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Lets Try This Again
Ok… I don’t like to admit I’ve made a mistake… it’s a character flaw I know but I REALLY don’t like making mistakes! Sadly I made one with this French style Thomasville dining table…
This is a wonderful table set I purchased over the summer, it’s Thomasville (from the 1960’s I believe) and it has 2 armchairs and 4 side chairs as well…
I was hoping to refinish the top in a darker stain but there were too many issues with it to make that work (I tried)…
BEFORE
Here is the first “After”… I do love the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Graphite top but the base in Florence with the dry brushed Graphite is just too harsh for me… I waited for DAYS to see if it would grow on me but it didn’t so then I had to fix my “mistake”.. ARGH!!!
So I decided on Annie Sloan Duck Egg instead… as I was re-painting it I felt better immediately… I knew THIS was the right choice!
Now onto the chairs… 6 of them to be exact… have I ever mentioned how much I dislike painting chairs? They are very labor intensive as they take sooo much time, painting distressing & waxing… if I was just spray painting them no big deal but of course I was hand painting them… my poor hands are like claws now!
BEFORE
Here they are so much prettier in a couple of coats of Duck Egg!
And just check out this PERFECT fabric I happen to have on hand… and have enough of… I got super lucky with this! The blue in the fabric is almost exactly the color of Duck Egg!
I removed the chair seats from the frames and removed the old fabric. The two armchairs are going to have their backs upholstered to give the a slightly different look… no need to paint the cane on these!
I picked up a new roll of batting… trust me I will use all of this, not on this project but I have a lot of chair seats to update!
As you can see I have already distressed and waxed the chairs. I have also reattached the recovered seat cushions… now on to the backs!
First I cut out a piece of batting roughly the size of the back of the chair.
I then attached it to the back of the with staples, no need to use this many staples (I didn’t on my second chair) you are just stapling it in to loosely hold it in place. Trim the overage with scissors.
I roughly cut the fabric to size and stapled it in over the batting staying close to the edge of the chair. These staples should be positioned very close to one another and the fabric should be pulled taught before stapling it. Always start your place staples first with one at the top, bottom and both sides, pulling the fabric taught before each staple. Once you have our place staples in then start from the middle and work your way to the sides.
I made double welt cording and hot glued it around the edge.
I did the same process as above for the back but I had to staple the pieces to the sides of the chair as there was no wood to attach the staples to on the back. This is a great dark grey fabric with a herringbone pattern…
Again I made double welt cording and hot glued it around the edge.
Here is the finished dining set!
The fabric coordinates perfectly with the table and chairs!
I love that the captain’s chairs have the padded backs.
I also added a little pop of Provence chalk paint in the grooves around the table and chairs.
One complete dining set down… one more to go!
This was a TON of work and thank goodness my SAH (Super Awesome Hubby) helped me out a lot on this project! I just love the final results and I am so happy to have it completed! I have one more table and chair set that is VERY close to being complete as well, I should be able to share it with you this week!
This set is for sale and will be listed on my FOR SALE page, which seems terribly empty… I am going to the Lucketts Spring Market again this year and I need to have a whole lot more done before May 17th or my 10×20 booth will be very empty! If you are interested check out some pictures from my booth and around the Market from last year… I hope you can make it to the show it is ALWAYS full of great stuff!
As always thanks for stopping by…
Until next time!
Linking up to these parties!
Between Naps on the Porch, Coastal Charm, A Stroll Thru Life, The Dedicated House, Elizabeth & Co., Savvy Southern Style, Domestically Speaking, From My Front Porch to Yours
A Perfect Catch All Piece for the Kitchen
My client Tina recently brought me this peitite buffet to make all pretty for her. She found the buffet on Craig’s List, it was the perfect size for the catch-all spot in her kitchen… you know a place where you can hide all of the “crap” you don’t want to look at! While this piece fit her needs size wise… it was not cosmetically what she wanted in her beautiful kitchen.
The buffet did have quite a few minor problems (and a lot of gunky buildup) which I took care of prior to painting but overall it was in pretty good shape for its age…
BEFORE
She wanted the buffet painted in Old White and the drawer fronts is a mix of Duck Egg & Old White (3:1), it truly is a very pretty combination!
I didn’t distress it too much… and I used Briwax wax to seal the paint.
She had purchased these cute acrylic knobs from Pottery Barn, I like them so much better than the original knobs… they add a touch of whimsy to the piece…
The buffet didn’t have a lot of detailing to it, but where there was detail I wanted to highlight it.
I also carried the blue up to the top back…
I hope she will enjoy seeing this buffet in her kitchen now!
I really adore this petite buffet and could totally use it just about anywhere in my house… hmmm… now I need to look for one like this to update for myself!
A special thanks to Tina for being such a wonderful repeat client… you keep bringing them and I’ll keep making them look awesome!
Thanks so much for stopping by…
Until next time!!!
Linking to these parties!
Domestically Speaking, From My Front Porch to Yours, French Country Cottage, Redoux Interiors, Miss Mustard Seed
Beachy Coffee Table
I recently picked up this nice British Traditions pine coffee table… it has great chunky country legs, but it’s not vintage at all. It really is in “as is” usable condition, but it really was just kind of blah if you know what I mean…
BEFORE
I first removed the existing wax coating from the top with mineral spirits, 0000 steel wool and some paper towels and then sanded the top down with 220 grit sandpaper to remove any scratches. I applied a coat of dark walnut finishing oil, which stains and protects the top all in one step… and this is where my “experiment” began…
Instead of waiting the “required” 72 +/- hours for the oil to be absorbed and the top to dry I waited a few hours, wiped the top down with a paper towel and then began painting. The painting process is basically dry brushing on Old White ASCP and once it was dry I used my orbital sander (220 grit paper) and lightly sanded the top… a pretty cool thing happened at this point… instead of the paint coming up it just smeared around on the top because of the still slightly wet oil… this technique made my dry brushing look awesome and toned down the white paint beautifully!
The bottom is just a coat of ASCP Duck Egg, no distressing…
Here it is AFTER
I waited a day and then applied Minwax paste wax to the entire piece and buffed it to a beautiful shine!
I think the top has more of a driftwood appearance than a white wash paint job…
The finished paint technique adds a lot of texture and interest to the top…
And of course I’m a HUGE fan of ASCP Duck Egg blue!
I’m thrilled with how this “experiment” turned out and I will certainly use it again…
This piece has a great Coastal or Beachy Cottage feel and is such a fabulous size!
I hope you all are getting to enjoy this wonderful Fall season!
As always, thanks for stopping by!
Until next time…
Linking up to these great parties!
Chic on a Shoestring, Miss Mustard Seed, Knot Too Shaby, Classy Clutter, Funky Junk Interiors
Vintage Claw Foot Drop Front Secretary Desk
Whew! That’s a mouthful.. but it is what it is… which this beauty is from the early 1920’s, has beautiful bow front drawers, cool “secret” compartments and some fine claw feet! Yes, it needs some love… don’t all of my pieces?
BEFORE
Well here she is after said “love’”! Just gorgeous! I decked her out in Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, Duck Egg for the drawer fronts, Old Ochre for the body and I sprayed the handles flat black…
Check out her yummy curves! A little bit of distressing on the entire piece was all she called for…
I just LOVE ball & claw feet… and hers were intact. Sometimes when a piece is this old you might be missing some of the “toes” or parts…
I love this combination of Duck Egg & Old Ochre!
Voila! For the inside I used a flat black and waxed it after I distressed it.
I got very lucky as the back of this was off so I just removed the whole mail sorter piece and refinished the door and drawer fronts and sprayed the rest flat black. I lightly distressed the edges and waxed all of the edges and fronts and then reinstalled the piece… I cannot imagine having to have to paint this by hand!
So lucky the key is still here.. can you imagine! Did you know these little columns pulled out? I didn’t until I removed the piece… pretty cool huh?
One last look at her ready for a new home!
My middle daughter so wanted to keep this to replace her current makeup vanity but it was just a smidge too big… she loved the little door on this piece… it reminded her of Alice in Wonderland…
I see what she means!
Thanks for stopping by… until next time!
Linking up to these great parties!
Between Naps on the Porch, Coastal Charm, Sumo’s Sweet Stuff, The Dedicated House, A Stroll Thru Life, Elizabeth & Co., Primitive & Proper, The Ivy Cottage, Western Warmth
Another Vintage French Provincial Dining Table…
I have chairs to go with this table.. Yay.. and I think I got some pretty good before pictures too…
This is a vintage cherry table and 4 chair set. The table and chairs were in overall very good condition, they just needed a little updating and TLC!
Before
Sorry about this super blurry chair picture.. but it was all I had!
The first thing I did was turn the table over and paint the apron in a very light grey..so light it ALMOST looks white. I then flipped the table back over and sanded the top down to remove the old finish and scratches.. no stripper.. just sanding!
It has a beautiful cherry grain and great lines!
Here is where things get a little “crazy”.. I wanted to try something different and I had this “sun bleached” stain I had picked up a while back just waiting to get used.. the color looked like driftwood to me.. so I applied it to the table top… didn’t really like it.. it made it look like pickled wood…YIKES! So before the stain had a chance to set I applied a coat of special walnut to the top and removed most of the sun bleached stain plus the walnut stain with paper towels.. lots of paper towels… Did you know you can remove stain with more stain.. I know kind of weird and it doesn’t make sense but it works.. so I let the table dry overnight and applied another coat of special walnut stain. What I thought was really interesting is that the grey was still there but more of an undertone..I liked it… it looked different.. not TOO different.. but different enough to catch your eye… I REALLY like it! Sorry no pictures at this stage, I think I was a little freaked out! I finished the top off with two coats of paste wax and then buffed it.
I then went back to the apron and legs and lightly distressed them and then applied a black glaze to help deepen the grey tone.. just love the way it hangs out in the crevices.. the glaze part is always the most stressful part to me.. you have to hurry, work in small areas and can’t stop once you start.. but the final result it is so worth it!
I also sanded the chairs, in order to remove the nicks that occur over time, and painted them in Duck Egg chalk paint… I did 1 1/2 coats.. you know… one good full coat then a 1/2 coat to touch up where you see brush strokes… I then lightly distressed them, waxed and buffed them.. man did my hands HURT after all of that!! The seats were in great condition, WHEW!, so all I did was add new fabric to them (this is a Waverly print) and reattached them once the chairs were buffed.
So here she is in all of her glory… Dinner in the garden anyone?
Can you see the grey undertones in the wood grain?
I love the combination of the Duck Egg blue with the grey…
OK.. so the set is doesn’t match, but it coordinates beautifully! I love the look of painted pieces mixed and matched together.. What about you?
Thanks for stopping by guys…until next time!
PS… This set is heading up to Lucketts if anyone is interested.. 😉
Parties I am linking this to:
Between Naps on the Porch, Stylish Once Again, Coastal Charm, Vintage Wanna Bee, Primitive and Proper, Savvy Southern Style, Domestically Speaking, Crafty, Scrappy, Happy,
My Romantic Home, French Country Cottage, Chic on a Shoestring, Miss Mustard Seed, Decorating Insanity, Stringtown Home
Sweet French Provençal Dining Table
Sorry no before picture!
So let me tell you about what it looked like before.. The table was finished in a light maple stain and it had no defects other than a few light surface scratches… so other then being outdated it was in great shape and it even had a leaf!!!
I bought the table for my oldest daughter, who will be living off campus next year as a Sophomore at Radford University, I didn’t think about the fact that most of the apartments wouldn’t have any dining rooms… Where will they eat all of those gourmet meals they will be preparing 
? I was so excited about being able to contribute to her first apartment… all I had for my first apartment was my bed, a dresser and a bean bag chair.. no joke!
So the table is not a keeper… It turned out to be a custom paint job for a client who had some chairs, but no table so it all worked out in the end. My Aunt helped me out on this project and together we stripped, sanded and applied 3 coats of Special Walnut stain to the top. The base we painted with two coats of Duck Egg chalk paint, lightly distressed, waxed with Provence tinted wax and then buffed it. I decided to wax the top as well, so two coats of wax and a good buffing and the table was done. I really love the way a table top looks when it is waxed. Also, it is so easy to care for if something should happen to it… perfect for families with kids!
Just a tiny bit of distressing…
No Weimaraner’s were harmed during this photo shoot, so don’t let him tell you otherwise! He just likes to sleep in the sunshine… cutie!
Just check out her Cabriole legs!
Now this sounds like it was an easy project, but I had a ton of problems with the stripper. I used Citristrip, which I have used before, but something went wrong and I’m not sure what happened. First of all the stripper never really dried and was the consistency of mucus when I went to remove it… HUGE, nasty mess! Then when I went to wipe it down with mineral spirits I just couldn’t get everything off of the surface and every time I started to sand the top the sandpaper got all gunked up with crud that I couldn’t see on the table, but it was obviously there…. So I let the table top dry out for a couple of days and hand sanded the top for the first pass, then used the electric sander with 220 grit paper. Now this same problem occurred with two other table tops I was stripping the same day! Ugh! I would rather sand than use stripper… it’s a preference thing for me… so if you are reading my posts you will now know why I’m just sanding away at a top, it’s actually one of my favorite things to do when I’m refinishing a piece… just sayin’!
I’d love to hear what you think so why not leave a comment!
Thanks for stopping by!
Parties I’m Linking Up To!
Crafty, Scrappy, Happy
Miss Mustard Seed
My Romantic Home
French Country Cottage
Chic on a Shoestring
Classy Clutter
Funky Junk Interiors
Sisters of the Wild West
Between Naps on the Porch
Primitive and Proper
Coastal Charm
Restore Interiors
Domestically Speaking
Savvy Southern Style
