Welcome

“Life is like a canvas – throw all the paint on it you can”

Danny Kaye

The Journey

Taking drab cast-offs, curbside discards and dated, old relics and turning them into fabulous timeless pieces is my passion. I love reviving items that are destined for the dump into something to adore and treasure. Each piece inspires and challenges me to explore colour and techniques, which feeds my creativity. My goal is to create beautiful pieces that transcend trends; restoring once loved heirlooms into decorative objets d’art for the home.

This buffet was my first attempt using chalk paint and wax. I made many mistakes, but it taught me that mistakes can be beautiful and that perfection should not be the goal. I’m still learning from mistakes and they often lead me in a new direction. Most Mistakes have led to wonderful discoveries. It was so satisfying to finish and see the end result. It had texture, tonality and depth. It was vintage yet current. I decided to sell this piece so I could make room for other furniture to transform. Little did I realize that this would start me on an entirely new journey and the birth of Drab 2 Fab!

Mistakes can be beautiful and often lead to great discoveries. Perfection should never be the goal.

Bernice morelli
  • New dining room

    Oh La La!

    This dining room is my latest experiment in design. The table has 2 large inserts and 2 pedestals for the base. It really fills the room with 6 substantial chairs. I got the buffet separately. So although it isn’t the same design, I painted everything in similar colours and theme.

    I went out of my comfort zone a bit. I’ve never used gold as an accent, but I discovered it looked really awesome with the dark blue. Quite regal really. I bought a funky light fixture and repainted the mirror and added gold highlights to the picture frames for a coordinated look. The centre piece on the table was also repainted and I added a few gold highlights to the chairs to accent to imitate light reflecting.

  • French country

    I recently completed a new dining room set and it’s theme is of course French Country. I love using motifs that reflect French themes especially fleur de lis and old script. I decided to add a bit of gold as an accent, which is something I haven’t done before. I generally stick to silver, but the dark blue inspired me to try something different. I really love the effect, so much so, that I replaced my light fixture with the one in the picture. I love to change things up, but this was a bit of a leap – even for me!

    The back of the chairs were difficult to paint because the design is more intricate than most. They look great, but getting the paint to cover evenly was a challenge. It was also very time consuming. I used black wax which helped hide any inconsistencies in the colour.

    This was a big project. The table is exceptionally large as well as the chairs, but I’m happy with the results.

  • Experimenting with Stencils

    Every time I get a new piece of furniture I’m newly inspired. I look at the hardware, the height, the details and think “how can I turn this into something fabulous”. This dresser came from a friend who was trying to make room in her house. She has two sons, but like most young people they aren’t interested in grandma’s old furniture. Lucky me!

    Knowing that I have a passion for reclaiming and restoring unwanted furniture, my friend offered me several pieces, which I accepted with enthusiasm! Once I got the items home, I was anxious to get started.

    I started by painting the hardware silver for a more contemporary look. This led me to painting the dresser in grey for subtlety. I started with 2 coats of white and then 2 coats of grey. I usually distress my pieces, so I thought that a white undercoat would really complement the grey when sanded.

    I often add stencils to give some interest to a piece, but I thought that this dresser would look awesome with large flowers stencilled to the drawers. In order to achieve this look, I used 2 stencils and placed them more or less randomly. Unless something should look uniform, I definitely prefer a more random look. This whole process was done just with my eyes. I moved the stencil around until I got the “look” I wanted to achieve.

    As always, this piece was waxed for protection and VOILA! *

    *If you have furniture that you no longer want or use, please let me know and I’ll be happy to take it off your hands. Alternatively, I am available to refinish your furniture and give it new life! Just let me know how I can help.

    Bernice

Beautiful and Timeless

This piece is definitely one of my favourites. After 4 revisions, I finally chose to apply a cherry blossom stencil to infuse an Asian feel to the blue and white. This unit is an antique and fairly rustic in design so I didn’t want it to have a sophisticated finish. It melds old country farmhouse with contemporary elements. The white surface is a beautiful colour block feature that adds a touch of drama and coordinates with the white in the cherry blossoms. I distressed quite a bit to reveal the undertones and to complement the antique look and feel of the piece.

The original hardware was uninspired so I spent a few hours at Lee Valley and chose this Louis XVI-inspired theme in rustic silver. Again, I wanted to use something that would stand out against the dark blue, but subtle.

I don’t normally keep the hutch portion of a buffet because to me they are outdated and I also enjoy the added surface space for service and decor. This piece however is different. It has a narrow offset and still provides ample surface space. I also love the mirror, the little shelf and the height! It really commands the space and warrants attention!

Impressive!

Dining Room

This series was completed prior to the piece above. I used different tones and mixtures of paint, blending to get this wonderful marbleized effect. There are 2 identical sideboard buffets which I painted in harmonizing colour themes. I enhanced the perimeter of both pieces with silver wax for highlights. The hardware was painted in contrasting colours for impact. All pieces were buffed to a high shine and I just adore how the light reflects and colours dance! The table is painted the same as the darker sideboard and the overall result was dramatic! My dining room went from Drab 2 Fab!

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