Hand Painted Furniture Archives | Page 18 of 27

Hand Painted Furniture

Furniture Makeovers

Furniture Block

You found an awesome piece of furniture on Craig’s List or at a yard sale for a great price. You bring it home and load it into your garage, maybe adding it to the large pile of other furniture finds. Maybe you have plans to use the piece in your home, you want to start selling pieces to earn some extra income, or you’re planning to bring it to your established retail space. Days pass…then weeks. You’re stumped. You’re not sure what color to paint it or what style to finish it in. Should you distress it? What kind of paint should you use? Should you test out a new technique you’ve been wanting to try? You have “furniture block.” …and you’re not alone. I get asked this kind of question a lot and was recently asked something along these lines by one of my readers through my Facebook page, so I thought

June 12, 2012 No Comments

Before and Afters

didn’t make the cut

I had to do a lot for my book. A lot. It was so much more work than I anticipated. Weeks of writing, hundreds of pictures, hours of photo editing, weeks of rewriting, dozens of projects and days of staging. After all of the work, some of what I did didn’t make the cut. That’s a good thing. When I’m writing for my blog, I don’t have to carefully edit myself, because I can write another post tomorrow with new content. With the book, we had to edit everything down to the best I wanted to share and the most important words I wanted to say. So, a lot of great, but not perfect-for-the-book stuff hit the cutting room floor, so I’m going to scoop some of it up and share it on my blog. Exhibit A: A dated china cabinet, but one with really cool lines and lots of potential. I

June 7, 2012 No Comments

Before and Afters

Say hello to “Mustard Seed”

Come on…what else could I name the yellow in my milk paint line? Yep. It’s “Mustard Seed” yellow. It’s sort of a warm honey, muted mustard color. I started out with a stronger yellow, but it looked more like school bus than mustard seed, so I had to go back to the drawing (mixing) board and I’m happy with where I landed. I think it’s a perfect yellow for a piece of furniture. Strong, but not too in-your-face-hello-yellow. Since yellow can be in-your-face, I chose to break it up with some decorative painting and a refinished dark wood top. Oh my…the legs on this piece. Wowee. Can I get an amen? Once Lucketts is over, I’m going to write a long post explaining a bit more about my milk paint line and where you’ll be able to buy it and when and all of

May 18, 2012 1 Comment

Before and Afters

Say hello to “Tricycle”

Well, I am totally whipped. I have actually resorted to giving myself pep talks over the last couple of days. “Ok, Marian. Just paint this dresser. That’s all you need to do right now, then you can focus on the next thing.” I have made everyone promise to force me to get in bed early tonight. The truck is loaded (I can’t believe I filled a 17′ truck!), I’m finished with all of my “workshop” projects and my dad is grilling some hamburgers, so I didn’t have to worry about making dinner. Tomorrow we will drop everything off at Lucketts and I’ll refill my space inside. I have a few more projects left to work on Thursday and Friday…sewing pillows, making some decorations for my booth, last minute shopping, getting change, making sure my bag is packed…stuff like that. I’m hoping also to rest and watch a movie somewhere in

May 17, 2012 No Comments

Before and Afters

Say hello to “French Enamel”

Here’s the next color in my line of Milk Paint! I’d like to introduce you to “French Enamel.” Here’s the dresser before… (You can take a moment to revive the wood lover next to you who just passed out at the sight of this beautiful wood being painted.) I know it was beautiful, but it wasn’t in great condition and needed to be fully refinished or painted. So, I painted. I do love and appreciate beautiful wood, so I did refinish the top. I stripped it and wiped it down with two coats of Hemp Oil (an all natural product that will be carried in my line.) The colors in my line are going to be named after things I love (like Shutter Gray) and this color is named after the French enamel pitchers that have always caught my eye. I own one, but was only able to afford it because

May 14, 2012 No Comments

Before and Afters

Say hello to “Shutter Gray”

I’m so excited to introduce the first color in Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint line…”Shutter Gray.” So, maybe you’re wondering why I’m calling it Shutter Gray. I’ve decided to name the colors in my line after things I love and decorate with. I have a few awesome chippy gray shutters, so when I thought of a name for gray, shutters immediately came to mind. My gray has a bit more blue in it, but that’s the way I like my grays! The piece I tested it on is a gorgeous French chest-on-chest I picked up last week. …and the milk paint did the awesome thing it does… The piece wasn’t bad to begin with at all. It was just a little….orange. I love how this dresser (and the color) turned out. I’ll be bringing it with me to sell at the

May 10, 2012 No Comments

Before and Afters

hand painting again

For those who don’t know, my business started as a decorative painting/mural business. About a year into it, I realized I didn’t want to paint stuff on everything. Sometimes I just wanted to paint something and leave it at that. More and more, that’s what I wanted to do, so I adapted my business to better reflect my personal taste. I have held onto my artist brushes, though, and every once in a while I pull that old trick out of the bag. Here’s the latest example… I am normally not into this furniture style at all, but I could see beyond the deco hardware and patterned veneer. It didn’t have the “waterfall” lines of some of its contemporaries, so I bought it. (It was also super cheap at a yard sale!) I had the big diamond in the center to deal with and the hardware had carved

May 5, 2012 1 Comment

Before and Afters

white washed desk & tutorial

Thanks so much for all of your sweet comments and encouragement in response to my recent big announcement! I really do feel like I have a huge group of friends who have been with me through this journey and you’re cheering me on. It’s an awesome feeling and it means a lot to me. The next three weeks are going to be insane. I’m getting stocked up for the Lucketts Antique Market, which means lots of shopping, painting, pricing, packing, upholstering, sewing, glittering, gluing…whew! On top of that, I’m working on rewrites for my book and developing this line of milk paint. I need to find a way to duplicate myself, so I can get it all done and still make dinner and keep my guys in clean clothes! I know it’ll all work out. It always does. So, here’s the latest piece of furniture I just finished today…

April 28, 2012 1 Comment

I’m Marian, a painter, writer, and lover of all things creative. From art and antiques to home projects and everyday life, I share my journey in hopes of inspiring you to embrace your own creativity and make beauty in the spaces you live.

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