Furniture Makeovers Archives | Page 48 of 111

Furniture Makeovers

Before and Afters

victorian settee makeover reveal

I shared a preview of this makeover yesterday, but here is the full sha-bang (that’s a highly technical decorating term)… This isn’t a typical piece for me to buy, but as you may have figured out already, I like to change things up, so I don’t get stuck in a rut. Buying a piece of furniture that is atypical for me helps me with that. Sometimes I love the piece and then I want to explore that style more. Other times, I enjoy working on the piece, but I don’t fall in love with the style. I really like how this turned out, but I’m not sure you’ll see a lot of stuffy victorian settees here. This is how the piece started out… It was one of the messiest pieces I’ve ever worked on…shedding grass and old burlap every time someone brushed passed it or breathed near it. The fabric

October 8, 2014 33 Comments

Artistic Endeavors

milk crate & a peek at the settee

When Kriste and I went shopping last Friday, I was looking mostly for pieces to sell at the Chapel Market, but I was also looking for one specific piece for a specific photo shoot – a milk crate. I didn’t have a particular style in mind, but I figured I would know it when I saw it. And I did. Kriste and I spotted this beauty and there was a silent acknowledgement at the awesomeness of the milk crate. Maybe there was a slight gasp, but words didn’t need to be exchanged. I turned it around to look at the price. It was $59. I cringed. That’s a lot more than the $20 range I had in mind. I looked up at Kriste, “It’s $59. Do you think that’s worth it?” “Oh yeah.” “Yeah. I thought so.” I’ve learned in my years of hunting for antiques that sometimes it’s better

October 7, 2014 36 Comments

Hand Painted Furniture

the victorian settee & more

Our days in the studio lately are mostly spent painting, since we’re getting ready for the Chapel Market. We crank up the music or sometimes chit-chat about life, mix up some milk paint and work on one piece after the other. We’re making good progress, but there is still a lot to do and I’m feeling a bit behind since I was under the weather a couple of days last week. I’m feeling so much more energetic now and I’m ready to tackle our to-do list. The last time I shared the victorian settee with you, Kriste was putting a thin coat of Tough Coat on it to prevent the original red stain from bleeding through. This has worked for me before with a yellow stain, but I hadn’t tried it on the “dreaded red stain”. I was really putting Tough Coat to the test, because I want to paint

October 5, 2014 16 Comments

Before and Afters

jelly cupboard reveal

I always enjoy getting ready for a show, so I have a reason to work on a lot of furniture! I finished the jelly cupboard this week and I finally get to reveal it… This is how the jelly cupboard started… It’s an old piece…most likely mid-to-late 1800’s. I always love working on old pieces that have been neglected for a few decades. This piece had been painted a rather sad brown and was really dirty. The hardware was broken and had been repaired, but the repairs weren’t holding. It was sturdy and had great bones, so I was excited to bring it back to life. You can read the process of how I painted it HERE, but in a nutshell, I painted it in Artissimo MMSMP, then used the Wax Puck as a resist, applied a coat of Flow Blue, distressed with two different grits of sand paper and

October 3, 2014 28 Comments

furniture feature friday | favorites & link party

Good evening, ladies! I have been a little under the weather with a cold since my Toronto trip, so I’ve spent two whole days in bed, if you can believe that! I watched a lot of Netflix and did some computer work, but I was generally useless. I think the need for two days in bed has more to do with me just being worn out than the cold, since I’m not really that sick. I’ve just needed some rest and time to relax. I was still dragging a bit today, but had more energy and was excited to get in the studio. I’m so glad I went in today. Kriste and I worked on photo shoots and painting more furniture for the Chapel Market and the studio. Jeff worked on building more rolling walls that will be used as dividers and photo shoot backdrops. It was productive and fun

October 2, 2014 14 Comments

Before and Afters

painted tote

Kriste and I were working on pieces for the Chapel Market last week and I blurted out, “I’m in the mood to paint!” I bet you think I’m always in the mood to paint, but I’ve gotten busier as my business has grown and become more diversified and I have left more things unpainted. When I buy small wooden totes, crates, boxes, baskets, etc., I just leave them alone. Well, as I said, I was in the mood to paint, so we started painting anything that I thought would look good painted. I picked up this humble tote someone handmade out of bits of wood and plywood and painted it in Ironstone MMS milk paint. I didn’t take an official before picture, but you can spot it in this photo. It just looked a little blah, but the homemade appearance of it spoke to me. It was crooked in a sweet way

October 1, 2014 18 Comments

Hand Painted Furniture

the jelly cupboard | distressing & antiquing

As a recap, this is how the jelly cupboard started… It looks like wood grain, but it was actually painted brown. I painted it in MMS Milk Paint Artissimo without the bonding agent added. The previous coat of brown paint wasn’t glossy, so I expected the milk paint to adhere pretty well. It chipped in just a few places, which was perfect. The jelly cupboard had amazing texture on the finish and I wanted to bring that out by using two different blues and distressing. To make the distressing process easier, I rubbed the surface with our natural beeswax puck. You can use any kind of beeswax or candle wax you have on hand for this technique. I also rubbed the edges of the piece, where the paint would naturally wear away. When using the wax puck between layers of paint, it acts as a resist. It makes it easier to

September 30, 2014 28 Comments

Before and Afters

barn board to breadboard

I wanted to make a bunch of breadboards to sell at the Chapel Market, so I’ve been on the hunt for cool old boards for that purpose. I found a couple of beautiful old boards that came from a barn. They were about 8′ each in length and about a foot wide and they had lots of character…worm holes, dents, dings and a nice deep grain. I sketched out the shapes I wanted to make with chalk and my dad cut each of them with a jigsaw. Cari, someone who comes to help me with odd jobs as I’m getting ready for events, sanded them down. Sanding them was a tricky job, because we wanted to smooth them out without losing all of the patina. I think Cari did an amazing job sanding them without going too far with it. Now they needed to be oiled to bring out the richness of the

September 26, 2014 17 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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