Hi, I'm Leigh.  Bittersweet Lane is my baby.
I grew up in "that" family.  You know the one...always picking stuff up from a second hand shop or off the side of the road and fixing it up. When I was a kid, our dining room table was a giant wooden cable spool that my dad found, brought home piece by piece, reassembled and shellacked until the top looked like glass.  (Of course, when we sold the house we had to leave the table there because there was no way to take it apart to get it out the door, but I digress.)

So fixing up furniture is in my blood.  It's something that I enjoy, and my workshop is my happy place.  But honestly, I'm happy any time that I get to spend creating things.  Sewing, painting, crafting, you name it....I do it. I'm grateful to my parents and grandparents (and my art teachers and Girl Scout leaders!), who gave me the skills that fuel my passion.  And I consider myself lucky to be able to share the fruits of that passion with you, my clients and customers.  

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​This is what sealed the deal on my love of furniture and woodworking.
When I was in 5th grade it was the American Bicentennial (yeah, I'm that old, lol 👵🏽), and we did a lot of school activities focused on the colonial period.

One was making a 5 board step stool, a mini version of a 5 board bench. **Can you imagine, back in the old days they actually let 10 year olds use saws and hammers and oil based stains and shellac! In school! I'm pretty sure I learned to use a file and a plane on that project, too.

Anyhow, this is my step stool. It's held up pretty darn well over 4.5 decades! Since I only reached the lofty height of 5'1", between me and my 3 kids, it's seen a lot of action, in bathrooms, kitchens, closets, and now, in my workshop. A couple of years ago the glue and nails finally started to give way, so I reinforced it with screws. I figure now it's got at least another 4 or 5 decades in it.

this is not your crafty neighbor's chalk painted dresser

Why don't I use chalk paint?

Chalk(y) paint* was created for the purpose of avoiding the the admittedly tedious and laborious job of stripping, sanding and priming furniture.  It does a great job at that, and I don't mean to disparage anyone who uses it.

But...

The quick and easy way is not always the best way of doing things.  In order to achieve the smoothest, most durable finish on a piece of furniture, you just can't skip the prep.  And I don't.  Period.

With my pieces, you can be sure that the furniture under the paint has been properly cleaned, stripped, sanded, and repaired before a paintbrush even touches it.  What's more, I top coat my work with acrylic polyurethane, which adds an extra measure of durability to the finish.  You will not have to re-wax my furniture or worry about the finish coming off (two things which frequently happen with chalk paint).  
*Chalk Paint is actually the trademarked name of the original product created by Annie Sloan.  All the other brands out there are chalk-y, using similar formulas to the original.  You can read the story of Annie Sloan and her product here.  I believe in giving credit where credit is due.