Category: furniture.

Furniture transformations.

pleasure parties accommodated at short notice.

Published on by Quandie31 Comments

I purchased this pretty vanity or dressing table at an estate sale last summer.

Just ignore Mr. Q’s legs behind the vanity.  He was holding the mirror in place for me.  Ladies, you know you’ve got a keeper when he’s willing to duck behind a vanity while you take your time with some ‘before’ photos!

This piece has so many pretty details and I knew it would look great painted.  I’m not sure why it took me so long to get around to painting it.  Probably because I also knew it would be more putzy to paint with the mirror frame and all of those curvy, carved details.  And I was right.

But it was totally worth it!

I chose to paint it in Fusion’s Little Piggy from their Tones for Tots line.  If you’re afraid of going overboard with pink, or you’re just not a fan of bubblegum, this is the perfect shade of barely there blush pink for you.  In some lighting you can barely even tell that it’s pink.

This is also the perfect shade of pink to pair up with one of Prima Marketing’s newest transfers, Botanical Rose (available for purchase in mid-April).

This piece provides the perfect example of how to use a 24″ by 30″ rectangular transfer on a piece that is not exactly a rectangle.  Since this transfer is a full image transfer, ie. it has a solid background, you might have thought you couldn’t cut it up and use it sort of piecemeal.  But you definitely can (although you may not totally recognize it when done).

I started out by deciding which parts of the transfer would work best on which drawers.  I wanted to mostly avoid using the giant rose in the middle of the design.  I began with the top center drawer, then the two top side drawers, and then I used what was left of the design to piece together the lower four side drawers.  I measured and cut out each section with the backing paper still in place, cutting each piece just a little larger than I needed so I had some wiggle room.

Here’s what was left of the transfer when I was done.

See how perfectly the background color on this transfer works with the Little Piggy …

Each drawer front has a solid piece of transfer over it, those background colors on the transfer blended with the paint color perfectly.

It wasn’t until I was putting the knobs back on that I noticed what the section above said.  I wasn’t sure which phrase I liked better ‘staging and expressing’ or ‘pleasure parties accommodated at short notice’.  I went with the latter for my blog post title, but I may have to use ‘staging and expressing’ some time too.

I kept the original hardware again this time.  Initially I was going to add some gold wax to them, but in the end I liked the way they looked ‘as is’.

So, what do you think?  Pretty in pink?

The Botanical Rose transfer is not yet available to purchase.  However, the new spring designs from Prima Marketing should be shipping to stores in mid-April so be sure to look for them then.

If you’re wondering where to purchase the Prima Marketing transfers, check out their ‘where to buy’ page.

If you’re wondering where to buy the Fusion paint, check out their ‘where to buy’ page.

And finally, if you happen to be local (Twin Cities, MN) and in need of a pretty pink dressing table, check out my ‘available for local sale’ page to see if this one is still available.

the lovely ledger dresser.

Published on by Quandie34 Comments

A week or two ago Prima Marketing contacted me and offered to send me a couple of the new transfer designs that were coming out so that I could be one of the first to try them out.

How cool is that?  I’m so happy that they thought of me, and trusted me to help unveil some of their fabulous new designs!

As soon as they arrived I knew exactly which one I wanted to try first, and I knew exactly what I would put it on.

Now, I know there are people out there who might think the wood on this dresser is beautiful and that it’s a crime that I painted it.  All I can say to that is ‘different strokes for different folks’.  Personally, I think it’s rather … uh, well … let’s just say unattractive.  So I didn’t feel even the slightest qualm over painting it.

I started by sanding the dresser lightly, vacuuming away the dust, then cleaning it with Krud Kutter.  Then I added two coats of Fusion’s Limestone, which is a lovely creamy white.

While the paint dried, I scrubbed up the drawer pulls with some dish soap.  I was planning to add a metallic gold wax to them, but in the end I decided I preferred them with a more subdued look.  However, they were a bit dull, so I waxed them with Homestead House Salad Bowl Finish to shine them up.

I couldn’t really get it to show up very well in a photograph, but the pull on the left is waxed and the one on the right isn’t.  The wax adds just a little bit more depth and shine.

Once the paint was fully dry I distressed the edges of the dresser with 220 grit sandpaper.

Always remember that Fusion acrylic paint is much easier to distress before it has much time to cure.  Once cured this paint is very durable (ie. harder to distress).  I always try to distress it within 24 hours of painting the piece, if not sooner.

Next came the really fun part, adding the transfer.  The Lovely Ledger transfer combines two of my favorite things, French writing and … well … ledgers!  I’m an accountant by day, furniture painter by night (or more realistically, weekend), so this Lovely Ledger transfer was perfect for me.

I had to doctor up the design just a tad to fit it on this dresser because of the detail on the middle drawer.

I suspect that you wouldn’t even notice it if I didn’t point it out.

But if you ever buy this transfer yourself and wonder why it doesn’t look exactly like mine, that’s why.  I removed a flower from one spot and filled in with more wording instead.  Always keep in mind that you can cut these transfers up and re-arrange them to fit your piece more precisely.

One of the things I love about using Fusion paint is that it has a built in top coat.  I find that the transfers work really beautifully over the Fusion in particular because it creates the perfect surface for them to adhere to.  Once the transfer is in place I usually go over it with just a little bit of furniture wax, or in this case I used the Salad Bowl Finish.

Today’s q-tip:  Remember, never try to apply a transfer over a freshly waxed surface.  You’ll end up with a sticky, gooey mess.  Always wait until after the transfer is applied to add wax if you want to.  If you’ve already waxed and are dying to add a transfer, you’ll have to wait 30 days for your wax to cure and then you can apply a transfer over the wax.

I have to say, if I’d had some glass knobs on hand I think I would have used them instead.  They would allow the transfer to be the star of the show.  But the pulls that came with this dresser are so gorgeous, I felt like it would be wrong to not use them.  Plus I only had a mishmash of unmatched glass knobs.

The pulls do cover up some of the transfer though.

So, what do you think?  Did I improve the dresser?  Which look is more ‘you’?  The ‘before’ or the ‘after’?

As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, the Lovely Ledger transfer is not yet available to purchase.  However, the new designs should be shipping to stores in mid-April so be sure to look for them then.

If you’re wondering where to purchase the Prima Marketing transfers, check out their ‘where to buy’ page.

If you’re wondering where to buy the Fusion paint, check out their ‘where to buy’ page.

And finally, if you happen to be local (Twin Cities, MN) and in need of a beautiful dresser, check out my ‘available for local sale’ page to see if this one is still available.

ebony and ivory.

Published on by Quandie56 Comments

I finally got around to painting my baby grand piano this past weekend and all I can say is, ‘what was I so worried about’?

Somehow I had built this up to be a HUGE project in my mind.  Obviously I should have known better.  I mean, come on, I’ve painted a few larger pieces of furniture in my day.  The Welsh cupboard in my dining room for example.

By comparison, the piano was so. easy.

As a reminder, here is how the piano looked originally.

Not super awful, but definitely not great.  And up close the finish on this thing was totally shot …

The arrows are pointing towards areas where the veneer has chipped away.

Before we move on, I have to explain something.  I don’t actually play the piano.  Well, I did take some lessons when I was a kid and I can now play ‘chopsticks’ fairly well.  But many years ago a former co-worker of mine was moving and needed to find a new home for her baby grand piano.  I had the brilliant idea that I would find the time to take lessons one day.  Ha.  Yeah, that never happened.

However, as it turns out, this is one incredibly handy piece of furniture.  It’s got a nice large work surface at exactly the right height for me while standing.  It’s perfect for folding laundry, wrapping presents, scrapbooking, painting small items and it also makes a great buffet/bar during parties.

I honestly can’t think of any other piece of furniture that I could put in this same spot that would be as functional for me while still looking appropriate in the room.  But it was starting to look a bit rough, so as part of my magic wand decorating plan, it was scheduled for a makeover.

I started by sanding it down which took about 10 minutes.  The finish was so dry on this thing that it didn’t take much work to rough it up.  I mostly wanted to make sure to sand down the paint drips that were on it because those can come back to haunt you if you just paint over them.  Next I vacuumed away the dust with my shop vac and then wiped it all down with a damp rag.

Next I pulled out some Dixie Belle paint in Midnight Sky.  You guys know how much I love their other black, Caviar, well this one is just a tad lighter.  That probably sounds odd to call a black color ‘lighter’, but it is just not quite as deep and rich as the Caviar.  It’s also a bit warmer with less of a blue undertone.

I watered down the paint just a tad.  I find that the Dixie Belle paint is pretty thick.  You can use it straight out of the jar if you want a more textured look, but if you want a smoother finish you can water it down which has the added benefit of making it go further.  I only used about 2/3 of the 16 oz jar to paint this piano.  That’s also partially because for the most part I got away with just one coat of paint.  There were only a couple of spots that needed a touch up with a second coat.

A couple of you suggested a strategy for moving forward on this project.  Start with painting the outside of the piano first, then tackle the inside bits at another time.  So I mostly did that, except that I opened the cover that goes over the keys and painted inside there.  I figure that’s the most likely spot to get opened up on occasion.

So I taped off the keys and painted that area.  I also took this opportunity to re-glue some of the ivories that had come unglued.

Just out of curiosity I did some google research on ivory piano keys.  Prior to 1930 almost all pianos had ivory keys, and mine are indeed ivory (check out this article to learn more about that).

Anyway, I used my E6000 glue to re-attach all of the loose ivories.  Then I added a stencil to the top of the piano.

I had so many ideas swirling around in my head about what to do with this piano.  I thought about painting it white and adding a transfer, but then it would compete with the Specimens Cupboard which is in the same room.

I also thought about wrapping some sort of stencil all the way around the sides of the piano.  But stenciling those curves would have been challenging, plus I felt like it wouldn’t be all that noticeable since you really can only see one side of the piano unless you happen to be squishing yourself between the piano and the wall or window.  So not a lot of bang for my buck.

Ultimately I tend to prefer a ‘less is more’ kind of style so I went with this simple ‘European grain sack’ stencil from Maison de Stencils.

Once the stencil paint was dry, I sanded the entire piece lightly with 220 grit paper to smooth out the paint.  I gave the edges a little extra pressure to add a distressed look.

After vacuuming away the dust, I then finished the piano with Fusion’s clear wax.  You might be wondering why I chose to wax such a large piece, and especially one that is probably going to see a lot of abuse.  There are definitely more durable top coats that I could have chosen.  But in my experience wax and/or hemp oil are the easiest finishes to ‘fix’ down the road.  If I get a ring from a sweaty glass, a scratch, or a drip of random paint here and there, all I have to do is sand it down lightly to smooth it out and then add a little wax to just that spot.  So in the long run I think I’ll be better off with wax.

One last thing, I had originally planned on keeping the chair I have ‘as is’.

I don’t want to go all ‘matchy-matchy’ with it and paint it black, but I’m not totally loving it with the piano.  I’ll probably keep an eye out for another option down the road.

By the way, I have to say I found it rather challenging to photograph a black piano in a room flooded with light reflecting off our latest snow fall.

Here’s the view out those windows.

Yep, lots of white to reflect the light.

OK, so if you are keeping track of the magic wand decorating project, here’s where I’m at …

    1.  repaint the insides of the bookshelves in the living room – check!
    2.  repaint the living room walls – check!
    3.  replace the living room furniture – check!
    4.  paint the baby grand piano – check!
    5.  replace the ceiling fan over the piano – check!
    6. repaint the piano room walls

That last item on the list, repaint the piano room walls is the last item on my original to-do list.  But I’m having so much success I’ve decided to go just a bit further with that last item plus add one more.  I’m adding ‘repaint the piano room built shelves beneath the windows’ because they really need it.  As for the walls, I have a plan and I have my handyman Ken’s commitment to help me with it, so you’ll just have to stay tuned to see what we do.

In the meantime, if you have been thinking about painting a piano or some other larger piece but haven’t had the nerve to make the leap, I say go for it!  It’s definitely not as hard as it looks.

the mariner’s chair.

Published on by Quandie14 Comments

You may have noticed that I haven’t mentioned my living room redecorating plan in the past week or two.  Going in I knew that the next step in the plan was going to be the most challenging for me.  It’s the step where I had to buy new stuff.  Living room furniture to be precise.  You guys know I love buying used furniture at thrift stores, garage sales, or from Craigslist.  I’m not particularly queasy about most vintage pieces.  But I draw the line at two things; sofas and mattresses (well, and also shoes, but seriously, have you ever seen the selection of size 11 shoes at the thrift store?).

Is it a fear of bedbugs?  Is it the fact that at some point I know I am going to wake up with my face smushed into that mattress or sofa cushion and I just want to be sure that some stranger’s hind end wasn’t resting on that same spot in the past?  Is it simply the fact that these items can’t be refreshed with a simple paint job (although I know some of you will argue that you can paint both fabric and leather upholstery, I’ve tried it on chairs and I’m pretty sure I don’t want to tackle a sofa)?

It’s really a bit of all of the above.

So, shopping for new furniture was in order and thankfully my sister agreed to help me out with that.  Last Saturday we headed out to a few different furniture stores and I found a couple of options that I liked.  I took Mr. Q back later and we pulled the trigger on a new sectional from Macy’s.  Since it was President’s Day weekend they had some sales going on that made it the perfect time for buying furniture (for my foreign readers, for some reason President’s Day is a very popular day for furniture stores to hold big sales).  I was also shocked to find that the sofa I wanted can be delivered tomorrow (because I didn’t customize the fabric)!  I was sure I’d be waiting months for something, but no.

So, all of that by way of saying, my plan is going full steam ahead and next week I’ll share the progress I’ve made.  In the meantime, while we wait for the new sofa to arrive, today I’m sharing another little chair that I painted.

This particular chair has been in the lineup for a while now. I actually painted it once already.  I should back up and point out that this chair was already painted red when I got it.  Last summer I decided to just give it a fresh topcoat of red paint and call it good.  So I sanded it a little to rough up the surface, cleaned it well and then pulled out some Homestead House milk paint in Barn Red and gave it a fresh coat of red.  Then I gave it a coat of hemp oil.

 Although I’d used Barn Red before on a pair of faux skis, this shade of red just wasn’t doing it for me on this chair.  So I put the chair on the back burner for a while.

Today’s q-tip:  Paint won’t adhere well over a freshly hemp oiled surface, however, you can paint over it if you give the hemp oil a good 30 days or so to cure and then sand the surface lightly before re-painting.

The 30 days on the back burner somehow turned into something more like 200 days with this chair though.  I finally pulled the chair out of the carriage house one evening last week because I was really in the mood to paint something.  It was too dark out at the time to take a ‘semi-before’ photo, so you’ll just have to imagine the chair being red.

I sanded the chair lightly, cleaned it with a damp rag and then added two coats of Dixie Belle’s In the Navy.

Next I pulled out a stencil and added it to both the seat and the chair back.

After the stencil paint dried I sanded the chair well to really rough it up and reveal some of that red layer underneath.  I wanted this little chair to truly look aged.

The theme of the stencil, ‘drygoods & sundries for mariners’ seems to tie in well with the paint color, In the Navy.  The red, white and blue combo has a nautical feel too.

I finished the chair with a coat of clear wax.

If it doesn’t sell to someone who sees it here first, this little cutie will be headed to Reclaiming Beautiful.  I’m sure someone will be irresistibly drawn to it, what do you think?

tiny cupboard update.

Published on by Quandie32 Comments

As you know, I have a fondness for tiny pieces of ‘furniture’.  I purchased this little cupboard at a garage sale quite a few years ago.  It was actually the first piece I ever painted in Miss Mustard Seeds milk paint.

That color is Eulalie’s Sky.

But then a little over a year ago I decided to unify all of my tiny pieces by painting them all white using Homestead House milk paint in Limestone.

I managed to break the glass in the door when I did that, so I replaced it with window screening.  I have to say that I kinda prefer the screening.

Then recently I swapped out the metal knobs on this one for some small glass knobs from D Lawless.  More for practical reasons than anything else, those metal knobs were sort of cobbled on with glue and they kept falling off.  I keep my chalk in the upper drawer of this little cupboard, so I need the drawer to be functional.

So that brings us to ‘before no. 2’.

Then recently I became slightly obsessed with one of the Iron Orchid Designs (IOD) transfers called Le Petit Rosier.

For those of you who are confused when it comes to IOD transfers, here’s the scoop.  Originally IOD partnered with Prima Marketing to design some transfers such as my absolute favorite, the Seeds transfer …

So there is an entire line of Prima Marketing transfers that were designed by IOD.  But then IOD branched out on their own and now have a line of transfers that are not from Prima Marketing.  Le Petit Rosier is one of them.  When you are searching for a place to buy IOD transfers, make sure you specify if you are looking for the older Prima Marketing line designed by IOD, or the newer IOD line of transfers.

After trying to resist buying any of the new IOD transfers (because I have a backlog of Prima Marketing transfers to work with), I finally caved a couple of weeks ago and ordered a few online.  La Petit Rosier comes in two sizes, so I ordered two of the smaller ones and one of the bigger ones.  Then I did this goofy thing that I tend to do, I ‘saved’ them for ‘just the right project’.  I call it goofy because obviously I could always order more when ‘just the right project’ comes along if I’ve already used these.  It’s not like I can’t ever get any more of them.

So rather than wait for just the right project to show up, I wandered around my house looking for something I could put one of these transfers on.  That led me to my tiny cupboard.

Only about half of the smaller sized transfer fit on the front (which explains why I originally felt it wasn’t quite ‘the perfect project’ for it).

But dang!  It’s adorable!  And I can always use the bottom half of the transfer on something else.

I love how the glass knobs allow the transfer to be the star of the show.

I did have some floral scrapbook paper lining the inside of the cupboard and the drawers before, but I switched that out for some French papers.  My friend Terri gave me this set of French ephemera for my birthday a few years ago.

Once again, I was ‘saving’ it for the perfect project when I could have been using it for any number of things.  What is wrong with me?

When I went through the things included in the packet of ephemera I found this French religious medal, so I hung that from the cupboard door.

After adding some little pieces of ironstone on the shelves, my tiny camera added the perfect final touch.

For now this little cupboard is on the shelf over the radiator at the foot of the stairs where I can admire it every time I go up or down.

I absolutely LOVE how it turned out.  Not that I didn’t love it before, but sometimes it’s fun to switch things up.

What do you think?

a Swedish (but slightly Norwegian) trunk.

Published on by Quandie19 Comments

Some of you might already be familiar with Goedele François.  Goedele is a blogger (check out her blog, Dala Muses, here), a business coach for creative entrepreneurs, a furniture painter and now a stencil designer!

Goedele recently released her own Dala Muses Nordic stencil collection.  Her stencil designs are influenced by Scandinavian folk art (read more details here) and were also inspired by her move to Sweden.  She now lives in the Swedish province of Dalarna, where the symbol of the Dala horse originated.

My paternal grandfather happened to be of Swedish decent and I still have the Dala horse that he gave me when I was a child.  My sister has one too.

So, when Goedele offered to send me one of her stencils to try out I chose the Dala Horse stencil.

I had the perfect project for it too.

This is a trunk that my sister uses as a bedside table (how many of you are noticing that I took this ‘before’ photo before I painted my living room?).

The trunk originally belonged to our maternal grandmother, so technically it’s Norwegian rather than Swedish.  It was not always painted black, my sister spray painted it about 40 years ago!

Unfortunately no one has retained any historical information about this trunk other than that it came from our grandmother’s attic.  My mom doesn’t recall anything about it at all.  So I have no idea how old it might actually be or who might have made it, which is a bit of a bummer.  I searched the inside and the bottom hoping to find some clues, like a signature or a written note, but no such luck.

Well, regardless, it was ready for a makeover.

I started by sanding it down thoroughly and then cleaning it well.  I decided to use milk paint this time because I think milk paint gives the most authentic looking aged finish.  Plus I had the perfect color for my sister, Miss Mustard Seeds Aviary.  However, I’ve had some super chippy experiences using milk paint over spray paint, so I added a little bonding agent to the mix this time.  My sister would be OK with a slightly chippy finish, but I don’t think she’d like a seriously chippy look.

The Aviary is a lovely smoky blue.  And lucky thing I added that bonding agent because even though I did’t see much chipping as the paint was drying, once I started sanding it smooth the next day I got a bit more chipping than I thought I would.

Especially on this lower corner which makes me suspect there was some kind of oily residue on this part of the trunk …

Had I not used the bonding agent this piece would have been over the top chippy.

Next I pulled out Goedele’s stencil.

As you can see, it’s a two-part-er.  One stencil is the body of the horse and the other is the detail of the saddle, etc.

I suggested to my sister that we use a warm white for the body because I thought it would stand out nicely against the smoky blue of the Aviary, and Debbie really wanted some traditional orange in there somewhere so I used orange for the details.  I used acrylic craft paint for both.

I wanted to line up three horses in a row across the front, all facing the same direction, mainly because I’m a fan of using odd numbers of things.  But Debbie vetoed that plan and said it was either one centered horse, or two.  So I went with two (I thought one would look rather lost all by himself) and turned the stencil over on the 2nd so that they are facing each other.

Once the stencil paint was dry I sanded over the horses lightly to give them a more distressed look.  Then I finished the entire trunk with Miss Mustard Seeds clear wax.  The next day I added a second coat of wax to just the top of the trunk for added durability.

So here’s some behind the scenes info.  When I stage pieces to take photos of them I often start out rather stumped.  For this trunk I just couldn’t imagine how I was going to stage it aside from adding the blue and yellow quilt and some vintage books.

I also knew I wanted to include my little Dala horse and I tried just placing him on top of the books, but that looked pretty silly.  That led me to bringing in this adorable kid sized chair …

and then adding a few other smaller details to the chair like this fun vintage card game …

It wasn’t until I’d taken quite a few photos already that I thought ‘hmmm, maybe I should get some shots with the trunk open’ …

I then added this beautiful vintage monogrammed tablecloth because that’s what you would pull out of a trunk like this, right?

Finally, I realized that I really preferred the look of the trunk open.

So I took a few more shots that way and they turned out to be my favorites.

We were planning on delivering the trunk back to my sister yesterday, but we had snow for most of the day so I opted to stay in.  We’re supposed to have more snow late tonight and into tomorrow, and again on Thursday … so, I’m not sure when I’m going to get this over to her.  But hopefully she’ll like it, and now this trunk will always remind her of our Swedish grandfather and our Norwegian grandmother.

Many thanks to Goedele for sending me the Dala Horse stencil.  You can check out Goedele’s Dala Muses Nordic stencil collection here.

Her stencils are available from selected paint retailers in Europe, but those of you in the U.S. and Canada can order directly from Goedele by emailing her.  Be sure to check out that link for more details.

Also, I’d like to once again thank Miss Mustard Seeds milk paint for providing the Aviary paint, bonding agent and clear wax used for this project.

 

a colorful desk do-over.

Published on by Quandie29 Comments

Last summer I brought this desk home from a garage sale.

I loved the chunky knobs, and at just $5, the price was definitely right.

After my handyman Ken made some repairs to it, I painted it with Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth and added a grain sack style stripe in their Yankee Blue.  You can see all of those details in my original post about the desk.

Unfortunately, here it is January and I still have this desk in inventory.  For whatever reason, I have not had any luck selling this piece.  Well, then again, I have to admit I’ve been a little slack about promoting it.  I took my remaining Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist ads down before I went on my trip back in early November, and I never re-posted this one.  So that could have something to do with it.

Never the less, I decided it was time for a do-over.

I started out by sanding down the grain sack stripes and painting over them with more of the Dixie Belle Drop Cloth.  Then I pulled out one of the new Prima Marketing re.design transfers called Passion Flower.

Isn’t that just gorgeous?  All of those vibrant colors!  This boho style is a bit outside of my normal comfort zone, but I’m hoping it will add that little bit of something special to this desk and help it find a new home.

Now before you get all excited and rush out to try and find this one somewhere, this is a sneak peek at one of the brand new designs coming out soon from Prima.  So it’s not available quite yet.  I’ll try to remember to give you guys an update when it becomes available.  But for now, this is just a tease.

I definitely wanted to use the entire transfer on this desk with the oval ‘free spirit’ portion on the top.

But I wasn’t quite sure at first how to make the other section of the transfer work with this desk.  Then I realized that it would look pretty fab if I just wrapped it around one corner giving the desk a more asymmetrical look.

If you’re wondering about the logistics of actually applying the transfer, here’s how I did it.  I started by removing the knobs from the drawers.  Then with the drawers back in place I figured out the placement I wanted and taped the transfer in place over the front of the desk.  I used a razor blade to trim the transfer around each of the drawer fronts, then pulled each one out individually and applied that section of the transfer.  Next, with the drawers still out, I applied the sections of the transfer that went between the drawers.

Once that was completed, I lined up the transfer around the side of the desk and applied that part.

It took a little patience to do this, and my results are not 100% perfect.  I don’t think anyone would notice unless they were seriously scrutinizing the details though.

Applying the transfer on the top was much simpler.

Once that was done, I added two coats of The Real Milk Paint Co’s Finishing Cream in Dead Flat to the top of the desk.  Since this is a desk, and it’s white, I thought it wise to have a very durable and washable surface on the top.  The rest of the desk was already finished with Dixie Belle’s Clear Matte Spray Wax so I freshened that up with another coat of the spray wax.

At first I was completely at a loss as to how to stage this piece for photos.  I think we can all agree that my usual look is more vintage, farmhouse, neutral, or sometimes even more mid-century.  I don’t have very many boho style props … or more accurately, I don’t have any boho style props.

But as I was studying the desk with its new transfer, it reminded me quite a bit of a little gift my sister and niece brought over for me while I was sick.

Yep, it’s a grown up coloring book.  It was the perfect thing for me.  It allowed me to be creative without having to think about it too hard, nor did it require too much physical effort.  I colored quite a few of the pages while I was laid up on the sofa watching Outlander.

I added a couple of my favorite blue pitchers, a pretty plant and an old swing set seat turned into a magnet board and that was all it took to style this desk.

The Dixie Belle Yankee Blue that I originally used inside the drawers still works beautifully with the transfer …

as does the Yankee Blue chair …

Now, all that remains is to see if this version of the desk sells better than the last!

Hopefully there is a free spirit out there somewhere who needs a desk!

Fingers crossed!

Thank you to Dixie Belle for supplying the paint and spray wax for this project, Prima Marketing for supplying the transfer and The Real Milk Paint Co for supplying the Finishing Cream.

If you’re wondering where to purchase the Prima Marketing transfers check out their ‘where to buy’ page.

If you’re wondering where to buy the Dixie Belle Drop Cloth or Yankee Blue paint and Easy Peasy Spray Wax, you can shop with them directly online or find a retailer near you.

You can also order The Real Milk Paint Co’s Finishing Cream online here.

And finally, if you happen to be local (Twin Cities, MN) and in need of a free spirited desk, check out my ‘available for local sale’ page for more details.

sweet everyday farmhouse chairs.

Published on by Quandie24 Comments

A while back Cari from Prima Marketing posted these adorable crates on the re.design with Prima Facebook group page.  She gave them a new life using the Sweet Apricot and the Everyday Farmhouse transfers.

I absolutely fell in love with the aqua color on the top crate, as well as her use of the transfers.  I have to say I would never have thought to pair that particular paint color with that apricot transfer, but they look amazing together, don’t they?

When my picker, Sue, found these kid-size folding chairs at the thrift store for me, I just had to see if Cari’s combination worked on them too.

First things first, I had to choose a paint color from my stash that was similar to that pretty aqua that Cari used.  Initially I thought that Fusion’s Laurentien would be the perfect color, and I did have some of that color on hand.  However, I really wanted a chippy milk paint finish on these chairs.

I considered using Miss Mustard Seed’s Eulalie’s Sky, but that color is a tad more blue.  I also thought about using Sweet Pickens’ Patina, but that one is a bit brighter than I wanted.  Then I remembered, Homestead House makes a milk paint version of Laurentien.  And not only that, but I just happened to have some in my milk paint stash!

Much like baby bear’s bed in Goldilocks and the Three Bears, it was just right.

Speaking of bears, painting these chairs was a bit of a bear.  All of those slats and legs and cross braces, oh my.  Every time I looked at the chair from another angle I found spots that I had missed.

But it was definitely worth the effort.

Once I had them painted, I sanded them to distress the edges and remove any chippy paint.  I also wiped them down with a clean, dry cloth to remove any excess dust before applying the transfers.

Here are what the Sweet Apricot transfers look like out of the tube.

There are 9 different designs in this set.

I decided to follow Cari’s lead once again and trim away the transfer around the piece of fruit.  Initially I tried using my larger pair of scissors, but I found it was much easier to use my Cutter Bees.

I used to use these little scissors all the time when scrapbooking.  They are perfect for getting around small details.

Once I had the transfer trimmed, I removed the backing paper and placed the fruit where I wanted it on the seat of the chair and pressed it down.  Before removing the top sheet of the transfer, I sliced it about halfway between each of the slats using a razor blade.  That way I was able to sort of wrap the transfer around the edge of each slat.

Next I chose some pieces from the Everyday Farmhouse transfer set to add wording to the back of each chair and the cross piece on the legs.

Once I had the transfers adhered, I added a protective topcoat of Miss Mustard Seeds’ clear furniture wax.

I love that these chairs fold up completely flat, which makes them perfect for hanging on the wall as decoration if one doesn’t happen to have a practical use for kid sized chairs.

They would be awesome hung in the kitchen, and you could always pull them down in a pinch if you need the extra seating for diminutive guests.

FYI – the table in that photo is one I painted a while back in a custom mix of milk paint that I called Green Alligator.  You can visit the original post for more details on that.

Since I had a little milk paint left over after finishing the chairs, I also painted this galvanized bucket.

Using milk paint on galvanized metal can be hit or miss.  If the metal is smooth and shiny, or has an oily residue on it, you will likely get chipping.  Possibly even lots of chipping.  However, if the metal feels rougher and doesn’t have a shiny coating then milk paint will adhere quite well.  As you can see, this bucket was somewhere in between.  It was rough and dull but I think there was some sort of residue where it chipped.  But no worries, I love this look!  Once the paint was dry I sanded well to remove most of the chips.  Then I wiped it down with a dry, clean cloth and added the transfer (also from the Everyday Farmhouse set).  I finished it all off with a coat of The Real Milk Paint Co’s Finishing Cream in Low Sheen.  This topcoat will help protect the rest of the paint from further chipping.

Many thanks to Homestead House, Miss Mustard Seed, The Real Milk Paint Co and Prima Marketing for providing the products I used on these chairs.  And a special thank you to Cari for providing the inspiration for these frickin’ adorable little chairs.

If you’re wondering where to purchase the Prima Marketing re.design transfers, check out their ‘where to buy’ page.

If you’re wondering where to buy Miss Mustard Seed’s products, here is where you can ‘buy online.’

If you’re wondering where to buy Homestead House Milk Paint, you can order it online here.

You can also order The Real Milk Paint Co’s Finishing Cream online here.

And finally, if you happen to be local (Twin Cities, MN) and in need of a pair of adorable little chairs, check out my ‘available for local sale’ page to see if these are still available.  I will most likely bring them in to Reclaiming Beautiful if nobody snatches them up right away.

the chair with a heart.

Published on by Quandie38 Comments

Last week was a rough one for me.  I won’t go into the details, but I was camped out on the sofa for nearly 5 days.  I had time to watch the entire Outlander series from the beginning through the current episode, and that is no small feat.  Luckily I had finished today’s project prior to getting ill so I had something to share with you guys today.  I’m still working on regaining my strength though, so I can’t promise I’ll be back to my regular posting schedule just yet but I’m sure you guys will cut me some slack.

I picked up this chair at a garage sale last summer … well, really last spring, as evidenced by the tulips blooming in the background of my ‘before’ photo.

It was in decent shape, just terribly outdated.  I apologize to grandmothers everywhere, but there isn’t much of a market for these needlepoint seats anymore.  But this chair had some lovely lines to it, and a rather unique look to the back, so I snatched it up.

I knew I could give it an entirely new look with some chippy milk paint.

Now I have a small confession to make.  I actually painted this chair last summer.  And then somehow it got shoved to the back of the workshop and I forgot about it, so I’m a little spotty on the details regarding exactly which products I used.

I know I painted it with a layer of blue paint first but I can’t remember for sure which blue, I think it was Miss Mustard Seed’s French Enamel.  Then I added Miss Mustard Seed’s Ironstone over that.  You can just see the blue peeking through in a few spots where I’ve distressed the carving at the top of the chair.

And as you can see, I got some great chipping!

I pulled this chair out of the workshop at least a month ago or so thinking that all it needed to finish it up was some new fabric for the seat.  My vision for this piece was to use a fabulous vintage European grain sack for that.  But I didn’t actually have one.  I shopped around a bit for one, but those things are not cheap.

Finally I realized I was being foolish.  I know how to create something nearly as fabulous at a fraction of the price.  Duh!

Just stencil some drop cloth material and ta da!

The stencil is from Maison de Stencils.  If you are looking for European grain sack style stencils, they have a fantastic selection.

And just like that, the chair was finished.

I don’t know what took me so long to finish it off!

the aviary chair.

Published on by Quandie15 Comments

For quite some time now I’ve been wanting to try the newest Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint color, Aviary.

Let’s see.  I think this color came out about a year or so ago, right?  Hmmmm.  Why am I always so hopelessly behind the times?  Well, better late than never I hope.

One of my strategies when working with a new paint color is to paint a practice board first so that I can get a feel for how the color looks with different top coats before moving on to a large piece of furniture.  But this time I decided it would be more fun to paint a little schoolhouse chair to test out this color.

As you can see, the finish on this chair was in pretty rough shape.  Parts of the finish were so dried out that I really didn’t think I would get any resistance at all (and thus no chipping).  I wanted to end up with a chippy, beat up, authentically old looking finish, so I didn’t do much prep work to the chair at all.  OK, let’s be honest, I did absolutely zero prep.  I may have wiped away a cob-web or two, but that was it.

Sometimes that can backfire on you, and had this been a larger piece of furniture it would have been a mistake.  But for this little chair, it was a calculated risk.  It’s a small piece, so it would be easy enough to fix if the paint didn’t adhere at all.  Sure enough,  I ended up getting quite a bit more chipping than I expected on the legs of the chair, but very little chipping on the seat.  So I simply sanded down the super chippy legs and painted them again.  Problem solved.  The sanding helped the next layer of paint stick.

Today’s q tip:  If you’re comfortable with taking a chance and rolling the dice, you can skip the prep on your project like I did.  But if you’d prefer to exercise a little more control over the amount of chipping you get with milk paint then do proper prep first.  Sand your piece lightly all over and clean well with TSP Substitute (or similar).  For more tips on painting with milk paint, check out my milk paint basics post.

The coverage with Aviary was really good.  Two coats of paint was plenty.

Once my paint was dry I sanded heavily for two reasons; first, I wanted to be sure I removed any chipping paint (more on that in a minute) and second, I wanted a very distressed look for this vintage chair.  I still had some chipping, but it was just the right amount this time.

Once sanded, I vacuumed the chair with my shop vac.  Then I used a clean, dry, nubby cloth to wipe the chair vigorously.  I wanted to be sure that I had all of the chipped paint and dust off before applying a transfer to the seat and back of the chair.

This project was a great way to use up the leftover pieces of the Prima Marketing French Ceramics transfers that I used on a dresser that I painted last year.

When using a transfer over chippy milk paint I have found two options that work well.  Sand the chippy paint really thoroughly and be sure to remove all chips and dust first; or seal the milk paint with Miss Mustard Seed’s Tough Coat Sealer (or another water based sealer) before applying the transfer.  If you don’t do either of these things, you may find that the transfer backing paper removes your chipping paint rather than releasing the transfer onto your piece.

Also, do not try to apply a transfer over freshly applied wax.  It will become a sticky, gooey mess as the friction from rubbing on the transfer will heat up the wax and it all just goes downhill from there.  Been there, done that.  Remember transfer first, wax second.  However, you can apply a transfer to a waxed surface that has cured for 30 days or more.

Once I had my transfer in place, I sanded over it with 220 grit sandpaper.  I wanted a distressed look, so I wanted the transfer to look worn away in spots too.

Next I wiped the chair down with a clean cloth again and then applied Miss Mustard Seed’s Furniture Wax in the special edition lavender scent.

I applied it using a new wax brush that my friend Terri gave me for my birthday.  It came in a kit with three brushes, some brush soap and a few other little things like a pair of plastic gloves and one of those sanding blocks.

I haven’t tried the brush soap yet, but it smells divine.  I’d be tempted to use it as a regular hand soap it smells so good.  I think that smaller non-tapered brush might work well for stenciling.  And the pointy brush just came in handy for getting at a hard to reach spot on the bench I shared last Friday.

I used the largest brush at the bottom for waxing this chair though and to be honest I think the bristles are just a bit too long and too soft for really effective waxing.  I prefer my waxing brushes to be a little bit more stiff.  It was hard to work the wax into the surface with this brush.  It might be better suited to painting rather than waxing (and fyi, it is meant for either painting or waxing).

I haven’t had the milk paint out in a while, and now I’m reminded of why I love it so much.  It really does provide the most authentically aged looking chippy finish.

And isn’t the Aviary a lovely shade of grey-blue?  I’ll be keeping an eye out for the perfect dresser to put this color on next!

Thank you to Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint for providing the paint and wax, and to Prima Marketing for providing the transfer for this project.

If you’re wondering where to purchase the Prima Marketing re.design French Ceramics transfer, check out their ‘where to buy’ page.

If you’re wondering where to buy Miss Mustard Seed’s product, here is where you can ‘buy online.’

And finally, if you happen to be local (Twin Cities, MN) and in need of an adorable little chair, check out my ‘available for local sale’ page to see if this one is still available.