Sunday, July 6, 2014

The little yellow table grows up

A great way to give new life to old furnishings is with a bit of paint. A while back, I painted my living room tables in Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Arles. Arles was fun for a while, but now it is time for Arles to grow up and become a little more sophisticated.

Recently, we purchased a new sofa for the living room and when it finally came (months and months and months of waiting....OK, so only the eight weeks as promised. But, I am impatient, so it seemed like months), the sweet yellow tables suddenly seemed so youthful!

Fortunately, I have almost all the colors of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint sitting in my cupboards. Yippee! I decided on Country Grey, which is a fabulously creamy color with very slight ochre undertones. It pairs nicely with almost all of Annie's other colors. So......out comes the drop cloth onto the foyer floor and voila! All four of the tables were instantly (a couple hours later) transformed into creamy goodness! I even decided to paint some old Ethen Allen upholstered stools while I was at it. (Do I detect a future blog article?....Stay tuned).

With every piece of furniture I paint, pieces tend to evolve. After clear waxing, the tables just weren't quite right and they were calling for a dark wax wash. To do a dark wax wash, first you need to clear wax and let this sit for at least 48 hours. Then, mix some dark wax, clear wax and enough mineral spirits to make a consistency of Hershey's chocolate syrup. Next, take an old rag and wipe on the wax mixture and rub until you get the look you want. Wait another 24 hours and top with a coat of clear wax for extra protection.
side-note: consider using disposable gloves or your hands will look like you have recently changed the oil in your car.

Here is the little yellow table all grown up!
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Feel free to add your own Country Grey projects in the comments feed! 
Happy Sunday!

Friday, July 4, 2014

Happy 4th!

For just a few dollars you can make a fun American Flag table or coffee table. Pick up an old wooden pallet (often for free behind businesses...make sure to ask if it's OK to take one) or purchase one off eBay, Craigslist and some local lumberyards sell them.

Pick up some Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Emperor's Silk, Napoleonic and Old White. I get mine from Shades of Amber in Monument CO (where I also work, so pop in and say hello). http://www.shadesofamber.net You can order an awesome star stencil from Royal Design Stencils http://www.royaldesignstudio.com/products/polka-star-stencil

You can make something that is super quick and easy and only takes a few minutes to paint! See what www.mom4real.com did! How adorable is this!



Upload your photos of your projects!

Happy 4th ya'll!