Three sisters from the same parents. How could we all be so dissimilar while at the same time so alike? How could remembrances of our childhoods be so different? I guess, given the age spread, it isn’t all that surprising.
Sister #1 lived through the lean times.
Sister #2 was there when they were “movin’ on up!”
Sister #3, well, everyone said that she was just plain spoiled though that simply isn’t true!
One thing we had in common were two parents who cared a lot about appearances and looking their best. I once heard my dad referred to as “Dapper Dan” and my mom almost always wore a dress and heels, even into her 80’s when she struggled to remain steady on her feet. There she was, my mom and her walker, heading down to dine and dressed to the nines!
In addition to dress, my mom was a collector of things that made the home I grew up in a place of beauty. When you tour my home you’ll see some of her treasures on display.
So here’s the deal with the three sisters. Our parents taught us strive to look our best too but we pull ourselves together in very different ways:
Sister #1: Traditional style, think Ralph Laurenish. Her look is fairly casual and she loves color. Red is her go-to color.
Sister #2: Elegant style in the vein of Jackie O! She loves to dress up in designer clothes and rocks it in black and white.
Sister #3: Rustic Glam style – Pretty much a jeans girl but she likes to dress her jeans up with pretty tops and layers of jewelry. Blues and greens are her favorite colors – to match her eyes.
Now, can you tell me which sister I am? A lot of times the way we dress our homes is a reflection of the way we dress ourselves. Take a look at a few components of my dining room below to see if this gives you a hint of who I am.
Crystal chandelier
Antique oil painting
Traditional damask wallpaper
Painted and distressed china cabinet
A shabby ruffled tablecloth
Vintage frame turned chalkboard
As I pulled this dining room together with the oriental rug, the chandy, the buffet, the hutch, the wallpaper, and all of the other elements of the room it began to feel . . . FANCY. Too fancy for me (not too fancy for my husband because he loves fancy)! So to make it feel more ME . . . you guessed it, I’m the more rustic glam of the three sisters . . . I added a few rustic elements to the room.
One of these elements was the two oak cabinet doors that I had hanging around in my garage. I thought they would be the perfect foil for the fancy-schmancy crystal wall sconces that I intended to hang on either side of the oil painting. This is the process I used for liming the doors:
- I stripped the doors with a product called Citristrip. This is a product that can be used indoors. It is as easy as painting on, waiting for it to go to work, and scraping it off with a plastic putty knife.
- After stripping the doors I allowed them to dry thoroughly and went over each one with a medium grit sanding block to make sure they were ready to accept the wax.
- Finally, I applied Briwax Liming Wax which was as simple as rubbing it into the wood and removing the excess with a lint-free rag.
Can you see how these two doors tone down the elegance of the crystal sconces and the room a little bit? Now we can have a fancy dinner and still act like our quirky, funny, crazy selves.
Along with the crazy fun friends we seem to be drawn to.
This is the first time I’ve used liming wax and I love how it settles into the grain of the wood. That’s the key by the way. Liming wax works best with open grained hardwoods such as oak and ash.
I’ve added links below to the products I used on this job in case you are interested in purchasing any of them. As my statement says at the top of the page, any purchases through links on this blog help us keep the lights on here at Old Things New but do not cost you any more than buying directing through Amazon.
I do hope you enjoyed my little guessing game though y’all probably had me figured out from the get-go! Next up on the blog I will be sharing a tutorial for the Ruffled Linen-Look Tablecloth that I made for my dining room table.
Blessings until we meet again 😉
TheDIYShowoff, LifeOnLakeshoreDrive, NiftyThriftyThings, SilverPenniesSundays, SundaysAtHome, RusticAndRefined, Spiritual Sundays,
VMG206, TuesdaysAtOurHome,
I knew you were sister behind door #3!!!
Patti,
I knew which sister you were from the get go!!!
However, the affirmation came with the description of your wardrobe choices!!!
Your parents sound amazing!!!
I love the Briming Wax used on your cabinet doors!!!
I’m wanting to take my heirloom buffet and “Mr. Ed’s” handmade hutch top to a lighter hue.
I had hopped that liming would be the solution, but I’m wanting a much lighter hue.
I’ll have to do some more research before I begin!!!
Fondly,
Pat
Patti, i wasn’t sure if you were talking about you and your sisters or me and mine! Loved this
Love this…thanks for the tutorial. Now I’m looking for what is in my house that I can use this on!
Patti, I love the way you wrote this and described yourself. Yes, your home reflects your fashion style too! I hope mine does as well.
Just spotted your Fab over 50 Pinterest board. I’m off to check it out. 🙂
Patti, your mom sounds a lot like mine. Our family was known to be dressed “best”. Appearances were VERY important. I love your shutters & sconces…they are perfect with your painting.
I knew immediately you were sister # 3 with the disclaimer of being spoiled….LOL
And the picture you painted of your Mother was delightful….what a vision she made, I’m sure. hahaha, you and I both will be wearing our orthopaedic shoes with a little glitz and glam spread over them, huh! And I’ve no doubt our walkers will be dressed accordingly….personally, I want some sassy ribbons and bows somewhere on mine, to dress up the “denim apron pocket” it will surely be sporting to carry all my essentials!
Phil 1:3 girl!
Patti, I love the addition of the doors and sconces. They are fabulous with the painting.
Hugs,
Sherry
I guessed that you were #3 even before you got into descriptions.
I have one sister and I wrote a blog post a couple of years ago about the difference between our two styles. She is always dressed to the nines and in heels – at 4’10” she wants to look taller. She is still at nearly 70 an executive at a Fortune 500 company and loath to retire. Her large home is quite formal. One similarity is that her dining room is usually done in navy/red/yellow which is my color palette.
I on the other hand wear a uniform of Patagonia shorts, a Life Is Good t-shirt and flip flops. There is NOTHING formal about our tiny home. My sister was thrilled when we downsized to our beach house because both of us enjoyed living with family pieces and many were just too large for this house. Her husband brought up a truck to our former home and loaded it up with beautiful chairs, cabinets, dressers, etc that had all been in our family for years. The pieces didn’t go into their home right away. The chippy look didn’t work for them so every piece went immediately to a furniture refinisher who gave them a formal look, recovered seat covers, etc.
Thanks for this sweet look at you and your sisters!
I love this look! I have never tried liming wax before and everyone keeps telling me how easy it is to achieve beautiful patina with it …. I will certainly be looking for it next trip to the hardware store now! Your doors are stunning! I love the styling of them too!
I hope you have a great day!
Smiles!
Terry
I knew which sister you were too!
The shutters are beautiful Patti! Love the lime wax and how it looks on your shutters, so beautiful with the rustic and glam together!
Blessings,
Cindy
What a fun post Patti – loved reading about your Mom all dressed up in heels with her walker LOL !!!
And knew you were sister number three –
And that door is a thing of pure beauty – RUSTIC GLAM at it’s finest !
xxx
I love the rustic look of your home. So, I think you’re the sister #3.
Thank you for sharing at the Thursday Favorite Things blog hop
I just acquired a beautiful old oak sideboard and have been struggling on deciding what to do with it. I did not want to cover it all up with paint, but his is beautiful. I will have to try this liming wax. Is it different from white wax?
I love the rustic added to the elegance of your decor. I have some liming wax that I am itching to use now that I have seen what it can do. Thank you for the inspiration!
Absolutely love this!!! Such a gorgeous effect and it looks amazing!! So happy to have you as my feature on this week’s wonderful wednesday link party! http://fromevijawithlove.com/2016/02/09/wonderful-wednesday-link-party-2-february/
What a creatively written post! So very awesome.
Your decor is amazing.
Thanks for sharing (and for linking up to the #SHINEbloghop).
Wishing you a lovely day.
xoxo
you certainly have all those beautiful, vintage things that I adore. And the tale of the three sisters is so cute as well 🙂
Lovely post Patti. I love how this project worked out for you. I’m delighted to be featuring it on Shabbilicious Friday tomorrow. Hugs ~ Kerryanne
Beautiful! Love the tale of the 3 sisters and the beautiful limed oak wall sconces. Thank you for sharing with us at Brag About it this week!
Congratulations for being featured at the “Table It” Link party…that’s how I found your wonderful post! I have not tried liming wax but I want to give it a go when I find an appropriate piece that would take it well.
Really enjoyed your story, Patti, and I LOVE your wall sconces. They are beautiful. Thanks for sharing!