Furniture Makeovers Archives | Page 55 of 110

Furniture Makeovers

Before and Afters

experimenting gone right

When I have a bunch of “subjects” in my basement, it’s a great time for me to test out some ideas, techniques and new products. I do need to use the tried and true as well, so I don’t end up with a bunch of DIY disasters, but it’s not much of a risk to experiment on a few pieces. Plus, I’ve learned that it’s really hard to ruin a piece with paint. You can always sand it and try again. My biggest recent experiment was on this piece… I got this dresser from the same place I got the Boxwood dresser and the condition was pretty similar. It needed to be cleaned, glued, sured up and straightened out. The top was chipping and had gouges and water rings on it, so I stripped the finish. The wood underneath was so beautiful! I painted the body of the dresser in

May 13, 2014 74 Comments

French Chair Makeovers - Miss Mustard Seed

Before and Afters

the French twins

I told you there were lots of furniture makeovers on the way! Here’s another one… Remember this pair of French chairs? I found them on Craig’s List for a good price and they were in really nice condition. A reader asked why I don’t just leave them alone. It’s true, I could probably sell them as is, but they aren’t really “me.” Why does that matter if I’m selling them? It matters because people aren’t just buying a French chair or a dresser from me. They can buy those from any vendor at Lucketts. What they can buy from me is something with my style stamp on it. Plus, I want my booth to be full of things I love and would use in my own home, not things that are just nice. So, Cari stripped them and pulled out the thousands of decorative tacks to get them ready for

May 12, 2014 48 Comments

Before and Afters

Boxwood Dresser

For those who have been asking for furniture makeovers, well, you’re getting them now! And I have about 12 more pieces in the basement that still need to be hauled up for their chance at a picture. This piece is actually a sort-of-custom dresser that’s already spoken for. I received an e-mail a few weeks ago from a reader who was looking for a dresser in a specific style. She sent some pictures along of other pieces I’ve painted and I just happened to be buying two dressers in the style she was looking for. Jeff and my dad picked them up for me and I gave her first pick of which one she wanted. She picked the one she liked the best and asked me to paint it in Boxwood, but gave me liberty to paint it however I wanted. That was awesome, because I usually don’t do custom

May 11, 2014 34 Comments

FURNITURE FEATURE FRIDAY |

Hey, girls! (Mostly girls. I know there are a few guys out there…) I spent the day driving from Gettysburg, PA to Chester, VA, shopping all along the way with my mom. We had a great time and found some cool stuff. I’ll have to share some of the pricing craziness I saw, like a small ironstone platter that was $95.00!!! What the what?! I’m down here to teach a decorating idea/MMSMP workshop for the Richmond Garden club, which is pretty funny since I’m a pathetic gardener. As long as nothing needs to be pruned or watered while I’m there, we’ll be set. So, spending a day in the car (and shopping) didn’t give me a chance to pick favorites tonight, but we can still enjoy the party! Here are the rules for our furniture get-together… 1.) Your post has to be about furniture. Please, please, please…just furniture. If you

May 8, 2014 10 Comments

Before and Afters

custom-mixed blue empire dresser

I shared a dresser a few days ago and labeled it as my new favorite piece in a while. Well, I’ve changed my mind. This one has knocked the other one off of that throne. I painted it in a color similar to French Enamel, but it’s a custom mix MMSMP of Flow Blue and Shutter Gray. This is another Craig’s List piece I found. It was a pretty good bargain, because it’s in rough condition. The small drawers need runners and two of the larger drawers need to be entirely rebuilt. But, I love empire style dressers, so I went for it. Their chunky lines seem to lend themselves to milk paint. Here’s how it started… The wood is beautiful, but the veneer is rough in some places and the brass hardware that was added was entire wrong for the piece. So, we removed the hardware, cleaned it up,

May 7, 2014 47 Comments

Tricycle Red Milk Paint Dresser - www.mms2.wpengine.com

Before and Afters

Tricycle Highboy Dresser Makeover

I don’t think there is any doubt that I am a blue & white lover through and through. That being said, I have a soft spot for red. Red is such a bold color that it’s hard to not give it a little attention. And, when there is a perfect red, like MMSMP Tricycle, how can I not use it? This piece is a pretty ho-hum dresser. Sure, it has a little turn to the leg, but otherwise it has straight and simple lines. In order to make it stand out, I gave it a bold paint color. I was also being practical. This piece was stained in that dreaded red stain that bleeds through and causes furniture painters everywhere frustration. So, knowing frustration was imminent if I tried to paint it a lighter color, I decided to work with it and paint it red. It’s okay if red stain

May 6, 2014 21 Comments

Before and Afters

One of my favorites… |

This is one of the pieces I finished yesterday… Yes. I painted it that way on purpose. That’s not the before. I’ve learned that some people get it and some people don’t! I’ve been really inspired lately by pieces that are heavily worn, distressed and chippy, so I decided to take the distressing on this piece to the extreme. And the result is one of my favorite pieces that I’ve done in a while. Here’s how it started… I did take process pictures, so I’ll share a tutorial, but as a quick rundown, I painted it in a base coat of MMSMP Grain Sack followed by the Wax Puck and Hemp Oil to act as resists. I then applied a coat of a custom mixed color – equal parts Shutter Gray and Trophy. After a heavy distressing, I finished it with Furniture Wax and a little bit of Antiquing

May 2, 2014 58 Comments

FURNITURE FEATURE FRIDAY

I’ve been in the workshop doing some of my own furniture makeovers the past few days and I can’t wait to share them with you. Until then, here are some of my favorites from the link party two weeks ago… I love just about everything Kristine from the Painted Hive does and this DIY projects is no exception. She reinvented some ho-hum file drawer cabinet into a “specimen cabinet.” Click over to see how she did it! This is another average piece of furniture made stunning by a true artist. Julia of 551 east went totally outside the box on this one and I think it’s a show-stopping piece. Lastly, I think Catherine of Cathgrace did a great job turning these average nightstands that were, quite honestly, a little dated, into chic pieces. I love the paint color and the hardware (and there is a pretty awesome photo-bomb in one

May 1, 2014 15 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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