Soft, Lovely, Easy, Old White

 

 

Without a set game plan in mind, I opened up a new can of Old White yesterday morning.  I didn't even have to think, really...I just grabbed pieces from the garage that were ready for paint and went straight to work.  Just about anything looks good in Old White.

 

 

I have such an array of colors in my booth space right now.  Adding some white will help soften and unite the overall look.

 

 

Of course a pop of color on the inside of a drawer is always a fun surprise!

 

This little table was nothing special..in fact I didn't think too much of it when I bought it.  I figured it would be nice for a table top display, but I wasn't really excited about it beyond that.  Once it had been painted in Chalk Paint® Decorative Paint by Annie Sloan and waxed to a soft sheen, it became so elegant...now I kind of hate to part with it!

 

This lovely old frame received two coats of Old White and then was lightly distressed to show a bit of the gold underneath.

 

 

While we are on the subject, I thought I would go ahead and share a few pieces I have previously painted in Old White.  There are many more, but these are my favorites.

 

 

Rustic Trestle Table

 

 

 

Frenchy Table and a Special Bowl Story

 

 

 

French Country Cottage Cupboard

 

 I am looking forward to adding some new found treasures to my booth space!  Some will be harder to part with than others!  Having lovely photos to remember them by always helps me feel better about saying "au revoir." 

 

 

I picked up some great old books with fabulous graphic covers.

 

 

I will be adding many more pieces to my flatware selection!  I just love these pretty butter pats.

 

 

 

I will do my best to post some photos on Facebook of my booth space all freshened up with my newly painted pieces and recent vintage finds, so be sure to join me there!

 

 Thank you so much for your sweet visit today! 

 

Have a lovely weekend!

 

Best Wishes and Blessings,

Amanda

 

 

Sharing with...

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground

Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Home

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Furniture Feature Friday at Miss Mustard Seed

 

Tea Table...Accentuate the Pretty

 

Well, it didn't take long to fill the garage back up with project pieces after clearing it out a couple of weeks ago!  A couple of days out estate saling and a trip to the antique expo and I now have a line up of fun pieces ready to be beautified!  This lovely old tea table was one treasure that came home with me last weekend.  You know I can never pass up a piece with so many pretty details!

 

 

As you can see, most of those details were lost with the original dark wood stain.  It was just crying out for Chalk Paint® Decorative Paint by Annie Sloan!  I could hardly wait to get started.  I didn't even think twice about the colors to use on this one.  It was so obvious...Paris Grey and Old White, of course!

 

 

 

When my husband first saw this table, he said "Why don't we keep this one and sell the one we've had for 12 years?"  I considered it for a second but thought, "No...it's not quite the right style for our family room...too small and too formal."  And then I set it up for photos and realized that it looked pretty darn good!  It's actually the perfect size.  However, it doesn't really fit our lifetstyle right now...so, it is headed to the shop afterall.  Of course if it doesn't sell too quickly...I just might reconsider!

 

 

 The details really popped after a coat of Old White, some light distressing and both clear and dark waxes.  This is probably my all time favorite color combination...in case you hadn't noticed!

 

 

I love that this table is old yet very sturdy, classic and timeless.  With it's new look it would fit right in to any Cottage Style, French Country, Paris Apartment or Shabby Chic sitting room or parlor.

 

 

 The top had an oval leather insert.  I considered doing some kind of decorative painting there as well, but decided to put the focus on the pretty carvings instead and keep the top simple.  The silver tea set was a weekend find that is also on it's way to the shop.

 

 

 I've shared a couple of other small makeovers on Facebook today!  I hope you'll join me there if you haven't done so already.

 

Thank you so much for your sweet visit!  I hope you are having a lovely week!

 

Best Wishes and Blessings,

Amanda

 

Sharing with...

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground

Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Home

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Furniture Feature Friday at Miss Mustard Seed

Cottage Kitchen Table Redo

First of all, Happy 4th of July!  I hope your day is absolutely lovely!  I am really looking forward to celebrating with all of our wonderful neighbors today!  I've got some baking ahead of me!

This table has been in our garage for a couple of years now.  I knew it was going to be charming once painted, but it was also really handy having the extra surface to work on in the garage.  And so, it's sort of been my work bench all this time.  Well, believe it or not I am pretty much caught up on my projects and I needed to fill a hole in my shop space when the shabby buffet sold!

So, last week my sturdy little workbench had it's Chalk Paint® Decorative Paint by Annie Sloan beautification treatment!  It's now ready to grace the kitchen of some sweet farmhouse or cozy cottage.  I think it would be perfect paired with four mix-matched vintage chairs in pastel colors.  Don't you? 

 

I painted two coats of Old White on the table top, followed by a good amount of distressing, clear and dark wax and a second coat of clear wax a day later for extra durability.

 

 

 

The table base was painted with Old White first, then Cream and heavily distressed and waxed with both clear and dark wax.

 

 

My roses have started their second round of summer blooms and now the hydrangeas are producing blossoms too!  So fun!

 

 

The table was hauled off to the shop last night!  Now my side of the garage is looking more empty than ever!  Time to go shopping!

 

 

The shop space is looking pretty full, but I have room for a few more pieces here too.  Yes, a major shopping trip is definitely in order!  In fact, my husband volunteered to go out treasure hunting with me tomorrow!  I don't think he realizes how excited I am about this!  Maybe he will finally understand the thrill of the hunt!  I will probably be posting some peeks of our treasures on Facebook tomorrow as we find them!  Yay!  I can't wait!

 

 

Thanks again for your sweet visit today! 

 

Best Wishes and Blessings,

Amanda

 

 

 

Sharing with...

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground

Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Home

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Furniture Feature Friday at Miss Mustard Seed
Paint Party at Start at Home

My Eastlake Dresser Rescue

 

When I came across this poor old dresser in an antique mall a couple of weeks ago, it appeared to have been through a few battles.

 

 

There were lots of noticeable scars and scrappy patchwork fixes.  In spite of all this, I was drawn to the beautiful spoon carvings on the drawer fronts and the overall structure of the piece seemed to be fairly sturdy.  I just couldn't leave it in that store.  It was like a stray kitten and I felt it was my duty to rescue it!  When the nice men loaded it into my truck, the dresser frame came apart!  I cringed!  They offered to take it back, but I just couldn't give up on it!  When I brought it home my husband told me I should have left it at that store, but he humored me and went to work re-gluing the frame.  Once the glue was dry and the dresser was sturdy once again, I went to work cleaning it.  I could not wait to beautify what had at one time surely been a majestic piece of furniture!

 

 

 

 Two weeks ago when I shared my Darling Little Commode Makeover, I ended the post with a sneak peek of the Eastlake dresser and mentioned that I knew exactly the color scheme and where it would go.  I loved the finish I had achieved on that sweet little commode and knew it would be perfect for this piece too!  Well, I didn't change my mind and I am so pleased with the outcome!

 

 

Once again, Chalk Paint® Decorative Paint by Annie Sloan has rescued a very special piece of furniture that was feeling rather sad and neglected.  I started with one coat of Cream followed by one coat of Paris Grey. 

 

 

After a fair amount of strategic distressing, I came back with a small brush and the cream to accent those lovely spoon carved designs.

 

 

Both clear and dark waxes were applied to complete the finish.  When we moved it from the garage into the house the next day, the kiddos helped me buff it to give it that lovely sheen!  It was so fun to involve them in the process. 

 

 

 Perfectly imperfect... I don't know if I've ever painted a piece that had so much character!

  

 

This special dresser not only has a beautiful new look, but it has a new home now too!

  

 

It works just perfectly in our front room/ craft studio space!  In fact, it's already filled with my collection of ephemera!  This room has been work in progress for a year now and I am feeling like it's pretty near completion.  I've shown you little corners and vignettes over the past several months, but soon I will do a full room reveal, with before and after pics!  I promise!

 

Thank you so much for your sweet visit today!  I hope you'll stop by again soon!

 

Best Wishes and Blessings,

Amanda

 

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground

Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Home

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Furniture Feature Friday at Miss Mustard Seed
Paint Party at Start at Home

Shabby Buffet Makeover

 

 

If you follow me on Facebook you may have seen this photo I posted Memorial Day weekend.  My mom and I were on a little road trip to visit my grandma in Eastern Oregon and picked up this shabby old buffet at a garage sale along the way!

 

 

After removing some peeling veneer, I painted two coats of Old White, followed by both clear and dark wax, focusing the dark wax on the corners and edges of the drawers and cupboards.

 

 

The hardware wasn't bad and it was all intact but the finish was unattractive so I decided to paint and wax it for a new look.  I did remove the pulls before painting so that they could be replaced at some point without hurting the paint finish.  There are so many fun pulls and knobs out there to choose from that it's tempting to replace them on an older piece to give it a new look.  On the other hand, investing in several pulls can really add to the cost of a furniture makeover.  Whenever feasible, I stick with the original hardware.  Chalk Paint® Decorative Paint by Annie Sloan is ideal for painting hardware.  I like to distress it a bit so that the metal shows through, and then seal it with wax. 

 

 

The insides of the drawers and cupboards received a coat of Duck Egg Blue for a fun detail.

 

 

 

This piece is all set up and looking pretty in my space at Camas Antiques! 

 

My Eastlake dresser is just about complete and I am so thrilled with it.  I can't wait to share it with you!

 

I hope you're having a wonderful week!  Thank you so much for your visit!

 

Best Wishes and Blessings,

Amanda 

Sharing with...

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground

Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Home

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Furniture Feature Friday at Miss Mustard Seed

The Story of one Darling Little Commode

 

This darling little commode came home with me from a garage sale a couple of years ago.  I paid much more for it than I had ever paid for a piece of furniture at a garage sale, but I was excited to be able to buy such a high quality, antique piece.  I thought for sure I could resell it at the store, without having to do anything to it.  I was wrong...lesson learned!  It sat in my booth for months.  I marked the price down, and still no bites.  So, I brought it home and stuck it in our front room where it has served as craft supply storage for over a year now.  I loved the size, the fact that it was well over a hundred years old, yet still sturdy and functional, and I was just smitten with the beautiful brass drawer pulls.  It worked well in our front room, except for the oak finish.  It was okay, but I knew it could be better.

 

 

Last week I finally decided to give my little commode a makeover.  I started with one coat of Chalk Paint® Decorative Paint by Annie Sloan in Cream followed by a coat of Paris Grey.

 

 

  I decided to give this piece a heavy distressing to show off the Cream layer, as well as the original wood grain.  I think this finish really gives it an old Farmhouse feel.

 

 

As Paris Grey is one of my very favorite Chalk Paint® colors, I have used it numerous times on many different wood finishes.  Even so, I am still amazed at it's versatility.  Layered with the Cream, it takes on a completely different hue than a piece I have sitting just across the room that received two coats of Paris Grey paired with Old White accents.  And yet, they compliment each other so well and look beautiful together in the same room.

 

 

I just adore the pretty brass hardware on this piece.  I have been on the lookout for similar hardware sets to have on hand, for pieces I buy to paint that may be missing original hardware or just need a little extra something.  Listings for antique hardware on Ebay are selling for a pretty penny!  I was a little surprised.  It definitely makes me reconsider the value on a piece like this with all of it's original hardware in such pristine condition.

 

 

The "Pin and Cove" dovetailing on the commode drawers date this piece to the 1880's!  I think this is a work of art in itself and therefore I chose not to paint the drawer's sides.  I also like the contrast here when the drawers and cupboards are opened.

 

 

When I finished my distressing technique, I applied a coat of clear wax all over the entire cabinet, followed by dark wax in all of the corners and crevices, where dirt and dust might have collected over time. 

 

 

 I am loving this little commode's new look.  It is pretty close to perfection in our front room and for a few days I thought I would never be able to part with this piece...

 

 

 

 

 

Until...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enter one very old, weathered, obviously been broken, discarded, repaired and broken again Eastlake dresser with beautiful spoon carved designs.  I fell in love, and the little commode is about to be loaded up in the truck and driven down to the shop.

 

Yep, I am fickle like that...when it comes to furniture.

 

The good news is, I know exactly what paint colors to use on this dresser...and just where it will go!  It is patiently awaiting it's turn in the furniture makeover lineup in our garage!  In the meantime, there is a hole in our front room!  I guess I better get back to painting! 

 

 

Thank you for stopping by today!  I appreciate your visit!  I hope you are having a wonderful week!

 

Best Wishes and Blessings,

Amanda

 

Sharing with...

 

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground

Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Home

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Furniture Feature Friday at Miss Mustard Seed
Get Your Craft On at Today's Creative Blog