Headboard / Footboard Bench

Hello My Blog Friends!!  I've been keeping busy, so I'm trying to squeeze in some time to share a project or two with you.  The weather here has been all over the place, so I'm trying to take advantage of each sunshine moment I can that I'm not at work to try to crank out some furniture.  I gave you a sneak peek of this bench a little while back, but never got a chance to share the details.

This piece was for a local Florida client.  She rescued this headboard and footboard from a family member who had destined it for the dump.  I know, GASP!  But, if you had seen a true before (which of course I don't have -- big surprise!), you would be more understanding.  There was VERY outdated engraving in the headboard...not the kind of engraving that you could sand out...I'm talking engraved into the wood about 1/2 an inch.  So, I took the headboard to a friend of mine to have it planed.  We shaved off a 1/2 inch of wood from the top of the headboard.  Goodbye funky outdated design!

Then, in the very end we were left with this, but I'll share how we got to this point:

 

The slats used for the original bed frame were what became the "seat" of the bench.  Building the bench will have to be another post, but I did have to solicit some assistance on this one.  Here's what it looked like when it was first transformed to a bench.

I did a lot of sanding with my orbital sander to smooth everything up.  I started with a 120 grit paper and worked up to a 220 grit before painting.  I used a dry brush technique to brush on "Alligator Green" from Benjamin Moore.  Dry brushing (this technique is explained here) uses just a little paint to give a very feathered look.

 The "Alligator Green" was followed with Graphite from Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.  This was also applied with a dry brush technique.

After all of the painting, I sanded it some using 220 grit, just to help everything blend well.

Here's another before and after glimpse:

 This piece was going to be used on a patio by my client for an outdoor table, so I gave it three coats of polyurethane once the paint dried.

It's not shown in this picture, but we also added some vintage casters to this piece to it would be easy to move around on the patio.

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Old Cabinet Makeover and a Tiny Glaze Tutorial

Hi everyone, it's a dreary day in Florida today.  I'm holed up in the office trying to get some stuff together for taxes.  I'm off work today and we have 100% rain chances all day, so there's not much painting getting done.  Instead, I'll share with you a makeover from earlier this week.

This was for a client who had an old oak, welsh cabinet that she wanted refreshed.  The pic on the left below is the after picture.  The one on the right is the before.

As you can see this was originally a tan-ish, brown-ish, grey-ish color before.  The piece itself was really cute, but the paint job made me cringe...layers of thick gloppy paint slapped on.  It's like fingernails on a chalkboard when I see a paint job like that.  This client wanted a bit of a gray finish to this and wanted it to feel refreshed.  Another before:

 She had seen some work of mine done with a custom grey color that I created and then had color matched through Benjamin Moore.  To get started, I sanded this piece down REALLY well.  With all the crevices on this one, I opted for my paint sprayer.  I gave it a coat of primer (tinted to match the paint) and two coats of paint.  That was followed by distressing to bring through some of the natural wood and just a hint of an old paint layer in yellow.  Next was glazing.  Glazing can have different effects.  It can be used to really make certain details pop (like on the drawer detail below) and it can also take on the appearance of a shadowy antiqued look when used where two pieces meet up (like on the bottom doors below).  I used a tintable glaze by Valspar.  I tinted it with 75% brown and 25% black acrylic paint...the cheap stuff.  No need for paying lots for the paint used to go in the glaze.  I use a foam brush and really work the glaze into the crevices of the piece I'm working on:

 Then I use a dry rag to wipe off the majority of the excess glaze.  I follow that by using a damp rag to really manipulate the glaze and blend it in in certain areas and remove more of the glaze in some areas.  I do this until I've achieved the look I'm going for.

 After paint, distressing, and glazing, this piece got a good coat of clear wax for durability and protection.  It also just gives it a perfectly polished sheen look!

I hope my client loves this one as much as I do!

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More Graphite Love

It's been a busy week here.  However, I've had some AMAZING painting weather--thank you Jesus!!  Just a quick little before and after for you.  Well, technically, you're seeing the after then the before.  Good thing we're not getting technical here!

This wardrobe came in the base thrift/consignment store I work at.  This is a pretty nice piece for what we usually get in there, but sometimes I get lucky and get something great like this.  Also, I'm typically not drawn to lighter color pieces like this.  But, I remembered a chest and nightstand that I had done in Graphite for a customer that turned out really great.  So, that was my inspiration for this piece.  The Annie Sloan Graphite seems to work really well against this color of finish.

 Thanks to ASCP, this piece required no sanding.  Also a bonus for me...this piece was clean to start with.  All I did is give it a light wipe down with damp rag to get started.

 I did two coats of paint.  I often get asked if I paint by hand or use a sprayer...the answer is both! Generally it depends on my mood and the finish that I'm going for or the piece itself, but this piece was so square/flat/straight lined so I hand painted it.  I really enjoy painting by hand...kinda therapeutic for me.  I know, crazy, right?  I suppose it's a good thing I enjoy it since it's sorta the business I'm in!!

 After the two coats of paint, I used my electric sander with 220 grit paper to distress the edges of this piece.  I then lightly sanded all the flat surfaces (also with my electric sander) for that silky smooth feel that this paint gives you.  My usual warning:  at this step, if you're a newbie to this paint, you'll likely think you've messed up and ruined the whole thing.  The color will change.  The texture will change.  And you'll be scared.  No worries...the wax will fix it all!

 The entire piece got a coat of clear wax and then I buffed it by hand.  This piece only lasted about a day until it got a new home...I just love it when pieces move that fast!

I'll leave you with a picture of me and my assistant with our sad/poutty faces on because we are missing the man of the house.  Deployments stink!

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Table Transformation with Paris Gray

Ahhh...back from the morning run with a neighbor and the little puppy.  It always feels so good to start the morning run.  Actually, let's be clear...getting up for the run and going on the run do not feel good.  The accomplishment and the energy I have afterwards do feel good.

I'm in a speed painting mode this week.  Trying to get a lot of furniture pieces finished up before our next batch of company arrives.  Yep, I just compared them to cookies and called them a batch.  My baby sister and her hubby are coming, and they are bringing with them my two nieces and sister number two.  There are four of us and we all start with H's...so one could conceivably lose track....Heather, Holly, Hilary, and Hannah.  Our own little 4-H club.

Ok, I digress.  Back to furniture.  I picked up this little table and chair set at a garage sale recently for a steal.  The entire set was black and in decent condition (excluding the top of the table).  So, I kept the chairs and the table base black and did some touch-up work on them.

 I painted the top of the table with one coat of ASCP in Paris Gray.  I let it dry for an ample amount of time 30 minutes (because I'm patient like that), and then gave it a heavy distress.  That is one thing I love about this paint...it dries so fast.  If it's not completely dry, you'll just end up with a different look.  You can't really go wrong here.  And since I knew I wanted a heavy distress, I didn't have much to lose by moving along so quickly.  This heavy of a distress is certainly not for everyone, but since I'm in the business of furniture resale, I like to keep a variety of finishes going on to please the masses.

 I distressed using a sanding block.  Normally, I don't use these, because it fills up so quickly with the chalk dust, but in this case I did.  I just beat it on the driveway every few minutes to empty the dust.  I believe it was a 120/150 grit block.

 After the distressing, this piece got two coats of clear wax followed by a good buffing.  So perfectly smooth to the touch!  Now she's ready for a new home.

 Or he, it could be a he.  Maybe it is a he with all the grays and blacks.  Oh, and I couldn't get a picture without the furry little model jumping in.

 The Paris Gray is a bit darker than it appears in these pictures.  But, with my phone camera, this is about as good as it gets.  I wished I was as passionate about photography as I am about painting.  Unfortunately, there's not much about taking pictures that I do enjoy.  Maybe one day.

 And, just for kicks, his a look at my booth space at De'France.  I just restocked there on Tuesday.

The End.

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