Gold Dipped French Buffet

Hello everyone.  Well, Mr Chuckles and I survived our month in Peru, and even managed to survive the week long cruise we took after that. :)  My my, I felt spoilt.  Right up until we landed back in this wind-swept, white-washed barren land called Canada, I felt really indulged.  

Peru was wonderful. We did lots of trekking in the mountains (which of course included a tiring ascent up to Machu Picchu) to take in some glorious views.  It was great to escape the snow, but Im happy to have my paint brush in hand again too!

So I have been painting up a fury, and my first piece is a gold dipped french buffet.  I used a great cabinet paint by Benjamin moore in a soft cream for the body, and I went for a gold dipped effect on the bottom using spray paint.  

I should have taken pictures of all the taping off I had to do in order to prevent the spray paint from marring up the cream paint, but of course I forgot.   

I opted to only dip the front section in gold and not the sides as I prefer it this way. I finished the hardware in Rub-n-buff ( I love this stuff!)

I think it turned out stunning and very chic. Much nicer than the before. 

And yet another two-toned MCM!

Here is the latest in my mcm marathon.  As I mentioned previously, I am working my way through my stash of pieces, next up is a long credenza and matching nightables that are going to get a re-stain.  Too beautiful to paint!

For this little gem, I decided to go for a slightly different look.  The top was in such fantastic condition that I decided to restain, rather than paint the whole outter casing white.

  

This is a little extra work, but fortunately the finish wasn’t super thick and glossy, so it sanded pretty easily.

Only the front facing trim was painted in off-white. Oh and the legs too as I wanted to create a sense of airiness.  The rest of the dresser and drawer facings were re-stained in walnut.

I love this little honeycomb-esq detailing on the top drawers, adds just that little bit of detail and texture to the piece.

 I was a little nervous about how just painting the front trim would turn out (and not the entire casing), but I have to say Im pleasantly surprised.  It adds just that little bit of interest and contrast, yet still retains the charm of the wood.

French Baronet in Charcoal

I picked up an adorable solid wood Baronet french style set the other day.  And it was FREE.  Yay!  It was painted in that off white that would have looked adorable in a little girls room 40 years ago.

I picked up a tall 4-drawer dresser, a nightstand, and a six drawer dresser.  I thought about repainting them white and keeping with the little girls theme.  But I just didn't feel like it.  Nope, I wanted to do it in a deep charcoal.

Well, I did the nightstand and the tall dresser in charcoal, but I did the six-drawer in mint and white (pics to come soon). I had low expectations of what was going to lie beneath that old white finish, but I was pleasantly surprised to see it was solid wood!  Nice!

I left the inside of the nightstand white to add a little contrast with the charcoal gray.

I painted out the hardware white, it was originally a two-toned white/gold finish, and I didn't mind it, but I wanted the contrast of the white.  

This charcoal gray I used is a flat paint, and it just doesn't accept wax well.  The wax doesn't absorb into it the way it does chalk paint.  I knew I wanted to top coat with wax on this piece, not poly, so I did two coats of my regular gray flat paint, and the third coat I turned into DIY chalkpaint using PoP.  I worked perfectly!

After the chalkpaint coat dried, I sanded it down to smooth out the roughness and applied the wax. The lustre is perfect, a great hand-rubbed sheen.

Here is the pair of them together.  Aren't they handsome!

Here are a couple of before pics.  Although they look like they are in great condition, the finish was chipping and scratched.  In short, they looked their age (and not in a good way).

Brutalist style mcm beauties!

Oh Lordy, am I excited!!  And no, it isn’t because the men’s US Open Tennis final is just about to begin.  Ok, it is a little bit.  I am a die-hard tennis fan and I love a good match up, and this one between Rafa and Djokovic should be soooooo-perb! Painting furniture is my number one addiction, tennis is my second (wine is my third :))  But no, I am over the moon excited about this absolutely fabulous furniture I picked up at the weekend!

Initially my plan was to paint it out a two-toned original wood/ ivory white (similar to this post here), but it is in such amazing condition that I am going to leave it original.  The colour and the finish on these pieces is as en-trend as Lady Ga-ga perched a-top an apple ipad wielding a whole-wheat vegan wrap.

I only have pics of the nightstands at the moment, but the entire set (headboard, longboy, armoir, mirror) are all equally amazing.

I did some research and this style of furniture is themed as BRUTALIST in the style of Paul Evans.  Im lovin’ it! It channels a real gothic vibe to it.

Here is a pic of the lovely matching mirror. Oh, and ladies, as an added bonus, the gentlemen I picked this wonderful set up from was not only extremely patient as I wrestled with my stubborn tie-down straps, but more than just-a little handsome as well.  :)

Beautiful Walnut MCM Credenza

I am going to preface this post by saying I didn't have to do much to this beauty!  When I saw it posted on our local 'craigslist', I knew straight away I wanted it.  Those clean lines, the great finish, the fantastic condition!  Love at first sight.

I picked it up and was even more astounded how great the condition was.  All I needed to do was a few touch ups here and there with walnut gel stain, and then clean it up bit.

It came with a tallboy (also in fantastic condition) and two nightstands.  One night stand was perfect and the other one was not.  So because I wanted to keep them as a pair, I decided to redo them (see their transformation in my next post!).

But for now, enjoy a few shots of mid-century furniture at its finest!

Diamonds are a girl's best friend

I loved doing this piece.  I had a vision that of a muted grey with a lovely diamond (harlequin) top.  I was inspired to use the diamond top by Crystal at THESHABBIESTCHICK and am so happy with the results.  

It has found its way as a feature piece in an expectant mother's nursery which makes me very happy.

I customed mixed the grey and used white ASCP for the diamonds.  I then gave everything a good distressing and a coat of clear wax.