Furniture Makeovers Archives | Page 26 of 110

Furniture Makeovers

All Things Home

making a “vintage” chalkboard with milk paint

As I shared yesterday, the past couple of weeks in the studio have been devoted to getting things finished that have been hanging around for way too long. I’ve ignored some of them, because I knew they would be a pain-in-the-rear to work on, like the French chair with nailhead trim (yet to be revealed), and I ignored others because I just didn’t know what to do with them. I knew they had potential and I wasn’t quite ready to give up on them, so they languished in “the stash”. This oversized Eastlake mirror frame, minus the mirror, was one of those pieces, but it was a perfect piece to repurpose. Here’s how I went about making it into a vintage chalkboard with milk paint. Before we get into the tutorial on making a vintage-style chalkboard with milk paint, a bit of history… I picked it up at a yard

March 12, 2016 43 Comments

All Things Home

another pair of frenchies

There are some things that I hold onto for years. They survive the purges and my “selling moods”. I just know I will have the perfect use for them some day. Well, some day finally came for these linen grain sacks that I’ve been holding onto for years. A reader, who lived in Europe, found them for me and sold me a few for a great price. They were something like $5.00/each. I think she was able to get them for $1.00/each out of an old factory. I used a couple of them on a chair a few years ago, but have been saving the rest for just the right project. These chairs were that project… I got the chairs last Wednesday when another reader was delivering all of those ironstone bowls to me. She brought along some other things she thought I would be interested in, including this pair of cane-backed French

March 10, 2016 35 Comments

Before and Afters

the hand painted landscape dresser

The theme for the space at Lucketts this year is Farmhouse White, yes, but that doesn’t mean that everything will be white. A lot of things will be white, as you may have noticed, but we don’t want to neglect the “farmhouse” side of that theme. After some creative brainstorm sessions, we decided one way to bring that in was the use of landscapes. And, of course, I immediately imagined a landscape on the front of a dresser. Here is how the dresser started… And how it looks now with it’s sweet, folk-art landscape painting… Now, I can’t take full credit for this one. It really was a collaborative effort between Kriste and I. We had a highly technical conversation about “blobby little trees” and “blobby sheep” and “brush stroke-ish grass”. I painted the base colors, did the distressing and finishing, and chimed in now and then with some thoughts for

March 9, 2016 84 Comments

Before and Afters

mini dresser makeover & “hand painted” stencils

I am always drawn to child/doll furniture or salesmen’s samples (small, portable versions of full-sized pieces of furniture). There is just something so sweet about them. But, after buying a few of them and noticing how long it took to sell them, I stopped buying them. I can get a better bang for my buck if I spend it elsewhere, so I look at them and “aww” and open the drawers and then walk away. Most of the time. I made an exception with this one. It was well priced and I liked the simple shape. Here is how it looked when I picked it up… It was fine, but just looked a little drab. We painted it in Farmhouse White, leaving the knobs wood. That was Kriste’s suggestion and I loved it. I added a stencil to the front in MMS Milk Paint Linen. I like the soft tone-on-tone

March 6, 2016 21 Comments

All Things Home

paint all the things white

One of the best parts of having a theme for a retail space, whether it’s a booth at a market or a small shop, is focus. Your theme keeps the items you’re collecting cohesive, so they look better together in a display. Better displays mean that customers can more easily envision items in their own homes, which will hopefully lead to better sales. With the theme of Farmhouse White, we’re painting a lot of things in…well, Farmhouse White. But, we need to add some other whites in, so the booth doesn’t look flat. As I’ve mentioned before, the key to white is layers, texture, and using many shades of white that all play nicely with one another. So, I’m pulling out the other whites in our line, Linen, Grain Sack and Ironstone, along with some custom-mixed whites. And that means a lot of things are going to be painted some shade

March 5, 2016 31 Comments

Before and Afters

hardware cabinet no. 1 makeover

There are times when I’m out shopping for antiques and I see a piece and just know. I know the price has been marked down because it’s stinky and dirty and a drab color and it’s going to be a lot of work to overhaul. I know that I can work a little magic on it and make it an awesome piece. I just know. And, when I spotted two of these almost identical hardware cabinets, I knew. They were both marked down dramatically, because of the reasons I mentioned above. They stunk. They really needed to be cleaned and painted. And it was going to be a royal pain in the rear to paint all of those cubbies. BUT, I just couldn’t pass them up. Everyone is looking for pieces with cubbies these days and these had loads of potential. And loads of cubbies. I had a few moments

March 4, 2016 51 Comments

Before and Afters

painted mora clock & farmhouse white in australia

When I decide to paint something, it doesn’t take me long to add the powder to the water and dip in a brush. Remember the Mora clock from Antique Farmhouse I posted about over the weekend? It looked beautiful as is, but how could I resist painting it in MMS Milk Paint Mora? A Mora clock painted in Mora. I painted the trim in Linen and finished the entire piece with a little bit of Antiquing, White and Furniture Wax. It has a soft, muted finish that I really love and suits the Swedish style of the clock. I used all three of the waxes to bring out different aspects of the finish…highlight the texture, simulate age and grunge that may have built up in crevices and on ledges. The key was keeping it subtle, so the result wasn’t smudgy. If you apply tinted waxes properly, you really shouldn’t be

February 25, 2016 24 Comments

Before and Afters

Custom White Milk Paint Dresser

Remember this dresser I showed you a preview of last week? When I finished it, I put the hardware back on and took some pictures, but it just wasn’t working for me. The hardware just isn’t right for the piece and, while I love the blue & white quilt, I didn’t love it as a backdrop for this piece. So, I ordered different hardware for it and reworked some things while I was in the studio today. Here is how the piece started… It’s actually a sweet piece and wasn’t bad at all, but the wood is a bit too orange for my taste. I found it for a good price on craigslist. I left the top as is and painted the body of the piece in a custom mixed white – equal parts MMS Milk Paint Mora and Farmhouse White. It’s layered over Bergere with a Beeswax Finish Resist between the

February 18, 2016 32 Comments

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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