A simple Welcome Sign

Looking for an easy-to-make "Welcome" sign? I made one today and thought I'd share the simple steps.

First, find an old kitchen cabinet door. You can get them a few places. Try searching Craig's List - a lot of people give them away for free when they are redecorating. Or search your local Habitat for Humanity restore. (find a list of stores here)

Then paint it to your heart's desire. I used Annie Sloan's chalk paint. Here's a video of Annie on The Hallmark Channel doing a tutorial.

The next thing I did was apply a Simply Said vinyl "welcome" design. And here's a video showing you how easy they are to apply. This is so much easier than the way I used to apply designs or enhancements to my painted furniture, which comprised of time-consuming transfers or stencils.
Here's my Simply Said website, where you can order a welcome design. I think this would be a great idea for personalizing with your family last name and the date you moved into your home, i.e. "Peterson Est. 2010."  Or even a sign for a wedding, with a design that says something like, "Matt and Nikki, April 21, 2014."  You get the idea - the possibilities are wide open!

My last step was to drill two holes through the wood with a standard drill bit, and run a ribbon through for hanging. Voila! A simple, fast way to spruce up a front door, entrance, or anyplace in and around your home.

Applying a Simply Said vinyl design to chalk painted furniture

When I was painting a lot of furniture, I loved putting designs on them. Chevron was very popular. So was anything french, Paris or script-inspired. It still is. The problem for me, was that I was relying on stencils to achieve the look. With stencils, I always had a little paint bleed-through and could never achieve the crips, clean edges I desired. Transfers were another option (using tracing paper to imprint a design onto a painted surface), but they took forever to fill-in with paint. And again, my hand wasn't steady enough to get the crisp edges I wanted.

BUT NOW - there's a solution to the edge issue. And a big time-saver. It's vinyl designs. I just applied my first Simply Said design to a little side table and I LOVE it! It took a whole 3 minutes to apply!

Here's the easy steps to applying the design:

1) I applied it over a piece that was painted with Annie Sloan's chalk paint in Old White, with clear wax.

BEFORE

 I ordered the design in a grey color that looks a lot like Annie Sloan's Paris Grey. Look how pretty it is!

Next, I laid it grid-side facing up and ran the application tool across the entire surface to rid it of air bubbles.

 Then I began in the top corner and slowly pulled the grid paper back and down to remove it.

Next, I laid it over my table.

Then I used the application tool again by running it over the whole surface to remove air bubbles and flatten it to the table.

I started at the top left corner and pulled the paper back and down to remove it slowly.

And there she is! Pretty!

It really looks like its painted on! I couldn't be happier with it!

The Joy of a New Color

My latest custom paint project was pure joy! The main reason is because I used a color I haven't tried before and OH. MY. GOD....it made me giddy after just one coat! Take a look. Tell me this transformation doesn't make your heart sing!

BEFORE

My client, Lauren, was in the market for a vintage buffet, and I had spied this beauty from a fellow furniture guy on Facebook. I directed her to his site, and the rest is history. She had me over to take a looksy at the piece in her home, and we decided this baby was going to make a statement!

AFTER

 Painted with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Aubusson Blue! (do you hear that, angels are singing)

The inside was done in a 50/50 mix of Old White and Old Ochre. There was a ton of bleed through on the inside, as the original wood was stained but unfinished. So I had to use clear shellac to block the bleeding and used a few more coats of white than I normally would. But, I gave it lots of texture, and really aged the inside. I love that look.

Everything was sealed with soft clear wax and aged with dark wax. Seriously, what doesn't look better with dark wax!

This is the original hardware, believe it or not. I tried to clean the dark stuff that was on each pull with Brasso, but it revealed a dingy silver color under the muck. So, I pulled out some gold gilding paste and gave them all a little bling. 

I have been out in the garage swooning over this buffet. Craig's List has been up on my laptop all day, so I can find a buffet of my own to paint in this color! When the right piece comes along, I'm telling you, I might just redecorate my living room so I can have something big and gorgeous in Aubusson Blue!!

A new powder room mirror sparks a full-fledged renovation!

You know that phrase that talks about a spark starting a fire? Well, in this case a mirror is sparking a full-fledged powder room makeover. And I am so excited!!

This mirror was a thrift shop find I scored for about $15. I loved its scrolly-top and the mirror was in perfect condition. It came home with me and got the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint treatment in Old White with clear and dark wax.

Since it didn't sell at the holiday show I exhibited at, I brought it home and claimed it for my powder room. We built our home 2 years ago, and the powder room was pretty standard, with the builder-grade oval frameless mirror. So, I took it down, patched and painted the holes, and hung Miss Pretty over the sink!

I snapped this quick photo, posted it to my Facebook biz page, and knew immediately that this room needs paint! White walls do nothing to accentuate the curves on the mirror. I want it to pop out at you as the showpiece in the room (even though it will have to battle it out for the title against the fabulous ironwork shelf). A quick survey about paint colors generated some of my highest ever Facebook stats! Many of you said to paint it a various shade of blue, or plum, or chocolate brown. I'm still on the fence about the paint color, BUT, I know exactly what I intend to do in my space to give it some pizzazz...STENCIL!!

This moroccan beauty is available on Cutting Edge Stencils. I'm going to purchase this stencil and do one wall with it.

TIP:  I had a friend ask how to do this without having bleeding edges (when the paint seeps under the stencil and your edges are not crisp). I watched several tutorials on Cutting Edge's website, and the trick  is to wipe paint off your roller onto a paper towel, before you apply it to the wall. The same goes for furniture, whether you stencil with a roller or a brush, always blot your tool on a paper towel to remove excess paint!!

I plan to tape off the toilet and sink, and go to town. But first, I need to find a new light fixture for over the mirror. It too is builder standard and not attractive at all. I'd love to find something really cool, like a barn light. If you know of a great, inexpensive source, share the love!

I'd like to get this work all completed in the coming month, so I can surprise hubby when he gets home again. Stay tuned, there will be a tutorial video coming for this project!

Quickie Project - the painted pumpkin

I finished a few projects last week for a client, and started a beautiful vanity. I'm one coat into it so far. The next step involves flipping it over, so I can get the feet and hard-to-reach under spots. Might have to wait for my muscle man to get home for some brawny help.

In the meantime, I found this little clay pumpkin at a consignment shop this afternoon for $3.00.

So, it came home with me, and about 30 minutes later it looked like this...

First, I painted an undercoat of ASCP in Coco, then did a coat of Old White. I painted this in my warm house and I swear each coat dried in about 2 minutes! Then I clear waxed the whole thing, distressed a whole bunch, and slathered that puppy in dark wax. After I wiped it away, I rubbed it back even further with a bit of clear wax, until it was just the right shade of dirty white.

This fast & easy project was a nice change from the time-consuming ones that furniture can be. Yay for quickies!  ;-)

The Secretary is In!

This afternoon I delivered another custom piece for a client - a lovely secretary desk.

Below are the BEFORE photos: (Even completely spray-painted black, it was very pretty.)

 Here's the AFTER: painted with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in French Linen and Old White.

I distressed the edges lightly and added dark wax in the crevices on the crown molding and around the window panels, after sanding back the stencils.

She decided to leave the inside black. Thank goodness, can you imagine how much time it would have taken to hand-paint inside all of those compartments!!

Here's the piece in her home, adjacent to its matching table and chairs. She loved it and I am so happy with how it turned out!

Even the hairless cats like it!

Today I delivered a newly painted dining set to a client. It was an old pedestal 4-seat table that she inherited from her grandmother. The pieces had been stored in a basement for quite some time, but they were about to get a new lease on life.

Here's what the set used to look like...

Here's what it looks like now...

I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in French Linen for the chairs and table base. The table top and some accents were done with Old White. I used several layers of clear wax for the table top, and buffed it nice and smooth. The chairs each were clear waxed and I used a little dark wax here and there for some aging. And as you can see in the pics, I distressed the corners, edges and spindly areas.

The client loved them, and while I was there dropping off, her grandmother arrived. That's right - the original owner of the set. She approved too. But, the best part had to be when the client's three hairless Sphynx cats started investigating. They hopped up on the chairs and rubbed their bald little heads all over them! It was great!

Now if I could just learn how to knit them a coat!

Distressed Mirror Makeovers

I finished a couple of mirror projects - one for a neighbor who wanted a full-length mirror for her daughter's bedroom, and another vintage mirror I plan to sell. (Although looking at it in my entryway tempts me to keep it!)

Here's the vintage mirror sitting on a long entry table. The mirror can be hung or placed on a surface as you see here.  It's painted with two coats of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in a lovely yellow color called Arles. It's got a bit of dry-painting in Old White, is lightly distressed and has been clear-waxed for protection. I am selling this mirror for $75.00.

The mirror measures just shy of 33" wide by 21" tall. I would guess it had been made with an old wooden window frame, as it is very heavy. You would definitely need to reinforce the wall hardware if you plan to hang it.

And here's a photo of the full-length mirror. My neighbor wanted it to match her daughter's antique white bedroom decor. So this was painted with 2 coats of Old White, with light distressing and sealed with clear wax.

Mirrors are hard to photograph. At least for this inexperienced photographer. I didn't want to get in the picture, since I was wearing my pajamas! I hope my neighbor and her daughter are happy with how this turned out!