Weathered Turquoise Night Stands

It felt so good to do these pieces with their wonderful imperfections.  Lately I have been doing so many pieces with no distressing that I really need a perfect finish in order to get the 'look' I'm going for.  So when I picked up this three piece set (9 drawer pictures to follow) I thought,  'Im blowing the dust off the orbital and doing some serious distressing'.

 



 
Its not that distressing pieces is easier...it can take a long time to distress, particularly if you are doing it by hand, but its just a little less worrisome because if there is a little flaw in the finish you don't have to worry and redo it.  I actually just recently finished a nine drawer in that deep blue cobalt colour I have been using a lot lately and I think in total I did 8 coats on the top.  I kept having problems getting a perfect finish, and then I had trouble with my polyurethane topcoat looking streaky and I just wasn't happy with it.  8, maybe 9 coats later I finally nailed it.  Isn't the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results? 

 
These beauties only took two coats.  Much easier.  I used Cottage Paint chalkpaint I had in a cream colour and I added some tint to get this blue-based turquoise. I painted it on roughly, deliberately missing parts here and there as it would make distressing easier later.

 
I used wax on these because there is a strong oak grain.  I am not a huge fan of wax, I find it really streaky, but as I have mentioned before I don't mind using it on weathered looking pieces, I also don't mind using it on 'oak' furniture as it doesn't look as streaky over the strong oak grain.

 
I did all of my sanding before waxing. I like a good dust storm.  I did wear a protective mask to save the lungs though.  I used the orbital on some parts, and used a piece of coarse sand paper on others and did it by hand.

 
Some of the nice oak grain.

 

 
The before.

Weathered Armoire with Vintage Paper

Hi everyone, here is my latest piece!  NOW. Before I go into details I first want to say that this is the first piece that I took pictures of against my new 'staging wall' which is in the garage.  I love taking pictures against my black and white floral wallpaper, but Mr Chuckle's and I were getting a bit weary of brining every single piece into the house to take pictures of..So, I thought I would try something new.
 

 
I am not particularly happy with the outcome of these pictures.  I tried a couple of different approaches to how much light I was letting in, but it still isn't an ideal result.  I will have to keep playing and trying to tweak a bit with future pieces.  So I apologize for the less than amazing pictures (not that my previous pictures were that much better! - they just had a prettier backdrop).
 

 
I don't usually work on armoires because they are not my favorite style of furniture, but I came across this piece as part of a matching set with the piece I finished in navy and gold (here) and figured I may as well take on both.
 

 
I knew I wanted to do something using my vintage Eaton's wallpaper which I have used on the inside of a few pieces, but I haven't really used on the outside of one yet.  I just love this paper - both the colours and the design are beautiful.   It is a pre-pasted wallpaper (yay!) so it was so easy to apply.
 

 
I custom mixed up a blueish green to match one of the colours in the wallpaper.  In the jar it looked more greenish, but surprisingly it came out a little more blue on the piece.  I know this because my good ol' neighbor caught sight of it and said ' now you can't tell me that one isn't blue!'.  If you have read this blog for a while, than you have met this neighbor before with some of the funny blunder comments he has made (I still like him despite this).
 

 
I knew I wanted rustic with heavy distressing on this piece because I haven't done a piece like this in a while and felt like getting a bit whimsical.  I have done a similar piece (here) many months ago, but I was ready for another turn.
 

 
I distressed heavily and wonderfully the wood grain poking through has a great 'orange' colour to it which ties in perfectly with the orange on the paper.  I also highlighted with light blue, mint, white and yellow.  A whole wash of colours mix up to make this piece special.
 

 
I wanted some extra height, so I added the legs - not the most traditional on an armoire like this, but they are removable, so if they aren't to everyone's taste, they are easily removed.
 

 
I used chalkpaint on this piece, and I sealed with polyurethane as I have been doing a lot lately.  The original hardware was spruced up with a dab of rub n buff!
 

 
I did a lot of heavy distressing, as well as some whitewashing on the side.
 

 
 Here is a close up of the great paper!

 

And the before!

 

 

 

Mary Poppins' Chest

This dresser was in great shape and solid wood when I picked her up.  Even her colour wasn't that bad, a rich mahogany, but she was still in need of updating.  

I decided to go for a deep charcoal and complimented that with some black, grey & white decorative paper I had on hand.

I decided to put the paper on the bottom drawers only, as I wanted to add a 'touch of whimsy' as opposed to having a statement dresser.

The paper was so thin that it went quite crinkly when I put it on.  I actually kind of liked that as it made it look rustic.  I played with it a bit more by doing a light distressing on both the body of the dresser, and on the paper.

I sprayed the hardware with oil rubbed bronze to darken them a bit and to have them better contrast with the grey.

I call her 'Mary Poppins' Chest' because I can imagine this in Mary Poppins' bedroom filled with neatly folded linens.
  

  

Aqua Vintage Waterfall Dresser

I went for a very distressed, very time worn, and very rustic look for this vintage waterfall dresser.  

I used a paint layering technique featuring white, mint, teal, and aqua blue.

It isn't a look for everyone, I know.  But I can imagine it in a nursery, a romantic bedroom, or perfect for the beach side cottage.

I love the original pulls. They remind me of Angels' wings.

Yellow and Gray Curio Vintage Cabinet

I painted this for a lovely girl who wanted to preserve the heritage of the piece, yet update it with some bright colour.  

This ornate little cupboard was a family heirloom passed down from her grandmother who received it as a wedding present many years ago.

She picked up the adorable knob at a market in NYC and thought it would look great, I think she is right.

It truly is adorable, and although it was cute before the transformation, I think it will be a show stopper now. 

I hope she likes the finished piece as much as I do.

Traditional Union Jack

For this Union Jack dresser, I decided to go for a traditional colour scheme, opting for a darker blue.  I began by painting the entire body of the dresser white.  Then I taped off the blue and red sections.

I painted the top the same blue as the front, and then I washed a dark glaze over it to further age it.  I used custom chalk paint for this.  Actually a combo - ASCP in Pure White, and Reetiqued chalk paint in dark blue and deep red.  :)   I used the grout recipe.

UPDATE: I have since bought a big box of DAP plaster of paris and I can say hands down that it gives a smoother finish than my grout did.

I used regular painters tape for my lines.  Taping the dresser out definitely takes the loooongest amount of time.  Fortunately I was painting in my kitchen (Mr. Chuckles LOVES when I do that!)  so my pal, the tv, was able to keep me amused during the dry times. 

I did get some bleedthrough, but I use little sharp edged artists brushes to tidy everything up.

I decided to keep the hardware, as it was so aged and burnished that it gave the piece a really rustic vibe which I think suits these dressers. Im not sure I could have cleaned it up even if I wanted to!

Overall I'm pretty happy with it! And so is the 12 year old One Direction fan who's room in now resides in.  Just below their hearthrobby poster!