Category: custom

custom, Embroidery, Updates

Happy New Year (SALE) ALL Month Long

lauraleeimhoff

Well, in all honesty, I had this blog post written a couple of days ago but got completely distracted by the news. That being said, Happy New Year! I know it’s been a minute since my last post, but let me tell you! I have been stitching away since Black Friday. Thank you to everyone that put in custom orders and helped a humble little maker like me make it through the holiday season. I’ve been able to spend the first few days of 2021 resting and planning for this year, no matter what it brings!

I thought I’d start this year off a little differently… with a sale! I am doing yet another special on custom embroidery orders since the Black Friday Sale was such a hit! So, any custom embroidery order deposit that is made in the month of January will receive 10% off of their final purchase.

Here are some examples of past work. Let’s get creative whether you want a wall piece, apron, towel, handmade pillow, or something else… I’m ready to design and create.

How It Works

  1. Start thinking about your custom order whether it’s a towel, wall art, pillow, etc. 
  2. If you have questions, email me! 
  3. Make a deposit on your custom order here.
  4. Wait for me to contact you to begin the process of designing your custom order. 
  5. I will stitch, stitch, stitch!
  6. Upon the completion of your special creation, I will send you an invoice for the final product and you’ll receive 10% off of the final order. 

I’m looking forward to stitching up your custom embroidery soon!

custom, Embroidery, Updates

Black Friday Special All Week Long!

lauraleeimhoff

Here we are…Thanksgiving week! I’ve got my to-do list of cooking tasks ready to go and I cannot wait for the feasting, relaxing, and pecan pie. I’ve been making a point to reflect on all of the things I’m thankful for this year, despite the nuttiness of 2020.

I’m incredibly grateful for all of you that continue to read my blog, like my social media posts, and continue to support my small business. To show my gratitude, I’m hosting a Black Friday Special that is running all week long. All those that place a custom embroidery order this week will receive 15% off of their final purchase.

I’ve never hosted a special like this! It’s exciting! Check out some examples of custom work I’ve done in the past and read on for more details!

How It Works

  1. Start thinking about your custom order whether it’s a towel, wall art, pillow, etc. 
  2. If you have questions, email me! 
  3. Make a deposit on your custom order here.
  4. Wait for me to contact you to begin the process of designing your custom order. 
  5. I will stitch, stitch, stitch!
  6. Upon the completion of your special creation, I will send you an invoice for the final product and you’ll receive 15% off of the final order. 

I’m looking forward to stitching up your custom embroidery soon!

Before & After, custom, DIY, furniture

Holidays: Seats for Six

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I had a few other pieces to refinish but I thought I would get a jump on refinishing these chairs before Thanksgiving. You know, on the off chance they found a home around somebody’s table for the holiday. I acquired these chairs years ago from someone who had bought them with the sole purpose of refinishing them, but she never got around to them. So, after sitting in my shop waiting for a little TLC, they finally got it!

These chairs were structurally in great condition other than a few of the seats needed the wood replaced. All of the fabric and cushions were completely replaced. One crossbar stretching is missing from one of the chairs but the chair was structurally sound. I thought leaving it the way it was would give the set more character.

Dining Room Chairs Makeover 

  • Removed seats and sanded all wood
  • All stables, cushions, and fabric removed
  • The base of wooden seats replaced where needed
  • Chairs received k walnut stain and wax finish
  • All seats received new cushions and soft turquoise fabric.

More on these chairs…

Out of the six chairs, two of them have arms leaving the remaining four as a standard chair. Total height: 36” Seat height: 19” Width: 18” Depth: 15”

These are for sale at a modest $250. If you are in the Austin area and interested, please contact me.

custom, DIY, furniture

A Place to Hang Your Hat

lauraleeimhoff

My partner and I have consistently complained that we needed a better place to hang our new farm hats other than plopping them down on the kitchen island or the new bar cart every night after a long day of work. We couldn’t justify spending $40 on a hat rack that we weren’t in love with… ok, that I wasn’t in love with, especially when I know I  could make a better one.

IMG_4549

The solution seemed simple… Make one! Just last month, I refinished a lovely little bar cart for my home. I had some leftover wood from the new top that I had fitted and some remaining paint as well. I also collect knobs and hooks when I go to craft stores because I always think, “Oh! I like that! I’m sure I’ll find a project for that.” I never know when I’ll need them, so sure enough… these little wooden knobs were a good previous purchase.

My apologies, the pictures aren’t the best. Our little wood cabin is pretty dark and the wood walls don’t help. (Side note: Can I tell you how difficult it is to decorate a wood walled cabin when you have wooden furniture?! It’s a lot of wood.) I combat it with as much white as I can to brighten it up though.

I really enjoyed making this little hat rack, so if you’re in need of a quick little hat rack, I’d be more than happy to make you a custom one for cheaper and better made than the ones you’ll find at the store. Email me!

Before & After, custom, DIY, furniture

Dresser All Dressed Up

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Have you ever had a project that you’ve had on your list for a little longer than you care to admit? Well, I’ve got a few of those in my shop. Things are a little slower these days as far as custom pieces so I’ve had some time to catch up. I acquired this dresser years ago and have moved it several times. I’m happy to say that she’s now received the makeover I’ve been meaning to give her!

Dresser Makeover

This dresser had some rot on the bottom but the rest of it was in incredibly sturdy condition.

  • Removed all drawers, doors, and hardware
  • Flipped several times to remove the bottom piece with rot
  • Trimmed the side pieces and rebuilt for support
  • Sanded down and filled all major blemishes
  • Painted with dark grey paint
  • Applied ebony stain to new feet and piece
  • Attached new hardware with leather accents.

This piece is for sale. If you are in the Austin area and interested, please contact me.

Before & After, custom, DIY, furniture

Step Into Some Turquoise

lauraleeimhoff

Years ago, someone gifted me with this little table. I’ve been holding onto it because I just couldn’t find the right idea that matched its personality. I thought I wanted to do multi-colored striping on the top section. Admittedly, I wasn’t in love with that, but with a little patience, the right one finally came along.

Step End Table Makeover

This little guy was structurally sound but just needed some cosmetic repairs.

  • Remove all peeling wood and sand down
  • Fill various holes and cracks
  • Glue some of the laminate
  • Redefine crevices with Dremel tool
  • Paint teal, gold, and black
  • Coat with a polyurethane

This piece is for sale. If you are in the Austin area and interested, please contact me.

Before & After, custom, DIY, furniture, Uncategorized

Bar Cart Makeover

lauraleeimhoff

Back in August, someone had gifted me a few pieces of furniture during their downsize/move. This bar cart was one of the few and for the first time ever I thought, “I’m doing this one for me.”

The thing about moving into a new cabin in the Texas Hill Country is that believe it or not, I didn’t have a whole heck of a lot of furniture. I had done a huge downsizing myself just a year and a half before. I mean, I had all the furnture in my shop but… the bar cart is the only thing I saw coming into my home. The funny part of this is I don’t drink anymore, but I sure need the extra storage!

The Bar Cart Breakdown

Here’s a breakdown of what TLC this bar cart received:

  • Removed warped top and all hardware
  • A quick sand and a coat of white paint
  • Cut a new top down to size
  • Stained entire piece with walnut tinted wax
  • Replaced all hardware including door latches and stops

Here she sits in our front entrance way under the shelf I made with the same stain and all my house plants.

Before & After, custom, furniture, Updates

The Workshop is Open!

lauraleeimhoff

I have yet another exciting announcement to make: The workshop is now open! I know I’ve posted a few chairs here and a bench there, but the workshop is now fully operational and ready to take on larger pieces for custom refinishing work.

What does that mean?

What does that mean exactly? Well, if you have a dresser, a desk, perhaps a dining room table set that is in need of some TLC and elbow grease, it means that I now have the space to be able to refinish these pieces. It’s very exciting!

The Perks

My previous shop was a great place to get started and I rented it for years. I had great company, views, and space. While the new shop is just a little bit smaller, I have to say the perks are worth it. It is bright, has windows, airflow, cabinets, and most importantly, it’s sealed off from the elements. And… I’m rigging it up for AIR CONDITIONING! I cannot tell you the number of times I have dripped sweat into a finish and had to start over. This is so exciting. The best part? It’s right outside my front door. I can have coffee and stroll just a few feet to the shop and go back and refill on coffee in seconds. (Clearly, the coffee is important.)

All this being said, bring your rundown furniture to me for a furniture makeover. C’mon! Keep me in the shop as much as possible!

Before & After, custom, DIY, furniture

Raising the Bar

lauraleeimhoff

Raising the bar… or at least, trying to.  It’s been a little bit of a nutty week over here and I feel like I can’t quite seem to bounce back from last week.  Why am I so flustered? Well, my truck got broken into, laptop stolen and much more. As someone that lives out of her laptop between blogs, marketing, social media, editing pictures, etc. it’s been a little bit of a whirlwind with changing passwords, locking screens, and calling all sorts of agencies from banks to the IRS and everything in between.

With all the craziness, I’ve been trying to focus on the things that matter.  A laptop and window can be replaced. While the majority of my pictures and documents were online or backed up, some of the most recent work wasn’t. Therefore, I’ve just been focusing on creating new things to share. Some of the images that I can’t get back are the high resolution pictures of this new bar I refinished.  I think the iPhone pictures will work for now though.

This little bar cart was a curbside find by it’s current owner.  It was in need of some serious structural work, before receiving a light sand and a coat of paint. After the repairs were made, the first coat of paint was applied only to discover Home Depot mixed me the wrong color! Now, knowing that there is no return policy on paint, I decided to improvise and mix what paints I had in the shop instead.  I ended up with a cool charcoal grey coated with an ebony stain.  A much better fit rather than the vibrant navy that had been first applied.  The hardware was upgraded and she was ready to return home!

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custom, furniture

Home Decor & the New Year

lauraleeimhoff

Happy New Year! 

I sincerely hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday and rang in the New Year surrounded by friends, family, and loved ones.  I, myself, had a very quiet holiday and spent it with friends and their family. It was filled with cooking, of course, and a little bit more lazy time than I typically allow myself.  2020 is here though and chomping at the bit so it’s back to “work”.  

Besides cooking up a storm and experimenting with new recipes, I’ve been getting a little more time in my shop these past few weeks. While the cooler weather doesn’t necessarily agree with my fingers, some of the pieces that I’ve been completing have got me, let’s say, starry-eyed. 

Request for a Galaxy Desk

One of my favorite things about doing custom work is the challenge. It gets my brain going in a different way. When this client approached me about a desk, I was over the moon. She set her parameters: purple and if you can make it galaxy-themed that would be great.  Admittedly, a galaxy themed desk wasn’t something I had done before but with a little inventiveness, I think this Facebook Marketplace find that was scuffed up, drab brown, and some minor structural damage is now sturdy, smooth, and a touch over the top.  A desk this glam needed a chair to match so I grabbed one from my overstock of chairs and threw some paint and velvet on it… BIG BANG! 

 

Midnight Blue Chair

As I previously mentioned, I have an overstock of chairs in the shop.  It’s one of those items that people gift to me to refinish and flip. This particular chair I decided to refinish and give back to the owner this holiday season. Knowing their favorite color was blue made it pretty easy.  These chairs are American-made and hard to come by. Oddly enough, it’s the second one to come through my shop.  While this one had some chew marks on the legs from a puppy, I chose to sand it down and keep the blemishes as I thought it added character and it’s something for the owner to chuckle at. After, I painted it a deep blue, applied a walnut stain to the exposed wood, and finished it with wax. 

If you’re in the Austin area and have a piece of furniture in need of some TLC, don’t hesitate to contact me! I’d love to help.