FWF's Year Review - 2013

What a difference a year makes.  This has been a huge year for Fisherman's Wife Furniture and for me personally.  This marks one full year out of the classroom and being a full time business owner.  Somedays I still can't believe it and I am waiting for someone to come take it all away.

Over the past few months, many new followers and readers have come along so I want to do a quick review of my favorite and/or most popular posts from 2013.

Favorite Personal Posts

We started the year off right with a great vacation!  The past two years we have done a January vacation to The Out Islands of The Bahamas.  I am obsessed with the remote islands of the Caribbean.  They are magical.  I recommend you go to at least one small/remote island if you ever get the chance.  This year was one of my favorites.

 Our vacation

In May, we announced we were moving back to Texas and we bought a house!  New Orleans was great to us but we were ready to be back to Texas and be closer to our families.

This is when all the DIY posts started.  My main focus for the first 4 months after moving was getting the house updated and getting settled.  I started working on growing my blog audience and using it to grow my business in the Houston/Galveston area.  Even though Fisherman's Wife Furniture wasn't a new business, it was like starting over when we moved.  I had no word of mouth advertisement or client base.  It was important that I establish a local following on the blog and other social networks.

Slowly but surely I started getting more readers and followers on the blog as well as on Facebook and Pinterest.  I also started getting local requests for work.  Then other bloggers started to feature my projects and my business.  I never thought anything like that would ever happen.  Every feature is a blessing and is unbelievable.  If you missed any of them, visit my "Featured" page which is the top right tab of the blog.

I announced in yesterday's post that I will have my first magazine feature in May!  It will be in the Better Homes and Gardens Kitchen + Bath Makeover Magazine, Summer 2014.  I am still in shock.  It probably won't feel real until I see it in print and even then,  it is going to be strange to see myself and my home in a magazine.

The kitchen has received a lot of attention and is by far our hardest project to date.  It is also the one I am most proud of.  Everything in this space is us.  All colors, textiles and design elements were chosen by us and we DIYed the entire space.  I am so in love with it and can't wait to work our magic on our scary bathrooms.

 Read about the kitchen reveal here.

Favorite Furniture Makeovers

Custom Dresser B&A - One of the most popular posts on the blog!  I love this transformation.

Vanity Makeover - This one has a special place in my heart.

And lastly, one of my favorite furniture makeovers lives in my house!  The armoire I turned into a storage and feeding station for Jaxson and Sabine.  We use this piece of furniture twice a day and I can't imagine what we would do without it.  

Dog Food Storage & Feeding Station

Top 3 DIY Posts

DIY Butcherblock Countertops

 DIY Refrigerator Enclosure

DIY Glass Tile Backsplash

And last but not least, the funniest post from this year is...

Let's Talk Lights

Be sure to check it out if you have never read the post before.  It will change your life.


I hope everyone has a safe, fun New Year's Eve and an amazing 2014!  I can't wait to see what 2014 holds for us and for Fisherman's Wife Furniture.

BIG, BIG News

I know I have had big news before but this one ranks in the top 3 of BIG announcements.

Do y'all know these magazines?  You see them in Lowes, Wal-Mart, Barnes & Nobles....everywhere. They are published by the same company as Better Homes and Gardens as special interest publications.

I have bought several copies of all three and love them.  That is why I was in shock when this happened...

A few weeks ago,  I received an email from a lady saying she was a writer for the Kitchen and Bath Makeover Magazine (the first one pictured above) and she had seen my kitchen online.  She said the makeover is amazing and beautiful and exactly what their readers like to see and read about.  She said she wants to feature my kitchen in the magazine.  She stated what she needed from me and asked that I contact her as soon as possible.  UMM, WHAT?!

I am not going to lie to you....I didn't believe it.  I Googled her, the company, the magazine, her email address, the section she claimed I would be featured in....everything I could think to Google.  It all seemed legit so I responded to the email.  Within 24 hours I was doing a phone interview and emailing pictures.  CRAZY! CRAZY! CRAZY!

I know it was a huge transformation and we think it is perfect (well, pretty close to perfect) but sometimes I feel like I have my mom goggles on and its not as pretty as we think it is.  What are mom goggles, you ask?  This quick clip explains it to a "T".  The mom's faces and response are perfection in this clip.




Hilarious! You know you have all done this and if you don't know I am here to tell you, you have.  Blinded by love.  One of the most important things anytime you update your home is that you love the transformation (you are the one that has to live with it) but I must admit, to have other people love our completely DIYed kitchen feels incredible!

So without further adieu I can announce that the kitchen and I will be featured in the Better Homes and Gardens Kitchen and Bath Makeover magazine (first one pictured above), Summer 2014 edition in the Lessons Learned section.  It will be available for purchase in May.  Don't worry about forgetting...I'll remind you :)

I would like to take this moment to thank my husband.  He gets overlooked in all the featuring of the business and blog.  I could not have done any of these things without his love and support.  This makeover would have never happened without his helpful ideas, grunt labor and income...bahaha.  Love you, Blittle!  Thank you for trusting me when I said we could transform this once sad, ugly house into a home we would love.  Thank you for trusting all my design choices and ideas even though you gave me the "I am not so sure about this" face several times through out the process.  Thank you for working so hard and helping me make our life on the water dream happen much earlier than we ever thought possible.

Reupholstered and Refinished Rocker

Happy Friday!  Today, I get to show you another Christmas surprise!

I am so excited about this project so let's get right to it and see the before pictures.

The first thing I noticed were the carvings.  Aren't they beautiful?!  The client's grandfather made this rocker for her mother.  Now she is passing it on to her daughter.  I love pieces that have history and are being saved from the attic abyss or the trash.

Having said that, this rocker is old.  The wood is brittle and some of the supports and braces that were originally in the rocker were gone.  It was wiggly and unstable when I brought it home.  I started by separating  the main pieces; arms, base and back.  Then I took off all the old nail heads and upholstery.  I needed to get to the bare bones to see what I was dealing with.

After everything was stripped down, I had a mild cardiac arrest episode.  I saw how thin and brittle the wood was.  I saw many dowel rods broken in their slots.  I saw extra screws randomly put in and screwed so tight it cracked the wood.  I was starting to get nervous about being able to rescue this chair.

BUT.....I did.  Luckily, this chair still has some life in it and is now refreshed, bright and happy.  I refinished the wood by sanding off the old dark stain and clear coat but leaving the darker stain in the carvings.  Now you can really see them with the contrast of wood colors.  I used tung oil on all the wood instead of stain and polyurethane.  The two-tones of the wood is beautiful and coordinates with the green fabric that was chosen.


I can't believe how great this project turned out.  Love it.

Love, Love, Love!

I hope everyone has a great relaxing weekend.  My plan is to recuperate after a busy week of visiting family out of town and out of town family visiting us.  My #1 on the "to do" list is sleep.  :)



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Classy Clutter

DIY Showoff

House on the Way

Vanity Makeover

Hi all.  I hope everyone had a very, merry Christmas.  We traveled to SETX (Southeast Texas) to spend Christmas Eve and Day with my family and now Blittle's parents are staying with us for a few days.  Its been a busy week!


It is time for me to show you a Christmas present project.   This one is extra special to me because it was given to an extra special someone.



I know I don't talk too much about my family but today I am going to tell you about my brother.  Its just the two of us and I am older by 28 months.  I wouldn't say I am an over protected sister but I can bring the cray cray when I need to.  For the most part, we got along growing up and are now good friends.  We have stayed close even though I moved away and I can't imagine my life without him.


About a year ago, he started dating a girl he knew from high school.  She makes him very happy which makes me super happy (no over protective cray cray needed).  My brother decided he wanted to get her a vanity for Christmas.  Sweet, I know.  Even sweeter...I knew a secret.  He had an engagement ring waiting for her and he was asking her on Christmas Eve.  AAAHHHH!  Hands down one of the hardest secrets I have ever kept.  I had to keep it for months!  From everyone!  I had to repeatedly lie or play dumb around friends and family who were trying to get the inside scoop from me.  I didn't even tell my husband.  Christmas Eve finally got here and I couldn't wait for her to get the vanity and the ring.


This vanity was my mom's and was in salvageable condition but it definitely had some problems.  It had support problems, a missing drawer,  bubbled veneer, bad paint (sorry Mom) and no mirror.  It doesn't have a matching bench so my mom and I started shopping immediately for one.  To help me out on time, Jarrod took out the drawer guides and put in a wood base to help stabilize the piece and give the baskets (drawer replacements) a place to sit in the drawer cubbies.  He also ordered the mirror.  When it was brought to me, this is what it looked like.

My mom found this old Singer sewing machine bench.  It is perfect for the vanity.

Tag underneath.  I love finding things like this.

The original color!

I painted the vanity a soft white and found some pretty baskets that are now the new drawers.  The bench was refinished with a medium brown stain and covered with a pretty multi colored fabric.


Here is the final product.

Jarrod decided to use the vanity in the proposal.  He put the ring inside so when she opened the middle she would see the ring.  So perfect.

I am so excited for the two of them!  Congrats, Whitney & Jarrod.

Check back tomorrow to see the other project I had to do for a Christmas present.  It includes some wood work and upholstery!

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French Country Cottage

Give Me the Goods

The Dedicated House