Custom Rustic Desk

I had the opportunity to do a custom paint job on a friend's desk awhile back. If I remember correctly, it was a Craigslist find. They were no longer happy with the dark wood and wanted to brighten up the space with a cream color.

[Before: didn't quite get the drawers in the right spots for the photo]

 The desk also was pretty scratched up, but that's the beauty of chalk paint--it covers everything right up and no prep is needed! [Because I was making my own chalk paint, I did fill one very deep scratch, but otherwise I didn't make any other repairs]

[scratches]

I set up shop in the garage and over a few days of "banker hours" [or so my mom said] the desk was transformed.

I applied two coats of homemade chalk paint and then lightly distressed everything. I really wanted to bring out the trim details with the distressing. After some dark wax and a few protective coats of clear wax, the original hardware was put back on.

The new color and look really lends itself to a study full of natural light and light earthy colors.

Sprucing Up The Place

Just wanted to let you see what my booth currently looks like. I am really enjoying filling the space now that there's some room to work with. Today I added the burlap throw pillows, as well as a small side table. For full discretion, the headboard/footboard at the back of the booth has sold...but everything else is still for sale!

Also, if you have a worn-out, outdated or tired piece of furniture that needs some new life, please let me know. I am always available to custom paint pieces [I actually enjoy the custom painting over painting things to put in the booth...it takes the guess work out!]

Please leave a comment or send me an email if you're interested!

China Cabinet Makeover

This past week I worked on a china cabinet makeover for a customer. In the words of the customer, the china cabinet looked like "an old man's gun cabinet." I'm not sure what qualifies as an old man's gun cabinet, but the cabinet was just boring and outdated. It needed a makeover!

The first challenge was choosing a paint color. I've started making my own chalk paint, and have had great success! Plus, it's budget friendly and the color possibilities are endless! I can't bring myself to buy ASCP anymore! {I will say, ASCP is super great to work with...if you want one of the limited colors, and you don't mind paying the price!} We were looking for something that was Old White looking, but not as bright and alittle warmer.

{One coat vs. two coats}

The customer wanted AS's Old Ochre, but gave me the freedom to color match if I wanted to. So, I did a 30 second "AS Old Ochre color match" search and found a list of Behr and Sherwin Williams matches for every AS color! I went to Home Depot first, but knew just from the name of the paint (Pecan Sandie 700C-3) that I wasn't going to like it. Pecan Sandie was too pink! So off to Sherwin Williams I went to see what Kilim Beige (SW 6106) looked like. First of all, when Pecan Sandie and Kilim Beige were compared, they were not at all the same color! But, Kilim Beige was perfect! I got a sample quart mixed up ($6.38!!!) and got to work mixing up my own chalk paint!

I used black spray paint to paint everywhere that I knew I'd end up distressing. Then the painting began. Painting was going well until I had been working for days ("banker hours" as my mom said) and hadn't even touched the top shelf piece, which I knew was going to be a BEAST! Shelves are very time consuming--there are so many surfaces...tops, bottoms, inside sides, outside sides, back.

{Some of the distressing...love!}

I did two coats of Kilim Beige, distressing, a coat of finishing paste with dark wax (really working the dark wax) and then two more coats of finishing paste. Then, my arms got a work out with all of the buffing!

I was trying to decide what to do with the inside of the drawers and bottom cabinet. I painted (but didn't use dark wax) the inside of the bottom cabinet, but didn't paint the bottom surface because it was just a cheap piece of wood that I knew wouldn't look the same painted. I'm still working my way through an old Spanish/English dictionary that's about 30 years old, so that's what got Mod Podged down. I love it!

 The top cabinet doors are really cool...I really love the shapes, and the distressing makes it super good...so it's kind of a bummer that they won't be used. BUT, they would make cool frames or even spray the glass with chalkboard paint for a unique shaped chalkboard!

And the finished product....not your Grandpa's gun cabinet! It wasn't the best lighting because it was dark by the time it got moved inside. But, I'll make sure to post a photo once those shelves are accessorized and full of color!

Bangkok Rust Hall Tree

Last week, a very good friend asked if I would makeover a hall tree for her. She's been wanting something in her entryway, and found two hall trees on Craigslist that she liked. The first hall tree was from Ethan Allen and the seller wanted $400. The second hall tree was about 15 years old and the seller wanted $99. Needless to say, she chose the $99 one!

The previous owner had painted the hall tree a gross brown--we were calling it poop brown. And, there were lots of drips, globs and it was just a bad paint job. After more investigating, we discovered that under the brown paint was white paint. My friend wanted the perfect red color--not bright red, with alittle orange, but not too much orange--so she decided on Bangkok Rust.

We agreed that the hall tree should be distressed, and wanted black to come through, so black spray paint went on all of the edges and other random places where I would end up distressing. The spray paint was brilliant because it dried in a few minutes, and it held up great with the distressing.

After the spray paint, I did two coats of Bangkok Rust and then distressed the piece. I made the Bangkok Rust (Lowe's Valspar Satin) more like chalk paint by adding a plaster of paris and water mixture to the paint. This allowed for less prepping and easy distressing. The paint goes on looking milky/dull, which lends to the piece looking aged.

I wanted to use dark wax, so I used one coat of clear and dark wax together. The BEAST on this thing was the top grain detail. The bottom one looked awesome, but I redid the top grain panel four times! I love how the grain details turned out in the end though! Finally, I put four coats of finishing paste wax on the entire piece, and two extra coats on the seat part since it will get some extra use!

The old hardware got a oil-brushed bronze spray paint update. And then she got moved inside to the entry way. She was adorned with a straw hat and scarf pretty quickly. 

The finished product! 

If you have any questions about custom painting or refinishing a piece of furniture, please contact me!