we do it this way?  Because we love what we do and we enjoy the process.  

Thanks for reading!  

Merci,

Angela