Ohhh, la la

Here is a cute little Frenchie end table/chest I just finished.  The table was in good shape except for the top which had several water stains and the finish was peeling off. I almost forgot to take a before picture  but here it is with a drawer sitting on top.

Curvy little gal isn't she?  Just look at those legs! 


To start refurbishing her I sanded the top and since I would be using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint I just cleaned the rest no sanding needed.


I then applied Old White to the sides and legs and Louis Blue to the drawers.  When that was dry I made a wash of Louis Blue by mixing equal parts of paint and water and applied it to everything I had painted white and wiped off the excess.


Next I made a wash with the Old White of equal parts paint and water and applied it over the drawers and again wiped off the excess.


The drawer pulls I painted with two coats of Old White.  I really like the way it turned out the drawers almost look like they are suede!  Here are the after pictures.

After I took these pictures I added some white rubber feet to the legs and lined the drawers.


Hope you enjoyed this project until next time happy painting.

I've entered this table in the following lovely ladies parties:

Two Before & Afters

Today I've been so busy going to visit a cousin who is not well and stopping at a local flea market for some things for my booth. I found some great nick-knacks and a couple of mirrors.  I love to redo mirrors. :-)

My booth is nearly empty so I have been hard at work getting some more furniture ready to take next Tuesday. I thought I would take a minute out to share a couple of things I just finished with you.

First is an old mirror that probably went with a dresser at one time.  It is a very heavy solid wood mirror with a fan like design at the top. Here's the before.

...please ignore my terrible carport with half finished projects.

Here's the after.

...hmm mirror looks great.  Reflection? not so much

I also just finished a antique rocker. I am certainly not a professional upholsterer but like I have blogged about before  my Grandmother recovered her chairs so like her out of  necessity I taught myself the basics.  Upholstery is not my favorite thing to do so I don't recover a complete chair very often. Here's the before.

And here's the after.

Okay, I know you have an old mirror or an old chair just sitting around collecting dust.  Get out your material and a paint brush!  If I can do it anybody can.

Chest Deep In Trouble

As I mentioned on Facebook today I bet a lot of you were wondering why it was taking me so long to finish this chest of drawers.  Well I started the whole project in the wrong way as I had just bought a complete estate of furniture and was in a hurry to get started on it and didn't take time to consider how I wanted the chest to look when I finished.  


I always take time to sort of let a piece of furniture talk to me in a way, sometimes I'll even put a piece aside until a clear picture of the finished piece comes to me.  I didn't do that with this chest and it was a big mistake!


I ended up painting the chest twice! I first painted it plain "Paris Gray" which is a lovely color but it didn't have that soft look I like to achieve so next I applied a wash of "old white" and it ended up looking like a bad paint job. :-( 


Finally I wised up and just quit working on it and just debated  on what I wanted to do with it overnight.  Then inspiration hit and today I painted it again with a wash of "Paris Gray". Yeah, I love it!


The wash of gray let a little of the white come through giving it a softer appearance that I love and I hope you will also.  Here's the before picture.

It didn't look to bad but really was just ordinary and who wants ordinary in their homes? Not me!


I painted the handles twice also, the first time black, which my husband liked best, but they seemed too harsh for the piece  so I painted them with "Old White" chalk paint and he agreed they really looked good.

Here are the drawers painted first in a coat of "Paris Gray" chalk paint.

Then washed with "Old White".

The top I stripped and stained with "Dark Walnut" stain.

I then applied a wash of "Paris Gray" and the insides of the drawers I painted with three coats of a lovely buttery yellow. I love to paint the drawers or inside of a piece to give my customers a clean, lovely surprise when they open them.

I then applied two coats of a clear wax to protect and age the piece and here is the final product.

Notice the variation in depth of color with occasional touches of the white showing through.  

I hope you think it was worth the wait and would love to hear your thoughts on the finished product.  I will be painting the matching dresser next and hope to sell them as a set. Thanks for stopping by.