**It's here! It's here!** drum roll..... We now have a paint line! After MUCH MUCH trial, error, playing, painting, and more-...

This one was an absolute steal that I cam across on Craigslist one day while perusing. There is a good chance you will see me on Craigslist most days. Common terms I search for are: Dresser, Ornate, French, Upholstered. This one popped up under the "French category".

I sold this one up on my facebook page - and posted the "before" picture, and the price it would be painted, and it got snapped up quick. I then let the client look on Pinterest for some inspiration color.




She decided on Annie Sloan Old Violet, with a Graphite top. The desk (or vanity) was then distressed very lightly, then covered in clear wax then dark wax. I think she turned out beautiful!!

This one was an absolute steal that I cam across on Craigslist one day while perusing. There is a good chance you will see me on Craigsl...

This one was a fun little project. I wanted to try my hand at two-toned.

Annie Sloan's paints blend beautifully. I think that's part of the reason why I tend to use it so much more than others. And, I also think that when I blend up paints in my little Tupperware, I feel more "artsy-fartsy".


Before/After:

This one was taken with my phone in my garage/work space. Apologies for the fuzziness!

So, I wish I could tell ya what the outside of this pretty chest was, but alas - I haven't got a clue. It's a little French Linen, a little Chateau Grey, and a little Coco I think?? It tuned into a fun darker taupe/olive. The drawers were painted in Old White, then everything got a clear and dark wax. The drawers were painted in Duck Egg Blue. I kept the original hardware, but just spray painted them a dark bronze.

I think it turned out fabulously! While I adore doing client's pieces, for obvious reasons, it's fun to pick up pieces off Craigslist to play around with different looks and techniques.

This one was a fun little project. I wanted to try my hand at two-toned. Annie Sloan's paints blend beautifully. I think that's pa...

This was a super fun little project, and actually much easier than I thought. I really have come to love stenciled furniture, and since I'm pretty crafty anyway, had a stencil burner I bought off ebay!

So, I got to work. This is the before:



Not too boring, but just ugly and plain


Two coats of blue chalk paint, light distressing, and clear wax later:


Viola!





You might be asking - how does one make a stencil? Well, super easy. Find a graphic you like and print it out in Microsoft Word. Then, go grab you a few cheap plastic report covers from Office Max. Place report covers over the printed graphic, then take your handy dandy stencil burner and create your stencil! So, much cheaper than buying a new one every time, and super easy to make your own custom ones too.

This was a super fun little project, and actually much easier than I thought. I really have come to love stenciled furniture, and since I...

Here is a before and after technique using a gold antique chandelier. 

Here is a before and after technique using a gold antique chandelier.  Before:  My sister-in-law got this beauty for a house that she is buy...

There is a finish that's making its way all around Pinterest. Metallic is everywhere.  So naturally I want to try it.  What I really want to do is a very very shiny silver but this time I'm attempting a subtle faux zinc technique. 

There are many many tutorials on the web about how to achieve this and every one of them is very different.  That's what makes it fun, huh?  I kind of picked two and then did my own thing for various reasons. One was Freckled Laundry, and hers was awesome but I didn't follow all her steps, but I did take her idea of "ragging" on the paint.

The other, ChiChi Studio I found because I wanted to search ways of doing it with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. And it turns out she is a local gal who shops for ASCP at the same place. Small world!

I took a few ideas from each blog but then ended up kind of doing my thing. 

Here was my inspiration:



A zinc finish Restoration Hardware Piece. I love the shine and color, but I wanted darker hardware to make it look more industrial. 

This is how it happened:

Supplies:

Paint Brushes (duh)
DecoArt Metallic Finish in Silver and Black
White Paint (any)
Annie Sloan Graphite Chalk Paint
Gray Paint (any)
Glaze
Polyurethane
Rags (or old tshirts)
Gripper Primer

I know that sounds like a lot but a lot of that I had on hand already so the only thing I really bought was metallic paint. 

First, the before. It was an Ethan Allen buffet I got for a steal off of Craigslist. So it had good bones and was very solid.

Primed and ready to go!

You can see the coverage isn't great, but thats ok.

I used the original AS paint and mixed in the black metallic to it (left) then the black metallic with silver glaze (top right) them silver metallic with white paint (bottom) 4. Rag it on using a tshirt. I have never used this method before, but it was really easy! Almost better than using a paint brush. And since I had already used a really good chalk paint base the colors blended beautifully . So, here is where the fun begins. You rag on the darker, then while it's wet throw some of the silver metallic on there as well and rag it on there together. It doesn't have to be perfect, just the mixture of silvers creates than zinc finish. But only work it small sections because it dries quickly You can see the different shades of silver using this method.  5. Glaze. I mixed up glaze with the lightest of the three colors mixed together. It was the one where I mixed white with silver. I again ragged this color  then wiped off the excess. It left this fabulous silver shimmer.  6. Poly it up! I used two coats of polyurethane. Again, I know this is a no-no with ASCP, but I only used it as a base, and I wanted the super shine "hardness" of poly on this piece.

There is a finish that's making its way all around Pinterest. Metallic is everywhere.  So naturally I want to try it.  What I really w...