High Gloss and Lacquered Finishes

High Gloss.....not what I typically do but a couple of custom orders put me there. I have to tell you, I really like the look. It's sleek and catches the light beautifully. The downfall to high gloss or laquered finishes is you really, really need a piece that has minimal imperfections. A gloss finish picks up imperfections like a girl trying to hide a pimple with a dab of cover up....does not work. It's there, you see it, nice try. Try again.

Lucky for me the pieces to be painted were in good shape and just needed a light sanding and a spray primer. Light coats are best w/ a quality brush. I added Floetrol to the paint. This will leave your finish with virtually no brush marks. It just levels the paint out amazingly. You must try this stuff!

                                                                

I really like how they turned out but there is just a part of me that LOVES, LOVES, LOVES a chippy rustic finish. What's your favorite finish???

Linking up here.....

 

Coral French Provincial

You know I typically stick to my blue and gray paint. They sell faster than fun colors but start to bore me after a while. So, I decided to step out of the box on this dingy French Provincial Chest I found on CL.

 

She was sanded and primed first. I used my Homeright Sprayer which I'm totally loving! The color is Wild Watermelon by Behr. The pulls were sprayed glossy white. A thin application of Fiddes and Sons wax and she has a new life.

 The routered areas were done using a round artists brush. I find it easiest to get a clean line when the paint is mixed with water to an ink like consistency.

 Thanks for stopping by. Have a great weekend!

Linking up here....

Drop Leaf Table and Flea Market Chairs

Find a table at a garage sale that you love but the guy selling it wants 100 bucks for it. Uhhh, I don't think so. Enter wife who sells it to me for 25.00 explaining her husband doesn't want to part with anything. Then score the perfect fabric for 3.00 in the remnants at Joanne's for the chairs you have yet to find.

Go to the flea market hoping to find the perfect chairs. Turns out there were slim pickins except for these.

Gotta look past that fabric!

They cleaned up nice with a little black paint and my cheap decorator fabric.

Pair them with the drop leaf table and you have a perfect little set for the small space.

Happy Cheap Finds to You!!!

Linking up here..... 




 

My New Free Toy

When Gail from My Repurposed Life emailed me to tell me I won the HomeRight Sprayer I couldn't believe it! I couldn't wait to get my hands on it but then it sat for a good month because I was intimidated to give it a try.

 I finally pulled it out when a client asked me to do up a French Provincial piece in Gloss Black. I know, you're probably thinking I'm out of my mind to try out my new toy on a client piece. That thought occured to me too. I did however practice on cardboard first. It was easy to use and the finish super smooth. There was little if any over spray too. I thought I would have to fashion some type of spray booth but not the case. I just put down some drop clothes and went to it.

Here's the piece prepped and ready to go. I sanded the heck out of it because gloss paint tends to show every imperfection.

It had that yellowed over time finish, like it sat in a 2 pack a day house for years. The craziest thing is when I started to sand out the scratches on top I unveiled the most beautiful wood. Why, oh why would a furniture manufacturer choose to cover that up??

Anyway, I watered down the paint (Rustoleum Gloss Black) per the HomeRight instructions and also added a little Floetrol. This stuff is great for eliminating brushmarks. Not that I was brushing but figured it couldn't hurt.

                                            The pulls were sprayed metallic silver.

I loved how easy this was to use and will definitely be using it again and again. I thought cleaning it would be a big pain but it was quick and easy!

A BIG thank you to Gail for the opportunity to win the HomeRight Sprayer and for answering my questions at lightening speed!

Linking up here...







 http://diyshowoff.com/2013/10/06/that-diy-party-37/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FpuSM+%28DIY+Show+Off%29

Read more at http://diyshowoff.com/buttons/#IFeUmXR1cGYSMQFi.99

Read more at http://diyshowoff.com/buttons/#IFeUmXR1cGYSMQFi.99

 

French Provincials....My Favorite!

 I've  been super lucky finding French Provincial pieces lately. I worked on these during the week. The first was a custom order. It was in crazy great shape when I found it but a little too shiny for my taste.

I sanded back the top w/ my orbital to "naked" wood and stained it in Minwax Provincial. Followed up with several applications of Wipe On Polyurethane. 

 Time for a new camera. That dark spot is always front and center. Painted in a mix of Paris Gray w/ a touch of Aubusson and clear waxed.

 The pulls are dry brushed with old white. I love this look!

                             This one is waiting for its new home and listed in my Etsy shop. I can totally see this in a baby's nursery. Done in Paris Gray and Old White. 

I really loved working on both of these. They were clean with no repairs to be made. I said in my last post, I'm staying away from stuff that needs a ton of TLC before the painting begins and I am sticking to it!

Thanks for popping in, Sue

Linking up here....

 

French Country Provincial

I'm a little obsessed with French Provincial these days. I had some left over paint from this piece. The one I stole my boyfriend's knobs off of his vanity for...no shame! It sold quickly so I decided to do another one in the same color scheme.....Aubusson and Graphite mix with accents of Old White minus the five fingered knobs.

 These pieces were a joy to work on because they were in near perfect condition. I have decided I'm done with pieces that need a ton of work before the fun part begins. Maybe it's just the humidity?

Unfortunately no before pics, ugh, not happy! But here's the other one.

I used a new to me wax on this, Fiddes and Sons, and loved it! I found it glided on super smooth with no "haze" that I sometimes find with using Annie Sloan's clear wax on dark pieces. Don't get me wrong, I love that wax too but for darker colors this will be my new go to.

 The interior is spotless and I love the wood against the slate blue!

I also did up the matching nightstand too!

Happy weekend and hopefully happy flea market and estate sale finds!!

Linking up here....

 

Aubusson meets Graphite

This tall boy was a part of a set I picked up a while back. I struggle with tall boys, high boys, chest on chest or whatever you want to call them. They're supposed to be the "man" piece and maybe that's why I get stumped with color choice.

 Let me tell you, this piece was beautiful from the get go but had a ton of scratches on the top. All furniture should be this well made and easy to work on. Quick sanding on top and right to painting.

Well this one is NOT for the boys anymore. She's too pretty and elegant to house boxer shorts and boy stuff. 

One pull was missing sadly. So what's a girl to do?  Swipe these beauties off of her boyfriend's dated bathroom vanity. I was eying them up for a while. Hmmm, wonder if he'll notice, nahh probably not :)

Happy weekend!!!!!