Furniture Makeovers Archives | Page 66 of 111

Furniture Makeovers

Hand Painted Furniture

hemp oil gallery (550×275)

I have received a bunch of questions lately about Furniture Wax and Hemp Oil, the difference between the two and how I choose which one to use, so I thought it was time to write a post about it. Let’s dive right in. Furniture Wax Why I started using it… I read an article about finishing painted furniture with wax a few years ago, so I went to the hardware store and bought a can of Johnson’s Paste Wax. That was really the only wax I was familiar with, so I started using it on some of my painted and stained pieces. I had a few problems with it. It was very stinky and the consistency made it difficult to move well on a piece of furniture. I also couldn’t get it into fine nooks and crannies of pieces. So, I started looking for other types of wax and found

October 13, 2013 73 Comments

Decorating

Sanding, staining, mixing & flooding

I had great plans for today. I was going to get two furniture pieces finished and fit in e-mail and some photo shoots as paint dried. The day was going as planned until about noon. It’s been raining here for two full days. Hard. We’ve had a little bit of water seeping into our basement, just because the water table is so high. This is normal, though, and the water is mostly corralled into channels with the help of some strategically placed towels. I was busy oiling one of the shoe racks I bought and noticed some water seeping beyond the towels. I figured they were sopped, so I exchanged them for dry towels and put them on the spin cycle in the washer. The new towels were soaked in minutes and I realized there was a big problem. I could hear water splashing. It was pouring in under the

October 12, 2013 30 Comments

FURNITURE FEATURE FRIDAY – Favorites & Link Party

Good evening everyone! Thanks so much for all of the links last week. It’s so much fun for me to look through them and see people showing off all styles of furniture, techniques, paint, fabrics, makeovers and awesome finds. Each week is truly a furniture feast for the eyes, so thank you for that! I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do. Here are three of my favorites from last week… I love all of the details and custom touches on this drop-cloth-slipcovered ottoman by Patti of Old Things New. The double ruffled skirt with the frayed edges make this piece super special. I’m game for painting anything, but I’ve never tried to paint upholstery. This piece by Terry of Forever Decorating, and the tutorial for it, looks fabulous and makes me want to give it a try! I think this finish by Cassie of Primitive and

October 11, 2013 27 Comments

FURNITURE FEATURE FRIDAY – Favorites & Link Party

October 10, 2013 20 Comments

Before and Afters

Say Hello to “Trophy”

The dresser with attitude is finally finished and photographed! As a recap – this is what it looked like before… …this is what it looked like during (aka – the ugly stage)… …and here she is all finished! You can read about how I dealt with the bleed through HERE and the striping technique HERE. And if you’re the sort who is still aghast at me painting a piece of wood furniture, you can read my thoughts on the subject HERE. This piece is a great example of how you never know what to expect when you work on a piece of furniture. Sometimes everything goes as planned and sometimes it doesn’t. This piece gave me lots of attitude and pushed me into the design she ended up with. I love all of her imperfections and quirks…a declaration to the world that she was painted by hand, not a machine

October 9, 2013 62 Comments

Furniture Makeovers

the dresser with attitude & other things…

This is the dresser with the attitude. Last we saw her, she looked like this… I dealt with the red stain bleeding through by sealing it with Furniture Wax and applied a second coat. Now, it was decision time. Those vertical trim pieces were bugging me, so I decided to deal with it by adding vertical stripes to act as camouflage. I used some delicate surface Frog Tape to tape off some stripes… The trouble is I was just a wee bit too impatient before taping the piece. This isn’t a failure in the paint or the tape, but “operator error.” At first I had one of those oh-crap-moments, but then I stepped back and looked at the effect… The tape had pulled away just enough paint to create a chippy, smokey gray stripe. I really liked it. …so I added some more stripes in a sort of grain sack-ish

October 9, 2013 48 Comments

Furniture Makeovers

Dealing with Bleed Through

When I bought this piece, I thought I might have some trouble with the stain bleeding through. Unfortunately, I was right. The piece looked like this… …I sanded it to give the surface some tooth… …painted it in MMSMP Trophy… …which is supposed to look like the color shown above – a tarnished silver sort of color. I left it to dry, came back and it was gray-ish purple. Not exactly what I had in mind. If you’ve painted even a little bit of vintage furniture, I’m sure you’ve come across it. You paint the piece, go make some dinner, come back an hour later and the color is not what you painted it. It’s turned more red or pink or yellow or orange. That is known not-so-affectionately as “the dreaded bleed through.” (This quirk that sometimes rears it’s ugly head when painting pre-finished pieces can happen with

October 8, 2013 73 Comments

FURNITURE FEATURE FRIDAY – Favorite & Link Party

Good evening my fellow furniture-loving friends. I’m in Raleigh, NC for the weekend to see my boys get all dressed up in tuxes to carry rings down the aisle for my cousin’s wedding. I can’t wait to see them all decked out in their shiny shoes and box ties. It’s also a nice chance for me to get away from my house and workshop and all of the things that need to be done for the upcoming Chapel Market. I’m looking forward to all of that…I have a few pieces waiting to be refinished and painted and boxes of stuff waiting to be priced. That will all wait, though, and I’ll try to take this time to catch up on some sleep and enjoy time with family. Anyway, here are my favorites from last week… If you know me at all, you may have guessed that this dresser by

October 4, 2013 22 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.

next art sale

August 13th, 2026 at 1pm EST

Now Available

Move Slow & Make Things

A book about creativity, intention, and making things with care. Sign up to receive updates, preorder details, and exclusive bonus content.

From the Studio

Artful pieces for your home and everyday life.

From original paintings and art prints to Pup Club releases and curated goods, each piece is created or chosen to bring warmth, creativity, and character into your home.

From the Studio and Home

Shop the Feed

A handpicked collection of items styled and shared throughout posts, projects, and social feeds. Every product is thoughtfully chosen to reflect a timeless, collected aesthetic.