Give It A Chance!

Recently I was in one of my favorite thrift stores when I spotted this pitiful little table.

It had a cute, basic design but had been through bad times! The legs are made of  real wood but the top was made out of "fake" or manufactured wood.  Previous owners had apparently set glasses on the top without using coasters and the top had bubbled up because of the moisture. 

I walked by the table a couple of times but finally decided to give it a chance!  I hauled it home and a couple of days later pulled out my electric hand sander and worked on trying to smooth out the top.  I had never tried to sand down manufactured wood before/ but because I only paid a few dollars for the table, I knew I didn't have much to lose even if it didn't work out.

I sanded until smooth and paid special attention to the bubbled up areas to make sure they got smoothed down as much as possible.  I sanded the entire top to make sure the surface was even.

I painted the entire table with two coats of ASCP in French Linen and painted the hardware with a light coat of ASCP Old White.  After applying a coat of clear wax to both the table and the hardware it was buffed to a nice sheen.

 

 I placed the table in my space at Old South and it sold within two days!  Proof that sometimes things turn out better than you could have imagined if you just give them a chance.

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Sweet Little Graphite Nightstand

I found this adorable little nightstand at a garage sale and immediately fell in love with it.  It's at least half the size of today's nightstands (I think this one is vintage 1940s or 1950s from days when bedrooms were a lot smaller).  

Although the wood was in good condition, the original varnished finish wasn't, as over the years it had become dry and cracked in some areas.

With chalk paint, sanding and other preparation usually isn't necessary.  But in this case, I knew I was going to have to sand a little to get the smooth finish I wanted.  So, I used my electric hand sander to smooth out the rough spots before applying two coats of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Graphite.

 I knew I wanted to do something to make this little nightstand special so I painted the drawer with two coats of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White.  After it dried completely, I stenciled a design on the drawer by stippling on paint in Graphite.

 Annie Sloan clear soft wax was brushed on and the excess was wiped off.  Buffing brought the finish to a nice sheen.

This night stand is now at my space at Old South.

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Slowly Getting Back Into The Swing of Things

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends.  I know I did but it's so hard to get back into a more normal routine without the shopping, decorating, planning and cooking.  It's seems like forever since I've done any painting so I'm proud I've at least completed a few new small projects.  I've got to get busy and restock my space at Old South!

You know how I'm always encouraging you to keep your eyes open for things that might not work in their present condition but with a little paint and/or attention can be turned into something unique?  Well, that's what the object in today's post is. 

I love painting candlesticks/candle holders but unique ones can be hard to find.  They are some of the things I always look for in thrift stores, yard sales, etc.  So, I was really happy when I found this large one.

It's unglazed ceramic or plaster but the gold color needed updating and it just wasn't working for me.  So I pulled out some paint that's a favorite of mine that I haven't used lately - Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Provence.  I brushed on one light to medium coat, allowing some of the gold color to show through.

I didn't want a lot of distressing but I did want some, so I lightly rubbed a damp cloth in the areas I wanted distressed.

I finished by brushing on clear wax, wiping off the excess and then buffing to a shine.  I love the way it turned out and I will be taking it to my space at Old South real soon.

A Table Re-Do Using Beauty Tools

I was driving down the road one recent Saturday morning and noticed a yard sale going on next to the highway.  I was 40 miles from home and on my way to take care of some personal business but couldn't help but glance over to see what kind of things I could see from the road.  I spotted a few pieces of small furniture and after debating for a few quick seconds, I turned around.  This little table is one of the treasures I left with:



  

 

It was in good condition but was looking a little plain to me.  I love the trend of mixing stained wood with painted wood, so since the top was good, I decided to just paint the legs and the bottom shelf.  I applied two coats of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White.

 

 

The cute little spindly legs have vertical grooves cut in them and while they filled up with paint, I knew I would want them to look slightly distressed and old. 

 

So, I pulled out my top secret distressing tools!  These are very rare and expensive tools so most of you probably don't have them readily available for your use.  Not !



 

That's right, a cotton swab and a bobby pin!  I chose the wet distress method since I was going to be using these two "tools".  I soaked one end of the swab in water and pushed it down the vertical grooves of the legs.  As the chalk paint got wet, it softened up and I was then able to use more pressure with the cotton swab to slightly remove some of the paint.  I repeated the process on all of the legs, around the edges of the bottom shelf and on the other areas of the legs where a little distressing was needed. And I did have to use several cotton swabs as they wear out pretty quickly! 

 

What I like about this method is that the paint is completely removed in some areas but the paint is only thinned in others, allowing the original finish to peak through.  I took a wet cloth and wiped over small areas where i wanted further distressing.  I then took the curved end of the bobby pin and gently scraped off paint on some areas of the legs and in some places on the vertical grooves.  See the bobby pin in the photo above with the pain gunked up in it?  That's some of the damp paint that was gently scraped off.  And this method is NOT messy.  I did the work on this little table inside my living room.

 

 This is how the legs looked after my wet distressing with the beauty "tools":

After applying a coat of clear wax, wiping it off and out of all the grooves, I let the table dry overnight before buffing and applying lemon oil to the top.  I just love the slight distressing and the way the long grooves look.

 

 

And here she is - ready for her new beautifully distressed life:

 

 

 



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Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint

I'm a huge fan of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and use it for most of the furniture and other items I repaint.  There are three stockists/retailers "near" me and they all are approximately an hour and a half away.  Slightly inconvenient but so worth it once I have the paint in my hands!  But I've been wanting to try Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint since it became available three or four months ago.  But again, the closest retailer is an hour and a half way. 

There is a shop that I'd been wanting to visit that is almost two (yep two!) hours away from me.  It sells both ASCP and MMS so I used that as an excuse for a short road trip.  And I'm wanting to try MMS paint so much that I will drive that far.  At least once.

Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint generally gives a more "chippy" look and ASCP gives a more "European" finish.  There are some furniture pieces I paint that I just really want to have a shabbier look without having to sand and distress, so Miss Mustard Seed sounds perfect for those.

This is what I came home with:

Yes, the paint is in boxes!  MMS paints are powder and you only mix what you will use for each project.  I purchased three colors, the bonding agent, furniture wax and antiquing wax.  While I was out on my little road trip, I also stopped by a thrift store and picked up an old blender for mixing the paint and at another place I found a piece of furniture to try the paint out on.  I can't wait to get started.   I'll share the final project and how I like MMS paints very soon!

From Ugly Duckling to Beautiful Swan

 

These are the kind of projects I just love from beginning to end!  I spotted this little spindly legged table and thought it might have great potential, but it was looking a little like an ugly duckling!  The legs were good but someone had nailed a painted wooden circle onto the top.  I took a chance and hauled it home with me.

 

 

After I pulled off the added on top, I found it was actually a piece of old panelling that had been added for who knows what reason!  I was excited to see the original top underneath was in pretty good shape except for little nail holes where the panelling had been nailed. 

 

 

 

I filled in the nail holes with wood filler and lightly sanded the top.  After two coats of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Paris Gray, I felt the table still looked a little plain and wasn't living up to its full potential (sorry, but in my enthusiasm I forgot to get a photo after the coats of paint).  I remembered I had picked up an inexpensive stencil on impulse awhile back and thought it would work perfectly.  I decided to just stencil across the center instead of over the entire top to keep the pattern from looking too "busy".  The stencil I used is the Jacobean Floral pattern made by DecoArt and I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White.

 



 

After the stencil paint dried, I very lightly sanded the design to smooth out any texture created by the stencil paint.  I applied a coat of clear wax and then used fine sand paper to slightly distress around the edges.

 



 

 

 After applying more clear wax over the distressed areas and buffing to a soft sheen, the ugly duckling was turned into a beautiful swan!

 

 

 I'm going to have a hard time letting this one go!

 

Ethan & Allen

A couple of weeks ago I spotted two cute little tables in the back of one of my regular furniture hunting spots.  I loved the drawers with all the little knobs on front.  As I got closer, I saw they had received a lot of wear but other than the original finish being worn off on the tops, they were in good condition.  I opened one of the drawers and saw that they were old Ethan Allen tables probably from the 1960's, if not earlier.  Yep, I knew I had to have them!

For just a few seconds, I thought I might refinish instead of painting.  But I knew my impatience would get to me with the sanding, staining and varnishing of TWO tables!  So, I just kept it simple and applied two coats of no-prep Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in French Linen. 

 

The original wood was already distressed so I applied clear wax and slightly distressed the paint around the edges and drawers with sand paper. Buffing and re-applying the original drawer knobs were the last steps and they were done. Ethan & Allen!

 

A Budget Fall Mantel

This is my simple Fall mantel which was put together without spending a lot of money.

I already owned the clock face, candlesticks, jug and mirror.  To accessorize, I added a ready-made mini wreath purchased from Target that was hung over the mirror with a small piece of twin.  Twigs from my backyard were placed in the jug.  I had purchased the paper mache' pears from Michael's months ago knowing I'd use them one day.  They were a dull, unfinished brown that looked like grocery bag paper.  I brushed on varnish to seal them and give them a nice, warm color and then placed them on a little tray I found at a thrift store.  The Autumn plaque was made from an old board I had.  I painted it with Coco Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and then stencilled the letters with Old White.  I sanded lightly to give it an older, distressed look.  The candlesticks were made ready for fall by removing the candles and adding pumpkins from the Dollar Tree.  I first used wood putty to fill in a crease that ran all around the pumpkins, then painted them with Old White before brushing on clear wax and lightly distressing and buffing them.

These were the pumpkins before.  I love Chalk Paint!

I spent less than $10 creating this mantel.  Look around your own home and yard and see what you have that can be used to create your own personal mantel.

Table With A Surprise

 I found this cute little table on a recent family trip to the mountains of North Carolina and just had to bring him home with me.  I love how the legs aren't straight but angle out a little.

 

 

The table was painted with two coats of Old Ochre Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and the sides and inside of the drawer were painted with Graphite.  I used clear wax only and lightly distressed the table.

I decided to keep the original hardware and applied a little wax to the knobs also to brighten them up .

The little surpise is inside the drawer.  One of my favorite thrift shops was giving away (yes, free!) old sheet music.  Of course, I took it all off of their hands!   I applied one of the pages to the bottom of the drawer with Mod Podge then applied several coats to the top to seal it.  I like how the music sheet matches the Old Ochre and Graphite colors.  Whether you're a music lover or not, using sheet music to line drawers or to cover drawer fronts is a great way to add a little extra surprise to your furniture piece.