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Furniture Makeovers

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

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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

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buying & selling antiques

the fabric & Lucketts furniture

Do you remember when I wrote about my guest room a few weeks ago?  I showed a scrap of fabric that I’ve been holding in my stash for about 12 years.  I love this fabric and it was, unfortunately, discontinued.  I held onto my one yard remnant, feeling it was too precious to even use. I laid it out on the guest bed as I was playing with fabric options for pillows and the duvet cover.  The fabric looked so beautiful with the hand painted bed, but I didn’t have enough to make much…maybe a pillow.  And I couldn’t find the fabric anywhere. Well, my blog readers came through.  Suzanne came through, to be more specific.  She had a few yards of the fabric in her stash and, more than that, was willing to sell all of it to me.  It came last week and I will admit to hugging

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FURNITURE FEATURE FRIDAY |

Oh, girls… I really got lost in last week’s links.  At one point I had a ridiculous number of tabs opened that I wanted to select as favorites.  You wow me every week, but some weeks are standouts.  We must all be hitting the workshops as spring is making an appearance…although a somewhat shy appearance in my neck of the woods.  She peeked her head out for a few days and then winter popped back in for an encore with a snow flurry.  Well, that’s just how it goes… Here are my favorites from last week… I couldn’t NOT feature this kitchen makeover with MMSMP.  The Sideways House accomplished this kitchen makeover for around $200, which is pretty darn impressive.  I love the fun hardware, chalkboard wall and bright white trim. I think Melanie from Lost & Found did a wonderful job on this hand painted dresser.  I think my

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Before and Afters

1800's Linen Dresser

I hope you’re ready for some furniture makeovers, because you’re going to be seeing a lot over the next few weeks!  I’ve got quite a collection growing for Lucketts. Here’s the 1800’s dresser with the amazing carved handles that I finished yesterday… It was pretty rough when I bought it, but I could see the potential… It’s painted in MMSMP Linen.  The wood was very soft and porous, so it absorbed the paint well without any bonding agent.  I distressed the edges and, as I mentioned in yesterday’s post, added some additional texture by applying more paint in patches and drying it quickly with a hair dryer. This lent a subtle cracked and crusty look to the paint that gives it a sense of age.   For the styling of this piece, I kept it monochromatic and simple with an ironstone bowl filled with wooden croquet balls and some leather

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Hand Painted Furniture

…in the works

This is when blogging and doing everything else at the same time is hard.  I have a bunch of things in the works, but nothing ready for that beauty shot that makes the before and after posts so fun to share (and read, I’m sure!)  So, today I’m showing a few pieces that are in the works in the basement. I finished this 1800’s dresser today in MMSMP Linen with a stained wood top… Cari prepped the piece for me and got it to this stage… I stained the top and added some more texture to the finish by layering more Linen paint in a thick mix in strategic areas and then applied heat with a hair dryer to create crazing.  It’s very subtle in this finish, but looks really cool… Notice it around the key holes and at the bottom of the drawer?  I used a mix of Antique

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Before and Afters

humble upholstery & an ornate frame

 This chair has been languishing in my basement for a while…almost a year, I think.  Sometimes I don’t work on pieces because I’m stalling, busy, uninspired or it keeps falling to the bottom of the to-do list.  I think other times, providence plays a small role.  I wasn’t really sure what fabric I was going to use on this piece and was just planning on defaulting to natural hemp.  Then, I found this PA grain sack at an antique store.  I happened to set it on the chair and it seemed like they were meant to be together.  I wasn’t sure how well the ornate frame would play with the humble grain sack, but they were perfect. Here’s what the chair looked like when I bought it.  Not bad at all, but the tapestry-like fabric wasn’t my style and there was flimsy cardboard backing that I wanted to replace. The

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Furniture Feature Friday – Link Party

Furniture Feature Friday sort of caught up on me today, but I didn’t want to skip it altogether!  So, here’s the party without the favorites.  I’m looking forward to getting a lot of inspiration from you… Here are the rules for our furniture get-together… 1.) Your post has to be about furniture. Please, please, please…just furniture. If you find your link has been deleted, it’s not because I’m mean, it’s because your post was not about furniture. You can share makeovers, awesome finds, favorite pieces, furniture arrangements, or even pieces on your wish list! Built-in furniture like kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities qualify as furniture. 2.) Post a permalink (the link to the post), not the link to your blog. 3.) This party will close Friday at midnight PST and I will choose my favorite(s) and feature their piece(s) on next week’s FFF. Enjoy the party!

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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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