Sow's Ear

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!