Category: furniture.

I purchased a fantastic french stencil a while back, and quite honestly I wasn’t paying any attention at all to what it said (not to mention that I don’t actually read  or speak any french).  I bought the stencil strictly for its looks.  Later I realized that it says “family and friends gather here”, which made me laugh since I was considering using it on a bedroom dresser.  Hmmm.  Probably not quite the right sentiment for the bedroom.

However, when it came time to paint this tiger oak buffet, I knew I needed to use this stencil!  Because family and friends do indeed tend to gather in the dining room.

Originally I had planned to paint this buffet with Miss Mustard Seed’s Kitchen Scale, like my own oak buffet (see it up there in my blog header).  But I decided I wanted a more subtle color to work with this stencil.  I would have loved to use one of Miss Mustard’s new European colors like Mora or Schloss, but I haven’t managed to get my hands on anything except the Layla’s Mint so far. So instead I mixed my own pale grey using approximately 1/3 c of Trophy and 2/3 c Ironstone.

I decided that rather than attempt to patch all of the chipped up veneer, I would just work with it and give the piece a very distressed, aged look.  After painting the first coat of my custom grey color, I found that there were also some stains on the top that were bleeding through the paint.

This gave me a great opportunity to try out Miss Mustard’s new product, the Tough Coat Sealer.  I simply brushed the sealer on over the spots that were bleeding through the paint.  I did not coat the entire top of the piece.  Once it was dry, I painted another coat of paint over the whole top.  There was definitely a great improvement, but I think a second coat of sealer would have eliminated the bleed through entirely.

But since I’m going for a rustic look, I decided to go with it at this point.  Or more accurately, I was running out of my custom color and didn’t have enough left to seal again, and the repaint the entire top, so I let it go.  Note to self:  next time try two coats of sealer before painting again.

After the second coat of paint on the entire piece, I added my stencils using Martha Stewart craft paint in Lake Fog.  I want to take a minute here to explain to you how I use just pieces of a stencil rather than the entire thing.  Here is my ‘family and friends’ stencil.

As you can see, I used just part of it on the doors of my buffet and then I used just the lower portion of the stencil on my lower drawer.

The sweet little leafy bits that are around the locks on the upper drawers came from a different stencil, this one.

It’s super simple to just mask off the portions of a stencil that you want to use with painters tape.  I do it all the time and it gives me a lot of new looks out of the same old stencil.  Since these stencils tend to be a bit pricey, it’s nice to be able to use them in different ways like this (and as a reminder to Patty, I get most of my stencils from Maison de Stencils).

To help support my distressed look for this buffet, I sanded with extra vigor around areas that would normally have some wear on an old piece such as around the key holes and on the knobs themselves.

Then I waxed the entire piece with Cece Caldwell’s clear wax.

The insides of the drawers on this piece were in rather pathetic condition as well.  Normally I don’t line my drawers, unless they are in this kind of condition and there is no better option than to just cover them up.  Luckily I had some lovely vintage wallpaper on hand that worked perfectly with the grey.

I’ve staged this piece for a wine and cheese party.

Wouldn’t it be fun the next time you have family and friends over to be able to serve them from this fab piece?!

This buffet still needs some help from my handyman Ken.  The mirrored back piece needs to be re-attached because it’s just not secure with its original screws.  I’m sure he will be able to shore it right up though.

The other day I saw an ad on craigslist for this pair of chairs (this is the seller’s picture that was with the ad).

Here is how my thought process went.  “Hey, those could be kind of fabulous!  Then again, maybe they are permanently ugly.  I know paint can do wonders, but is the shape all wrong?  And what are those weird pointy things sticking out of the back?  Will they come off?  And what is under those cushions?  Even though the upholstery is white, it still manages to be all wrong with that 80’s texture and sheen.  What will it take to re-fab these?  Should I?  or shouldn’t I?”

Then I did some research on pinterest and the closest I came to a similar chair that looked good was this chair from The Cross Decor & Design (although it appears to no longer be available).

And it’s not painted.  Mine will be painted.  But it still gave me a hint of what these chairs could look like.

After exchanging a couple of texts with the seller and finding out that yes, those back cushions are removable and there is cane beneath them, I decided to take a chance on these chairs.  Mr. Q and I drove out to pick them up on a frigid evening.  Upon seeing the chairs in person, I was still not sure about them.  They weren’t as nice as the cane back chair I painted last year that now resides in the Q Branch, but I had to remind myself that I wasn’t sure about that chair at first either.  The price was right, and I was there already, so I handed over the cash and threw them in the truck.

Here is my ‘before’ picture of one chair.

From the angle of my shot you can see that it has some pretty cabriole legs in front, and some nice curves on the arm supports that weren’t as apparent in the craigslist photo.  That back cushion is still just freaking me out though!  Not to mention the weird pointy details, which as it turns out are made of metal.

Those are definitely coming off!

Then there are the tacky arm sleeves that are velcroed in place.

Gotta go!

Here is the chair with those items removed.

Ahhhhh, getting better already.  I also found upholstered arms under those funky sleeves, and started ripping one off.  There are about a million staples holding it in place though, so that little process is going to take some patience.

I threw one of my H & M pillows on the chair just to get a feel for how it would look without back cushions.

Not bad, right?  Some paint and some new fabric on the seat cushions are going to do wonders for these chairs.

By the way, after I showed these chairs to Meggan, she sent me this.

Turns out that Joanna Gaines used them in the a recent episode of Fixer Upper, the Tire Swing House.  I hadn’t even noticed!  Well, if cane wing back chairs are good enough for Joanna, they are good enough for me!

Now I just have to decide, should I go for chippy with Miss Mustard Seed milk paint, or solid with chalk paint?

Remember the lovely tall dresser I picked up a while back and took its photo in the snow?

I pulled it out of storage for its makeover last weekend.  The shape of this dresser says ‘gentlemen’s chest’ to me.  Usually the taller dresser in a set was meant for the gent (sorry, couldn’t resist that bad rhyme).  I could easily have gone more feminine on this piece though, with those pretty curvy legs at the bottom.  But I was feeling the masculinity of this piece and went with MMS milk paint in Artissimo, which is a rich navy blue (finished with Cece Caldwell’s clear wax, which has rapidly become my favorite wax to work with).  I stripped the top and then just waxed it with the Cece Caldwell’s dark wax.

After adding a vintage suitcase and my dad’s old Tarzan books, I was getting the feeling that this dresser had a sense of adventure.

Then I added some old sheet music inside the upper drawer.

And now this dresser is ready to sail the seven seas!

How about you, are you ready for some adventure?

Linking up with:

Embracing Change

The client who purchased the gorgeous dresser that I painted in Duck Egg blue recently, also purchased the matching bed.  She’s not putting them in the same room though.  The dresser was for her own bedroom, and the bed is intended for her daughter’s bedroom and she wanted it painted white.  I am still a big fan of white painted furniture, although I don’t do as much of it as I used to.  I knew this bed would be gorgeous no matter what color it was painted though.

Am I right?

But let’s go back to the beginning of the story.  This bed had some damage on the footboard, which you can see here.

I sent it home with Ken for repairs.  He chiseled the break so that it was even, and then glued in a piece of wood to patch it.  Here is how it looked with the patch in place.

If you haven’t heard me say it before, I’ll say again, I am very lucky to have Ken for a neighbor.  He can do these sort of repairs in no time, and he does a beautiful job of it.

Here it is painted.  You can hardly even tell that there was a problem.

This foot board was really the piece that sold me on this entire bedroom set.  I have seen many beds with a foot board that curves around the bed, but I had never seen one that had side pieces quite like this.

Aren’t they just gorgeous?  The headboard on this bed is lovely too.

But the foot board is like a work of art.

I staged the bed with a stack of vintage suitcases, and you’ll recognize my faux french hat box from Monday’s post.

My client told me that her daughter loves everything french, so I couldn’t help adding a little surprise to the bed.

Do you see it?  There at the bottom?  A little Paris stencil that fit perfectly on that raised section of trim.

I think it added the perfect finishing touch to this lovely bed.

Linking up with:

French Country Cottage

Remember the really gorgeous bedroom set I picked up a while back?  I have been working on a custom paint job with a client on the dresser (and she is also purchasing the bed).  I have to say that coming up with a plan for the dresser was very much a collaborative effort.  We started out in a completely different direction, but once my client shared her vision for the entire room (this dresser is going to be part of a full makeover of her master bedroom) we were able to pull together a look that will work in the room.  One of the major considerations was another piece that she has, a gold antique french curio cabinet.  Something similar to this (although this is not her exact piece) …

I knew that she wanted a french look for the dresser, but once I saw this piece I realized she wanted what I consider a ‘Louis the XIV’ sort of french look.  We had originally talked about using black on the dresser, or possibly even a grey.  But I really couldn’t picture either of those colors working well with the gold piece.  The gold curio is clearly a statement piece and should be the standout in the room, but the dresser will also have a big presence.  I didn’t want them to compete, but instead work together.  At some point, my customer mentioned that she liked the idea of adding some gold to the dresser.  I’ll admit, I was not on board at first.  But then I started doing a little research on pinterest.  I even put together a new board called ‘go for the gold.’

This chair in particular sold me on the gold idea.  I realized that when done right, a touch of gold could be gorgeous.

Also, this made me feel like I finally had a clear idea of what my client was looking for.  Except instead of grey, we decided on Duck Egg blue, which will bring out some of the color in the mural on her curio (which is similar to the example above, with a gentlemen in a blue coat).  It’s also the color that she originally talked about wanting to bring into the room.

Which brings us to the resulting dresser.

I used a light hand to apply the gold Rub ‘n Buff to bring out the details on the dresser.

It’s enough gold to help tie this piece in with the curio cabinet.  I think the gold works really beautifully with the Duck Egg blue.

I staged this piece very simply with an old book that has the same look as the dresser, a duck egg blue with gold details, and a vintage clock.

The original hardware on this dresser is very pretty, and was already gold toned.  I just cleaned it up a little and put it back on.

Those little doors at the top of the dresser open to reveal two shelves inside.  I painted the interior to match.  Don’t you just love the curvy-ness of that opening?

I also love the little detail of these pretty brackets that sit at the back of the wider portion of the dresser.

I’m more than happy with how this dresser turned out in the end.  It was such a gorgeous piece to start with, so I wanted to do justice by it, and I think I did.  What do you say?

P.S.  That little french cane back chair with the gold accents from my pinterest board is going to be the inspiration for how I paint the vanity that matches this set.  But first I have to paint the bed.  Stay tuned.

You may have noticed that I haven’t posted any finished pieces from last weekend.  Well, I didn’t get much painting done.  I was booked solid picking up furniture.  Sometimes it just works this way.  I’ll go weeks without seeing much of interest on Craigslist, and then suddenly I’ll see numerous items that I want to get my hands on.  Last weekend we picked up six pieces!

Want to see them?  Of course you do!

First, this fab tall dresser.  It’s right up my alley.  I’ve done quite a few similar pieces, like the Grain Sack dresser and the Kitchen Scale dresser .  I was able to send Mr. Q to pick this one up Friday morning while I was off at the day job.  I’m not sure yet what color I will choose for this one, any suggestions?

Can I just say?  Are you digging this ‘before’ picture as much as I am?  Since I am storing this one in the Carriage House until I can get to it, I decided to take a few quick before shots in the driveway rather than hauling it into the house just for a quick picture.  And yes, it was lightly snowing at the time.  I truly had no idea how lovely that would make the picture.  Now I want to take all of my furniture outside for winter photo shoots!

And since I was in the driveway with my camera, I went ahead and got a ‘before’ photo of this buffet that Mr. Q and his friend Gene picked up for me early Sunday afternoon.

In case you are wondering, I do plan to paint this in Kitchen Scale just like my own very similar buffet.

So if you have always coveted it, and you are local … well, soon you’ll have your chance!

This one even came with the original keys for the locks which is extremely rare.  And the inside was lined with newspaper pages from 1959 which is kind of cool.

The real reason that I had Mr. Q call in Gene for assistance was the next 3 pieces that came as a set.  The seller told me they were heavy and I needed to bring my own manpower, so I did.  I spent a little more than I normally would on this set, and you’ll see why in the end.  But let’s start with the bed.  And in case you are wondering, I just took these pics yesterday when the sun came out again.  Not quite as magical as the snowy pics, right?  So much for the winter outdoor photo shoots.

But, isn’t the bed beautiful?  From the above photo you can’t even see what sold me on it.

It’s the wrap around foot board …

Isn’t that unique?  I’d never seen one like this before.

The set also came with a vanity.

(Sorry Terri, Mr Q’s legs are still fully clothed!  It was -9 degrees when we took these pics.)

But the real reason for the splurge on this set was the dresser.  I have a customer who has been looking for a spectacular piece for a bedroom makeover, and I knew this piece would be just that.  I sent her some pictures of the dresser before I purchased it to be sure she was interested, and she definitely was, so I took the leap.  And here it is.

This picture does not do justice to this piece, not to mention it’s just a bad picture overall.  There is some trim at the back of the top that doesn’t even show here, but is similar to the top of the mirror on the vanity and the top of the headboard.  This dresser is just so heavy, there was no way Mr. Q and I were going to haul it outside, or even into the next room for its photo shoot, so we’ll have to make do with this photo for now.

I don’t normally do custom work.  Why?  Because I already have a day job where I have to answer to others, so when I work on furniture, I want to have the freedom to do whatever I want to.  But every once in a while I make an exception, like I did with the ‘travel the world’ desk for my fabulous customer, Nikkii.  And now with this piece, I’m making another exception just because I really want to turn it into something spectacular for this client.  The next step is to meet with her and decide on a plan for its makeover.  I’m really excited to see just how lovely this dresser can be.

My final find from last weekend is something that I am keeping for myself.  Mr Q and I picked it up on one of our Friday date nights.  When I first saw the ad for this piece, I got an 80’s country pine vibe from it and initially I just wasn’t sure.  After thinking about it, and getting my friend Terri’s opinion, I decided to at least go take a look.  I knew I could do a lot for it with some paint.

In person, the piece was not nearly as “chunky” as I was worried it might be.  In fact, at first I thought perhaps it really was old.  The cupboard doors open with some antique looking keys, it has that beadboard back.  The sellers we purchased it from had an amazing 1925 house in Edina that appeared to be filled with gorgeous antiques.  But no, upon closer inspection it is obvious that this is a newer piece of furniture that was likely designed to look like an antique.  In a way, this is a good thing.  I don’t feel one iota of guilt about painting it.

I hung the wallpaper inside the top of the cabinet while I was considering what ‘look’ I wanted to go with, but in the end I went in a different direction.  Here is a sneak peek of coat no. 1.  This is MMS milk paint in Artissimo, in case you are wondering.  It looks quite different before a top coat, doesn’t it?

So, I did get some painting done last weekend.

I’m sure you can guess what my future plan is for the cabinet since you know what room I’m working on.  I’m not sure how soon you will be seeing it again, but you’ll definitely see it down the road.  In the meantime, I think I may have crossed the line and become a furniture hoarder, so I am swearing off craigslist for now until I can get these pieces done.  I’m not even going to look.  Well … unless something really fabulous is out there 😉

Have you heard of Vintage by Nina?  Nina is Nina Hartmann and she has some gorgeous books out there.  She also has a shop, but since she is in Sweden, I don’t know if she ships to the U.S. or not.  I’ve never tried to order from her.  I get her books at the Round Barn.  I will also warn you, they are pricey.  I don’t usually spend nearly that much for a book, but her books are worth it to me.  By the way, in case you are wondering, this post is not sponsored in any way.  I don’t have any sponsors, no one ever pays me or gives me free products to blog about them (drat!).  I just like to share my finds with you guys, and give you links to the sources when possible.

This brings me to the reason for this post, my latest piece, whose paint job was inspired by this picture from Nina’s book, among vintage & friends.

I had actually pinned this photo on pinterest and at the time it was not credited to Nina Hartmann.  I had no idea it was from her book until I purchased the book and found it inside.  Anyway, gorgeous, right?  It provided the jumping off point for the vanity/dressing table I painted last weekend.

I used MMS milk paint in Grain Sack and Typewriter to copy the look.

You’ll notice that on this piece the Typewriter doesn’t look as black as it usually does when I use it.  That’s because I used a topcoat of MMS clear wax instead of the hemp oil.  I find that leaves the black a tad chalkier looking, which was exactly what I wanted in this case.

The chipping really worked on this piece, and it gave me the look I wanted.  I think if I had done this same color scheme with chalk paint it would have looked a little gaudy.

I shared the knobs for this piece with you as a sneak peek last weekend.  I found them at Hobby Lobby and knew they were going to be perfect on this dressing table.  The original knobs were OK, but just OK, nothing special.

I’m making you wait for the full reveal, have you noticed?  Just be patient, we’ll get there.  Meanwhile, I opted to paint the bench in Typewriter to contrast with the vanity.

I recovered the seat with some stenciled drop cloth fabric.

Remember my trick of putting scrapbook paper in the drawers?  Did that again here (again with paper from October Afternoon).

I staged this piece with one of my vintage cameras and a little touch of Q.

As you can see, my manikin Lula is wearing her winter fur.

OK, enough delays, here is the full piece.

I have to tell you, I really struggled with my photos on this one.  It was difficult to get the white balance right and to try and show the true grey tones of the Grain Sack.  I think this last picture comes closest to the most accurate colors.  I re-did it five times!  So by this point, my eyes are playing tricks on me anyway.  I wish I could just invite you all over to my house to see it in person so you could really see it.

And oh my goodness, I nearly forgot to share the ‘before’ with you.  How much do you love the golden fleece of a seat?  And Mr. Q’s legs and hands as he holds the mirror in place for me?

 Anyone need a fab dressing table to add a little vintage glamour to their home?