Black (Wood) & White Sideboard & Tour of the Dome, Florence

The famous Florence Duomo is frescoed with these EPIC images from Dante’s Inferno and it’s the largest fresco in the world! ⛪️ Definitely take a minute to zoom in, because the detail is unreal!! 😍 The bottom shows all the demons and satan in hell. 🔥 You can see angels proclaiming that Christ is on the judgement seat. 👑 Around the dome’s center the apostles look like they’re about to fall off the painted ledge! 😱 INCREDIBLE!

Materials

• Weatherwood Stain's PINING Stain
• Weatherwood Topcoat: White Maintenance Oil
• 2 Lint free, white rags

Directions

1.] WOOD: Here's how you can get the look, first make sure you begin with sanded white oak. 80 grit sandpaper will do the best job.

2.] STAIN: Use a wide paint brush to apply Weatherwood's Reclamation stain. The stain is reactive, so apply a heavy coat and allow the wood to absorb it. As the wood dries, it will turn colors.

You'll see what I mean in the above timelapse. We stained both sides of the door, even though this is going to be used as a headboard. 

3.] HIGHLIGHT: Once the wood is dry it will be dark, apply Weatherwood WHITE Maintenance Oil to highlight the wood grain. Just wipe or brush on and wipe off. Apply per the video above or the bottle's directions.

You can save 10% on Weatherwood products, like you saw here, with code WELCOME10. I hope to see you at tomorrow's party!

Simple 1 Hour DIY & The Brancacci Chapel

This chapel is often referred to as the Sistine Chapel of the Early Renaissance. The fresco interior was done by the artist Brancacci in 1425! The artwork tells the story of Saint Peter- including his time with Christ and his miracles. Michelangelo came here as an art apprentice to learn from these same frescos. You can see the female Satan / snake  in this work is similar to Michelangelo’s own on the real Sistine chapel. Incredible to see where a master drew his inspiration!

Pine is the least expensive and most abundant wood species for most Americans and when you purchase unfinished wood pieces it's often made of pine. So I created the PERFECT stain for it! This little plant stand was made from pine scrap and it's getting a new look!

Materials

• Unstained furniture piece (can be new wood or stripped, this is made from PINE scraps.)
• Sand paper and palm sander
• Wood Stain: Pining from Weatherwood

• Weatherwood Stains' Varnish 

Directions

1.] SAND
Begin with either new wood or strip previously finished tabletop. Start with a rough grit with a 120 grit.

2.] STAIN
Brush on 2-1 coats of Weatherwood Pining stain to weather pine to a pretty grey brown color. Brush on and allow product to air dry natural.

3.] PROTECT

Seal the table with 2-3 coats of Weatherwash Varnish, we used Satin.

You can save 10% on Weatherwood products, like you saw here, with code WELCOME10. I hope to see you at tomorrow's party!

Fireplace Refresh & The Medici Tomb

Michelangelo is a true master. Walking through his town, over 500 years later, I couldn't help but imagine what it would've been like for him. To be growing up in Florence, the end of the 1400's! You would've seen people walking in renaissance garb, oil lamps burning, children and animals in the streets. In some ways Florence has changed but it others, it never will. Towards the middle to end of Michelangelo's life, he returns to Florence to work on the crypt of his benefactors and Florence's rulers, the Medici! We visited the crypt which was styled after the Pantheon. Check out the post below, you won't want to miss it!

You guys are going to LOVE this fireplace refresh from our friend Kelly at Street Flea Style! She turned her outdated red brick fireplace into a modern and updated space! The previous mantel began as a nearly pink color! But don't worry, wood is forgiving and it's 100% gorgeous again.

Materials

• Weatherwood Salavge Stain
• Red Cedar
• Paint Sprayer or  Sponge Brush

Directions

You can use this same staining technique on FAUX BOX BEAMS -like this post- or on solid wood beams, like I'm going to show you today. You can stain any wood, but we're working here with cedar. That's a super common wood for this type of project. 

1.] You will want to stain the red cedar with Weatherwood Salvage stain. We strain the stain and then put the stain through our gravity sprayer and applied it to the wood in even coats. We apply a heavy coat of stain and let the wood air dry for 30-40 minutes.

Depending on the red cedar you have, the color result will be anything from brown to dark gray to gray and brown mixture. That's because the tannin in cedar varies so much. Check out the Color Chart for more options! For a DARK GRAY result, use Pining Stain. For a LIGHT GRAY result, use Light Oaking. For a BROWN color, use Salvage Stain. 

BEFORE: As you apply the stains, you can see the wood turn from bright red color. 

AFTER: And in about 30 minutes, the wood changes to a beautiful barnwood brown. You can This type of stain completely alters the undertone of wood. 

Don't forget to visit our friend Kelly at Street Flea Style and see more from her groghsou home. For more color options, see our Color Chart for more choices and don't forget to save 10% on your first order with code: WELCOME10.

Chunky Farmhouse Pine Table & Touring Orsanmichelle in Florence

Right behind our AIRBNB in Florence there's the famous OrsanMichelle church. It's most famous for it's exterior stone carvings done by the world famous Donatello. Donatello kicks off the pre-rennaisance in Florence by combining church art with Roman and Greek stone carving techniques. The results are like this St George in the short video we shared to facebook! Take a look!

Weathering Pine Perfectly for that RH Look

What do you guys have planned for Valentine's Day this year? I need some ideas for Los Angeles! It's our first time living there and I don't know what my options are. Now that we are in LA, it's always been a dream to go on the Price is Right! You know what I mean? But now that Bob is gone, it's just not the same. I guess it's not that a romantic day... unless we win! ;)

Purchasing Unfinished Furniture for Staining Driftwood Gray

If you guys know, Bre from Rooms for Rent, then you know her style is fabulous! So we were thrilled to send her a quart of stain to try out.  Here's what Bre had to say!

Gray Pine Scrap Table & Sicilian Wedding

We had the incredible opportunity to celebrate our friends, Ginevra and Keean’s, unbelievable Sicilian wedding! 💗💓💘 It was absolutely perfect! Ginevra was a HUGE help to Zack and I when we first moved to Italy. We met just by happen stance. Zack and I were asking a local business for help and we spoke zero Italian when we first arrived. The worker didn't;t speak and English so we went and grabbed his good friend Ginevra. Ginevra is one of the kindest and most helpful individuals I have ever met. We became fast friends and she literally went to the Dr with me to translate!  So when she invited us to her wedding, of course we came down from Florence and went back to Sicily for the event. 

Perfect Vintage Look for Pine Furniture & Road-Tripping in Italy

This week we are traveling from Florence down to Sicily, it's a long trek but we have several stops planned. We rented a teeny tiny taco car and loaded up out gear. We take a lot of Italy for granted because it's our "normal" now, but I thought you guys may want to check out this Italian Travel Stop food! 

And be careful when ordering 4 pieces of pizza that you check how big the slices are first! 😳😋 For projects I have a great one, because EVERYONE is always asking me how to age pine and we have the perfect product for that!! Weatherwood PINING stain will give pine gorgeous mix of grays and browns colors! One of our favorite clients, Chelsea from Apple Blossom Way, created this farmhouse masterpiece and I thought we would enjoy the inspiration. She is ALWAYS sharing free paint and stain tutorials, so you will want to follow her for sure! Check it out-

Materials

• Unstained furniture piece (can be new wood or stripped, this is PINE.)
• Wood Stain: Pining from Weatherwood [Save 10% with code: WELCOME10]

• Weatherwood Stains' Varnish 

Directions

1.] SAND: Begin with either new wood or strip previously finished tabletop. Start with a rough grit with a 120 grit.

2.] STAIN: Brush on 1-2 coats of Weatherwood Pining stain to weather pine. Brush on and allow product to air dry naturally. Pining turns wood a mix of grays and browns. Here's all 5 gorgeous options from the Weatherwood Color Chart.

Weatherwood Pine Color Chart

3.] PROTECT: Seal the table with Weatherwash Polyurethane, we used Dead Flat.

If you'd like to see more furniture makeovers with this color scheme, here's a gorgeous Nautical Desk Makeover! [link]

Piece of pie, piece of cake! You can save 10% on your first Weatherwood order with code: WELCOME10. I hope to see you tomorrow at our party! 

DIY Reclaimed Pine Floors & Our Florence Neighborhood

Hey friends! Florence is finally warming up and I thought it was the perfect time to show you our neighborhood. This is the intersection our AIRBNB is on. You can see we live in the middle of the tourist district, so basically we're in a mall. The buildings are mostly sienna coloured plaster and grey stone. The streets in Florence are alive with the sounds of street performers and always smell like (Italian) food. Note, there is no Italian food in Italy. It's all just "food"! ;)Each week we've been here the crowds have grown and it can sometimes take 10 extra minutes to navigate these streets. We don't have a car here, though we rent them from time to time. So everything we do is "a piedi" on on foot.

Restoration Hardware's Wood Beam Round Dining Table & Florence Piazza

It's Saturday night and the mood is right...we went and checked out the Lenarda DaVinci museum here in Florence. Although DaVinci lived here there's only three pieces of art from him, all found in the Uffizi. The DaVinci museum is more of a hands on place to see his experiments. After that we strolled the Florence streets, juts like the locals and all the other tourists. The Italians call this a passegiare and it's typical to find street performers are almost every square. Check out this rolling, 2 man band and the dancing pinnocchio.  

Farmhouse Pine Coffee Table & Romantic Arno River, Florence

We don't have a car here, although we rent them frequently  But every day life is on foot, or a piedi. Our grocery shopping walk (or passegiare) takes us across the famous Arno River in Florence. It's a romantic walk, even when we are carrying heavy groceries back home.

DIY Farmhouse Tray & Villa Borghese, Rome

Zack and I went to the Borghese Museum to see these fabulous Bernini statues🎥. Here's a video of my favourite piece from the museum and it's probably one of the best marble statues ever made. It's from Greek Mythology, when Apollo falls in love with the wood nymph, Dauphne. At the very moment he catches her, she cries out for help and is swiftly transformed into a tree. You can see the leaves sprouting from her fingers tips and vines tethering her feet to soil.

Weathering Raw Furniture & Palazzo Reale Napoli

Feast for the eyes! Check out the grand entrance to Palazzo Reale di Napoli! The royal palace was built in the 1600's and housed the famous Bourbons, relative of the conquering Napoleon. The exterior was okay, with it's orange stucco...but the inside! Wow!

Rad Dark Gray Reclaimed Table & Greek Amphitheater, Toarmina Italy

Greek Amphitheater, yes please? Every other town in Sicily has an original Amphitheater from the 1000 years of Greek occupation. I had no idea the Greeks and Italian histories were so intertwined, which is crazy since I'm from an Italian immigrant family. 

We've gone to see Amphitheaters in several towns and cities now and I cannot get over the architecture these ancients created. Back in the day this would have housed everything from shows to animal gladiators.

Refinished Pine Apothecary Coffee Table & Mt Etna in Italy

Mt Etna is this smoking, gurgling, gusting volcano on the island of Sicily, in Italy. Locals call is "volcano bueno" even though it's constantly active and has wiped out town after town, over the last few recorded centuries. The nickname comes from the slow moving lava, which allows locals to completely clean out their homes before the lava flows, even to the point of removing windows and doors!