Les Deux Oiseaux Bistro

Les Deux Oiseaux Bistro on a surprisingly warm day in November. The perfect day to enjoy an 

al fresco meal of crusty bread, bleu cheese and fruit. 

I am learning that my trash-to-treasure posts are very popular. And this one definitely started out as trash. 

If you recall, the house came with 2 ugly boring lamps sitting on 2 even less attractive TV trays. You can look HERE to see what I did with the lamps. 

The TV trays were never very fine. The top is a plastic surface meant to look like parquet, I guess. The legs are starting to rust. 

The underside gives a really good idea of the condition and a look at the original masonite. 

I started by painting the top with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White. This took 2 coats.

I wanted this to have a weathered look, so I used the blow dryer to create a cracked finish. That discoloration is rust or mold or something bleeding through the paint. This probably sounds strange, but I like the discoloration.

I wanted to make these look like signs so I could hang them on the side of the house when they are not in use - decorative and functional!

To find printable French signs, I went HERE

Since I was going to be applying the image face down, I selected two that were mirror images with words and pictures. To make my selection, I printed out all the ones I liked and held them up to the window so I could read the words. Don't skip this step or you could have a surprise. This one of The Two Birds Bistro was my favorite! I also like the sign for Patisserie (Bakery) & Confiserie (Sweet shop). You can see the second one behind.

I printed out my two choices large enough to fill an 8.5 x 11 piece of paper. Then I took them to the office supply store and had them enlarged to 11 x 17. This is just regular laser jet printing.

I applied another coat of paint, just where the paper would be. I put the paper face down on the wet paint, covered it with a piece of plastic wrap for protection,  and then made sure all the air bubbles were out by using an old wallpaper roller I had. I let it dry COMPLETELY - about 4 hours. 

Now the fun part! I just spritzed it with water and rubbed the paper away with my fingers.

Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of the black painting. I used some of my old chalk board paint to cover the rusty fake gold on the legs and edge of the top. 

You can see how the paper comes off to reveal the printing that has stuck to the paint.

I used a pencil to sketch a faint line where I wanted to create an edge, then used an old artist's brush to paint on the French Linen. It is freehand, so the look is rustic.

I wanted to make the Old White a little more gray and make the cracking stand out, so I did a wash with half water and half Paris Gray, quickly wiping away as I did it in two stages. Because I plan on using these outside, I did not use dark wax. I don't know what it would do, but wax is not recommended for exterior use.

I had to work quickly, so there is not a picture. But you can see the shadows it created here.

Now it's time to relax and enjoy a light meal before I attack the Patisserie & Confiserie sidewalk table. I thought they deserved a new name!

The House in the Garden - Chapter Two

Now we begin the second chapter of our tale. In true Dickensian style, the hero's story will be told in eagerly anticipated installments. In the beginning, his bleak life is unattractive and seemingly hopeless, until a generous benefactor takes an interest.

 There will be laughter and tears, villains and charming girls. 

Unexpected, totally random problems that must be solved will present themselves, leaving us wondering if life will ever work out for our  poor, unfortunate hero. About half way through the tale, the readers will begin to wonder if this story will ever end. 

 But ultimately, the hero will have his happy ending in the company of loving family and loyal friends.

One of my goals in writing the blog is to document the entire transformation of the house. And since everyone wants to see the "before," a few ugly, boring entries are how things must start. Personally, I like to read about projects that show me the beautiful "after" pictures. 

This is the "before" main level floor plan. Each of the three rectangles was a separate construction.

 The original house is on the right. It included the living room, kitchen and upstairs with two bedrooms and a full bath. The upstairs is small and will only have cosmetic work done.

The middle section was the first addition - a laundry room, sun room, and work shop.

The left section was the second addition - a study and master suite.

More details can be found in Chapter One - HERE

Here is our new floor plan. We are making an opening under the stairs to connect the living room to the sun room ... through the old workshop! The old sun room, old study, and old workshop will be combined to make a new great room with kitchen, dining area and family room. This will be the heart of the house. The old kitchen will become a small office for me and a powder room. 

We got the permit a few weeks ago and demolition has begun. First, the wall was removed between the kitchen and the living room. Parts of it were cinder block and made quite a mess.

But I have the neatest contractor ever! He always cleans up before he leaves for the day. Yoshi is wondering what happened.

Next the studs and other wall were removed. And, of course, the jumbo vacuum is in the center of the picture.

The wall between the sun room and the workshop was then removed. 

The green tape is where the new doorway will be cut.

Next week will be short because of the holiday, but I suspect the new doorway will be cut and some additional cinder block removed. There will also be some preliminary work done for the new central air conditioning and heat. The house currently has two window A/C units. One is in an upstairs bedroom and the other is in the back, downstairs bedroom. Boring but necessary.

And when we are finished and the cherubs and Greek gods are painted on the ceiling, it will look just like this!

Just in case you are wondering, the illustrations are from a 19th century edition of Bleak House by Charles Dickens. Somehow that seemed appropriate. There was even a cat in a couple of the pictures!

November in the Garden

Next week the old porch will come off, and the exterior transformation will begin. This will probably be one of the last "before" pictures.

The leaves have turned and our giant oaks are mostly brown. I am jealous because the neighbors' oaks have more red and orange than ours!

 I am especially envious of the bright red maple across the street, 

even when I have to rake the leaves.

The nandina berries are coming into their fall color.

Close up you can see the oak leaves that have fallen in the bush.

We have an amazing view of the hills of south Arlington. In the distance, the trees are yellow, red, brown, and green. As I child growing up in West Texas, we cut leaves from construction paper, but I never really understood what we were doing. Now I know.

I have no idea what it is, but this fragrant purple flower has just now begun to bloom.

 The Chinese lanterns are still around and look beautiful with the turning leaves of a little volunteer oak..

A nice spot to sit and enjoy the pleasant weather we continue to have.

Last month the neighbor was obsessing over the acorns. Now I understand why. I thought I would just rake them up with the leaves, but they have already started to sprout and must be pulled out of the ground by hand. It's like trying to vacuum straight pins out of the carpet.

I raked the brick path yesterday, and it is already covered again.

This is the tall camellia at the back of the house. It is an evergreen and has my first blooms in the spring - a pale pink, 3 inch, waxy blossom. One of my favorites! It is fun to see the promising green buds tucked between the leaves.

The leadwort by the front door still has a few blossoms, and the leaves are a beautiful red.

Maybe it's because the fall has been so mild, but the rose is very happy.

The chrysanthemum put on a little bit of a show, but I forgot to take a picture at its peak. Still not a favorite. I will probably get a replacement next fall.

The fall blooming camellia is still going with its small pink flowers. Trying to think how I can make this stand out more. Ideas, anyone??

Here's the part I am choosing to ignore - construction rubbish. In front and on the side of the house are piles that grow with demolition and shrink with runs to the dump.

I see leaf raking in my future.

Another Recycled Lamp

When we purchased our house, the owners left several lamps in the pitifully staged house. Seriously, there were a couple of TV trays (like from the 1960s) with lamps and timers in the rooms that did not have overhead lighting. I redid the mid-century lamp from the basement. Check it out: HERE

 And I wanted to see what I could do with two of these:

For about five minutes in the 1970's I thought these glass lamps were interesting, but I always felt like there needed to be something inside them. 

Seashells in a beach house ... maybe. Silk flowers ... NEVER.

The shape reminded me of blue and white ginger jar lamps...which I like. Since there is no way in the world I could ever paint something like that myself, I thought I would decoupage with cocktail napkins. It seemed to be a simple, interesting technique. 

I headed to Tuesday Morning (one of my favorite places) looking for inspiration.

I ended up with a package of guest towels, $2.99 for 16. I liked the repeat pattern and the fact that there were only 2 colors. 

I got my sharp little scissors and put on Netflix while I snipped away. Once the patterns were cut out, all I had to do was carefully peel away the two white layers of paper, leaving me with a very thin layer of paper with the pattern. I had watched some videos about using cocktail napkins for decoupage. Really pretty simple.

While I carefully practiced the scissor skills I learned in elementary school, I watched anther episode of REIGN.

Next I reached for the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint that sticks to glass.

I chose Versailles, a pale, grayish green, and applied 2 coats.

I used the Annie Sloan decoupage medium, because her stuff is designed for the non-professional crowd. 

All I had to do was paint the medium on the spot where I wanted to apply my paper, stick it on, and cover it with a thin layer of the medium. I then waited 20 minutes for the medium to dry and added a second coat. The instructions say to use 4 - 5 coats for best results. Super easy. I covered the entire piece with the medium so the finish would be the same. This product is an all-in-one glue and glaze.

It "popped" a little more than I wanted, so I used the Annie Sloan dark wax to tone it down. Because of the glazed surface from the decoupage medium, I did not start with the clear wax. I could not find any instructions for using dark wax with the decoupage medium, so I just made it up as I went along. I turned out fine.

(Forgot to take a picture of the dark wax application)

The lamp was looking not right, so I decided to add gilding wax. I started with my finger and then got a Q-tip because the areas were small. The more I applied, the better I liked it. It was a little tedious, so I put on another episode of REIGN. Then it hit me - I was recreating the costumes of the royal characters with their gold-threaded damask!

Do you see it, too??

One lamp down, one to go.

 Or should I try something else? Please let me know what you think!

The lamp next to gilt-edged poetry books from the 19th century that belonged to my great-grandfather (the books, not the century).

While the contractor is tearing down walls in the next room, I was hanging the pictures to make a little vignette. Hubby has always said I want to hang the pictures before the walls are even up. He is literally correct this time.