Geometric Bedside Tables

It's been a loooong time..

We haven't given up on this furniture business but we did pack it in for a while during these past few months. 

We have had a LOT going on in our lives. Some really good things and some downright awful. 2015 went out with it's share of negative crap under it's belt and 2016 has introduced itself as a bit of a shit as well. If only the New Year could pan out as perfectly as we always hope it will, but hey, it is just a flip of the calender after all...

My brother and his wife welcomed their second little bundle, Ellyotte Mae, in late October. She is the sweetest, most laid back, perfect little girl. Only weeks after her arrival, my brother had a very serious accident while working with a saw and life was turned upside down for a while. It has been a whirlwind of emotions for the family for a few months here and we are trying to get back on our feet and keep on keepin' on. 

 For those of you who haven't jumped off the wagon yet (from the long 3 month pause or from the garble I just spewed at you in above vent-sesh), we do have a few little projects that we have been slowly working on in between life's considerate little curve-balls.

------------------------------------------------------

We have had the pleasure of working with a super sweet client for the last year now and she always has the most exciting ideas. She really lets us "do our thang" creatively and is super open to bold and out-of-the-box, fabulous ideas!

She asked us several months ago if we would build some bedside tables for her new place. She loves the mid-century mod look which works perfectly because it's my absolute fave.

She sent this picture as an idea:

She was also feelin' the geometric, retro vibe and the paint/stain combo. I love working with stain and bringing out a beautiful grain but when I can add a creative touch and bust out the paint as well, I'm always game.

We knew that we wouldn't find a true, vintage set of these tables in good condition without spending a whole lotta dough. We also didn't want to use something that was constructed out of cheap, crappy veneer or particle board..yuck. So we decided to have one of our structural dudes (Ryan), make these beauties from scratch out of pine.
 It was the right choice.

Once they were constructed, I set off on painting and staining..

I love the geometric pattern with the grain peeking through.

We put all the pieces together and voila!

They are the cutest little tables.

We are so pleased with how they turned out.

Thank you ALL for your patience and we hope you will still come by once in a while to check out what we're up to!

Mid-Century Teak Tables

I found two of these gems at a thrift shop a while ago.

Pure. 

Midcentury. 

Gold.

I'm pretty sure James Bond set his Martini atop these retro beauties 

before I was lucky enough to get my paws on them..

They are really solid, extremely well-built, Sklar Peppler tables.

One helluva score!

I wanted to really soak up that sleek, retro-ness of these mid-century pieces.

So I added to that by doing..

This!

I added a hand-painted triangle pattern and it fit the MCM vibe to a T! The muted shades work so well with the colour of the teak.

They turned out even better than what I had envisioned in my head. 

Gotta love when a plan comes together!

Not a bad transformation at all!

Thanks again for stopping by, Peeps!

Until next time!

mint wash-stand

weeeeeeee're baaaaaaaack.......

we have been busy summer-ing it up but we are back!

 RE - energized 

RE - focused

RE - enthused

and our creative juices are free-flowin' again after some much needed play time!! 

So let's jump right into a new project!

Do you guys remember this ole oak gal?

It was a super old washstand from Quebec..

We're talkin':

full blown, 

kettle heating on wood burning stove..

 to fill water ewer..

to fill basin..

 to wash up for dinner kind of old.

Henry VIII was bathed atop this thing.

('kay, not that old; if that were the case we'd be eBaying this baby off and retiring in Palm Springs..)

However! We did turn it into something pretty snazzy:

we painted her in a special edition colour from Country Chic Chalk & Mineral Based Paint in a ta-die-for shade called "Pistachio Delight"! 

It's a muted mint colour that is fresh and clean and light enough to still be considered neutral!

We had some knobs from Israel that we've been saving for the right piece..

this was sure it!

They are heavy and beautifully detailed.

In true "Sparrow Style", we had to add a little dash of surprise,

so we lined the drawers in a white textured wallpaper and added a little pop of "Voyage" blue!

We used our favorite, go-to stain: Dark Walnut.

So there yah have it, Folks!

We hope you're still around after we left yah hangin' for a bit..

Hopefully you have been enjoying the summer as much as we have!

We have so much more to share with you so come back!!!

Transformation Tuesday!!

Happy Tuesday, Friends!

Hope your week is off to a wonderful start! 

For all of you Albertans, hope you are enjoying this rare, beautiful summer weather!

We have a reveal for you today in the form of two oak side tables.

This is how they started out:

Nothing too exciting but the shape of them in so french provincial and classic!

Obviously we wanted to keep the gorgeous wood grain while adding a little somethin'-somethin' at the same time. Sooo they ended up like this:

We used a "Dark Walnut" stain which really accentuated the grain and looks so pretty with Annie Sloan's "Old Ochre"...

You'd think that we got paid to endorse Annie Sloan's product line.

We don't. We wish.

Annie, if you're out there, send us over some free paint, kay?

Do some starving artists a solid..

Here you can see the grain a bit better..

And in case you're slightly visually impaired (like one of us...we won't mention which one..) here is an even closer picture of the grain!

Oooooh. Aaaaaaah.

And would you look at the legs on these babes?!

So there yah have it! Another successful transformation.

These beauties are up for grabs. You know what to do, Folks!

Nana's Table

Happy Hump Day!

Hope everyone is having a great week and that this past weekend you all celebrated your mamas. As a mother/daughter team, I am fortunate to be able to experience this creative journey alongside my mama and it has been wonderful!

This past week we have done some neat little projects and we will share one of them with you all today!

We found another table that is almost identical to Miss Magenta! Remember her?

We wanted to do something completely different with the new one and decided to go more vintage and neutral.

We had some reeeally vintage wallpaper that was given to us by my Nana in case we were ever able to use it for one of our projects. It was perfect! 

We covered it's sides and the detailing in the front with the wallpaper and used a shade of Annie Sloan's paint called "Old Ochre" which coordinates beautifully.

We distressed it and paid extra attention to all her little nooks to accentuate her details!

Now for the part that really excites us! Check out this knob!!!!

This special find just makes the piece!

This beauty will be up in the shop later this week!

Have a fabulous day, Peeps!

Barnwood Inspired Tables

Ok, so now it really is Friday...

So...HAPPY FRIDAY!

Why not go out this week with a bang?

Let's do it with another reveal!!

Another very sweet client (we are so lucky to deal with amazing people), came to us with a picture she found on Pinterest. Again, so awesome to have a client who knows what they like. We all love Pinterest and can admit it's one of the best resources for inspiration. It's the perfect place to gather pictures and ideas.

She sent this picture of a gorgeous DIY table:

She liked a pair of Sparrow's custom side tables and wanted the same white bases with a similar grey toned, distressed top.

We got a "barnwood chic" vibe when we looked at the picture and liked how the wood was very muted with no high gloss crap added to it (gloss isn't really "crap", it just doesn't fit for this project!).

It really is stunning. 

So! We were really nervous going ahead with this project, and we'll tell yah why...

Though from the picture it totally has a grey tone goin' on, when we went to the article on Pinterest, the lady who designed this table actually used quite a warm shade of Minwax stain called "Special Walnut"...a shade that is very far from grey. The pictures are misleading!

We went ahead and experimented with a tinted clear base and tried to get the same look.

We failed. Like, it was horrendous. It was cloudy and covered all of the pretty grain. Thank goodness we tested it out on a sample board!

We started to get discouraged and I clogged up this poor lady's email so badly with my worries. It's a good thing she knew how to handle a spaz...seriously.

Finally we just put on the exact shade of stain as what the lady from Pinterest used. It was way too brown, as expected, but we watered the grey stuff we got down a LOT and started layering it overtop. Well, it went smashingly...

We ended up with some pretty barnwoody (it could be a word..) table tops!

We scuffed up and wore the edges a bit like in the picture!

 They turned out quite well and most importantly our customer was happy with her new tables!

We hope to get a picture of these guys in their new home!!

Have a great weekend, guys!

Alice {French Provincial Side Table}

Hump Day is Over!!!

We have a new transformation to share with you! 

So this was a great find! This little  french provincial table is just full of personality! The legs are fantastic and the lovely shape along the sides is gorgeous!

I knew we could make her really special! 

I reeeally like Annie Sloane's blue/green shade called "Provence". Fancy, I know!

I know I should probably do more furniture in nuetrals, I just feel that some pieces deserve to be colourful, fun and pack a little punch! Makes me happy!

So I coordinated it with Annie Sloane's "Cream" and boy, did she turn out pretty!

Meet Alice.

Right when she was done I immediately thought of "Alice in Wonderland". It's such a happy, whimsical piece. Naturally, we had to stage her with a pretty tea set!

Her pretty details add so much character. 

Would you just look at those curves?!

Keep an eye out for this table in the shop!

Have a great evening, Folks!

Superdresser and his Sidekicks.

Well, it has made it's way back to Monday already, Folks!

Did I hear a "Booooo"...?

Not to fret! There's good news: we have another reveal for you!!!

 A little bit of sunshine in the form of a gorrrrgeous set that includes a dresser and two side tables..

This beauty was my partner's find. When she hauled it in I thought it was such an eye sore. I must admit, she saw something right off the hop with this guy that I most certainly did not..

 Boy, was I wrong. She spiffed it up to purrr-fection for what is now one of my favorite pieces yet!

She stained this guy in a beautiful "Dark Walnut" and wow, did it bring out the uh-maaazing grain!

She added some perfect little vintage inspired pulls that look like they were made for this dresser!

(*ahem* can I just say: dang, that grain is deee-lish!)

She painted the sides and trim of the dresser in a really serene, beachy, pale blue colour that goes amazingly with the dark wood. It's my new fave paint/stain combo fo sho!

Here it is in all of it's glory:

Now as if that wasn't enough to get you pumped for the entire week ahead, there's more...

The side tables!

Again, I was not the biggest fan of these when she brought them in and didn't see their potential as she did. Again, my bad. I was wrong, because...

 BAM! Look at these perfect little side-kicks!!!!

She painted them in the same pale blue and added the same pulls that are on the dresser.

They. Are. Stunning.

So! There yah have it! A fresh start to the week!

This set will be available in the shop tomorrow!

Modest Maude with the Great Bod!

Well...it's Monday...

Nothing overly positive I can say about that..

But! I do have a new piece over here at Sparrow Layne that I'm excited to introduce you to!

My partner at Sparrow Layne created this beauty.

I have to say, this table has the most gorgeous curves on her, wooeeee!

The matte black handles paired with the cool bluey shade of gray (Beacon Gray) is so clean and fresh looking. I have a few places she could live at our house but I'm not allowed. Apparently you can have too much furniture...Booo.

Would you just look at her shape! Girly is a ten I tell yah!

Well, I hope this introduction added a bit of happy to your Monday.

Have a fabulous start to the week, Folks!