It's Quite Distressing.

Yikes. Old, dirty, disheveled, worn out, drab, and pretty much uuuuugly. And I'm not talking about my sofa, either. (The slip cover is in the wash.)
I've been looking at this little chair for literally years as I worked in my friend's antiques shop, where it was like something to be hidden in a corner somewhere because it was so..... yeah. 

I don't know why it took me so long to figure it out.
I had a revelation yesterday afternoon, so I grabbed it on my way out the door (paying a really low price).

It kind of happened as an accident.... I started painting it in a mixture of the blue from this post and the aqua from this post because I wanted to use up leftover paint. (I think this color is like a "covington" blue.) But halfway through, I realized that the chalk paint was not covering the uneven bumpy finish on the chair. You know how some old finished get that nasty bumpy feel? Eeeeeewwww.  SO I stopped painting, let it dry, and then decided to remove the paint, sand the whole thing smooth, and start again. (So much for "no sanding needed" with chalk paint.... pfffft.) 

But alas. When I had sanded down all the bumpy paint, I had this ultra distressed look.... and I liked it! So I finished painting the whole thing and went at it with my electric sander all over for this ultra distressed, mega beat up look. And, I covered the seat with this piece of burlap-like material I found among my stashes. It's like burlap but finer fibers.... not jute. So no stinky.

Here is the chair as displayed in my new showroom space; next to my nifty wood crate shelf thing with some white accent pieces:
 

The place is coming together nicely, and we're planning on opening next weekend with regular hours for the summer.

Yay!

Aqua Nightstand Before and After

This was actually Kevin's baby.

He picked it out at a yard sale. It was really beat up, and I confess - I would have left it. I had my doubts. And, it's not vintage - it's a modern piece by Lane. But, we're in this together, and I knew we'd be able to make something out of it, no matter how cruddy it was.

So I (we) had to scrape off the gunky ikk off the top... someone had spilled something thick and gummy on it. Then I suggested we strip it, and see what the wood was like underneath. It was gorgeous.... with a few dings and stains (which I call beauty marks). 

The corners were really chewed up so Kevin just rounded them off. After all the sanding was complete I had to re-stain the edges and corners because I wanted to distress it and natural light colored wood under the paint wouldn't show up well for distressing. (For that I used Minwax "Plantation Walnut".) I also re-stained the top in "Golden Oak", also by Minwax.

Kevin originally picked out a kind of grey-blue color, and I had chosen a dark teal-grey color; so we compromised on "Deepest Aqua" by Glidden.

When I first started painting, it looked really blue - kind of a "smurf" blue. But it turned out a really pretty turquoise as it dried, and with distressing, it really started to look better and better! I finished it with finishing wax and Polycrylic on the top.

Above you see the nightstand is displayed in our new "showroom" in my friend's antique shop. We busted our tails in the shop today moving everything around! So much heavy lifting and moving to do before the fun part.... making displays and decorating things a bit. I'll be sharing some photos soon. 

I am really thrilled with the color.... I plan on doing some more bright stuff down the road!

Robin's Egg Blue Side Table

This little table was broken when I bought it. It was part of a pretty big haul I took away from my niece's church youth group yard sale.

My super skilled husband fixed her up as good as new, and I gave her this little chalk paint makeover in robin's egg blue.

The tag is on it because.... well..... hubby and I are opening a "showroom" space in my friend's antiques shop to sell our creations! Aaaaaahhhhhh! We're totally revamping her store - which has been closed since October - and having a big grand re-opening thing in a few weeks. We're really excited. We are hoping, of course, that it takes off and that we can actually sell some of this stuff I have accumulated and piled up.

If you're in my neck of the woods, I hope you come by sometime and see me in the Milton General Store in historic downtown Milton, NC.

Farmhouse Style Shelf

My new job working at a local Amish bulk foods store is right.around.the.corner from my favorite Goodwill store; so you can imagine where I go on many of my lunch breaks.

So I found this thing there the other day. I didn't get a before picture... but it was plain pine boards. It reminded me of something someone would have made in high school wood working class, or at a camp, or something. The thing just doesn't make a lot of sense - kind of like the unidentified thing in my last post!

So I bought it, after much dithering, and gave it the ol paint treatment with my plaster of paris "chalk" paint. Then I glazed it with my Rust-oleum "java brown" glaze which gives it the lovely tea dyed look, and waxed it with Minwax finishing wax, and added porcelain knobs that were from the buffet project.

It's cute as a button, and heavy as all get out! If I had more counter space, I'd keep it.

Oh well.

It is for sale, but not sure if it's going to Etsy; it's sooooo heavy no one will want to pay shipping on it. :/ It weighs like 15 lbs.

 Well happy Friday everyone, hope your weekend is great!

What Is This?

I bought this at a thrift shop. But I have no idea what it is, exactly. I think it might be an ashtray? But I just dunno. Anyone have a clue? Do tell!

Chalk Painted Green Wall Shelf

I picked up this little shelf at an auction. I removed the back and whipped up a nice vintage green "chalk" paint ( this time using plaster of Paris) and gave it this makeover.

This piece is for sale, and can be purchased here.  
(Edit - has been sold.)

Buffet Before and After

 As promised: the before and after photos of my infamous buffet project.

When I first saw it at Goodwill this past October, I initially walked out and left it. Then about an hour later, when I still could not get it out of my head, I called my mom, who happened to be in town, and asked her to go pay for it and I picked it up the next day and paid her back.

You just don't see these anymore. This is the first one I'd seen up close; other than that I'd only seen them in magazines.

I bought it to re-do and sell; but later, it got designated as the candy buffet for my sister's wedding. It wasn't till after Christmas that I got started on the prep work.

(We turned it over so the legs were easier to sand. The project took over my dining room, because it was too cold to work outside.)

The tools I can't do without: clamps, razor blade, scrapers, mini screw driver, tooth picks for getting in little places, a paper mask so I don't inhale all that nasty dust, Elmer's glue and wood filler, gorilla glue, sanding blocks (I love these!) and my new electric sander for large areas of sanding. Also, my shop vac, and a steam iron.....

 At first I tried to glue the loose veneer back down. It wasn't working real good, so I decided to just rip it all off. I had seen somewhere on line that you can remove veneer with a steam iron, so I decided to give it a try. I wetted a towel and placed it over the work area for about 5 minutes, then I went at slowly applying the steam iron over the area, which loosens the glue and then you can rip it off. Tougher spots needed more time with the iron, and I had to scrape it inch by inch. But by golly, I got it all off. And then I took the next layer off, as well. I will not dink around with gluing veneer down ever again.

 The doors, before (left) and after sanding (right). The whole buffet had been covered in a really crappy coat of crappy brown paint. Eww.

 This was the "let's try to glue it back down" phase.

 The cats absolutely loved it.

 Finally, I had the sanding complete and we got a warm is day (in the 60s) so we could paint it. Good thing we did because that was the last nice day we had to do it outdoors before my sister got married.
Kevin used the paint sprayer, of course. I swear by that thing. However, I did have to touch up the legs quite a bit because of weird dripping patterns because of the way we had it laying down on it's back. We used Glidden "Parchment White" in flat. Once it was dry I distressed it on the corners and edges, which you can't really see here. I also put all new glass knobs on it, bought at Hobby Lobby.

                                                As a candy buffet at my sister's reception.

I was going to glaze it, but I haven't done it yet. I had bought a glaze and it was too dark. I haven't even done any polycrylic or anything on it yet. I am still contemplating a glaze.

I am really happy about how it turned out. I kind of wish I was able to keep it, because I will likely never find another one like it. But it is just too large for my house, and besides, I already have an antique oak dining set so this doesn't fit in my decor. So, it is (reluctantly) for sale.

I've put ads out on Craigslist for it, but if it doesn't sell on there, I will send it to someone's antique shop and consign it. I simply cannot store this monster in my office/den/studio forever. :)