French Country Hutch

One of my latest furniture projects had a mind of its own…but what else is new?? I have been in love with this hutch (below) for months and months…in fact, I have it pinned to at least two different Pinterest boards!

I haunted Craigslist for days/weeks/months/(who knows) to find a similar piece for a good price, and finally came across this one:

It was $75!!  The only problem…it was in Kirkland, WA, while I was in Portland, OR, for spring break!  The owner was moving, and it HAD to leave on one specific day, and I wasn’t going to be available.  I fretted over that for a while, until an elegant solution occurred to me.  I was supposed to paint a small chest of drawers for a client that she was picking up IN Kirkland!  I made a deal…if she would pick up this hutch for me, I would paint her chest for free.

Everybody wins!

So the hutch came home in April, I think…and then it sat….and sat…and sat…until finally I was ready to do something with my dining room.

I tried my best to re-create the look of my inspiration picture.  I painted the body with a DIY chalk paint made from SW Creamy ceiling paint!  I distressed everything heavily, and also glazed it with a dark walnut stain .

I had a different vision for the backing other than beadboard, but I had to bring the hutch inside before I got to it in order to keep it “safe” from other garage projects. 
  I placed it against the dining room wall that was supposed to be it’s new home…and promptly hated it.

It was too. darn. big.

Sadly, I knew right then that it wasn’t staying.  I decided to use beadboard for the backing, painted a couple of shades darker than the rest of the hutch.

 
After putting it all together, I could appreciate that it was a pretty piece…just not for me!  It has moved on to a new home now.

<Sigh.>  Better luck next time!

Linking up here:

	Elizabeth & Co.
Primitive & Proper
Friday Remodelaholic	The Scoop!
Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special	The DIY Show Off Miss Mustard Seed
Beyond the Picket Fence
Knick of Time
Common Ground	My Repurposed Life
	Mod Vintage Life

Black Beauty

Much to my dear husband’s delight, our dining room has a table in it again…although not for long!

I refinished this set for a client who had picked up this set for a song from a neighbor at a garage sale.  You can see that the finish on the top was pretty worn (it looked worse up close).  She had hopes of refurbishing it herself, but only got as far as replacing three of the seat covers (red instead of white) before losing interest!  I was happy to step in and help!

After removing the original finish, the top got several new coats of stain in a mix of Minwax Dark Walnut and Early American.

The chairs and the apron were painted in a DIY black chalk paint, and I distressed with a wet sponge to let some of the original finish show through.  I sealed the top with Minwax Wipe-on Polyurethane followed by a coat of DIY dark wax, and the painted parts were sealed with General Finishes High Performance TopCoat (satin finish) and DIY dark wax.

I recovered the chairs in this pretty dark fabric she brought me.  She has little ones, so DARK fabric was a must!

This set is HUGE!  The chairs are very generously sized and nicely padded, so it’s a very comfortable table to sit at.  There are two extra leaves for this table as well, so it’s perfect for large gatherings. 

I really love how it turned out…my dining room is moving up on my priority list of rooms to finish!

Linking up here:

My Repurposed Life	Elizabeth & Co.
Primitive & Proper	Miss Mustard Seed
Friday Remodelaholic	Coastal Charm
The Scoop!

Stripey Stool

Just a little “after” project to show you today….the “before” is not to be found!

I darkened this cute little stool with some antique walnut stain, and then used a little homemade chalk paint to “embellish” it a little.

   

Of course I sanded off some of the paint to make it look it’s age!

I guess it could be a flower stand or a little end table…

 

But you know what?  I wish I had kept it for my shop!

<sigh> 

Maybe I’ll luck out and find another cool stool for there someday!

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Linking up here:

Domestically Speaking	Elizabeth & Co.
Primitive & Proper	The CSI Project
Friday Remodelaholic	2805
My Simple Home Life’s Simple Creations Friday	Miss Mustard Seed’s Furniture Feature Friday
Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special	The DIY Show Off
Beyond the Picket Fence	Someday Crafts
Knick of Time	My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Perfectly Imperfect	{Primp}
Common Ground	My Repurposed Life
From My Front Porch to Yours	All Star Block Party
Cowgirl Up!	{aka} design Coastal Charm

Little French Gray Buffet

I broke my self-imposed furniture diet to buy this piece at Deseret Industries…how could I resist?  

Although the body was in pretty good shape, the top had been scratched up quite a bit.

I painted the base with the same color as my other gray buffet, but I used it in my homemade chalk paint recipe. 

The proportions are 2 T. unsanded tile grout mixed with 2 T. water, then mixed in to 1 c. latex paint.

Then I used a little white chalk paint (homemade) to dry-brush over all the details.

The handles are original; I just re-painted them with oil-rubbed bronze spray paint.

The top did not quite turn out like I envisioned!  I wanted a stained top, but I wasn’t crazy about the color of the wood next to the gray.  So it actually ended up getting stained darker than it looks in these pictures…but I sold it before I took an after-the-after picture!

Guess that’s not really something to complain about, is it??

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Linking up here:

Domestically Speaking	Elizabeth & Co.
Primitive & Proper	The CSI Project
Friday Remodelaholic	2805
My Simple Home Life’s Simple Creations Friday	Miss Mustard Seed’s Furniture Feature Friday
Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special	The DIY Show Off
Beyond the Picket Fence	Someday Crafts
Knick of Time	My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Perfectly Imperfect	{Primp}
Simply Klassic Sundays	My Repurposed Life
From My Front Porch to Yours	All Star Block Party
Cowgirl Up!	{aka} design Coastal Charm

Replica Dry Sink @ Knick of Time

Today I am guest-posting for Angie at Knick of Time Interiors!  Hope you’ll visit me there to see the transformation of this:

to this!

Come visit at Knick of Time!

The Way They Were Meant To Be

I have tried my hand at a few different image transfer methods, but I haven’t been terribly successful.  After several failed attempts, I used my overhead projector method to make this set of bar stools:

…but I was never terribly happy with them.

THESE, however….

…turned out much more like what I had in mind!

The images all came courtesy of the Graphics Fairy.

I painted the bases of the stools with DIY chalk paint.

…and I made the image transfers with my inkjet printer and a transparency sheet!

…more on that to come!

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Linking up to these great parties:

Coastal Charm’s Nifty Thrifty Tuesday	Topsy Turvy Tuesdays
Domestically Speaking’s Power of Paint	Someday Crafts’ Whatever Goes Wednesday
Hookin’ Up with House of Hepworths	No Minimalist Here’s Open House Thursday
Friday Remodelaholic	2805
My Simple Home Life’s Simple Creations Friday	Miss Mustard Seed’s Furniture Feature Friday
Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special	The DIY Show Off
Primitive & Proper	I Heart Naptime
Beyond the Picket Fence’s Under $100 Party	My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Perfectly Imperfect	{Primp}
Mod Vintage Life	Redoux
Thrifty Décor Chick	Stylish Once Again
The Graphics Fairy	My Repurposed Life

Cedar Chest with DIY Chalk Paint

I think I’m frugal.

My husband calls me cheap.

Like that’s a bad thing! (Whatever.)

What does that have to do with furniture?? Well, it means that despite great temptation, I have not made the switch to chalk paint. Despite all it’s good qualities, I can’t justify the price.

However….

Last week Sherry from No Minimalist Here posted about how to make your own CHEAP chalk paint!

I was very intrigued.

Sherry gave three suggestions for additives to make your own chalk paint: calcium carbonate, Whiting powder, or Plaster of Paris. Reading through the comments, another suggestion from Carole at Maynard Greenhouse was to use unsanded tile grout was to use unsanded tile grout, and that’s what I chose to use because it’s what I found first! Note: the grout comes in different colors; I bought white.

I started with this cedar chest I bought off a classified ad:

It was advertised as a “Mediterranean-style” chest, and I don’t really know what that means…but I’m going to go with it!

I mixed 2 T. unsanded tile grout with each cup of ordinary latex paint. It gets VERY THICK, so I diluted with at least 1/4 c. water, I think…then I got to brushing! And despite my misgivings, I did not sand or prime.

The paint was still VERY gritty, no matter how much I stirred it (I would love to know if the other homemade versions are the same). However, as it dried most of that magically disappeared. And…there were no brush marks!

I was virtually painting in the dark, so I noticed the next morning that I had some drips. I got out the sandpaper. With latex paint, sanding drips is usually a disaster, as it all just peels off, and I never seem to be able to make the flaw blend in again. With the homemade chalk paint, that did NOT happen! I was able to sand the drip down until it was invisible, with NO peeling paint.

I painted the whole chest with two coats of red (the same red I used on the retro buffet), but I wasn’t feelin’ the love.

So next I combined the leftovers from the three sample pots I used to paint the gradient dresser, tossed in more unsanded tile grout, and painted again.

Much better.

I glazed this piece with a diluted white acrylic paint, and then I also distressed it quite heavily.

True to the hype, the paint sanded away into powder. That also got rid of the last bit of grittiness. You do have to sand A LOT, though. When it’s smooth, it feels just like…chalk!

There was one spot which, when sanding, peeled away as latex paint is wont to do. I attribute that to a not-very-well-mixed spot of paint. When that happens when I’m distressing a piece, it makes me cringe…it’s SO hard to cover up a spot that peeled away.

This time, though, I “filled in” the bare spot with two coats of the DIY chalk paint, and sanded again. You can’t see a difference.

Overall I would say I’m quite impressed with the DIY chalk paint. The biggest ‘con’ in my book is that it would not go through my Harbor Freight paint sprayer. And let’s face it, painting spindles and detail work by hand takes F.O.R.E.V.E.R! And I don’t think you get as good of coverage or as smooth of a finish that way.

But since it’s also a bugger to sand spindles and detail work—it may be a bit of a wash!

I finished this cedar chest with Minwax paste wax in natural. No, I haven’t purchased the more expensive/better waxes either—I told you I was cheap frugal!

So, will I try it again? Absolutely.

Am I going to give up on latex paint for furniture? Not for the moment.

Just another tool in the arsenal. And that, as Martha would say, is a good thing!

I would love to hear your thoughts about DIY chalk paint (what versions have you tried?), as compared to Annie Sloan, or to latex paint! What do YOU think the pros and cons are?

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This project was featured at Mod Vintage Life.

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Linking up here and The DIY ShowOff.