Month

May 2017

Annie Sloan and General Finishes make over

I love to find great pieces of furniture to upcycle. Sometimes I find a piece and know right away what I want to do with it. Sometimes I think about it for a while before I start the make over. I spent some time thinking about this project and even thought I had a good idea of what I wanted the end result to be, this project changed several times during the process.

I started by sanding the tops of these tables in hopes of staining the wood inlay. I decided to try out a wood stripper for the edges of the top to remove all of the stain and polyurethane top coat.

The wood stripper worked great with a stiff nylon brush. It removed all of the original stain from the crevices, but it was really messy. Like REALLY messy. But by far better than trying to sand it out of the crevices. Unfortunately when I tried to stain the top, the stain was not even over the different wood inlays and the wood edge. Sigh ๐Ÿ˜” So General Finishes Gel Stain to the rescue! You may remember my postย Painting and Staining our stair railing part 2ย , I used a mix of GF Nutmeg and Grey. For these tables I used the same mix and it covered the top beautifully.

With that disaster taken care of I painted the body of these tables Annie Sloan Paris Gray. I wanted to add some Pure White and Silver accents. I painted the cut outs on the legs with a small brush and originally I painted the drawers white as well as the corner cut outs. In my head that looked better. In reality it was too much white. So I painted over the drawer fronts and the corner cut outs with Paris Gray.

I distressed it, used a clear and dark wax and then highlighted the buttom edge of the table and legs with Annie Sloan Bright Silver Gilding Wax. This took a while. ๐Ÿ˜‰ But completely worth the time. All of these products help to bring out the shape and character of this piece. The beautiful handles on the drawers got a coat of spray paint and these tables are done!

This wasn’t exactly what I envisioned when I started this project but I love the end product now that they are done.

 

It takes some time and sometimes several different products but getting to the end of a project is always satisfying. Don’t be afraid to change it up if it’s not working out as you want it to. There’s always a solution if you come across a hiccup.

Leave a comment or a question if you have one!

And as always, thanks for taking a look at my blog ๐Ÿ˜Š

Cindy

Peacock Blue Serpentine Dresser

If you’re like me you love Pinterest. A while back I pinned a picture of a beautiful dresser painted in an ASCP custom mixed color and have been dying to try it. I found the recipe on thepurplepaintedlady.com and it’s called Peacock Blue. I found the perfect piece to try this amazing color on.

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Hello beautiful

This is my favorite piece to date! I absolutely love this color not to mention this amazing piece of furniture! I love this style but who doesn’t right. ๐Ÿ˜‰

Ok here’s the recipe:

2 parts Napoleonic Blue 1 part Aubusson Blue and 1 part Antibes Green. There are so many possibilities with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and Pinterest is the perfect place to find examples of what you are looking for.

I started refinishing this Dixie Federal Style Serpentine dresser by sanding the top and putting a wood conditioner on the exposed wood to prepare it for stain.

Minwax wood conditioner is easy to use. Wood condition helps to give a more even coverage to the stain. I chose MinWax Jacobean and I put 2 coats on. I followed the instructions on the can and sanded between coats and the second coat came out nice and even. Tip: always use gloves when applying and wiping off the excess stain or you will also stain your hands. ๐Ÿ˜‰ When it was dry I applied 3 coats of Semi-gloss polyurethane to seal it. You can use a brush for this but I used a foam brush and it worked well.

Then it was ready to be prepped for painting. I always wipe each piece down and remove all dust as well as any stickers or dirt, sticky spots, etc. This helps the paint go on smoothly and keeps anything from bleeding through. Chalk paint is very porous so cleaning before painting will keep that from happening. If you do end up with some bleed through that’s causing the color of the paint to change color, use some spray shellac over the area and repaint over it. Works like a charm.

I removed all the hardware and used wood filler in the areas that needed it. Some trim along the bottom was broken in places and needed to be removed. I sanded any areas that were ruff or uneven.

Spending a little time prepping a piece is important. In the end you will be glad you did. Next taping. I don’t love this part. It’s time consuming especially on a piece with lots of curves like this one. But you get clean lines and less mess so it’s worth it.

I painted this piece with 3 coats and didn’t do any distressing. I wanted good coverage on this so 3 coats were needed. Then I sealed it with clear wax and added black wax for an amazing finish.

You can see the difference the black wax makes in theses pictures. I painted this in my garage under florencent lights so the paint color looks a bit lighter in these pictures.

Annie Sloan recently came out with a line of gilding waxes and I purchased the Bright Silver to use on this dresser. I accented some of the detail as well as the hardware. This product is easy to use. I squeezed a little out on a paper plate and used my finger to apply most of it. For some of the areas I couldn’t cover with my finger (small crevices and hard to get to areas) I used a brush. The brush works well but using your finger is faster.

Using a gilding wax really brings out the small details and adds to the overall look of a piece. The black wax really adds another demention to the paint color as well as giving it an aged look.

I love how this turned out. I spend some considerable time trying to find a place for this in my home. ๐Ÿ˜‰ But this beauty so is currently for sale in my booth. I may ask for visitation rights. ๐Ÿ˜‚

I really want to hear your thoughts on this piece. What do you think of this color? Do you like the bright silver accents? Leave a comment below! ๐Ÿ˜ƒ

Thanks so much for checking out my blog. I appreciate your interest in my project and what I do. ๐Ÿ˜Š

Cindy

 

 

Antique or Vintage Chair Reupholstering

I picked this chair up at an estate sale a few months ago. I can’t say for sure it’s an antique but I know it’s old. When I bought this chair it had been recovered with a leather like material.

I decided to take it off right away and discovered what I believe to be the original seat cover underneath. I believe it was the original because it looked old, and was attached with nails.

As you can see from the picture the material looks pretty worn and aged and you can see the small flathead nails used to attach it. Underneath the chair you can also see the jute webbing. So I’m already feeling like this chair is fairly old but then I took a look at the inside of the padded seat.

Straw and horse hair! What!! I don’t have a lot of experience with antiques and vintage items so this was all brand new to me. I did a little research and horse hair and straw were used in the mid 1800’s and into the early 1900’s. I believe it was sometimes used into the mid 1900’s but not as often. Other than that I can’t seem to find any more information on this chair. There’s no manufacturers name or any info at all printed or attached to this chair. So I’m left to wonder.

I wanted to reupholsterย this chair but I didn’t want to remove any of the original seat cover or insides. Because I’m not sure of its age I just want to keep all the original parts intact. So I put the nails I pulled out back in and added some extra padding over the original material. Then stapled the new material over that. To give the seat a finished look I decided to add a little trim around the back and the arms. I measured each piece, cut it and used a hot glue gun to attach it.

I love the wood finish on this chair and the beautiful carved back. With the simple pattern on this material I think it’s the perfect accent chair for a farmhouse style home.

I would love to hear from anyone who knows anything about antique and vintage furniture. If you have an idea’s on the age of this chair or any advice on how to find out please leave a comment below.

 

Thanks for checking out my blog

Cindy ๐Ÿ˜Š