We got another blog feature with The Queen of Hearts, and I must admit it still makes us feel pretty special.

Yes, we knew it was going to happen.

Yes, we provided the content.

Yet seeing the final published product still generates a wave of excitement within The Painted Hammer. I hope this never goes away, as I see it as a sign of the fun we're having with what we are doing!

Sunshine @ TPH

Mrs. Paint is a woman of many talents. We knew she could paint & style like no other, but it looks like our TPH project has unleashed another skill: upholstering!

As our co-owners began creating more and more items from salvaged materials, we found ourselves in need of pretty cushioned tops. Enter Mrs. Paint's slumbering talent.

The first thing we saw her upholster was A salvaged wire spool.

Then she upholstered the hall tree.

And a lid for a wire basket, another couple of salvaged wire spools...

And even chairs!

We can't wait to see what she covers next!

Sunshine @ TPH

Each week, our retail partner, the Queen of Hearts, will feature a different theme. Last week, the theme was man cave! To be honest, what we do at The Painted Hammer hasn't headed in the direction of man cave, which is usually all about bar decor, sports memorabilia, or outdoorsy things.

When I browsed our current inventory, I found one thing that could be used in a man cave. It isn't even at The Queen, it is in our warehouse (but it is available for purchase).

This rusty crusty paint gun is made by Craftsman, and would look great as part of a man cave vignette.

Enjoy!

Sunshine @ TPH

(Update: this hall tree sold! Although it is no longer available, contact us if you want one made just for you.)

My oh my. Have you seen this beauty? We took it in to the Alpharetta Queen of Hearts on Thursday night.

I knew it was cool, even from the beginning. Shane and Audrey started planning this the second they got their hot little hands on a batch of doors, and it is finally real.

I didn't realize how cool it was until I posted it to our Facebook page and got a record 250+ views, 2-3x more likes than our average post, and more commentary than I've ever seen on a post before.

My awareness became even more heightened when we showed up at the Queen and got lots of stops and inquiries.

I'm predicting this item will sell before the weekend is over. I'll let you know if I'm right or wrong. Either way, we're doing something right with this lovely piece.

Let me show you how Shane & Audrey's talent brought this hall tree from a salvaged door to the awesome piece of furniture that will adorn someone's entry way or hall way or other living space!

Once Shane made the door into a hall tree with a storage bench, Audrey took over and upholstered the bench and painted the piece.

Of course, after the paint & upholstery is finished, Shane added the hardware. So not only does this have storage and a bench to sit on, but it also has two very good 3-way hooks and a door knocker. The door knocker may just be an embellishment, the jury's still out on that.

The fun has really just begun. I can't wait for someone to buy this and love it and set it up in their home. I can't wait for Audrey & Shane to start on their next one, which will be so different and awesome in so many other ways. I also hope that our piece inspires others to create their own hall trees or to go find one that works for their space. If you are reading this and end up with this piece or a piece like it because of this blog post, do let me know ;)

TPH

Although we make some things from scratch, we also have lots of things that start as something else or that we find, clean up, and sell. In all cases, we often find ourselves wrapped up in the stories the items tell.

Take this cafe print with a gold frame. I thought it was a cafe from "somewhere else" and admired it for the colors and artistry. A quick search on the internet informed me that this is a real Parisian cafe that is open and thriving. Now I admire it even more!

This trunk has seen a lot in its ~60 years, and when we encountered it, it was covered in brown textured tape. Underneath the tape were several interesting story lines. It turns out that the manufacturer, Belber Trunk & Bag Co., has a great story that's easy to research online. And there are at least two names written on the trunk, one is military, and the other appears to be a relative of the military person. It also has old shipping stickers still partially stuck to it. Who knows what kinds of things this trunk has been a part of!

We don't have a lot of history on this mirror, but we do know it was previously part of a dresser. We can't research that, but if we're not careful, the imagination takes over. Did this live in a couple's bedroom, did they have kids, did the lady of the house use it to check her reflection one last time before heading out for evening? Who knows!!!

And these irons! We have yet to properly identify their original story (one is marked with a star & a number, and the other one has a star and a different number), but we will start the search soon.

Finding, researching, designing, breaking down, cleaning up, repurposing...all of these things are part of what makes this venture worth it. And of course, sharing the outcome with our fans & patrons too!

Sunshine @ TPH

Each week, our retail partner, the Queen of Hearts, will feature a different theme. This week, the theme is the coffee table, and although we don't have any actual coffee tables at the moment, we do carry lots of fun stuff to adorn coffee tables! Here are some current options.

If you see something you're interested in, visit our Facebook photo album, which we keep up to date with photos of our most current inventory (we update it nightly, moving items that have sold).