Projects Big and Small

This week was full of all kinds of projects big and small. If you read my past blogs, you know that not only to I love to paint, but refinishing wood is something that I really enjoy doing.  I like it so much that my husband and I sometimes bicker on who gets to refinish this table or desk top.  There's just something about the whole process of refinishing that gives me, and well apparently my husband, a sense of accomplishment.  

This was a custom job for a gentleman whose father and grandfather used this executive desk in their family business for years.  It was a gorgeous desk that just need a little TLC.

A before and after of the desk

Early one morning last week before the little ones were up, I started on this big guy and by big guy, I mean 60"long big.  Sometimes a piece will cooperate with me and all of it's old finish will easily come off to reveal a gorgeous grain beneath.  And sometimes the finish is stubborn and only wants to come off here and there forcing me to remove the stripper and repeat the whole process.

The desk before....

Although quite large, this desk top was very enjoyable to strip as all of the finish came up one swipe of the scraper and the rest was easily removed by warm water followed by mineral spirits.  I prefer to use an scrubbing pad/sponge to really get in the groves and edges.  This prevents and unnecessary scrapes that would need to sanded out later. 

Desk top after being stripped and sanded...

This is the part I enjoy the most I'd say.  After sanding first with a grit of 150 to really smooth out the top and remove any left over finish, I then used a 220 grit to open up that grain allowing the stain to penetrate. For this top, the client wanted to match a bookcase in his office which was a mahogany stain, so that is what I used on this top.  Because this was a solid cherry or mahogany, not sure on which, but it took the stain beautifully leaving a deep rich color.

 After a minimum of 5 hours of dry time, I sealed the top with 3 coats of wipe on polyurethane sanding with 220 in between each coat.  For the body of the desk I used Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint ™ in French Linen. This is a really soft taupe gray.  On the drawers, I mix this French Linen with a bit of Old White also by Annie Sloan.  After distressing around the edges, I sealed the body and drawers with a Annie Sloan's clear wax for durable protection.  The original hardware were sprayed with an oil rubbed bronzed. This is my favorite go to color for hardware, very versatile.

The finished desk, a complete transformation!

Now onto a bigger project in the shop, a 10 piece French Country Dining Room Set!
This set is most likely from the 70's. The splattered stain everywhere gave that one away. I'm not sure why they did this to all the furniture back then.  I heard it was to replicate worm holes? That just doesn't sound pretty at all does it?!



I wanted to accomplish 2 things when refurbishing this set.  One, of course to refinish the tops and paint the rest, and 2 use Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint on the whole set.  Although this certainly isn't the  first dining room set we've done, it is the first time we have used milk paint on a whole set.  For the color I chose "Linen" by MMSMP line.  It is a creamy white and very pretty.  

As you can see in the before pictures, this set was in great condition.  It is of solid wood with dove tail construction on all of the drawers.  They just don't make them like this anymore! 

A few of the chair bottoms were broke, so we and by that I mean my husband, cut out new wood for those.  

The buffet to this set was really neat as it is marble inlaid on top with drop leaves on the sides.  It is even on wheel, perfect for moving around during party time.

These pictures show the set after the tops were refinished. We always do this first to avoid any stripper or stain from dripping down on the new paint. 
Before starting on the milk paint, I did wipe the whole set down with TSP (Tri-sodium Phosphate) which is a de-greasing solution found at most hardware stores.  This preps the wood so that the milk paint has something to adhere to.  I wanted to make sure had complete coverage and that it was not going to chip on me, so I added the bonding agent to the milk paint for the first coat only.  The second and third coats of milk paint are without the bonding agent.  One of the nice things about Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint is that it only take 15 minutes or less between each coat without the bonding agent. For a coat with the bonding, I like to wait overnight before the next coats.

The chairs after 2 coats of Linen and the tops refinished in dark walnut.

In the picture below, I am showing off the gorgeous upholstered seat cushions.  You may recognize them as Miss Mustard Seed's Drapes in her dining room.  Before I had the shop, I followed many of her tutorials and made these drapes for my dining room as well.  The fabric is a very durable outdoor material actually and was a little to heavy for my small window, therefore are perfect for these chairs!

After painting the trim on the legs in Flow Blue also a milk paint color, I decided
to calm it down a bit with the new white wax by Miss Mustard Seed's line.
This is a very simple way to wax and get that white wash effect.

The final steps to finishing up this set was to distress around the legs and edges and to seal the set with a custom mix of clear and antiquing wax.  This gave the set the illusion of being aged and also toned down the brightness of the Linen milk paint.  I am just smitten with this set!

And for my last favorite project of the week, this adorable pillow!  As some of you know, my teenage daughters have been taking turns either going with me to the shop or staying home with our younger kiddos.  I have been teaching them how to paint with both Miss Mustard Seed's milk paint and Annie Sloan's ™ chalk paint.  They are also learning how to sew and transfer images onto fabric.  Take this pillow below, Chloe who is almost 15, sewed the pillow, while Macey 13, did her very first image transfer of this sweet french bee onto the fabric. Needless to say, I am one proud momma this week. 

We downloaded this image from our favorite website The Graphics Fairy, had a copy made with a laser printer and then used the Citra-Solve method to transfer it to the fabric.  Macey was so excited about this, she now want to try it on her t-shirts and canvas shoes!  

After painting this mid-century side table in MMSMP Mustard Seed Yellow,  I applied this
stencil of a French Fleur De Lis Floral Wreath that pairs perfectly with the French Bee pillow.

 And how can I forget to mention the full house at this months Milk Paint workshop!  The words each student chose for their sign were fantastic, thank you ladies for a great evening of learning and creating.

And so, a very productive week for us all.  I hope you all have a pleasantly productive week as well!  


Linking to these fabulous blogs!

Dukes & Duchesses

Artsy Chicks Rule

Yesterday on Tuesday

Cupcakes and Crinoline

Setting for Four

The Graphics Fairy

Our new Inspiration Room

You know the saying when it rains, it pours?  Well this week that is once again the case at the shop and our homestead!  We decided to give our house a face lift for it has been many years since it's been updated. This of course takes alot of time and thought.  So far, the list looks like this; new windows, new gutters, new sofit, new fascia and new shutters, oh of course new painted front.  I know we have our work cut out for us, but it's coming along and I will post more about the renovation as we get things done.

As for the shop, things have been crazy as usual with pieces coming and going which is wonderful, but we decided we needed to add more showroom.  So as a family, we converted our back storage room into the "Inspiration Classroom/Showroom/One Stop Paint Shop"!  Our first thought was just to have our paint classes in this extra showroom, but after thinking about what would actually be happening in this room, we came up the idea to have a  room that would be inspiring for those who take our Milk Paint class and a place for all to come for their paint project needs such as Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint and waxes of course, but also the supplies that one would need such as paint brushes, paint mixers, stencils, sand paper and more!  We also wanted to show students and customers just how wonderful the Milk Paint could be used in various was of decorative painting, therefore, the furnishings show off the paints!

And this is how we made this amazing room.....

My hardworking, handsome husband got up extra early (like 4 a.m.) to paint the room to match the front room.  This space was originally the shampoo room for the beauty shop that use to rent the shop, so after the wash basins were removed the wall were patched and painted.  The mop sink we had from my old shop.  We actually installed this right after I moved into this space to avoid paint and whatever else I may use from destroying the shops restroom.   Next came the building of the Milk Paint buffet. After a trip to Home Depot in search for a counter (I secretly wanted butcher block, hehe),  we soon found it was costly to buy a new counter top.  We walked around the store looking for materials we could use to make our own.  An hour and a half later, we were at check our with a box of laminate flooring, a piece of plywood and some 2 X 4's.  Have I mentioned how lucky I am to be married to Mr. Handyman?!?!

My husband Kevin built a simple counter using the 2X4's for the legs and the plywood for the sub top before adding the laminate flooring.  He also added the extra pieces of the laminate flooring for the sides of the counter and finished it off with rounded trim.

I just had to add this photo of our younger ones waiting patiently that evening while we built the counter top. Thought it was cute, they kept calling this antique typewriter a computer and asked where the screen was, lol!

Ok, back to the counter, I didn't care for the look of the laminate on the sides, so first stained the wood legs with a mixture of watered down MMSMP Typewriter to give the pine a stained look.  I then mixed up French Enamel and brushed that directly onto the laminate and legs, no bonding agent was needed.  Next came the distressing technique of the wax puck.  I rubbed pretty liberally across the French Enamel and sides because I wanted the next color not to adhere to these areas.  

With the help of Miss Mustard Seed's Typewriter "stain", it make this
raw piece of wood look as if it were stained with a dark walnut.

Next, I painted a coat of MMSMP Grain Sack over the French Enamel which was previously rubbed down with the wax puck.  Just a light sanding of the laminate, legs and trim and I was able to achieve this gorgeous finish!  It sort of looks like denim to me.

Next came the actual bar where we would display the Milk Paint in candy jars bought at no other than Wal-mart for an unbeatable price!  I scanned Craigslist for old barn wood, because I knew someone around these farm land would be tearing down a barn.  Not only did I find this piece of salvaged wood board, the owner had ALOT of it. I know where I'll be going for our salvaged wood project:)

This was definitely a 2 person job, lifting and leveling that solid piece of oak.

Now onto the "Inspiring Door"....

Who said nothing is free these days?  This old door was given to me by a fellow shop keeper here in town. It was originally white with a what look like a dark stain over that.  I wanted to use a color that would be both happy and that would stand out, insert MMSMP Mustard Seed Yellow!  I'm so in LOVE with this color.  It's look fabulous on any piece, but my favorite look is directly over stained wood where distressing is used to show it beneath.

My apologies for the sideways picture, but this is the door after just 2 coats of
Mustard Seed Yellow,  distrssed and sealed with the antquing wax.

And with the help of my good friend Jennifer, we added the vinyl Inspiring words.  I chose sayings that I've heard on my journeys of refurbishing and also things I say to my own kids and students as they get to that "ugly stage" of their project. Jennifer had the really cute idea of adding actual sandpaper to the glass pane that says "sand paper is your friend".  I used chalkboard paint on the door's bottom panel to keep customers and students up to date on the next class. 

The banner flags were painted by my teenage daughters who didn't complain once about mixing tiny bits of milk paint and water for each color, thanks girls! 

I love everything about the inspiration door, but my favorite I think is the
original metal door knob (holding the lovely boxwood wreath) that reminds me of my grandma who had something similar.

 And now onto the Milk Paint display door turned shelf....

This old panel door I found at a yard sale last year.  It sat in the garage just waiting for me to think of what could be done with it.  I wanted to show to my students another technique you could use to achieve the layered chippy paint look, and this door immediately came to mind. It was a blank slate of raw wood, perfect.  Again to manipulate the look of stained wood, I mixed up 1 part Typewriter to 3 parts water and washed the door down.  The blue on one of the panels is actually French Enamel.  I think I used this door as a tester to see what the color looked like, who knows.

This old door at some point was stripped and sanded
down to the bare wood.

Although I didn't take picture of each layer due to the fact I was so excited to see the results, there is actually Flow Blue followed by Tricycle beneath this.  Originally I wanted a bright red chippy door where the blue and black would come through.  I used the hemp oil in spots after the Flow Blue was applied so that the Tricycle would chip, but to my disappointment it didn't.....yet.  After spending way to much time on the door, I decided seal it with the hemp oil and take it the shop as it was.  I had asked Kevin to take apart an antique dresser that was beyond repair and use parts from that along with 2 old cabinet doors as the shelves for this display. Those I wanted to be kept the natural wood to show how the hemp oil could be used to refresh old tired wood, and it did just that!

Now back to the door. Yes, I took it to the shop knowing I wasn't in love with the color.  To me it looked more purplish red because of the Flow Blue and Tricycle atop each other, you know (Blue + Red=Purple).  I left it along for about oh an hour or two until my daughter came to me with some extra milk paint from a project she was working on.  I showed her how you can play with the colors to get different beautiful colors.  For that project, we played around with Kitchen Scale and Ironstone, 2 to 1 parts.  It turned into this gorgeous light creamy teal!  I took that extra paint and went to town on the display shelf once again, I know coo coo right?
Sometimes things happen for a reason, like  in this case.  Because I had already sealed the door with a good amount hemp oil the day before, I was thrilled to see this happen after that last coat of milk paint!

In just a few minuets after applying the last coat over
hemp oil, I got the yummy chippy, just what I wanted!

 Again, I used a panel to make a chalk board this time for the Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint logo, well I tried at least.  This is where I live by my own sayings, it doesn't have to be perfect right!

The display... with all the chippy goodness coming through on the door and the
gorgeous patina of that old dresser wood, I'm delighted with the results! 

The fruits of our family's labor....

 And there you have it folks, our new "Inspiration Classroom/Showroom/One Stop Paint Shop"! During the process of making this room, I couldn't help thinking of m favorite saying by  Arthur Ashe, that reads....

"Start where you are.
 Use what you have.
 Do what you can."

I would like to thank my amazing husband for all his hard work and dedication to this little business of ours.  Without you, I wouldn't be here.  And to my daughters who at such a young age, have learned so much about how to be use what you have. They take turns working at the shop and keeping the little one on their summer vacation.  I couldn't be a more proud mom!
And finally to my child hood friend Jennifer for helping me with the inspiration door, you did an amazing job and I think you may have learned the "true meaning" of a few of these words in the process, haha!

Thank you for visiting, hope you too were inspired.  Have a blessed week all!!

Linking to these fabulous blogs!

Dukes & Duchesses

Artsy Chicks Rule

Yesterday on Tuesday

Cupcakes and Crinoline

Setting for Four

Achieving a Verdigris Patina

Today as I looking through all of my projects from the week, I found the statue of Kwan Yin I was commissioned to paint  a month or so ago.  Time has gotten away with me as usual and I remembered that I promised a tutorial on how I achieved this look.  This was one of my very favorite custom jobs and this is why.  When my client, a very sweet local lady, wanted to spruce up her statue of 35 years, I was super excited.  On a visit to her home to see it before I got started, I noticed it was very porous and dull looking from years of being out in weather.

That night I was looking at photos of other statues for inspiration and notice how absolutely beautiful the patina verdigris is.  I found this on several statues around the world and even on a church I visited in St. Louis Missouri not long ago, but the one picture that made up my mind was our very own beloved Statue of Liberty.

source www.kidport.com

I am now in love with verdigris and had to research just how this gorgeous color is achieved.  I learned that this is a bright bluish-green encrustation or patina formed on copper or brass by atmospheric oxidation, consisting of basic copper carbonate.  So my wheels starting turning on how to get this look on concrete instead of copper.

 Well if I didn't have a copper statue, the next best thing was to make it look like copper first.  I bought a can of Rustoleum's spray paint in Copper.  I have to say, I was a little hesitant to spray this old statue that has been on my client's patio for decades.  The very thought of ruining something so special had my stomach in knots!  But after about the first 30 seconds of spraying, she started to come alive and I was relieved!

It took the entire can of the copper spray paint because of the porous concrete.

Next came the tough part of manipulating paint to achieve this authentic patina.  I brought with me that day several shades of Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint™.  Of them were, Antibes, Provence and Florence.  I also brought Old White in case I needed to do a bit of white washing when I was finished.

I knew Antibes would be used for sure as it is a pretty vibrant green.  Now for the blueish teal shade.  I tested both Provence and Florence in a inconspicuous spot and discovered Provence was the better choice as it was more of a calmer shade.

 I started with random dabbing with the Antibes first and then adding the Provence as I need to calm the  Antibes down.  By mixing the two and going back and forth, I started to see that glorious verdigris!  At this point between the sun shinning that beautiful morning and the sounds of the birds singing in the trees, I had a sense of serenity combined with my creative juices flowing freely.

I moved from section to section taking care to make sure both
colors were blended well.

My favorite picture,  love that color!

 Not only was I exploding with excitement of what was happening beneath my paint brush, but I was privileged to listen to my talented client playing songs of yesteryear on her accordion inside, just lovely!
I decided that this was just the right look I was trying to achieve therefore, it didn't need to be white washed with the Old White.

 When this project was over, I was so delighted with the results, but it was a bitter sweet ending.  Yes, the statue of Kwan Yin turned out splendidly and my client was thrilled, but sort of sad that it was over. One thing is for sure, I will definitely be using this technique again! Wouldn't it look incredible on a dresser or headboard?!

Thank you so much for stopping in today. May you be inspired with all your projects this week!

Summer Days and Milk Paint

I don't know if it's the summer days or what, but for the past few weeks I've been in the mood for bright, fun colors.  Of course every piece, I believe, was destined for a certain color that will bring out it's characteristics.  It may sound sorta dorky, but as I mentioned before, most of my color inspirations come from dreams I have.  But for last week,  I didn't have dreams,  but was inspired more from the season, summer!

First up, project #1, this gorgeous antique dresser! Check out it's ornate mirror and those adorable shelves on each side.  I bought this from a local gentlemen here, who tried to sell it as is, but didn't have any luck.  First glance at this gem, I knew it was screaming yellow!  What better choice for a shade of yellow than Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint "Mustard Seed Yellow", of course!

Because I really wanted this piece to be chippy, I only gave it a quick wipe down with TSP which to those of you who don't know what TSP is, it stands for Tri-Sodium Phosphate.  This is a de-greasing solution that is used to remove any dirt and grim.  If you have a piece that has a high sheen to it, you can do 1 of 3 things to help your milk paint adhere to your piece.  One is using the TSP by itself.  A quick but effective way to remove the build up of polyurethane, dirt and grim.  Another sure way is to use both the TSP and then go over the piece with a high grit sand paper. This will sort of scuff up the substrate and allow the milk paint something to stick to.  The third trick for superior adhesiveness is using the bonding agent.  With this agent, option 1 and 2 are not necessary.  Simply add the bonding agent to your paint mixture at a 1 to 3/4 (milk paint to bonding agent) and stir well.
Remember, you only need to add the bonding agent to the first coat. So when you are mixing up your first coat, only mix enough for that one coat of bonding, and then proceed to make another with no bonding to conserve your agent.

 Unfortunately,  I didn't get any chippy paint, but after painting 3 coats this yummy color, I was still able to distress around the edges and filigree to where the dark wood stain popped out.  This is one of my favorite parts about distressing. The contrast of the rich brown stains and the warmness of the Mustard Seed Yellow is gorgeous!

 I felt this dresser, as pretty as it was in the yellow, could use some dressing up a bit.  So, I mixed up a small amount of MMSMP Ironstone. With this batch I made it a little more thick because I didn't want to keep having to go over each little detail.  That's one of the wonderful things about this paint, it is so versatile. You can go from a stain by mixing 3 parts water to 1 part milk paint or by doing the 1 to 1 ratio you get  more coverage.  But for this, I added 3 parts milk paint to 1 1/2 part water to get a thicker paint just for the hand detailing.

And this was the before, minus the mirror, which of course,
I forgot to take a picture of.

Now for project #2 for the week.  These mid-century end tables were really cute, but needed some style!  Being inspired by summers blue/gray skies, I chose to use Miss Mustard Seed's Shutter Gray. When using Milk Paint, you will notice that with every piece of furniture and it's finish, you will get a slightly different shade of the color you choose depending on it's original finish.  For example, these tables were originally a cherry stain, but after using the Shutter Gray, which looks like a gray on the sample board, they look more of a gray-blue sky. It's a very soft and calming paint shade, just lovely!  I added a French Postage Stamp stencil to give them more character, which I believe it did. They went from boring to interesting with just a few coats of paint and a stencil. Oh and of course, the distressing and sealing with hemp oil helped it with its lustrous sheen.

 My final project-#3 for the shop was this mid-century chest of drawers. I used Shutter Gray for this one as well because I knew I wanted to try this new Chevron stencil and needed it to look fresh and clean.  On this dresser, I did scuff it up a bit with a 220 sanding block and wiped it down with TSP just because I didn't want to much chippy especially around the stenciled drawers which I paid more attention to during the prep work.

This dresser took 3 coats of Shutter Gray.  It did have a few chippy areas which I loved.  A little round with the sanding block to distress the corners and edges a bit, a coat of my favorite sealer hemp oil, and there you have it, a fabulous updated dresser!  I did spray the original hardware with a Rustoleum's off white spray paint to coordinate with the "Linen" Milk Paint stenciling.

We have also been extremely busy with custom work, and I promise to post about a few before and afters from them. Have a blessed week everyone.  Hope you are all having a fun filled summer!!

Linking up to these fabulous Blogs:

Dukes & Duchesses

Artsy Chicks Rule

Yesterday on Tuesday

Cupcakes and Crinoline

Setting for Four