Old White table

Here is the sister to the aqua cabinet table I just finished.  I made this one a little more refined and neutral.

Love how the glass knob is perfect - I wanted the wood to be the focus of the piece, not the knob.

 This was a bit too plain jane, so I added a wodden applique to paint and distress.  This is Old White over Graphite, Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.

 Here's a close up of the wood.  It is reclaimed barn wood with several coats of dark wax on top.

 Isn't it just deliciously weathered?  I think this would be a perfect entry table with a bit of storage underneath.  This piece will be for sale in October at Fredericksburg Trade Days!  Click here for the link.

Union Jack

There's no shortage of union jack items these days... I see it all over the place on blogs and pinterest, and I love it, being quite the Anglophile.  I just had to try it on something.  I thought this nightstand was perfect.  Here it is, and I find it drool worthy!  Yummy!!

 I never noticed the stripes on the British flag weren't symmetrical until attempting to tape them... it was much harder than you might think!

I used Old White, Aubusson Blue, and Emperor's Silk Chalk Paint, then I put a dark glace on it that I made.  I like the cool tone of the glaze this time vs. the dark wax, but glaze goes on semi-gloss much better than it does flat chalk paint... something to remember.  Then I clear waxed it.  Look at the lovely sheen the wax gives it!

This piece will be for sale at Fredericksburg Trade Days in October!  I have not decided on a price yet (I find pricing things very difficult!  Any suggestions?) Hope to see you there!

A Lesson Learned...

    In real life, I seem to have the happy ability to learn from others' mistakes.  Not that I don't make plenty on my own, but in general, I watched others be idiots in high school and thought "that seems like a pretty dumb idea to ____",  fill in the blank with a stupid high school choice of your liking. (Some choices might include "Do drugs.  Drink.  Arrive at school drunk. Cuss at your parents.  Drop out of school").  I, on the other hand, was so clean I squeaked.  And so square I had corners.  I digress.   The point is, learn from others' mistakes.
     I have lost that ability when it comes to furniture!!  I have ruined other pieces of furniture from not covering them properly while working on another piece; I have given people quotes without asking for measurements and done huge pieces of work for not near enough; and  I've plowed ahead with new products and have had to figure out what I'm doing on the fly.
   So here's my latest escapade.  I refinished a table for my friend Allison.  She's opinionated and knows exactly what she wants - which is great because then I get a clear picture of what she wants.  Many times people just want me to "do something" with it and that's great, too, because I can do what I want. The inbetween is the hard one - when people kinda have an idea what they want, but can't describe it.   Then I'm hoping what I do matches what's in their head!  So, back to Allison.  She said she wanted a dark grey for the bottom.  I told her no problem, I could whip up a custom color.  She said she wanted Old White for the top, and the whole thing to have a lightly distressed/rubbed look.  Here's what I did:

I sent her a pic (SOOOO glad I did!) to see if she wanted any more distressing. It was already waxed and everything.  She texted back: "Is it too late to say I wanted grey for the bottom coat?  And Old White for the top coat?" What?! NOT cool. Total miscommunication!!  Now I know - I will always ask if they want it two tone or top and bottom coat.  I do both all the time!  We had a good laugh, and I redid it.  So glad it was a small piece!!  The bottom was easy to redo, since it already had grey on it, but the top took a bit longer.  And because she's awesome she gave me a Charming Charlie gift card for my trouble.  And I learned a lesson!

Telephone Bench

My sweet friend Jean has a phone bench from her childhood home she wanted me to refinish.  She wanted it lighter, but to still be able to see remnants of the original piece.  So, we chose to use Old White and dry brush it on.  Here is the after:  I would rather put the "before" first and then the "after", but facebook always shows the first picture as the thumbnail, so I do it backwards...

 And here's the before:

I used clear wax and then went back with dark wax and highlighted the spots that were worn on the original piece:

I think Jean was pleased the seat back was still so worn looking, just like it was originally.  Even though it's been made new, the bench has a sense of history!

 I added a few pops of grey and red just to give it some contrast: