q is for quandie

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It was in decent shape, just terribly outdated.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!

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.

OK, I know I’m jumping the gun a bit with the garden theme of this piece.

I just couldn’t help myself though.  I’m already dreaming of spring, how about you?

I wasn’t especially looking for another bed frame to turn into a bench, but I came across this bed while garage saling on my lunch break last fall.  Luckily I was with my co-worker Jodie and she was driving a pick up truck so we were able to load it up.

There were no side rails included, so that made this one a great candidate for a bench.  If I’d wanted to sell it as a bed I would have had to replace the side rails.

In addition to adding a seat and the lower front trim piece to the bench, this time my handyman Ken also had to insert boards into some gaps in the headboard and foot board in order to make this piece work.

This is the third bench that Ken has made out of an old bed frame (here is the first and the second if you want to see them).

Once the bench was constructed, I painted the old wood with two coats of Fusion’s Bedford, while the new wood on the seat only required one coat.  Bedford is a medium warm grey.

I let the paint dry overnight, and then I added Prima Marketing’s Seeds transfer.

I didn’t quite use all of the transfer, although I did put some of it on the lower section of the bench too.

I also sanded the edges of the piece to distress the paint job.  With Fusion paint I recommend doing this within a few days of painting the piece.  Fusion is more difficult to distress once the paint has cured.

Although Fusion paint does not require a top coat for durability, the bare wood that I exposed by sanding could use a little protection.  So I added just a little bit of Miss Mustard Seed’s furniture wax to a cloth and wiped it over all of the distressed areas of the bench.  I didn’t add a lot of wax, just a bit.

I did the same over the transfer, just rubbed it lightly with a waxy cloth to give it a little extra protection.

I couldn’t resist staging the bench with plants and gardening supplies.  Sure, it’s January and everything outside my window is frozen solid.  But inside I can pretend it’s practically spring!

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

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

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

While I was gone on my cruise last month I received a text from one of my favorite customers.  Nikkii has purchased a gazillion pieces of furniture from me, I do believe I have lost count of just how many.  Last summer she purchased the gorgeous bed I painted in Dixie Belle’s Caviar.

She got in touch because she was looking for a dresser to pair up with the bed.  She wanted something that would hold a decent amount of stuff.

Mr. Q and I happened to have just returned to the ship after our Street Food Tour in Genoa when she texted, but I promised to get back to her when our trip was over because I had a couple of dressers that I thought might work for her.

She ended up going with this one.

Initially you might be thinking that the simple, clean lines of this chest on chest dresser don’t relate to the more ornate style of the bed at all.  However, I knew that painting it the same color would go a long way towards making them work together.

I prepped the dresser using my regular m.o.; removed the hardware, sanded lightly, vacuumed inside and out, cleaned with Krud Kutter Kitchen Degreaser, and rinsed with a damp cloth.  Then I added two coats of Dixie Belle’s Caviar.

Once that was dry I added my Blanchisserie de Francaise stencil using Ceramcoat craft paint in a color called Deep Taupe.  The curvy lines of the stencil will also help this piece relate to the curvier lines of the bed.

Readers frequently ask where I got this stencil, but unfortunately the Etsy vendor I purchased it from is no longer in business so I can’t provide a source for it.

After adding the stencil it was simply a matter of sanding lightly again using 220 grit paper, vacuuming again and then waxing the piece using Dixie Belle’s Best Dang Wax in Black.

Gosh, I’d forgotten what a workout it is to wax a large piece of furniture.  And this one is large at 53.5″ tall.  I never feel guilty about skipping the gym when I’m spending time waxing a piece of furniture.

And it sure did feel good to be painting again.  I’d definitely missed it!

I retained the original drawer pulls on this piece.  I initially debated swapping them out, but they had two screws each which would have meant filling holes and re-centering new holes for knobs.

When I think about it, this dresser makeover really was an exercise in keeping in simple.

First of all, that original red stain would have definitely bled through a lighter color of paint.  Sure, I could have used a stain blocking primer like Dixie Belle’s BOSS and that would have solved that problem.  That would have been an extra expense, and an extra step or possibly two (if it had required two coats).  Just painting it black was much simpler.

Second, keeping the original hardware meant I didn’t have to fill those extra holes.  Plus there would have been the added expense of buying 10 knobs.

Some days it feels like the competition out there on social media is so fierce, and everyone is trying to out-do each other with the most elaborate makeover possible.  Sometimes it’s good to remind myself that keeping it simple is OK too.

You can really change the look of a piece of furniture with just some paint, don’t you agree?