The Belcourte Collection

Today, I'm doing the happy Tuesday dance. Look at these AMAZING finds! Two matching vintage beds. They have detail, wood wheels, spindle legs and lots of worn chippiness. They are perfect! And there wasn't one, there were TWO of them!

This post may contain affiliate links. Read our full disclosure here.

I may have actually thrown my money at the gal selling them.

Two sisters need these beds! They need to have pillow fights, late night discussions and lots and lots of giggles. But, before anybody can enjoy them, they need a serious face lift. Perhaps, somebody living in a gingerbread house might enjoy them as is. But....I don't know very many people that live in  gingerbread houses. Do you?

Inspired by Anthropologie, I wanted them to be bright & bold. 

I chose Chalk Paint® decorative paint by Annie Sloan in Florence which gives you a really deep turquoise/peacock blue hue. I highlighted them with a mixture of Clear & Dark Wax. 

Here are some of the details of this furniture makeover...

If I was the new owner of these beds, I'd pair them with white duvets and lots of fun patterned pillows. Here's to bright & bold!

Carrie || Thirty Eighth Street

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UPHOLSTERY FABRIC FURNITURE MAKEOVER

This upholstery fabric tutorial will teach you how to reupholster a chair. If upholstery repair sounds intimidating, don't stress. We break down reupholstering in a few easy steps!

"Broken crayons still color." 

All it takes is YOU to imagine it, think it and do it! You can create new things out of old things. 

And it doesn't have to cost a lot of money. 

And it doesn't have to take a lot of time. 

This here was once a piano bench. Do you see that large faded spot in the middle of the bench? 

I look at that worn area and I can picture a little girl or boy sitting there practicing their sheet music over and over again... 

Perfecting a craft takes time and dedication and this bench tells that story.

Disclosure: I received Country Chic paint products to complete this furniture makeover, however the thoughts and opinions expressed here are 100% my own. This post may contain affiliate links to products I love and use everyday. You may read our full disclosure for more info.

HOW TO UPHOLSTER A BENCH

We don't own a piano in our home. But, it doesn't have to be used for the same purpose. 


I do have a small area in our foyer for Ms. Georgia. And this bench would make the perfect spot to put on our shoes before we head out the door everyday.

I stripped the old and ugly upholstery off and then ran like mad to our outside garbage can. ;)


See all those worn areas on her spindly legs? I was a big fan of all 412 scuff marks and I wanted to show them off.  


Since the wood was lighter in color, I selected a darker and richer hue to help all those details pop. Country Chic Paint in Liquorice was perfect for this furniture makeover and it went on like a dream!


Country Chic Paint has very low odor (I painted inside!), quick drying times and it has the most beautiful coverage!

After just 1.5 coats of paint, she looked like this. Black, chippy and the perfect amount of natural distressing.

While my protective wax dried I used some inexpensive 1" foam, measured it and then cut it to the size of the top of the bench.

I selected a new upholstery fabric with oodles of color and stapled it around the foam. And Voilà!... The Georgia Bench. That. Was. It.  

An easy DIY project that took just a little over an hour to complete but added some major color to our living space. 

PIN THIS FURNITURE MAKEOVER!

Come see our other furniture refinishing tutorials!

Happy Reupholstering!
Carrie || Thirty Eighth Street

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Texture Inspiration: Stone Walls

I heart Pinterest. What a clever clever site. Sharing is caring and that site is full of it! Anybody else in the Pinterest Hoarder Club or the I'm Pinning That Because Someday I'm Gonna Do IT club? Only to need Pinterest Rehab because you spend so much time pinning that it takes away your time to implement? High Five, Fist Pump. Join the club!


We are in the process of renovating our home as a Spanish Revival. We're on the five year plan. That plan translates into,  "I hope we're done renovating in five years".  Pinterest becomes your best pal when you're on that kind of timeframe. You can pin your way into inspiration overload and never run out of ideas.


I'd like to put stacked stone on an accent wall as well as in our kitchen. These photos in particular make my heart pitter-patter. I thought I would share their gorgeousness with you...

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Happy planning. Happy pinning. Happy doing!

Carrie || Thirty Eighth Street

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Our Favorite Colors from CeCe Caldwells Paints

Sometimes it's hard to visualize what a paint color will look like on an actual piece of furniture. Well we're here to help! Thirty Eighth Street would like to share some of our favorite hues from CeCe Caldwells Paints. 

We love the bold and warm hue of Kissimmee Orange. The Paupers Castle refinished this lovely dresser in it and we think it looks amazing!

Image via: The Paupers Castle

We're also drawn to Smoky Mountain. Restored by Rachel used this lovely neutral blue-grey color on this gorgeous cabinet. Doesn't it look amazing against the dark java stained top?

Image via: Restored By Rachel

Next, on our list of favorites is... Kentucky Mint. Vintage Street Designs gave this pair of nightstands a beautiful color combo layering Kentucky Mint, Blue Mountain Sky & Santa Fe Turquoise.

Image Via: Vintage Street Designs

We love classic neutrals and so we're also smitten with Vermont Slate. The perfect dark grey/soft black color. And look how stunning it is on this side table from Hue St. Market?

Image via: Hue St. Market

And lastly,  how about a little sunshine? Rounding out our Top 5 CeCe Caldwells Paint picks is Carolina Sun Yellow. It's the perfect shade of bright and cheery. We are in love with the way My Blessed Life used it to refinish this side table. 

Image via: My Blessed Life

To see additional completed projects using CeCe Caldwells Natural Chalk + Clay Paint, visit our Pinterest Board where we've started a collection of gorgeous projects using CeCe Caldwells Natural Paints! 

Happy National Painting Week!

Carrie || Thirty Eighth Street

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NEW! Introducing Pure & Original Paint

This post contains affiliate links. However, the opinions expressed here are 100% my own. Please read my disclosure policy. 

If you love paint and you love design then this blog post is a MUST read! Pure & Original is one of the world's most luxurious paints. They offer hand made high quality lime paint in so many wonderful natural color choices. It really is a designers dream!

Pure & Original Paint is officially launching within the United States in just one week! To celebrate they are holding a USA Launch Giveaway and look at the prizes**!

10 paint enthusiasts will win an incredible prize package that includes: 
a 10% lifetime discount to pureoriginalpaint.com,
a one-time use 30% off code for the entire site,
and 3 sample sizes of our high quality Classico paint.

What do you have to do to enter? Simply click here and submit your email address. That's it! If I haven't convinced you yet, take a look at the some of these beautiful natural hues and the incredible results Pure & Original produces!

An invitation was extended to me to try Pure & Original Classico Regular chalk paint in exchange for my honest review of it and it's just arrived. Thirty Eighth Street does not receive any monetary gains for you to enter. I did receive free product from Pure & Original to try in exchange for my honest opinions and reviews on it. But, because I'm already in love with their color palette, I've decided to sing it from the roof tops. And I like sharing. ;)

I'm trying Pure & Original Classico Regular chalk paint in Burned Sand & Warm White and I have just the DIY project for it. For additional inspirational ideas using Pure & Original Paint, hop on over to our Pinterest Board where we've collected beautiful images using Pure & Original Fresco Lime and Classico Regular chalk paint.

In the meantime, enter, enter, enter... we wish you the best of luck!

Carrie || Thirty Eighth Street

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The Olivia Mirror: Reverse Distressing

Sometimes you get lucky enough to find the same piece twice. Which is fantastic because it always solves the question of, "Um, I wonder what it would look like in this color...". You're with me, right!?

Several months ago, I purchased this mirror and created an aged gold patina. If you missed that mirror makeover, you can find it here:

Finding this exact mirror a second time was a treat! I was curious to see what this gal could do with some turquoise patina. Perfect, because now I'm going to get my second chance! To get a rich patina, I chose Chalk Paint® decorative paint by Annie Sloan in Florence. This color all by itself offers a really bold flare. It's also one of my favorite colors for layering.

Since this mirror already had an original brassy bronze hue to her, I opted for a reverse distressing technique. Reverse distressing means your distressing while you're painting without actually using sand paper or wiping of paint. It's more of a painting technique. You don't paint for full coverage but rather you paint with push strokes so that the natural tone shows through the paint and looks as if it's already been distressed.

Once my paint had dried, I selectively covered her in targeted areas with Dark Wax.

The combination of her original color, Chalk Paint® in Florence and the dark wax gave her a stunning combination of colors that were to die for. Here's Ms. Olivia in all her turquoise patina glory.

Do you see how the original brassy finish came through? Those areas weren't painted, that's what we call reverse distressing.

Here's to second chances!

Carrie || Thirty Eighth Street

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