Vintage

,

Hurricane Barry was a BUST!

,

Most folks get a day off because of a hurricane and relax. MOST FOLKS. Not me. Never me. I intended to try...but got sidetracked by stuff. I had on soft pants all day but didn't chill out until way late.

I updated my flatware chest and painted a wood bookshelf I paid $5 for that was in my garage because I found a can of General Finishes Milk Paint on a shelf that I'd forgotten I'd brought home forever ago because I wanted to do something in that color for personal use. The flatware chest update made my flatware look shinier. LOL! I should have BEEN done that.

If you EVER see a solid wood bookcase for $5 and don't bring that sucker home and refinish or update it...you're crazy. For real, seriously, crazy. Solid wood. $5. No brainer.

So yeah...I hurricane cleaned and did a few projects and now I'm finally tired enough to relax. Cuz that's how I get down. LOL!

, , ,

Refinished and Painted Vintage Windsor Wood Arm Chair

, , ,

This might be my favorite piece yet.  It is so solid and fun now that it has been restored to awesomesauceness.  Yup.  That's a word.  Look it up.  Didn't find it?  Oh...my bad.  :)

This lil dude was busted and disgusted.  The bottom was broken and there was a ton of just...GRIMEY GRIME on the arms.  Dried on grimey grime.  Just gross.  But...as we've covered before...solid wood can be sanded and cleaned up so well so I repaired it with wood glue, contact cement and wood filler and then got out my palm sander to remove all the grime off it.

Then I painted it but it was just regular and I wanted it to be fun.  This will probably end up in the kids' guest room once I find the perfect size desk so, of course, I wanted it to be neat and indestructible too.  LOL!  I used some of my stencils and did a rustic French numbering stencil on the seat using chalkboard paint but it looked too "new" and I didn't like it.  To combat this I mixed one part paint to two parts water in a wide mouth jug and shook it up really well and then applied to the seat wiping it off almost immediately with blue shop towels for a white washed look.

The feet on it were rusted and non-removable so I taped the legs up and hit them with some gold paint.  To finish it, I sprayed it down well with Minwax polycrylic three times.  Should be good to go.

And now it's so cute...I might not want a kid sitting in it.  Indestructible or not.  So there.  LOL!  

 

, , ,

Vintage French Provincial Nightstand in Pink and Berry!

, , ,

First time I saw this...it was scary.

And now...it's all lovely and ish.  Perfect for a Princess' bedroom.  Isn't it gorg?

, , ,

Antique China Hutch in Annie Sloan Graphite and French Linen

, , ,

When I found this piece...it looked tragic.  It was covered in brown paint with faux wood grain contact paper on the shelves.  I bought it because I liked the details and well...I was also looking for a nice piece to use Annie Sloan Graphite on.  It is such a rich color that I figured it could be used to make anything look elegant.

When I got it home...I was curious as to what kind of wood it was made out of so I decided to strip it.  You don't need to strip paint to use Annie Sloan paint mind you...I just wanted to see it in  it's original state.  So I did it...and was shocked to find that the beautiful wood underneath the horrible paint was none other than rare mahogany.

Wow.

I honestly sat there and stared at it for a long time and then I moved around a bit just so I could make SURE I was doing the right thing by painting it.  Then...I decided that hey...no matter what...I could always strip the paint off again if I wanted to right?  RIGHT.

So I took the hardware and door off.  Then I collapsed the shelves and got to painting.  Since it was such a dark piece anyway...I knew I'd have to do a light color inside of it.  The hardware was pretty nice but I wanted it to seriously pop so I used a bit of Antique Gold Rub-N-Buff to make the color really stand out.

I put two coats of paint on it and then let it dry for a full day.  Next, I used General Finishes top coat for protection and now I'm sitting here debating whether I should wax it too.

This piece is so lovely to me that yeah...it might already be SOLD too.  :)

, , ,

Spray Painted Vintage Temple-Stuart China Cabinet

, , ,

MATERIALS USED:

Goo Gone Pro-Power

Porter Cable Palm Sander

Sandpaper

Rust-Oleum Comfort Grip Spray Paint Handle

Rust-Oleum 2x Red Primer (3 cans)

Rust-Oleum 2x Colonial Red Gloss Spray Paint (5 cans)

Rust-Oleum Hammered Black Metal Spray Paint (I've used one can for three projects so far on hardware.)

General Finishes Pitch Black Glaze

Minwax Polycrylic Spray

The before and after of this piece makes me super giddy.  I knew I wanted to go with a bold color from jump and I also knew that I wanted it to look smooth like a showroom piece at Ethan Allen so I decided to spray paint it!  

Steps to get a super smooth finish?

1.  Vacuum and wipe down with a bit of dish liquid in a bucket of water.  Don't wet it, mind you...but wipe it clean with a well-wrung towel.  Use Goo Gone to remove anything sticky, hard or icky. Then...let it dry completely. 

2.  Take it apart.  No...seriously...remove all screws, put hardware by type in Ziploc bags so you don't lose them and keep them together so you can get them ready to be painted too if you're using them.  Take the back off carefully using a hammer, pliers and a flat tool.  Either paint or add a piece of fabric using a spray adhesive as I did.  

3.  Use paint cans and spray paint tops to sit pieces on and sand.  Wipe down with damp cloth and then prime after it dries.  (I used a spray primer for red paint.)

4.  One coat of primer on all pieces if you're using the same kind of 2x primer I used.

5.  Let dry COMPLETELY.  I didn't paint until the next day.

6.  Spray paint using the spray paint handle so your finger doesn't get in the way or get tired from depressing that lil' thingy.  You should have a good rhythm and method since you spray painted the primer on.  Hold the can back far enough where you can do light sprays without paint runs.  Just spray evenly and lightly.  Follow the directions and apply your second coat when the can says to.  LOL!  

7.  Remove rust with a rust remover, clean, dry and spray paint hardware.  Let dry completely.

8.  If you're going to add a glaze, as I did, do it the next day after the paint has dried completely and you've corrected any mistakes or paint drips.  (Sand, wipe clean, repaint.) Glaze one section at a time so your glaze doesn't dry on you making it too dark in some areas.  If you love the super shiny, super bright pop of color...don't glaze.  For example...if I were to do a dresser or end table for a little girl's room in a pretty pink or raspberry I wouldn't glaze it.  The color would just be so happy to me as is.  LOL!

9.  Let dry completely and add a coat of polycrylic to any part where you'd sit stuff on like shelves and the top of the bottom piece.  This is just an added layer of protection.  I actually used the spray polyurethane for the first time on this piece and I adore the satin finish it gave.  

10.  Put it back together.  Add the hardware.  Sit back and admire your handiwork with a smug smile knowing that BAAAAAAAAAABY!  YOU DID THAT!