The Wits

Charities and Donations

by Annie Posted on December 14, 2011

I contemplated writing a post about my holiday wish list or the perfect gift guide. Then I thought about the financial difficulties in the world and people in need of assistance in one way or another so I decided I would write a little something about the foundations I donate to or think deserve more attention instead.

There’s no tooting my own horn going on around here or that “hey, everyone, look at me donate” thing which seems to be going around these days nor am I bashing anyone that did post a wish list. Still am thinking about it even though it’s getting a bit late in the season.

You might be like us and on a tight budget but I believe any bit you can do, paired with others doing the same, can make wonderful things happen. Volunteering your time is an amazing idea as well. Plus it doesn’t have to be on one day or once this holiday season, you can donate any time of the year and repeatedly. But you know that. So here are my choices for charity donating-what are yours?

Heifer International: donations support families around the world with livestock that will help their future and the future of their community by providing nutrition and income, a “hand-up” rather than a hand-out. Another good reason is that the family accepting the livestock promises in turn to give one of the offspring to another family in need. Paying it forward. Nice.

Why Hunger: their goal is to “end hunger and poverty by connecting people to nutritious, affordable food and by supporting grassroots solutions that inspire self-reliance and community empowerment” or donate to Why Hunger by purchasing the Trampled By Turtles version of “Where Is My Mind” by the Pixies (love both groups).

Dress For Success: they say it best again “(we) promote the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and the career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life.”

Gifts That Give: making some purchases online? Stop by this organization and shop where every $5 spent, $1 is donated to a charity of your choice. For someone like me who frequently shops online, I love this idea.

The organizations that tear at my heartstrings most are those catering to children with an illness-the ones that also help families through the most difficult times (especially the hospitals paying fully for the services through donations).

Children’s of Minnesota , St. Jude Children’s Hospital, Ronald McDonald House Charities, and Riley Children’s Foundation.

I worked as a social worker/case manager after I graduated from college-an experience that changed me forever. I worked with teens and tweens, many without a stable home and role model, often lacking things we take for granted. It broke my heart not being able to do more.

That said, children and adolescents need advocates as much as donations. Many just want to know that someone sincerely cares. Support and volunteering are always a great route.

Big Brothers Big Sisters
Child Help
It Gets Better Project (for bullied LGBT young adults)

Hey, it’s not just the humans having a tough time, pets need attention too. What can I say, I’m an animal lover.

The Humane Society
Beagle Freedom Project (I have a soft spot for beagles because I grew up with the best dog ever, Levi, a red haired pup)
Why not open your home and love to a pet that needs adopted by finding them through Petfinder or Adopt-A-Pet

Happy holidays!

Before and After Secretary: Robin Egg Blue and Crystal Knobs

by Annie Posted on December 6, 2011

This client order is done. Nearly.

secretary before and after — Secretary Before and After

These two little pieces below are missing from one hinge. Two important little pieces. One isn’t any good without the other and we’re waiting on the insert (should arrive tomorrow) to replace the screw that the last person stripped when they refinished this beast. We didn’t think these two teeny parts would be so difficult to get our hands on but live and learn.

screw and insert for the hinge — Whodathunk that this screw and insert would be such a problem?

Speaking of it being a beast, it’s over 100 lbs. which is why it doesn’t have a proper setting for its reveal photo. That’s one thing about the house-there will be a designated area that isn’t on the 3rd floor of a building for photo shoots.

The robin egg blue antique secretary is on its way, first to Cedar Rapids where we’ll meet our clients then on to its final home in St. Louis. In time for the holidays and in time for our move the following weekend to the house.

inserting hinge — "The Persuader" aka deadblow hammer...very handy.

keyhole tape removal — Greg is better with meticulous work like this than I am so he had the long job of removing the tape...without much light. Have I mentioned how excited we are to soon have power in our new garage?

By the way, we’ve decided to keep our closing date on the house for the 15th. While it would have been nice to get in early, it would be a major pain to change our schedule to accommodate and well, it’s extra money to spend around an already spendy holidays.

Complicated Yet Amazing

by Annie Posted on November 30, 2011

I’m just going to jump in and give you a glimpse into what life is handing us right now. It’s that kind of complicated yet amazingly good things are coming and we just have to get through some of the issues popping up.

On the plus side, my husband and I made it through underwriting for the house and were told we can move our closing date sooner than December 15th. Yay! On the other side, we would have to pay for the extra days at closing or have it applied to our first payment in February. The cost is minimal (inside joke with this phrase huh, Greg) but when paired with other things we’re throwing money at or will be, this makes us think twice about closing sooner.

house fixed — This is our first home! Built in 1952 so full of mid-century features we love. Greg and I have plans for this gem.

The secretary project is on hold again because the company we bought the specialty screws from couldn’t get their act together. Items were shipped, they were wrong, then they didn’t send the correct item after saying they had, all the while we’re waiting and thinking it’s in the mail. Eventually we had to start all over with a new company-all for a few tiny parts totaling less than $1.00 but requiring shipping charges over $7 and still not here as stated.

secretary before — This baby is almost finished

As I’m writing this post, an order for floor samples arrived that I just asked for a day ago…the knock on the door changed my disposition, silly me thinking it could be the parts for the secretary. Doh! Speaking of flooring, I included a few pictures I found on Pinterest (obsessed) to give you an idea of what I want to put in the house since it’s full on carpet without hardwood below (bummer). Oh, if anyone knows the original source for these photos, let me know. I’d love to give credit. Finding the original location and source of the photos on Pinterest is very hard sometimes. I chased my tail for a while to no avail.

floor with white — Love the dark, wide plank, matte of this floor paired with the white

Anyway, I wish this antique didn’t have complicated hinges requiring hard to find parts…being able to drive down the road to the hardware store would’ve helped big time but that’s part of the fun of vintage/antiques. There is probably 5 minutes of work left on the beauty to attach the “lid.” It looks lovely though and our St. Louis client has been so sweet. Totally worth it and the 250 miles we will be traveling soon to meet them for the drop off. Our policy is that we will drive 250 miles from our town for delivery (for a fee) if needed.

2 floor — Vintage herringbone floor...I was secretly hoping I would find a house with these floors.

So, things seem minor…until you add the fact we’re facing paying another upfront cost to buy out our current lease which would nearly wipe out the budget for our first 6 months of needed fixes in the house. While we found someone interested in taking over our lease, Greg and I are eagerly awaiting news that the family’s application went through and we’re off the hook to pay the nearly few thousand bucks it would to take to get us clear of the responsibility. This is why I put an ad out for our place months ago. But we’re down to crunch time. The family that wants our apartment is awesome though and I hope it works out for them. We’ve had some doozies contact us…many who didn’t even know where our town is located which seems very odd.

3 white floor — White painted floor? I'm for it. But the house isn't going in this direction in my mind so it's just eye candy for us.

Any extra money needs to be taken into consideration and while it would be nice to get in now when the weather is decent, we are at a standstill. And in Minnesota, almost December, you must take advantage before the harsh realities of winter are upon you. I have visions of our moving truck getting stuck in a snow drift and my tears freezing on my cheeks.

We actually want to move right this second which requires a truck that needs to be rented which requires us knowing which weekend to move our big things which requires us knowing when those finishing touches will arrive to complete the secretary so that we can schedule a Saturday delivery 250 miles away.

natural floor — Or we could go for what the original flooring might have looked like. I also enjoy the credenza and style of this shot-this is the style of furniture we intend to make when we begin designing it ourselves (a goal and direction for the business on top of refinishing).

Until some of those issues are solved, we’re at a standstill. I’m jonesin’ to pick up more pieces. A nursery dresser for a client is next so we want to begin prepping that piece too but don’t have the space with what we have packed up. Decisions decisions.

What do you think about the floors? (I know the dark floors will show dust easier but I’ve heard those are mostly the glossy version and I’m not a glossy floor girl so I hope that helps that issue.)

Bookcase Reveal

by Annie Posted on November 21, 2011

What? Another completed project? Yessiree!

With the tapered legs and clean lines, I think this bookcase has mid-century flair and the large, modern floral wallpaper adds some oomph. It’s painted light grey and the wallpaper has metallic silver, off-white and cream shades for more neutral appeal.

1 before bookcase — It had a little starry night thing going on before the wallpaper went on. I liked it but was not about to scrap my idea.

Just in time for turkey time and celebrating our third anniversary with a little relaxation. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Another Before and After Dresser

by Annie Posted on November 14, 2011

The reveal is finally here and this antique painted dresser is listed in our etsy shop as of today!

before and after dresser 4 — Before and After-it did look pretty cool before but what you can't see is the peeling veneer and uneven/missing drawer stops and wacky grain pattern

This dresser was meant for a client but didn’t quite fit her needs so we found a different piece and were happily left with this one. We took it as an opportunity to use some of the partially empty cans of blue and grey paint sitting around, mixing all 5 or 6, including the last of our dark grey chalk paint, to do our own idea.

I also had a surplus of jute rope knobs so this came into being. This is the one that required the trowelable putty to even out the missing veneer portions and lots of work on the drawer stops.

dresser 4 trowelable putty — This dresser looked like this for a while.

keyhole work — removing tape (yes, I'm lying on the bed taking this photo)

We also decided to leave the antique brass keyholes in place so some handy tape work was required then the tedious removal of that tape in the end. You’ll notice a different scene for our workspace…that is our spare bedroom in the apartment. We had to move it on up with the colder weather. Paint doesn’t like to be cold and much of our supplies had to come into warmer temps or risk their ruin, wasting money…which we despise. But it was all worth it. If you like this one and are in the Minneapolis area or southern Minnesota, stop on by and check it out.

Big News (That I Somehow Overlooked Telling You Til Today)

by Annie Posted on November 8, 2011

Sorry but I shared this news on my food blog but let it slip my posting mind until today. Here’s the link to that post and I think it’s worth the click.

On the furniture front, we’ve transitioned to the spare bedroom as our finishing area and plan to have a short break after we complete these 3 projects. (We’re still taking orders.) That goes along with the announcement. Does that convince you to check that link yet?

squirrel — This guy sealed the deal and will be there....

Confession

by Annie Posted on November 1, 2011

People might come to the conclusion that Greg and I decorate our place with painted, antique furniture when glancing at the pieces we’ve created. But they’d be wrong. We are more mid-century modern folk with simple lines and a neutral palette. I’ve added some pics of our belongings throughout the post. Yep, we even had the ever-popular Eames lounge chair (a reproduction I got for a steal) although we sold it because it lacked comfort and we’re going to keep our eye out for the real thing.

tulip chairs — Our reproduction tulip table and authentic Krueger chairs-thrifty finds from craigslist bought separately (the fiberglass needs some work and one day we'll follow a how to we came across)

I prefer adding pops of color in the accents-a pillow, lamp, rug, blanket, and so on. Every piece of wood furniture we own is stained, not painted. Most of it from craigslist and a good deal in need of refinishing. Pretty typical that a couple who repairs pieces wouldn’t have time or put effort into doing these tasks with their own furnishings. One day it will happen. Like if you cleaned houses for a living, you probably wouldn’t be gung-ho to come home at the end of the day and clean your place. Makes sense.

bedroom — Don't pay attention to the poor staging and dust but this is our style-antique mirror mixed with modern, clean-lined dresser (notice the geometric, serene color bedspread on a simple, platform bed frame that Greg made)

My outlet comes in the form of the style you’ve seen thus far on the blog. (More modern projects are on their way.) I get to create and indulge in the part of me that adores the antique side of decor mixed sometimes with modern techniques and supplies. It makes me happy to envision the piece, make it come into existence, dedicating our free time to this passion, then hand it to someone that likes it just as well and will honor it in their home.

Sorry about the picture quality-our credenza (has a matching nightstand...both for $65) that needs refinished...later project

Now that I’ve admitted all of this, I must also add that I have plans to paint a small dresser in a dark color and place it next to the vintage brass bed I picked up through craigslist in our spare bedroom. Bringing my work home.

spare room — My antique brass bed found on craigslist in the early stages of decorating. I'm still working with this and looking for pillows. All of the bedding was on clearance and gathered at different points in my life and finally used on this bed.

When I see our future home, I debate which direction to go-farmhouse chic or modern and clean. Really started digging the idea to remodel a barn or warehouse into modern living/work space. Renovating an old farmhouse or building an open, modern house appeals to me equally…with most scenarios we live in a rural, valley setting not far from a city. In my ideal home, I would mix it all together but we’ll see. Future goal-very distant future. We’re still working on getting our first home.