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!

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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

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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!!!!!

French Stencils

I found this pretty pie crust table which was top coated in "I don't know what"....some super glossy but easily removable stuff.

Me's got some pretty hands, huh? And two hair ties on wrist in case one just isn't enough. I took a small paint scraper to it and it literally just peeled right off. See those little flecks on my arm?

That's about as good of a before pic as it's going to get. Picture pretty pie crust table with shiny, easily, yay me, scrape away crap on it. Now, let's fast forward....

A couple of coats of ASCP in Old White which I'm still skeptical about. Mostly about price.....is it really worth it? I will say this though, this piece distressed beautifully and waxed amazingly to a super smooth finish. Will I use it for everything I paint? No, I think you can acheive a beautiful finish with latex too. If I'm going to distress then ASCP would probably be my first choice.

It looked a little plain when I was finished so I used a French stencil to give it a little something extra. I bought this one and a couple of others here...

https://www.etsy.com/shop/ArtisticStencils

Tell her I sent ya, maybe I'll get a freebie :) After all, I'm the cheap Mom!

Happy Tuesday, Sue

Linking up here...

Aren't ingerie chests are hard to come by? This is the first one I found at a reasonable price via CL.

I listed it in my Etsy shop and custom painted it for a woman who lives in NYC. She chose my favorite color...blue/gray. I find it hard to do custom pieces when I'm not feeling what the buyer is. Please don't make me paint it that way a little voice in my head says.

Amazing how lighting can skew a color. I used the exact same paint on this but you would never know it.

Happy Painting and stay cool. This weather absolutely sucks for painting!

Glazing VS Dark Waxing

I'm a glazer. How about you? I'm sure there's a learning curve with dark wax, one I haven't been able to master unless I add mineral spirits to liquify the wax. Then I must clear wax first, add my liquified dark wax then clear wax again. With the price of this stuff and time involved, I prefer the tried and true glazing. Whenever I come across a piece that is carved and calls for glazing or dark waxing, I always forgo the chalk paint and wax. I just go with latex and a custom mix glaze.

I found this on CL. A very happy find I might add. Look at those legs!

She had some veneer issues which were puttied up with Quik Wood and smoothed out with my orbital sander.

After sanding and priming, I went with one of my favorite colors, Behr Light French Gray followed up with glaze mixed with charcoal acrylic paint. You know, the small tubes you can buy at the craft store for $1.99. I like to use 3 parts glaze to 1 part paint.

 

I have a whole tub of dark wax and would love to hear your tips on making it work for me. I find it's a really hard product to work with. Any advice?

Thanks for popping in!