Furniture Makeovers Archives | Page 80 of 110

Furniture Makeovers

Furniture Feature Friday – Favorites & a Link Party

I have thoroughly enjoyed traveling, but it’s so nice to be home! I was basically a loaf today. Slept in, worked on my e-mail and I did have the chance to pick some FFF favorites from last week. Here they are… I thought this piece by Dionne of The Turquoise Iris is absolutely stunning. The colors, the finish, the hardware, the styling…perfect. This pantry in the background, featured on the blog whatever, used to be run-of-the-mill stock cabinetry, but some paint totally transformed it AND the entire space. I am fond of paint…in case you hadn’t noticed. I love everything done by Susan of Maple and Magnolia and this pine bathroom cupboard is no exception. The grey interior with the pine exterior with the rolled up towels with the glass jars filled with soap and natural sponges. I love it all. Here are the rules for our furniture get-together… 1.)

December 14, 2012 26 Comments

Before and Afters

milk paint over oil

A common question I’ve been getting lately is, “Can you paint milk paint over other painted finishes?” Yes, you can! This little dresser has been hanging around in my basement for a while and, after selling some other pieces, I was forced to work on it. The delay wasn’t because I didn’t like the piece, but because the drawer bottoms were jacked up and needed to be replaced. Pieces that need repair often get put on the back burner. I couldn’t find a before picture of this piece, so here’s the best I could do… …a snapshot from the Removing Paint Part One video. It had a few layers of paint, the last one being a white oil based paint that had yellowed and cracked over time. I removed the paint off the top and painted the base in Mustard Seed Yellow with some bonding agent added,

December 6, 2012 No Comments

Decorating

Trickery | Vaseline Resist Technique

Well, I received another oh-crap-call from Lucketts on Saturday. The Painted Empire dresser sold the day after I brought it in. I guess I wasn’t the only one in love with that finish! Here’s how I did it… I’ve heard about using Vaseline (petroleum jelly) as a paint resist for a while, but I never tried it. On this empire dresser, I pictured layers of blue and wanted to have clear definition between the two colors. This seemed like a good piece to test it out on. I painted the first coat of paint in Flow Blue with the bonding agent added to all of the paint except for what I used on the drawers (I wanted some selective chippiness.) I then rubbed some Vaseline over the edges of the piece and around some of the key holes and other random spots. I don’t think there’s a specific

November 20, 2012 2 Comments

Before and Afters

Painted Empire

I got a call a few days ago from Lucketts It’s a great call, but an “oh crap” kind of call, too. Both of my large furniture pieces had sold, so I needed to get some furniture into my space ASAP. I decided to sell a little wash stand I’ve had for a few years and I finally started working on the empire dresser I had in my basement for a while. Here’s how it turned out… Here’s the before… The wood on the front was really beautiful, but the sides had been painted, so I didn’t feel a lot of remorse about painting this piece. (Do I ever?) I layered French Enamel over Flow Blue and used a bit of trickery between to get some clear definition between the coats. Can you tell I’m a little in love with

November 16, 2012 No Comments

Before and Afters

Chalkboard Trophies

I often have trouble leaving things alone. I like to tinker, tweak and put my stamp on things. The latest case in point – these ceramic trophies I found on clearance at Target. I spotted them a while ago and liked the shape, but they seemed off in white ceramic. I guess others agreed with me, because they ended up with three clearance stickers piled one on top of the other. I knew I could make them work, so I bought all of them. I initially thought of silver leafing them, but I decided it would be fun (and a little less labor intensive) to spray them with chalkboard paint. I’m often asked which brand of chalkboard paint I like and I actually like two brands. I use the Krylon spray version and the Rustoleum that comes in a quart. I’ve liked the result of both. This

November 12, 2012 1 Comment

Before and Afters

Upholstered Chair Reveal

Here she is… Here she was… Again, I have nothing against pink, but the pink didn’t work in my home and really wanted to keep these and use them in my family room. I’ve been on a quest for years to populate my family room with comfy, yet stylish (and budget friendly) chairs and these fit perfectly. Right chair, wrong color. So, I stripped her down and gave her a new look. You can read the very G-rated post about stripping HERE. I’m so proud of the way this chair turned out. It’s definitely my best upholstery work to date. I even put a zipper in cushion. I know, right? Fancy. I trimmed out the fabric with green trim (since I have a lot of blues going on already) and I decided to leave the frame as is. I sort of like the washed look with a

November 10, 2012 5 Comments

Furniture Feature Friday – Favorites & a Link Party

I’ve been hosting this party for over two years and have sometimes thought I should stop. There are so many link parties out there now. When I started this, mine was the only furniture party and now there are several. Anytime I’m seriously thinking about it, though, something happens that changes my mind. Last week at the book signing at Lucketts a sweet woman mentioned how much she loves this party and looks forward to it each week. It’s hard to argue with that. 🙂 Here are my favorites from last week… I love everything about this dresser…the color, the finish, the birds, the knobs. I think Rachel from Shades of Blue Interiors did an amazing job. I think this old built in cabinet in the home of Jennifer from Town & Country Living. The bead board and the latches are fantastic! I’m not always going to feature milk paint

November 9, 2012 21 Comments

Furniture Makeovers

Stripping Upholstery

I finished upholstering one of the pink French chairs today. Woohoo! I even put a zipper on the cushion cover, so it’s legit. With over twelve years of sewing under my belt, this is the first zipper I have ever done! I don’t know why I’ve been so scared of zippers…ZIPPERS, people. Really?! I was determined to not be spooked by something as humble as a zipper. I dissected the old cover and figured it out and the zipper works like a champ. It’s the little victories. Anyway, let’s get to stripping the chair. The upholstery was in perfect condition , but it was pink. Nothing against pink, but it didn’t work in my house. When shopping last week, I found this amazing fabric at Hobby Lobby… It has all of the colors in my family room, so I bought eight yards for these chairs and some pillows. When I

November 8, 2012 2 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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