Milk Paint Amoire

Hello friends!

I Love free stuff especially when its furniture. And i have this crazy notion in my head that I can turn completely hideous furniture into something to be admired. Of course that doesn't always work out (some things are just unsavable and hard to see beauty in).  Usually the free stuff I get is someone else 'I give up' furniture. But I love a challenge and even more i love a good before/after.

This pressed wood amoire was a freebie ~

*Before*

The missing drawer is being fixed

Good, Heavy, Sturdy, Solid, Chunky, Substantial, did i say Heavy Amoire.

Pressed wood, really bad hardware, stinky, honestly I did not think it would turn out shop worthy.

*After*

The only flaw ( other than ugliness) was that it was missing on one drawer 1/2 of the moulding.  Normally that would have been where i draw the line and give up. Really... its not like you can just go into Lowes and pick up a piece of moulding that would match a vintage amoire. and me? use a router nope not happening.  I should've taken a before picture because then you would've seen how big of a deal that moulding was. Looking at the picture now your probally wondering what im talking about cause you can hardly tell where the new piece of moulding is!  Luckily my handy firefighter can to my rescue he is becoming quite the woodworker and I'm convinced he can fix just about anything. He did a awesome job repairing the drawer!

Thank you, Timmy  xoxoxo!

 But to my surprise, after it was cleaned and painted I actually liked it and yes it is shop worthy.  This once gaudy amorie/dresser now would be an amazing piece of furniture to anchor a bedroom or even would be great in a craft or office room~ it has fantastic storage!

I used Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint in Typewriter, a beautiful soft matte black. For the inside i decided to add an added surprise and go with a showstopper of a color ~ ASCP Florence.

 Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint was fun to use, different from what i am used to. If you haven't used milk paint before, Its very watery and goes on so smooth. And most definitely has to have a wax (what i used) or some finish on it. I was alittle disappointed that this piece didn't distress itself more, I loved the natural way the milk paint sort of crackles in spots. I know that's one of the Great things about using Milk Paint is the anticipation of how much distressing will come about.  A paint that has a mind of its own ~ I Love it! I can't wait to try another piece!

 If time allows i always try to do something special to the inside of the drawers. In this case I lined them with black and white Toile scrapbook paper. Adds an Elegant touch don't ya think?

I switched out the old hardware for some pretty bronze and black pulls for the drawers and round knobs for the doors.

 Can't you just picture storing all your pretties in those cubbies?

And here it is in the shop.

 I'm liking it even more now that its decorated.

And I'm really loven that soft Black ~ so rich

 I also just brought in to my booth this Fantastic Primitive Dry Sink.

 I just love Primitives in the Fall

 A hand painted framed burlap adorned with autumn leaves

embellished Pumpkins

 More Festive Fall items to come ~ I've been working on Paper sunflowers and Velvet pumpkins ~ you'll have to check back later for pics of those :)

Thanks for sticking around!

Until next time

Have a amazing day ~ everyday

Erica

Oh la la Frenchy Graphics Love

Hello Friends!

So ive hoped on the bandwagon~ Ive always been a sucker for French Furniture and Im loven all this French Inspired Furniture thats all over Blogland. Im talking about the French Graphics like advertisements and crowns and bees Eiffel tower ect.

If its not my almost 2 yr old then its my firefighter jumping in the picture! Ha Ha lets see if he reads my blogs cause he'd be mortified if he knew i posted this pic :)

 Really isn't this Fabulous!

 A French Lingerie Advertisement painted on the drawers of a Vintage Dresser!

AT Time N Again Antiques

 Before this was a cute scalloped edge round side table when it was just painted Aubbuson blue and Paris Grey but now that it has the bee with all the scrolls and crown its simply gorgeous really something special and unique.

 I used a Sharpie paint pen for the bee in Gold! so much faster than using a paint brush. You can pick up the paint (they're oil based) pens at Michael's in an assortment of colors.

 Super Sweet Vintage coffee table with the Famous Chocolate advertisement

located at A Unique House Antique Mall

Ive got myself an overhead projector printed out a bunch of transfers and have gone to town in fact i can't stop myself!  Using the projector is so much fun i kinda even feel like im a "real artist" actually painting. But really it just tracing :)

I know you've probably seen alot of these graphic transfers before but i was dying to try this out for myself and i am definitely hooked! 

Ive gotten all of my graphics and most of my inspiration at The Graphics Fairy. So Just head on over to Karen's site at the Graphic Fairy and pick out some graphics for yourself and get to painting! But let me warn ya ~ be prepared to spend some time trying to decide She has 1000's to choose from!!!

Have a Creative Day~ Everyday

Erica

Duncan Phyfe makover

Hi there friends!

Got a before and after for ya...

Duncan Phyfe server

 Not a whole lot to tell about this one. For some odd reason this went pretty cheap at auction, no one was bidding so before i could even think my arm went up and i got it for a song ~ la la la la 

 I knew right away what i was going to do. An easy and quick paint job so i could quickly put it in the shop ( so i thought).  I Cleaned it inside and out then removed the hardware, pulled the drawers out and cleaned them up with some Murphy's oil and then painted the shell of the server/buffet in ASCP old white.

And then to my surprise (first time this has happen using chalk paint) IT BLED! Yep streaks of pink mahogany shining through! oh how that irritated me! So much for my quick hurry up get r done paint job!

Available at A Unique House Antiques Mall booth #33

 So then i thought well maybe if i use a "color" over the Old White it won't bleed through, So then i whipped out Florence and proceeded to paint over the pink spots where it had bleed through then i covered the whole shell again in Old white. This time it was better but still some pink peeking through. But ya know what? When I went to distress it ~ it looked kinda cool~ Florence popping up where i sanded and then the pink mahogany. I did minimal distressing so there were just hints of color on the edges.

 YES! I was really liking this! Not exactly what I had planned on, but really turned out pretty. And lastly i used clear and dark wax ,a lot of dark wax. I didn't want there to be too much of a contrast from the shiny wood drawers and the painted shell.

 

Moral of the story when something isn't going quite like you planned ~ just go with it ya might end up liking it!



Before picture of Ducan Phyfe Server



Next time ~ when i have more time maybe i'll do something crazy but for now i think the Buffet that i stole for a song turned out Classic and Elegant.

But HOW COOL IS THIS?? From Repurposed Designs! I'm loven their take on Mr. Duncan! It even has working headlights :)

Check out my facebook page for more shop pics!

Has a Fabulous Evening!

Erica