Decorating with Doors

I love, love, love decorating with doors!

They take up a lot of wall space and cover a black wall beautifully!

They had texture and layers and dimension so they "POP" instead of just blend in!

They can be painted and embellished and used in such creative ways that the possibilities are endless!

And so if an old door crosses my path --- it MUST come home with me!  No questions asked!

Here are just a few examples of ways that I've decorated with old doors over the years.  

Hope you enjoy the eye candy! 

We created this awesome backdrop from old doors that is great for weddings and other celebrations.

This is just half of a french door set that an amazing client offered us after a remodel.  We jumped at the chance and have loved them ever since.

Just another glimpse of the french door set used in another way....grouped together with some sheer curtains and lighting added for a cozy glow.

 Another look at the pretty french door....there are so many uses for these!

This beauty was from my Grandma's garage...it fits perfectly in mama's flower garden with all it's chippy charm.

 And this pretty little thing came from our family's Bear Lake Home away from home cute little farmhouse.  It used to be cream but I painted it a light aqua to match the rest of the decor.

And that's just a small sample!

Thanks for looking!

Long Live Vintage

Chippy, Shabby, Vintage goodness was our first love....and always will be!!  That is one of the styles that got us started on this amazing and creative adventure of flipping furniture.

So it's no surprise that every so often we head back to our roots and create something that has a part of our heart attached to it!!

We love this 3 pane window, complete with original paint and attached original screen.  We've added some fun chippy hooks for function and floral embellishments and lace for an added vintage touch.   This little cutie is so lightweight that it can hang just about anywhere and would be equally pretty and useful just left standing as well....so you can use your imagination and move it anywhere you want!

You can use this in a bedroom for jewelry, in an entryway for keys, or even in a hallway and hang some cute family photos from it.  The sky's the limit on this beauty!!

Available for just $60.00

Email us with inquiries.

Thanks for looking!

So Happy {and perfect} Together

A few months ago for of our fabulous customers, collaborators, and friends offered us a darling set of six chairs that she was no longer going to be using.  Well, if you know us at all, you know that we NEVER say no to a furniture offer!!  No matter what the condition is, we love the opportunity to give a piece of furniture a fabulous new makeover.  So within just a few hours the chairs were delivered and you can imagine how I might have been a little giddy when I saw these being unloaded from the truck!!

They were in excellent condition and my mind immediately went a little bit crazy with all the possibilities of what these could become.

Sometimes we jump right onto projects, and sometimes we like to let some sit for a while, mulling over ideas, trying out different options, and overall giving the furniture a chance to let us know just what it's makeover should be.

Sounds weird...but I'm telling ya'll, furniture really does have a way of letting you know just what to do with it!

I had a few thoughts for these chairs but nothing was really pushing me to get them done, so I just let them sit for a few months.

And then I JUST KNEW.....

And so I got started!  

Cuz when you KNOW you can't just wait, right??

Although the colors in my kitchen were definitely influential in this makeover,  I had planned to put this 6 piece set up for sale when they were done.  I thought it would be fun to have an unexpected pop of color to give the set an eclectic feel, so I decided that I was going to paint 2 chairs in Rustoleum Lagoon and the remaining 4 in Rustoleum White.  

I got started painting right away.  I knew I wanted to distress the chairs but when I started off with a light distressing it just wasn't enough....so the big guns came out and I went to town.  

Gotta tell ya....I'm pretty sure a good distressing makes everything soooo much better!!

Originally I had planned to paint the seats of the chairs in a dark walnut brown, but as I finished up the chairs and tested them out with the seats in their original condition, I really loved them in their original state!  The contrast and color were perfect!  So they stayed just as they were.

And here is the finished product!

Seriously...I don't think they get any cuter than this!

So remember back to when my original plan was to make these available for sale?  

As I was working on them I kept having that little voice in my head tell me how perfect they would be around my kitchen table.  After all, I was in transit for chairs and hadn't found anything that would work.  I kept trying to push that little voice away, but it was pretty persistent!

So I thought, OK Fine!!  

I'll just stage them around my table and that should help me decide whether or not I just have to have them.

So I completed the staging and snapped a few pics.....

By now you have probably guessed the end of the story!!

These cutie pies are staying with me!!

Love it when the unexpected comes together in such a pretty and perfect way!!!

Custom Order Kitchen Hutch

Just realized we never shared this fun custom order that became the perfect Christmas present for one lucky gal!

Here is the hutch BEFORE:

 It is a 2 piece hutch that was pretty dated in its hunter green and what looked to be a pecan stain.  But it was still in great condition and had lots of function.....just in need of a little makeover.

And so here it is AFTER:

What an UH-MAZE-ING transformation, right???

Love the distressed white and the new stain color (mix of Jacobean and Ebony).

This is an update that will make this a focal piece no matter where its used for years to come.  

And we got word that the surprise was a HUGE success and the new owner was VERY happy with the outcome!! 

We love happy endings!!!

If you are interested in having a piece of your own furniture redone, just email us to get started!

#showyourglow

I'm not very good at resolutions.....so I try to stay away from those as much as possible.  Probably because each time I tried to set them in the past I just felt like I failed miserably.  Not because I didn't try, but because I probably picked resolutions that were unattainable, or something that would take years of work and dedication to complete.  So really, they couldn't be considered a New Years Resolution because there was no way to get them done in a year.  

So I quit, I gave up, I just plain stopped thinking about them.

But as I have gotten older I have found myself putting some serious thought and effort into self-improvement as the end of each year comes to a close and I face another one.  

Maybe getting older makes you more sentimental?...maybe it makes you realize that no matter how much life experience you have under your belt, there is ALWAYS something that you can do just a little better.  So rather than focus on a resolution, I've chosen a word or a quality or something along those lines to work on throughout the year.

For example, last year by thoughts were really focused on Being Brave.

Not only did I want to focus on being Brave enough to be who I was, but to help others to do the same.  It was a great word and there were several experiences relating to bravery that really helped me to grow and become a stronger person.

For some reason this year I was really struggling with what I wanted to focus on for 2016.  I found several ideas, but nothing seemed to fit.  After all, if you want to focus on a goal, it has to be something that provides motivation, excitement and enthusiasm, right?  I didn't want to just pick a word or trait because it was "good."  I wanted to pick something that I knew in my heart if I worked on it would make me a better, happier, more well-rounded person.

And then it happened!!

I was preparing a lesson for church and it talked about shining our light and making sure we were doing all those things in our lives that would enable us to be a light to others.
That was it!!...that was perfect!!....that was what I wanted to focus on for 2016!

If you want to give light to others, you have to glow yourself.

Thomas S. Monson

I found this quote and absolutely loved it!  The world is full of darkness and has plenty of distractions trying to take away happiness and peace.  But I wanted to be a source of light, a source of happiness, a source of love.  And by shining my light I could do just that!

So here is my "resolution," --if you want to call it that-- for 2016.

Whenever I can, wherever I can, I want to shine my light, show my glow, and make all those around me a little happier and more hopeful!

Anybody want to join me?  After all, if we all shine our lights, just imagine how much brighter our days would be.  A little light goes a long way.  And it doesn't take much!

Here's to a happy, bright, shiny and glowing 2016!!

#SHOWYOURGLOW

  

Custom Order Toybox

We just finished a darling custom order toybox for a sweet little towheaded 2-year-old and we think he's gonna love it!!

Navy is the perfect color for a rough and rowdy little guy and the distressing will only add to the character of the piece with wear and tear over time!

Christmas Decor

So apparently we don't just do furniture!

When it comes to celebrating the holiday season, we do it up right!

 Available for $40.00

 Available for $25.00

 Available for $40.00

Available for $40.00

Custom Order Armoire

Just finished a beautiful custom order armoire makeover.

Is it just me or does everything look so amazing painted in white??

Here is the armoire BEFORE....

and DURING.....

And here it is AFTER!!

Such a beautiful transformation and such a happy client, which makes us so very happy as well!!

If you are interested in having one of your own pieces refinished, let us know.  We'd be happy to get started on a perfect piece just for you!

Available Items

We just updated our available pieces and there are tons of markdowns just in time for your holiday shopping so go check it out!

Here's just a small sample:

 Just $5.00

 Just $5.00

 Just $35.00

 Just $35.00

 Just $35.00

 Just $15.00

Just $20.00

Mail Organizer - SOLD

Love the bronze and brushed blue combo on this mail organizer.  Great for office or kitchen and the perfect stylish way to keep things together.

Available for just $30  -SOLD

Email us with inquiries

Thanks for looking!

Retro Vintage Lamp

If retro vintage is your "thing," then we have just the lamp for you!  It's perfect from it's gold base right on up to it's newly covered shade complete with some burlap embellishments!  So fun and so funky all in one!

Available for only $35.00

Email us with inquiries

Thanks for looking!

Be Brave....and it will all come together!

Sometimes it can take a while for a creative thought to transpire into something real.

That was definitely the case with one of our latest projects.

Back in February I decided it was time for all the beige to go!  I had beige walls, beige carpet, beige counter tops, beige tile....I was surrounded by beige!!!  And it was starting to get to me.  

So it was time for a change.  And I determined that GRAY was going to cure my beige blahs.

It took some time but I finally found "the one," that perfect shade of gray that had absolutely no beige in it whatsoever!  And in one particular weekend flurry the gray takeover took place.....well at least it took place in my living room, kitchen and hallway.

When it was all said and done, it was perfect, and I LOVED IT!!  It was just the change I needed to spruce up my tired space and make it feel new again.

After painting I determined that I needed to change up my decor as well....after all, what's the point of updating your space with painting if you're just gone rehang the same items in the same arrangement on the same wall, right??

I have a huge half wall in my kitchen.  It's a fairly awkward space and needs something quite large to look "filled."  I'm also a thrifty gal and never one to just go buy something from the store for the space.  Apparently I like to do things the hard way!! :)

So I spent a lot of time thinking and trying to figure out what would be fun, what would be inexpensive, what would be unexpected, and essentially, what would be ME for this space.

Nothing came at first.  I kept staring at that enormous empty wall with its pretty gray shade and NOTHING was coming to my head.  I poured over Pinterest and buried my head in magazines and old notebooks of ideas I've kept over the years....and nothing!  

So for months and months it sat!  Cuz I'm just kinda that way......I ain't gonna do something until I know it's exactly what was meant to be for that space!  Call it patience, call it laziness, call it craziness...in all honesty it's probably a combo of all those things!

Thankfully I was distracted by other obligations so I didn't have to stare at my wall too much.  I spent most of the spring and summer planning, preparing, and facilitating a girl's camp for our church.  With over 300 girls planning to attend I was consumed with creating a theme and activities and a week filled with inspiration that would somewhat find it's way to touch each of these beautiful young women's hearts.  Our theme focused on the concept of Being Brave and Following Your Own Arrow.  Each of these beautiful girls has a plan and a purpose, each of them will face their own challenges, trials, blessings and accomplishments in life.  We wanted them to focus on who they were as Daughters of God, and who they could become if they put their trust in Him!  What a wonderful camp it was!  And how much it touched me as I watched these girls bravely take on the challenges of the world they live in today with such faith, hope and bravery.

So the word Brave has been in my mind for some time now.  I have been thinking of it daily for the past year.  Once camp was over and I had a few weeks to get back into the swing of normal life, once again I was confronted with my huge blank, ugly wall.  It needed something!  But what was it???

Then it came to me.......it was something fun, it was something unexpected and different, I could obviously make it inexpensively, and it was ME!!  It had been me for the last year and was something I wanted to continue being reminded of.  So I had my answer....now just how to go about making it happen.

I looked around and found a few letters I already had in my stash.  I found some metal trim that would eventually become the V.  I painted my letters and they were super cute, but it still needed more.  I have an amazingly talented, creative, go-getter friend who I'm convinced can do just about anything!  And she happens to have a lots of saws and even more skills at cutting wood.  I knew I needed an arrow so I asked her if she could make me one....a 4 foot one to be exact!  And she did!!  And oh my goodness it was perfect!

And now I have the perfect wall decor!  I love it!  Not only is it cute, but it is unique and meaningful and fun!  So see....if you can just hold out and be brave, it will all come together just the way it's supposed to!


**At Ary Ann's Place we pride ourselves on never duplicating any of our designs and truly making one-of-a-kind pieces for one-of-a-kind customers, but if you are interested in something like this, we could surely work with you to create a focal piece that is unique and meaningful to you!  Just email us to get started if you are interested!**

It's Fall Y'all

Another cute fall inspired pallet, perfect for indoor or outdoor decor!  Celebrate fall in style and let all your neighbors know.....

It's Fall Y'all

with this perfect pallet decor!

Available for only $45.00

Email with inquiries.

Thanks for looking!