Month

March 2017

Entryway Bench

Have you ever been obsessed with a piece of furniture or decoration and you can’t stop thinking about it until you get it? Ya me too! πŸ˜‰ My recent obsession was this cute entryway bench.

Well actually not this bench, but one that looked just like it. I was shopping the Facebook Yard Sale sites and saw a farm style entryway bench that would fit my space. Right size, right style, perfect color. So I thought about buying it, and thought about it, and thought about it and then someone else bought it. πŸ˜• Ugh!

Problem was, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I checked on line to see if I could find something similar but wasn’t having much luck. Every time I walked into my entryway I imagined how much better it would look with that cute bench sitting there. 😩 After obsessing about it for a few weeks I came up with a plan. πŸ’‘

Maybe someone could make one for me that looked just like the one I let get away!! πŸ€” Turns out I know someone who makes furniture. His name is Colton, he’s 17 and he’s my daughters friend. I figured it couldn’t hurt to ask, right? So I sent her the picture of what I wanted and asked her to talk to him. A few hours later he was at my house getting measurements and specifics. I’ve seen some of the furniture pieces he’s built from scratch and they were really nice. So I figured if he said he could build it, he would be able to. And he did. About a week later he brought it over.

What!! Now I’m not saying I couldn’t build this but……I could not have built this! I mean I could have cut some wood and nailed it together, but it wouldn’t have been something you would want to sit on. πŸ˜‰ Some people have a talent for building stuff from nothing. I am not one of those people. But my hats off to those of you who are, especially Colton! He saved me from a life time of obsessing about the bench I missed out on.

What I could do is finish it. I stared with picking a stain color. I tried out a few samples on the back to help me decided.

I liked the Minwax Special Walnut, so I put it on and immediately wiped it off so it wouldn’t be too dark. I decided to add a layer of the Minwax Grey over the Special Walnut, and it really brought out the wood grain.

I sealed it with Minwax SemiGloss top coat and it was time for paint. I wanted to paint it Annie Sloan Old White but my trim is bright white so I added some Pure White to brighten the Old White.

With this mix I am still getting a creamy white, but a little brighter and less contrast with my bright white trim.

Once it was painted I put a coat of clear wax on without distressing it. Then it was time to add hardware to the faux drawers. I love the wood against the white. So pretty!

Want to see how close we came to the original piece I didn’t buy?

Amazing!

The first picture is the one I let get away, and the second one is MINE!!

πŸ€—πŸ€—πŸ€— <- That’s my happy dance! πŸ˜‰

Now I don’t have to imagine what my entryway would have looked like with that cute farmhouse style bench in it. Instead I get to see it everyday!

I’m working on a few more changes to my entryway so I hope you will stop by and check it out!

Leave a comment and tell me what you think of my new bench. Have you build a piece of furniture from scratch? I’d love to hear about that as well.

Thanks for taking a look at my blog

Cindy 😊

 

Annie Sloan Aubusson Blue

Annie Sloan has several Blue options and all of them are beautiful. I did a post a while back and I featured a chair painted in Aubusson Blue and then white waxedΒ Annie Sloan White Wax Finish. I think this blue is so pretty so I wanted to use it again. With the popular jewel tone colors showing up in home decor I think this color fits the bill.

It couples beautifully with whites and grays and adds a bit of sophisticated color to a room.

I bought theses tables from a neighbor and they were in good shape but had a few blemishes.

If you want a new look to a piece of furniture or have a piece that is worn or scratched, painting it is a great way to fix it and feel like you have a brand new piece of furniture. For these tables I pulled out the paint sprayer and gave them a few coats of paint. Thanks to the spring like weather we’ve been enjoying I’ve been able to work out in the garage a little more. The paint sprayer works better when it’s not freezing temperatures, as do my fingers! πŸ˜‰

I use the HomeRight Finish Max sprayer and it works great with Chalk Paint. I will do a post soon on using a paint sprayer. It’s a game changer! I usually go around and touch up the paint with a brush to cover any places I missed and once it’s dry it’s time for sanding. I like to take a piece of sandpaper across all the lines and edges of the table to give it more texture and depth. I distressed a few areas of the legs but I didn’t do a heavy distressing. Then a coat of clear wax and these tables were done!

Do you just love this beautiful blue color? 😍 And again those legs. It’s brand new again!! Tell me what you think. Leave a comment cuz I’d love to hear from you!

Thanks for taking a look. I appreciate it!

Cindy 😊

Use a Chip Brush for texture

Some pieces of furniture can seem a bit complicated and overwhelming. This coffee table has a basket weave pattern on 3 sides. As I was considering how to paint this piece I had visions of Β me painting each of the individual weaved areas with a small brush for hours and hours and then waxing each small area for the rest of my life! πŸ˜‰ Haha So to avoid that misery I decided to go with a different approach.

I thought this piece would be a perfect candidate for a distressed, brushed look that can be achieved with a Chip Brush. A Chip Brush has less bristles and is uneven at the end. This is a great Brush to use for the dry brush technique. When using a chip brush you want to use as little paint on the brush as posible. I dip just the end of the brush into the paint and them dab it on the paint lid until most of the paint is off. Then lightly brush over the area. You will be able to see the brush lines in the paint. You can go as light or heavy as you want.

I was careful not to get any paint in the deeper areas as well as leaving some of the original color showing through. Then I used a rough sanding block to distress it over the large metal pin heads, edges and any areas that I felt were too thick with paint. I used Annie Sloan Old White Chalk Paint and instead of wax I used a sponge brush and sealed it with General Finishes Top Coat Semi-Gloss.

You end up with a pretty rustic, distressed look. This wasn’t complicated or time consuming but the coffee table has a brand new farmhouse look. Each piece of furniture is unique and it’s just a matter of finding the right paint color and technique to transform it into something beautiful!

 

Love the new look and character of this piece!! Leave a comment below with any questions you may have about using a Chip Brush as well as your thoughts on this technique. I would love to hear from you!

 

Thanks

Cindy 😊


 

Pretty Entry Table in Two Tone Paint

I love the look of two tone paint on a piece of furniture. So many of the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint colors look amazing together. A friend asked me to paint an entry table that had been her grandmothers. She wanted to update the look of the table and loved the color Versailles but was afraid it matched too closely to the color of her walls. We decided to paint the top and bottom Old White to give a contrast to the wall color, but paint the legs Versailles so she could still have the color she liked on this piece.

This table has lots of pretty lines and those legs! 😍 I couldn’t wait to get those painted!! Sometimes painting a piece two toned can be difficult because there is a lot of taping and touch up but not so with this table. Just a little taping was required. I was happy about that! πŸ˜‰

Right away I was LOVING these colors together! Add a little distressing and some clear and dark wax and you have an amazing transformation!

I distressed all of the edges and cutouts along this table to add some extra depth and shape.

Such a fun transformation! Do you have a sentimental piece of furniture you want to update? Or maybe you already have? Leave a comment and tell me about it!

And as always thanks for stopping by!

Cindy 😊