Month

February 2016

English Wardrobe redone in Old Ochre

I was so excited to find this beautiful English Wardrobe. And even more excited to fix it up and paint it. It’s a 1930 – 1940’s wardrobe that still had the sticker on it from before it was shipped to the United States. I looked it up and Swainbanks in Liverpool, England ships antiques to the United States. Not sure how long it has been in the US but no one has ever taken the sticker off. Can you blame them! 😉

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When I picked this up it needed quite a bit of work. The wood was warped to the point that the opening for the door was about 1 1/2 inches too big. There were several cracks in the wood from the warping and the hings for the door had ripped out of the wood. There were several screws and nails and some kind of glue that had been used over the years to try to fix it. This also caused several of the cracks in the wood.

The mirror was thankfully in near perfect condition but it was going to need some handy man work overall. So I got the hubby to help! 😉 He’s much better at figuring this stuff out. It took some time and lots of nails and screws to fix much of the warping and get the shape back to where is was suppose to be. Well for the most part.  But even after that, the door had about a 1 inch gap when it was placed in the opening. So we added a piece of molding to one side. This solved 2 problems because the holes for the hinge screws were stripped.

All the original hardware was there (except the key) so we used it to hang the door where the new molding was. Once the wood putty was sanded and smooth it was time for paint. I choose Annie Sloan Old Ochre because I feel like this color fits with the time period of this piece.

Once it had 2 coats of paint on it I lightly distressed it, put a layer of clear wax and then added lots of dark wax to age it. Old Ochre is a great paint color for dark wax and I love the look of it. One fun thing about this wardrobe is it still has the original clothing rod and hooks.

The previous owner made 2 shelves so they also went back in. This will be one of those pieces I will be heart broken to see go. It is such a beautiful piece with amazing lines.

As you can see in the picture I left the sticker on the mirror so whoever buys it will know it came from Liverpool, England! 😉 I also was able to find a key that fit so the door locks. If it sits in my booth too long I may bring it back and find a place for it in my home! haha That’s the problem with buying furniture you love to paint and sell.

Let me know what you think of this amazing wardrobe. Where would you put it in your home? A bedroom, a living room? Maybe an entryway? I would love to hear your idea’s!

Thanks for taking a look

Cindy

Decoration Projects

I recently painted and stained a few home decoration items to put in my booth at Drab 2 Fab. I found someone not far from me that cuts wood projects from reclaimed wood. He was selling these arrows so I bought a few sets and stained some. The others I used ASCP and then gave them a clear wax finish. Easy project and ready to hang on the wall.

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I bought this wood basket and wanted to give it a little color.

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I started painting it ASCP Arles before I remembered to take a before picture. 😉 That happens a lot! So after a coat of the Arles I added a dry brushed coat of French Linen. Then distress and waxed it with a clear wax. I added Old White to the wax to give it a tint. You can add any color of chalk paint to wax to change up the finish.

Love this cute wood basket! Annie Sloan Arles will always be one of my favorite colors! 🙂

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And last, I bought this fun old window that someone had added sheet music to.

The pink was a bubble gum pink and not something that will fit into everyone’s decor so I painted it with Old white and French Linen leaving just a little pink poking through. Then I added a vine wreath and a flower accent.

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Annie Sloan Chalk paint goes on everything and is so easy to use! Be creative and find fun things to make your own!

 

Thanks for taking a look

Cindy

 

1970’s Armoire make over


Several months ago I found this amazing armoire on a Facebook yard sale site.

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I wasn’t really sure how old it was but I was hoping it was something staight out of a medieval castle. Honestly it smelled old enough to be! But I was pretty sure they didn’t make plastic veneer during that time period so I figured it probably wasn’t. 😉 I did a little research and I think this was probably made in the 1970’s. The front was a hard plastic veneer but the rest of this was wood.

This piece needed some work. First I cleaned it top to bottom and left the doors open to air it out and get rid of the musty smell. One of the drawer slides was missing. This turned out to be a difficult fix. I couldn’t find an old one that matched (I searched everywhere but no luck) and so I ordered some. Unfortunately they didn’t work for the drawers, they sat too low. So I returned those and went with simple wood slides I found at Lowes. My helpful hubby spent some time making them the right height so the drawers would slide easily. Not sure I would have ever figured that out on my own. 😝 Then I sanded and used wood glue on parts that needed it. And it was ready for paint.

I wanted to paint it grey. I used French Linen but I wanted to change it up a little so I added a little Graphite and Pure White until I got the color I wanted. For the inside I chose Cocoa. To make the detail on the front stand out just a little I dry brushed those area’s with Old White and just a touch of Cocoa. You will laugh but I actually got the color idea for this from a Klenex box! Haha You never know where your inspiration will come from right!

I loved the hardware on this but one of the pulls on the bottom was missing so I went looking for something that would match it. I tried a few out before I found the one I liked.

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Love how it turned out despite all the little problems I ran into. But it was a good learning experience. I always ask when I am buying somethings with drawers if the slides work. It may still be worth it but it’s best to know what you are getting into with each project.

I put this in my booth at Drab 2 Fab and it sold quickly. I was sad to see it go but glad someone else loved it. An old price of furniture doesn’t have to be all wood to make a beautiful up cycled piece. Fortunately chalk paint goes on everything. Let me know what you think of my 1970’s Armoire make over.

Cindy 😃

 

Using dark wax to give your project an antique look

I love the old frame look to decorate a shelf or table top. With Annie Sloan dark wax you can take a modern frame and make it look old. I found several frames at the local thrift store that needed a make over. Here are a few.

The best frames to use for this are ones that have texture. Pick you paint color and paint the frame. Then give it a light distressing. I like to use the wet distress method because most modern frames are not wood and when you sand it down with sand paper you will uncover whatever material the frame is made of. This is often white in color. If you use a wet rag and rub the paint off in the area’s you want it distressed you are can just go to the finish on the surface of the frame.

As you can see in the first picture I painted the frame, that had been a dark brown, in ASCP Old White. I started using the sand paper and quickly realized that under the finish the frame was white. So I used a wet rag to do the rest. Then I put a clear wax finish over the frame and then worked the dark wax in the crevices of the design on the frame. It brings out the design as well as making the frame look like an antique. When you are using dark wax remember that if you have an area on your project that is darker than you want it to be with the dark wax, use a little clear wax and rub it over the area that you want to lighten up and it will take some of the dark wax off. Once I was done with the dark wax I used a Gilders Paste Wax in German Silver to add another layer of antiquing.

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The paste wax is easy to use. Just rub a finger over the wax and then rub your finger over the area’s you want the gold leaf look. It rubs of easily if you get it on a area you didn’t intend to. Here are a few of the frames I have finished using this method. Both of these were painted in ASCP Old Ochre.

Rather than spending hundreds of dollars on antique frames, buy a few from the thrift store and turn them into “antiques”. You can use different colors to get the look you want. Easy, quick and fun as always. Oh the possibilities Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and wax offers! I would love to hear about some of the projects you have done (or want to do) to turn a modern piece into an “antique’d treasure”. Leave a message and tell me about it.

 

Thanks for taking a look

Cindy