Mister, Mister

Hello, y'all. Yes, it's true the South is creeping into my vocabulary. And despite living here for almost two years, I'm still being told that I am the one with the accent. Funny! I guess the Buckeye takes a while to melt away.

Well, the major house renos will shortly come to an end. Kids and hubs are going to school and working. So, I'm finding myself with more time to be creative in some not-so-labor-intensive ways.

I dove back in  - or at least dipped my toes in the water - with some smaller projects. You might have seen a couple of them on past blog posts, such as the typewriter earrings http://bit.ly/1FPF0P8 and my Home with You wall art http://bit.ly/1NFXoCa .

Well, last week, I actually lugged a hoarded  stored piece from the garage to the basement.  This piece was once a simple but gorgeous vanity, but had seen better days. The bottom shelf was missing, it had a dime size burn hole in the top and the knobs were all askew.  I had a lightning bolt of creativity and decided this piece might be better as two instead of one. In order for that to happen, some surgery needed to be performed. It included cutting the remaining bottom shelf off. (Excuse the knobby knees in the pic. My husband had the saw in hand and was antsy to push the on button)

After cutting the shelf out there were two issues that needed to be solved before proceeding: filling in the slot where the top shelf had been attached to the sides; finding four more legs because now there were two tables instead of one vanity.

The first issue was the easiest. There were a couple of ways to attack this problem. I could have used wood filler or joint compound. I chose the joint compound. Here's why. Wood putty might have been the better choice due to its strenth, but it would have been a little costly to fill in a slot 3/4 of an inch wide and 2 feet long. That left the joint compound - yep, that stuff you use on your sheetrock walls to make them nice and smooth. Here are the reasons why I opted for it. It would give me the working time to fill the slot in completely, it would dry quickly and I could sand it quickly and easily.

When I was happy with the sanding, the pieces were ready for paint. Both tables were given two coats of General Finishes Lamp Black Milk Paint. It's not a true milk paint. It's a latex, but I love the true black color. It's also very self-leveling. It leaves almost no brush marks in the paint. Just the look for these two little guys.

The second issue, the legs, gave me a little more puzzling than the slot. At first, I wanted them to match the existing legs. They were chunky and little mid century looking. I searched ebay and Amazon. I found a couple of possibilities, but they were costly. My next thought was to look at some home improvement sites. Maybe there were some options there.

The legs had to be at least 5 inches long. After some more searching (Phew!) I found them!  They were longer than I needed, but they were affordable ($2.98 each) and easy to get.

Although these were a little too long, if I chopped them off right above the the first taper, they were the perfect length. (I always have a small tape measure in my purse. You never know....) I purchased 4 and took them home to my vanity.

I removed the 2 existing legs on the front of the tables, moved them to the back and applied the 4 new legs to the fronts of the tables. Here you can see. Even though the front and back legs don't match, they work and the chunky back legs give the tables a lot of stability.

I know you must be thinking that there was a lot of prep work for 2 little tables. Honestly, even though it was quite a bit, it was easy and fast. I knew that the end result would be worth the couple of hours I spent filling, sanding, and moving and adding legs.

Now that I was ready to paint, I noticed that the tables had a masculine feel even with the new curvy front legs. You know, if you wait long enough the pieces almost tell you how to restyle them. I don't know if it was the scent of leaves in the air or the end of summer, but I wanted this piece to have a cozy fall feeling - sweaters, hot tea, bonfires and hayrides.  But I also wanted to keep them a little masculine with little dashes of femininity scattered in.

I knew they had to be black. I knew that I wanted to camouflage the burn and the divots from the bent knobs. That meant using paper to decoupage. I usually opt for painting, but this felt right for these pieces.

I always keep an eye out for deals and interesting things for my pieces. I already had a typographic wrapping paper that I had purchased a year or so ago to use on the tops. I found samples of a gray and tan flannel print wallpaper for the drawer fronts (it reminds me of a sweater) and I had picked up some black and white knobs a couple of months ago at a Home Goods store (I think they were Cynthia Rowley). All of these were purchased at different times. I had no solid plan to use them, but I have a small stash and I'm always looking.

I applied the wallpaper and wrapping paper with a wallpaper paste. For me, wallpaper paster has more open working time than a product like Mod Podge. Apply the paste with a large paintbrush. Use more than you think you'll need. The excess is easily smooshed out using the side of a credit card or plastic putty knife. When the paper is nice and smooth with no bubbles, clean up the top surface and under the edges with a damp towel. I let mine dry overnight. Then, using a sharp utility blade I ran the side of the blade along the edges of my pieces, using the cutting edge to trim the papers. This makes neat, clean edges. Anything that wasn't nice and clean is easily made that way using a piece of fine sandpaper run smoothly along the edges of the paper.

After cutting and sanding the paper, the little white edges of the paper will be visible. This is easily remidied by just applying a little more of your basecoat paint to these edges. You don't have to be very neat with this. As long as you're not a turtle, the wet paint will easily wipe off the papers with a damp paper towel or rag.

After putting the drawers back in the tables, the typographic paper looked a little too brown. I wanted to gray it up a bit. The paper had a slight sheen to it, so I knew that it was coated with some kind of finish. Using a large brush, some water and my black paint, I dipped the brush in the water and then into the paint. Working quickly, I brushed the paint over the brown paper in large, messy swaths. Then using a dry paper towel, I moved the paint around and wiped it off until there was just enough glaze left to tone the brown down a bit.

The paper on the right has been glazed. If you look closely you can see the wash. It's a very subtle difference, but it made ALL the difference.

All that was left to do was to protect the tops with some polyurethane and add the knobs.  Iuually use brush on varnishes, but in this case I used spray ons. I was afraid if I used a brush on varnish, the paper would change color.  Now, these pieces won't get a lot of wear, but the tops needed to be water resistant. They got two coats of a spar varnish. Spar varnish is made for outdoor use and it's very water resistant. It's even used on boat hulls. Then, they got two coats of a spray on satin polyurethane.

Finally!!! It's so exciting to see a piece come together and finished. The knobs!! The piece de resistance!! Ugh...after I got the on, they almost disappeared on the black and tan background paper.

Back to another search: this time for some backplates. Again, ebay, Amazon, home improvement websites. I knew the backplates had to be a little masculine to counter balance the feminine drawings on the knobs. That meant angles not curves.

I always strive to be frugal with my revamped pieces. Spending $4 - $8 a piece wasn't going to work. I finally found the exact backplates and they were only $1.98 each! The only problem was they were silver, which would again disappear on the black and tan paper.

To fix this, I primed them and painted them a solid satin black. I also gave them several coats of the same satin polyurethane that the tops had gotten. Now, they were PERFECT!!

I put them on an angle under the beautiful knobs.  What a difference a little black paint made. They were finally done!!

I hope you found this post informative as well and enjoyable. As always, comments and questions are always welcome. Don't hesitate to interact!!

Enjoy your day!

This post has been shared on http://diyshowoff.com/category/other/that-diy-party/

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Lessons Learned - Trends, Likes and Seashells

Every once in a while, do you have a question that seems to have no answers? I'm in one of those places right now, in more than one area of my life. One of those areas has to do with the repainted and updated furniture we do.

Have you ever finished a piece, sat back, admired it and then.....sat back and scratched your head when something so gorgeous just doesn't go out the door? I have had this happen more than I like to admit lately; a Seize the Day Table that we revamped with a chalkboard-looking top and also with a periwinkle butterfly stand.

Why do some pieces fly out the door so quickly, while other sit around like the wallflower at your junior high dance?  Is it color, shape, design? Who knows? Maybe it's all of those - or none. What's not to like? Chalkboard, butterflies, periwinkle blue.  

Maybe it's just a fact of a DIYer's life: there are just some pieces that have a hard time finding a new home! I just don't get it. 

Maybe it's just MY emotional attachment to the colors and pieces. Or the time invested.

Remember opening a new box of 64 crayons? Yep, the big one! That periwinkle blue was one of my favs! That's why it didn't make sense to me that the butterfly stand wasn't selling.

Finally coming to grips with the fact that the pieces weren't going to sell as is, and putting our faves aside, we repainted. UGH!! The Carpe Diem table hasn't gone live yet, but the butterfly stand sold within 24 hours of repainting the periwinkle a soft black.

I think the hardest redo of a redo was a pair of cabinet doors that we repurposed for wall art. I thought it was a great idea. I spent hours learning the transfer technique for the shells. I loved the soft arch at the top of the door. That, coupled with one of my favorite colors, sea-glass green, LOVE!

I still like them, but they just wouldn't move. Well, the other pieces moved after a redo of a redo. Maybe these would, too. (Insert sad face here)

I took the leap. I mixed up some chalkboard paint. Don't hate....I did try some spray paint chalkboard, but it came out shiny and the chalk wouldn't work on it. So I mixed up my own. (Insert happy face here)

We all are aware that chevron is so trending. The charcoal, coral and white desk we revamped soled almost immediately. You can read about it here:  http://bit.ly/1hI8O3H  It was worth trying.

I also found a chevron painter's tape, made by Frogtape. It's not cheap, and it's not easy to find, but it's so easy to use. It comes in three different shapes. I will definitely be using it again!  

(I pulled this image from their website.)

The centers of the doors were repainted with the chalkboard paint. The chevron tape went over the sea-glass green and was painted with a dark teal.  They looked so different!

And, guess what? They were gone within 5 minutes!! No kidding?!

Sometimes it pays to put your emotions and likes to the side, and take an objective look at things. Hmmmm....that sounds like more than a painting lesson; that's a life lesson!  Lesson learned!

Mirror, Mirror

With the holidays approaching I'm seeing a lot of white, shimmer and glitter. Here's our contribution. A white, shimmery, lux-looking, but affordable piece. This entire project cost was around $15. I love projects like that!!

if you're like me, sometimes, you just need to do something a little different now and then. If you DIY long enough, eventually, you'll find yourself branching out to try new things. This was one of those projects. Ready for a break from detail painting such as our Count Your Blessings Cabinet - http://bit.ly/GC3TFg

This is one of the projects where the idea was great, but the actual process made us break a sweat. It was a LOT of work. I have to admit that we did do another project very similar to this not too long after. Some of us just don't learn very easily.

That was the case with this vintage round coffee table. We found it in a local antique shop in the clearance section. As you can see, the top was leather, but had seen much better days. It was ripped up and had burn holes through it.

Gray and Coral Chevron Desk

We're celebrating! Hard work pays off! Our first feature!

This little beauty came to us in not-so-nice condition. Someone had loved it very much. It had stickers on it. The finish was worn. If I remember correctly, there was still a couple of lost crayons in one drawer.

(Wait, let me grab my coffee...okay, ready now.)

I LOVE updating pieces; seeing the color go on and watching your vision for the piece play out is so rewarding, However, I really dispise the prep work for painting a piece.  Removing stickers, sanding, priming, filling in big chips, regluing loose joints, on and on and on. Why can't we just paint??

Often, there's more time and effort in prepping the pieces than in the actual delightful, relaxing painting. I know, right about now, some of you are thinking I"m crazy. You could be right, but I actually dig (like that throw back word?) the painting process.

After prepping this little desk (UGH!), Olivia had a vision for it. (She takes after me...) She painted the base a medium, charcoal gray. The top was given two coats of vivid white.It was coming along beautifully. But there was one thing wrong. Looking a tthe colors and the revamp plan, the Colonial knobs were like a burlap sack with a woman's formal gown: they just didn't match.So, they were primed and painted white to match the top. They looked SO much better!! Now the purse matched the gown!

Sometimes, I prefer handpainting, such as in our Fleur De Lis Table http://bit.ly/15AZtVA but not always.

Sometimes a stencil is what a piece needs. That was the case for this desk. The next step was the most fun. Using a chevron stencil by Cutting Edge Stencils found here on their website http://bit.ly/15EjHUk We have used their stencils for other pieces, that we'll share in the future. Their stencils are ahhh-mazing! They're bendable, strong, and they clean up easeily.  For the desk, we wanted an oversized chevron so we purchased the larger one from Cutting Edge. Using a trendy bright coral, we gave the stenciled area two coats of paint. After removing the stencil, there were a lot of bleeds and uneven edges. It's frustrating when you think a piece is going to be done and BAM! More work; but thankfully, the straight lines in the stencil made it easier. All it took was some painter's tape and a paintbrush to clean them up.

I'm feeling better now.

In the end, it all came together into one little charming piece. And, all of that hard work: sanding, priming, unsticking, regluing - yeah, all of that paid off! Not only did the desk find a new home, Cutting Edge Stencils gave us props on their blog! Take a look! http://bit.ly/15J2K49 We are so excited, humbled and blown away!

I guess Mom, Dad and the teachers were right; hard work DOES pay off. Now, go do some hard work, enjoy the process, and get some kudos!

A Little Bit Steampunk!

When I first saw this little table, it looked pretty sad.  Although the top had some water damage, it had a great shape and really nice details.

I know it might sound weird, but we usually wait to paint a piece until we get a feel for it.  Sometimes it seems like a piece will just speak to you after a while. :)

For some reason, the shape and details of this table reminded me of the Disney animated movie, Tarzan. Just a little Steampunk: some hard edges but with some Victorian softness and curves. The top of the table had some raised areas that could be transformed into metal sheets and I was envisioning a softness on the sides and legs. 

After reading some blogs on faux metal techniques, we decided to go with faux zinc for the raise areas and the drawer front. I read a few tutorials on how to achieve this. I combined a couple of techniques. The primary instructions I used came from http://restoreinteriors.com/finishes/faux-zinc-video-tutorial/  and http://www.freckledlaundry.com/2010/07/faux-zinc-painting-tutorial.html   

The sides and legs were basecoated in a dark gray self-mixed chalk paint. I know...self-mixed...  I just can't bring my frugal self to splurge on the real deal.  Anyway, basecoated in a dark gray.  Then I did a heavy drybrush technique over top, in order to leave the recesses dark and bring out all that lovely detail. This gives the details very soft edges; a lot different look than glazing or antiquing. If you look closely, you can see all that wonderful softness.

The top and bottom brace were painted in a flat black enamel. Despite the details on the legs and the metallic front and panels, the top still needed something Steampunk-y. Gears...it needed some gears. I printed some gear clipart, cut freezer paper stencils, laid them out and went over the flat enamel top with some satin poly spray. I lifted the stencils off and VOILA' : gears!!

I removed the backplate from the knob and gave it a couple of coats of hammered metal spray paint.

Gorg - or what?

Here is the final reveal!

 It didn't take long for this little beauty to find a new home!

The Lady and the Gentleman - in RED

Lady and Gentleman in Red

Darn it!! I have this terrible habit of getting too excited about new projects. I forgot to make absolutely sure I had before pics of both of these chairs. Oh well, I'm not gonna take them apart and start over! Here's the before of The Gentlman (he's called that because he's just a little bigger than The Lady).

Both members of this couple had seen better days: the cane was brittle and coming apart; the veneer was worn through in a few places; joints were loose.  But, they have wonderful "bones."

On a side note: don't ever, ever try to make red chalk paint with high definition paint. It makes the paint thin and watery. Also, ALWAYS use tinted primer when using very pigmented colors. Please don't ask me how I know this. :)

Anyway, this homeless couple was brought in, clean up, sanded, primed and ready to dress up.  After all the prep work, they needed to be really dressed up. So they were given a couple of coats of a bright red, like lipstick red. Then all the edges were distressed. After all of that the red was still too bright. It was like putting a pair of knee-high Chucks on a 70 year old woman. Some of them can carry it off, but this pair still needed to have age-appropriate garb.  

To take care of that, a dark wax was applied. What a difference! The red was still really red, but the wax brough out all the little details and gave the paint just a little more depth. 

Now that the paint was done, it was time to tackle the seats. My handy hubby came up with a solutions. He cut out plywood bases to replace the cane bottoms. Using 1/2 inch plywood, he routered the bottoms, creating a lip that extended on top of the seat. He made sure to leave a little give in the size to accommodate the batting and fabric. 4 little blocks were glued to the bottom to give us something to screw through once the seats were put in place. I know, it's a little technical, but we thought and thought about a solution. It's always exciting when you see it and are able to come up with a plan to carry it out!

The plywood was covered with a thin foam, batting and finally the upholstery fabric. It's "stuffy" enough to be dressy, but can still be country, primitive, modern or traditional. I fell in love with it the first time I saw it. Yo cover up some "outstanding" cane holes, I added a wide, black, braided trim. That was the final touch!

It was like putting that beloved brooch on you coat! They looked completely new! 

 Although this pair doesn't match, they are definitely are a couple. After all, clones can be boring. I think they will look great in an entryway, at the foot of a bed, or any corner that needs brightened up. And now presenting the Happy Couple - The Lady and Gentleman in Red!

The Genleman - larger and manlier

The Lady - because she's smaller, daintier

New Life for a Curb Dweller

Here's a sweet little find. A friend of mine keeps here eyes open for any "freebies" sitting alongside the edge of the road that are crying out for a new purpose. Here is one of her finds.

This little guy had definitely seen better days. No glass on top, kind of wobbly, beat up, and kicked to the curb, literally.  After brainstorming for a couple of days, I came up with a plan: it was about the right size for a little bench or footstool for an entryway or living room.  Hmmmm.... coming up with the plan is always the easy part; carrying it out always proves a little more challenging.

Plan: a new painted surface, a piece of thin plywood that would sit inside the "frame" where the glass used to be, something for over the plywood for a cushion. Finally, a cool, trendy cover of some kind.

The piece was sanded and given a fresh coat of satin black paint. After cutting the plywood to size, I stapled a pillow (ripped open and about 1/2 the stuffing removed) to the top of the plywood. The plywood was then covered with a burlap coffee bag that I had left over from some other crafts. Thin trim was then stained a honey gold and glued to the edges of the plywood to cover the edges and clean up any gaps between the frame and the plywood.  The last step was to distress the edges of the bench.

This is the result of a little ingenuity, some sawdust and elbow grease:

Add caption

 His new home?  A new friend's entry way; a place to sit while removing boots, etc.  A new life for a discarded piece. Ahh....

You can see a slew of transformations, great ideas and crafty things at The Shabby Creek Cottage at this link:
http://www.theshabbycreekcottage.com/2013/01/transformation-thursday-no-186.html#more