Several Pieces I have done this last year.

old white paint, distressed, grain sack fabric

Off white french provincial dresser with gold detailing

gold detailing

antique twin bed repurposed into a cute bench

paris gray paint, dark waxed, and distressed.

old washstand, painted black, distressed, stenciled, dark washed

old door, re-purposed into hall tree

hall tree with storage

paris gray with an old white topcoat and distressed

refinished top, painted red, dark waxed, and distressed

embossed wallpaper drawers, painted white trim and wood appliqués. Shell is a gray/blue mixture
For Sale - $200
email me if interested 

old door re-purposed into a message/organizer board.  the bottom parts are dry erase.
For Sale - $50
email me if interested 

coral with the gray detailing

coral hutch with a gray inside

Color mixing and simple technique

I haven't felt I have created much that has deserved blogging about, but I have dabbled lately in color mixing and found some techniques that are new to me. So here are a few examples:

1.  Layering colors and distressing with a wet brush and dark wax.

This small table has three layers of color, a white, a bright green, and french enamal blue. I used sandpaper to bring out the different colors and I also dipped a brush in water and then dark wax and brushed the table until some of the different layers came out. I accented some of the parts in gold leaf paint.

2.  I added some new paint and drawers to an old armoire to make it more interesting and more useful.

I stamped the back panel inside the armoire to give it even more detail.

3.  I perfected my shabby french look by layering three colors of paint and sandpaper distressing. I painted this old door we made into a hall tree with black, then gray, and finally an off white.  I heavily distressed it although the picture doesnt even begin to show the detail.

4. I painted this vintage buffet with a black chalk paint, stenciled the doors and drawers in off white chalk paint and then washed over the white stencils with watered down black chalk paint. The dark wax gave it an even more weathered look. 

The small table, armoire, and buffet are still for sale.  If you are interested in any of these pieces please ccontact me at davewhit4@gmail.com.

Pictures to Inspire You!

I don't have a how-to because the techniques I used on these pieces, I have already blogged about.  I wanted to post them to inspire my fellow crafty people on what you can do to completely change a piece of furniture.

The first piece was an oak curio cabinet that was missing its glass in the front.

I used a linen color milk paint and painted the outside.  The paint chipped off like I wanted which gave it a very shabby chic look.  I dry brushed some dark linen colored chalk paint over the off white color to give it an extra dimension.  I painted the inside of the cabinet a light blue and dry brushed the dark linen color over that also.  I added some silver embossed tin to the top window and some silver chicken wire to the bottom.  This is the end result.  It can be used for bathroom storage, clothes and shoe storage or anything that needs a cute display.

The second piece I have done a post on before was a two chair bench seat.  I added a board on the bottom this time so I could put baskets underneath.  I used milk paint again to get a distressed look, and I finished it with polyurathane so it has a hard finish.  I upholstered it with a linen material and added black nail-heads to give it an extra detail.

The bench seat is for sale. Please email me at davewhit4@gmail.com if you are interested.

A Little bit French!

We bought a twin headboard a little while ago and I immediatley knew it would be a bench seat.  The headboard had a quaint look to it but I had trouble envisioning the finished look.  I finally decided on a french distressed look and after trying many different color paints and glazes, I did it.  Here is the journey for the most part.

The headboard before:

My husband added a board on the bottom and worked his furniture magic to make this into a bench.

I sanded down the black chippy old paint as best as I could, but some stayed on which worked out for the distressed look.  I tried a couple of colors and glazes over the top before I got the look I wanted. Some of the colors came through in the end distressing and again it worked out! I eventually painted the whole thing in a french linen color(not pictured).  I put on two coats so it would not come off to much in the sanding stage. I covered the French linen color with a thin white linen color. This is pictured below.

I started distressing the paint with 100 grit sandpaper.  I sanded all the edges and groves in the bench so the darker color came through and in some areas down to the wood.  I then sanded random parts of the bench so the darker color came through and in some areas the old black paint came through.  I brushed on a light brown wax and buffed it off. I let the wax dry for a day and then brushed on a clear wax to seal in all my hard work and buffed it to a pretty shine. 

I loved how the finish turned out, but now I needed a cute cushion to match.  I glued foam to the board and wrapped it in batting.  Some of my previous posts have more detailed instruction on how to do this.  I cut out a neutral gray/blue linen fabric for the top and a cream linen fabric for the accent.  To make the   rushing  all the way around the cushion, I sewed two strips together to make it long enough to go all the way around.  I basted both sides of the cream fabric strips.  I pulled the strings on both sides to gather the fabric on both sides.  When the cream fabric was gathered, I sewed one side to the gray/blue top fabric.  I put the completed fabric piece over the foam board and stapled it in place on the bottom.  My husband attached the board to the bench and it was done.

If you are interested in a bench like this, Please email me at davewhit4@gmail.com

A Milk Paint Project!

We had a beautiful buffet I posted on my page to see if any one wanted it to be customized to their home.  Here is the before picture.

When someone contacted me, I had her pick out the colors she wanted from the miss mustard seed color palette. 

We decided on the typewriter and the French enamel and I got to work creating this beauty.  

I started by sanding it with an electric sander, just enough to make sure the paint didn't flake off to much. I could have left it as is and the paint would have been more chippy like on the drawers.  I wanted a controlled distressing so I sanded the main part. I then rubbed everything down with a tack cloth to get all of the debris off.

I then got together all the supplies I needed to mix the paint: two clear plastic cups, a small whisk, a tablespoon and a cup of water. 

I read and followed the directions on the package after I had watched some of the tutorials on the website. I put three tablespoons of water in the cup and then three tablespoons of paint. I whisked the paint for a minute and then let it sit for ten minutes. After ten minutes I whisked the solution for another minute and it was ready to go.  I painted the doors and drawers the French enamel. I covered the paint in the cup and I waited twenty minutes before whisking the paint again and painting a second coat.

After painting the accent color, I mixed the typewriter milk paint the same way and started painting the main part of the buffet. I painted the shields on the doors to give the buffet a little more depth. I waited thirty minutes between painting a second coat. 

Once the painting was done it was time to make it more interesting. I started by distress sanding it with 100 grit sandpaper. I sanded all the edges and the little details and shapes on the buffet.  I also sanded the shields enough for the blue color to come out from under the black. 

I put two coats of dark wax on the whole buffet and buffed it to a shine. I added the knobs to the doors and drawers and the buffet was done.

If you are interested in a piece like this contact us at davewhit4@gmail.com.  We have another buffet in stock!