Gold to Chalk Chapter 2...The Mirror

A hundred years ago (well really probably  more like 7 or 8 years ago but you know how time flies) I was at an Andrews & Andrews auction in Northport Maine (I originally told you about Andrews & Andrews in this post) and picked up an end lot of goodies…some linens a couple of glass pieces and this little lovely…

All for a total of $5 (plus the 12.5% buyers premium the auction house charges).  This was for sure a bargain by anyone’s definition.

The mirror was definitely “aged” but that look worked perfectly in my old Marblehead apartment with its rustic wood beam ceilings.  Sorry I don't have any pics of said rustic beams...it was long before I started to think to photograph everything for the blog so you'll just have to use your imagination here.

It still worked in my 1929 bungalow but…..

I needed a change…I used to start packing when the need for change impulse hit me…now apparently I paint….probably a healthier way to manage an aversion to commitment so apparently I’ve experienced some personal growth ha.

The During...painters tape & brown paper protected the glass

So, I pulled out my Annie Sloan Ochre Chalk paint, but knew I wanted a pop of color for the stripe inside the frame.  I have this fun picture on the wall in my dining room so thought pulling the red into another piece might be a good look.

All chalked up and ready for some milk

After much contemplation and blog surfing I decided to give Miss Mustard Seed milk paint in tricycle a try.
It was not my first experience with milk paint but was my first time trying Miss Mustard.  I don’t really think this small stripe was enough for me to really have a strong opinion yet but I have another project coming up that will definitely give me a better idea (stay tuned).

Initially I used a sponge "brush" to apply the milk paint...it was a little messy & clearly the wrong applicator

So I went back with a smaller art brush & free handed a much crisper line.  I have a pretty steady hand so have
more success free handing than taping where there isn't the clean edge that the glass provided

 Once I had it painted and put on the clear wax it definitely didn’t quite have the depth I was looking for so I added the dark wax and we’re much closer for sure.

Waxed with the clear wax and ready for a coat of dark wax.  I read it was better to apply the clear under the dark but
I'm not sure I noticed a big difference in application.  But this is a very small piece so I'm not sure it's a fair test

But…I’m still not totally sure this ended up where I wanted it to go…

Finished & hung...for now

I have a strong feeling we aren’t quite there yet.

What do you think…maybe a Annie Sloan Provence Chalk Blue stripe instead?  Maybe a pretty paper decoupaged in to create a patterned "stripe".  Maybe some silver or bronze or even copper rub-n-buff?  So many more possibilities to contemplate…

sharing this week on:
Between Naps on the Porch
The Dedicated House
Savvy Southern Style
Coastal Charm
Cozy Little House

From Gold to Chalk...The Table

I’m not usually one who falls victim to every trend or must have of the moment…but….I keep reading about Annie Sloan’s chalk paint and all of the fabulous things you can do with it so…..

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old Ochre

A few months ago I gave it a try on my old “seen better days” bedside table (check it out here) and more recently gave my entryway built-in chest a face lift (check this out here) with a little rouge & wax.  Both were painted Provence blue and added just enough of a pop of color.

Well, last week with proof of my addiction taking hold I looked at a sweet little old table that my grandmother had painted gold and was forever in her bedroom and knew I had to go neutral and up the ante with a dark wax to give it some depth.

The Before...I just love the detail on this table

Yes, apparently chalk paint is merely a gateway DIY product meant only to suck you in to the hard stuff…wax & washes (yet to try but I do have a Martha Steward copper wash sitting on my project table just taunting me).

So down to the basement I went to dig my table out from under a plethora of paint accessories (yes, I’m one of those who can’t get out of Lowes without a new paint pad, roller, brush, ect).  I had just the perfect place for it.

The real before...yes this mess really did exist in my basement.

Up two flights it went to my office/project/hang out room (officially my 2nd guest room but since I hardly ever have 2 guests at once I've taken over) and off I went with the paint…yup you've heard right Annie Sloan’s chalk paint does not need a primer or any real prep other than making sure your object is clean.
Two coats of paint later and the table was looking pretty good.

In process - this is the first coat...look how great the coverage is.

Fully painted just waiting on me to get some time to add the wax

But in the spirit of never leaving well enough alone, I went at it with Annie Sloan’s dark wax…I had never used it before and really had not done much research on how to use it.  I’ve used enough wax products though to know to brush wax on, rub into the crevices, and rub excess off but this was definitely going to be a bit of an experiment.

It sort of looks like shoe polish when you first brush it on

Half waxed - rub as you go before the wax dries too much

I did give a test run on a board I had painted with the same color as my table just to get a feel of how much to add and how much to rub off.

It was a quick maybe an hour or so to finish this up.  Looks pretty good huh?

Finished product in it's new home in my livingroom

And a little closer...it doesn't look quite this dark in person but I do love how the dark wax highlights the
crevices in this piece

Meanwhile, this week I have been in Charlotte on business and was visiting a huge antique mall (more on that later) when I happened upon a booth full of Annie Sloan paint and a couple of half done projects (as well as several finished) with some “helpful hints” tacked to the WIP’s (work in process for those non-production folks out there) and one of her hints was to ALWAYS add a coat of clear wax before a coat of dark wax.

Hmmmm, I didn’t do that…now I’m wondering if maybe I missed a very important step…

I think I’ll have to settle for next time…I’m not starting over on this one.


Sharing this week at:  Savvy Southern Style, Cozy Little House, Beyond The Picket Fence, The Charm of Home, Coastal Charm, Jennifer Rizzo, Elizabeth & Co., Primp,The Cottage Market

A Little French Inspiration from Maison Decor

For quite a while now I have been thoroughly addicted to Amy Chalmers blog Maison Decor. Amy is a local Boston designer who had not too long ago opened a shop in Malden MA. I had been trying to get over to this shop for months but it’s been a busy summer and tough to squeeze in a visit even though it’s almost just in my backyard.

Finally several weeks ago, after months of perusing her blog admiring all of the fantastic French inspired furnishings in her shop I took a few moments of my vacation, coerced my one of my best pals who is from Atlanta and happened to be in town for a visit to head to Malden to check it out.

Me & my pal on our visit to Maison Decor included a really fun chat with
the incomparable Betsy Speert
Photo borrowed from Maison Decor

Ok, let me just start with the shop is quite a bit smaller than it appears on Amy’s blog but it is filled with such goodness you don’t even notice it’s really quite a small space. Really such lovely things!

Such a beautiful space at
50 Summer Street
Malden MA
Photo borrowed from Maison Decor

Amy is (self-professed) obsessed with Annie Sloan chalk paint and after reading & hearing a ton about this unique finish I have been super curious. And with my recently re-done bedroom (see here for my “if at 1st you don’t succeed” bedroom) having neutral walls I've been very conscious of my need to pull pops of color into the room.

So when I kept seeing the Annie Sloan chalk paint my wheels started churning on how I could use it on some little fun something. And then, I happened to see this piece in a lovely little home decor store in Lancaster PA while I was on vacation this summer:

Beautiful inspiration piece from Bed & Bath Affair
in Lancaster PA. If you are ever in Lancaster
this shop is pure loveliness!

And I loved loved loved the color. It was just what I was looking to bring that “pop of color” into by master bedroom. But, the cabinet was a bit beyond my budget. Hmmm….

Then I considered my current bedside table that I had purchased along with 2 other matching pieces at Goodwill in Atlanta probably 15 years ago for way cheap. I thought it was kind of cool and liked the lines of it. I’ve enjoy edit for all of these years since but it now has definitely reached the “seen better days” category.

Good storage, right size, just a sad finish kept
this piece from being perfect.

So….. great inspiration piece +my desire to try the chalk paint + a very tired bedside cabinet = a new project I just had to work on!

Now that I had a plan I was so excited to get started.

My dining room seemed just as good a place as any to lay
out my Dollar Store plastic tablecloth (ie drop cloth) and
go to work

Amy told me that basically no prep was needed just a clean dry surface and brush the chalk paint on it. Guess what, she was so RIGHT! The paint went right on.

One coat down.....

Two coats later I was rubbing on the wax to seal the paint and give it that nice finished look.

Waxing on...

Then just reattaching the original hardware; I contemplated replacing the hardware but I was operating on a "see as you go" policy…why spend the $ until you are sure what you have on hand isn’t going to work. And guess what, I actually like what I had.

Finished product...just pending my decision on whether
or not to add the white edge accent

The only question now is do I add some white edge highlighting to the doors & top? It sure would make the blue pop buuuuttt it kind of looks nice as is with the lines of the piece speaking for themselves. What do you think…to detail or not to detail, that is the question…

Mr Johnson's Dresser

Sometimes when you look at a piece of furniture you just have to have some vision. Sometimes it’s obvious that a piece has potential but quite often it’s not.

That was the case with the dresser that Mr. Johnson left in my workshop when Mrs. Johnson sold me their house. Mr. Johnson was a cabinet maker I’m told and half of my garage is a workshop where he did his woodworking. It’s a great space with a ton of potential but really raw at this time… definitely one of the things that sold me the house though.

My oh so raw workshop...someday this will
be a fabulous office (unfortunately today though
it's just storage)

Mrs. Johnson had left a couple of pieces of furniture Mr. Johnson had used for storage and workspaces. One was a really sad looking dresser…you know the type, the kind you pick up at the unfinished wood stores for cheap and stain yourself. This was definitely one of those and had clearly been well used. But I could tell it was still solid and unlike much of the “lower end” furniture sold today it was real wood (inexpensive wood, but real none-the-less). 

Would you see any potential in this mess???

And this is the mess that necessitated some real vision.

It had been sitting in my garage workshop for who knows how long collecting dirt when I was looking for something that would give me a little extra storage in my home office/project room. It’s really a guest bedroom but since I already have one of those I use it for more of a multi-purpose fun room. Unfortunately, the fun runneth over in my multi-purpose room so I needed to do something…fast…and more importantly cheap!

I immediately though of the sad dresser from my outside workshop…I clearly needed some vision…. 

Oh the dirt...and I'm really not sure why Mr J decided it
was a great idea to screw (yes it was screwed) this sad
bookcase to the sad dresser...

So on a very hot weekend I put the grubbiest of my work clothes on and pulled it out and took the hose to it, soaped it and scrubbed each and every last corner to within an inch of its life. 

Then spent a few evenings priming and painting…I decided I wanted to paint it the color of lemonade. A yellow dresser I saw and blogged about last summer (click here to see lemon dresser) from Nobleboro Antique Exchange had stuck in my head and I have driven myself crazy for the last year trying to figure out how I could incorporate something similar into my house. Problem now solved, this is the perfect time/place to do it! 

I don't always prime my projects but am so glad I did this
time - it made all the difference.

Since my sad dresser had been sitting in my garage for so long I thought it was probably a good idea to paint the inside of the drawers – just to seal the wood. I had purchased about 7 cans of grey high gloss spray paint for a project I was working on last year but had changed my mind and didn’t end up using it. With grey & yellow being everywhere in the fashion mags this spring I just knew it was the perfect color combo for my little dresser. 

Finished drawer.  The spray paint did the trick, clean, crisp
and no musty smell!

I also had some glass knobs that I had picked up on clearance a while ago for the built-in in my living room that didn’t quite work out on that piece so those would be perfect to give the dresser a little pizzazz. The end product came out amazing…especially considering I only ended up spending a little over $16 in paint (Benjamin Moore Early Dawn)….the rest reusing supplies I had on hand and a dresser I inherited with my mortgage. Vision definitely realized.

Finished project full of all kinds of fun!
I made the inspiration board several years
ago from a discount frame I picked up at
Ballard Designs Backroom

Now I'm just wondering...stencil or not?  Maybe a crisp white graphic fleur around the knobs?  Oh the possibilities...