Painted Textured Vanity

Well, this is the before picture.......

I know, awful. Although it would be easy to spend a bunch of money on this project, I would rather not. So I am counting on a lot of discount tile and paint to work their magic. I'm not after great; I'm after better.

Initially, I didn't think that I would have a problem with the architectural molding feature below the drawers, but now I am obsessing about it. At this point, I'm wondering why I chose to save this cabinet.

Finally, I am doing something about it. I picked up some molding from the lumber store, filled in the routed details on the doors, and glued the molding on. Now, the cabinetry has been upgraded to bland. So, I'm counting heavily on paint as my last option.

I would like to give the cabinet doors a little texture, so I am playing around with some samples.
 

My thinking is: if I can direct the eye with contrast and texture, the architectural element that I am obsessing about would not be so noticeable.
To create the texture, I mixed some of my top coat paint with a little whiting and applied this mixture with a sea sponge randomly on my sample piece (you can use a wood filler by itself or plaster too): let this dry; sand and seal; and paint your top coat on. Also, you can tint this textured paste as well; and when your top coat is dry, you can gently, sand back to add more dimension, which is how I finished off one of the samples. 

This is my finished set of samples. The white sample is.....too white. The sample with the most texture and contrast would be great on a piece of furniture with a cheetah throw. However, I do like the sample that I'm holding that has a hint of texture, but I do want to change the color from a taupe to gray.

 So here you have it: finished cabinet doors. They have been painted a warm gray, randomly textured, and a metallic-silver glaze was applied over the molding.

Finally, done (my family is saying that too, but with more feeling).  

I am beginning to like my bedroom a little more. Daisy is too.

 

Old Buffet Given New Life

The owner of this buffet wanted to give it new life with a light painted finish.  The original finish was a dark brown stain.  We planned on painting the top, but after sanding we discovered a beautiful grain pattern and decided to restain the top in a lighter color (Minwax Stain & Seal "Chestnut Brown") that would show off the natural wood grain.

 





 

We also dressed up the top with a stenciled design painted in gold with gold leaf flakes applied in a random manner.

 

Gold Leaf Accent

 

After sanding, the piece was primed with Zinser BIN 123 and painted with two coats of an off white Olympic latex enamel. The owner will be selecting new hardward for the drawers and doors and mounting the mirror. 


 

This beautiful piece of furniture will definitely draw a lot of attention.

Pretty Table Update

Sis has been busy lately. She painted and lightly distressed this really cute table. I can't help it; this table makes me smile. Maybe it was her choice of hardware. I also like the natural ebony stained top with the off-white paint scheme. Maybe, I can convince her to do my dinette set. 

Creating Faux Marble

     This is a cute table, perfect for a faux marble top. Sis and I, also, gave it a simple glazed finish.
     If you are a decorative artist, creating convincing marble finishes is part of the job. Some are more challenging then others, but I find creating Carrara marble simple to do. And with a few special tools and supplies, you can create your own.

 
     If this is your first attempt at painting marble, you might feel overwhelmed. That is okay. But I promise, you will feel better when the task is broken down into layers. So let's gather up some needed supplies. 
    On the table top, I used acrylic paint; however, you can use oil paint as well, which stays wet longer, so manipulating the paint is a lot easier. If you are more comfortable using oil paint, do not hesitate in using it because the steps are the same with either oil or acrylic. 
     1) You will need a glazing medium, either oil or acrylic. I used Perfetto, but any acrylic/oil glaze will do. I also like the Folk Art floating medium. 
     2) Stipple brush, primarily used to soften paint passages and backgrounds. If you don't have a stipple brush, use a regular house brush in a perpendicular fashion. 
     3) An assortment of brushes, large ones for brushing on glaze and smaller liner brushes for creating marble veins.
     4)  Sponge for creating backgrounds. 
     5)  Badger brush......to create any marble, you HAVE to have a softening brush. Depicted above, there is a small Badger brush and Hake brush (If you do not have one of these, you could try to use a soft-haired cosmetic brush that is normally used for applying powdered foundations or a fan blending brush from a craft store.)
     6)  A piece of real marble to use as a reference. (Sis loves Carrara marble, and this chunk of marble was once part of her coffee table. Yes, it is still a painful subject.) This is not mandatory.  You can use a picture from the internet as well.

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CREATING THE BACKGROUND

      Although we are creating Carrara marble that has a "white" background, painting a pure white background would be a bad start. 
1) White being the predominate color, notice that my pallet is in colors of creams and varying shades of light gray. Use your damp sponge to create a pleasing background while softening the colors with your stipple brush.  
2) When you are happy with the background that you have created, let it dry completely. 
Notes: If you are particularly fond of one of your marble layers, and you feel that it might be destroyed in subsequent layers; seal that layer with a sealer before proceeding on. 
I used white, satin interior house paint as a base. 

 

 THE FIRST LAYER

     Study your reference marble. Notice above the background, there are striations of blue/gray marble veins. That is what we will create next.
     Also in the picture above, notice that I have placed some glaze on the left hand plate. With a large brush, lay down a layer of pure glaze on your work piece. While the layer of glaze is still wet and using a liner brush, begin to strike through the glaze in a diagonal fashion with a light shade of blue-gray paint (white+black+blue= blue/gray). Quickly soften your brush strokes with a Badger brush or softening brush. When you are happy with your marble veins, let this layer dry. 

Notes:  
1) When using your Badger or softening brush, the vary tip of the brush should be the only part that strikes the work; use a very light touch when softening your colors.
2) If you are using acrylic paint, work in smaller sections because of the rapid drying time. 
3) Notice on the second plate, on the right hand side, that I have placed my acrylic colors on a damp piece of paper towel. This keeps the colors wet longer. It also helps to have a small spray bottle of water handy and spray your palette occasionally during your work period (This is not necessary when working in oil).  
4) While I am mixing my colors, I put a dab of glaze in the mixture.

   THE SECOND LAYER
   
     From the second layer on, you have to study your reference marble; and on the second layer, I see that we need to create some marble veins that are predominately colored a warm gray (blue-gray + brown= warm gray). So you do exactly what you did on the first layer, which was to paint a thin layer of pure glaze; next, using a small brush, create or emphasize marble veins with your warm gray. Then quickly soften your strokes with a softening brush. If there is a certain veining pattern in your reference marble that you find interesting, try to copy it. 
      I am calling the sample done on the second layer. But you could let this layer dry and continue adding more detail, using the same technique as in the first two layers. It's your call; you are the artist.  ~Sandy~

Painted Orphan Chairs

   Orphaned chairs, most are lone survivors of bygone times that have a beauty all their own. Besides being functional, they make a great addition to any room.

      Usually, Sis and I prefer the painted finish on these chairs to look slightly distressed. One way we have found to achieve this look is by wet sanding. 

     There are a lot of variations of this finish that you can do, but I will use the finished Eastlake chair in the picture on the right hand side of the screen as an example. 

     First, we cleaned and sanded it well, and then we gave it two full-coverage coats of red latex paint. Next, we mixed up a lighter shade of the same red for the third coat. 

     In the picture below, the original paint color is on the right hand side of the sample, while a lighter shade of red is to the left. 

 

     When dry, we carefully wet sanded back the finish letting the bottom, darker-shade of paint show through.

     I enjoy this part. By using waterproof sand paper; clean dry rags; a spray bottle filled with water; and a pail of clean water to rinse out the sand paper...you can achieve any amount of distressing you want. Below is a closeup picture of the finish on the chair after being wet sanded.

     The finish is really very pretty. From a distance, it looks like a simple red chair; but on a close inspection, there is a variation in paint color. This finish could be very dramatic by choosing different colors of paint with a glaze/stain added on top; or like this example, be a very minimal finish. Lastly, we sealed the finish with a clear acrylic. 


NOTES on this finish:     
     1) We used acrylic paint for this example, but this finish really works well with oil paint. With acrylic, you will find that your sand paper will gum up a lot; hence, you will use more sandpaper.
     2) We used 600 grit waterproof sand paper in this example. As an aside on your topcoat, by using increasingly finer sand paper (2000+ grit can be found at an automotive center), you can create a mirror like finish if that is what you wish (creating a glossy finish is easier with oil).
     3) With your spray bottle, spray water sparingly on the furniture, keep your sandpaper wet, and dry off any excess water.
     4) Go slow and check your finish often while wet sanding.
     5) Before you begin, first do a sample of the finish that you have in mind, so you will have some practice and your color variations worked out.     
                ~ Sandy

Painted Cedar Chest, Completed

Drum roll, please........ 

  To view the before pictures, please go here. 

Yes, finished, but the major steps in getting here were:

Finishing the shield

Glazing the body of the chest

      We used Metal Glow's Pirates Gold as a base coat. Then we mixed Mixol pigments (Rehbraun #3, and Umbra #2) in Perfetto glaze for the translucency of color, and we built up the color in two passes after letting the first pass dry completely. 

 Sealing the chest

     We chose to seal the chest with Faux Effects' Varnish Plus in a satin finish. Although very durable, it is not necessarily a better product than other acrylic topcoats. However, when dry it has a very satiny-tactile feel to it that many others do not have. 

     If you choose to use this product for the first time on one of your projects that has hand painting or glazing done in latex or acrylic, you must first seal your art work before you topcoat with Varnish Plus because VP will cut right through your work, and you will end up with mess on your hands. Although you can brush this top coat on and lightly sand between coats, it is a lot easier to spray.

     This was a fun project....We hate to see it come to an end. You know what would be really pretty for a more feminine feel: do the embossing of the crocodile stencil as an all-over-stencil design; paint the piece pure white with little or no glazing; and add faux straps with pewter or bronze nail heads.....Now, that I'm thinking about it, Michelle Delgado from Wonder Faux carries some really pretty nail heads.......humm. 

Painted Cedar Chest, Cont., Continued

   Did I mention that there was a heraldic shield going on the top of the chest?  With a few minor changes, this is the progress; or for me, more fun stuff. 

Transferring image to the top of primed chest. 

Blocking in color.

Adding metallic gold and silver paint.  

A few more brush strokes.

Almost done.

Painted Cedar Chest, continued

        We have the chest primed and ready.....now, for the fun stuff. After samples were made and a drawing of the family shield was finished, and since the guys in the family were the primary users of the chest, the client wanted a more masculine design. It was decided that the top of the chest will have the family shield painted on a background of solid chocolate. While the belly of the chest will have an embossed alligator finish.

 We are using a stencil (Faux Effects International, Crocodile stencil) and a plaster (Faux Effects,Venetian Gem). The stencil has register marks, so we simply match up the registration marks while blading the plaster evenly through the stencil.....And Ta da, the embossed section of the chest is finished. The tape is removed, and the plaster is left to set up for a few days....Then comes more fun.
 

Painted Cedar Chest

     This is a fun project that Sis and I are working on. A client wants a cedar chest painted. None of us are quite sure how old it may be, but we are guessing that it was made around the thirties or forties. It has a few issues: peeling veneer, flecking shellac and numerous dings. But aside from that, it is in pretty good shape. 

     However, before the fun stuff can begin, we need to prepare the piece for painting. We felt that the bottom molding of the piece needed updating to take away the Art Deco feel, so we elected to replace it with simple 1"x4"s, which we routed the top edge with an ogee design and will cut a simple curve on the bottom. In the picture above, we have already installed a nailer piece on the bottom of the chest to accept the new molding.

 MITERING JOINTS

     In this project, it is not important to save the veneer; and where the veneer is peeling, we cut it out or chip the entire sheet off.

Now all that is left to do is the sanding......

                      and priming.