Old Favourite - Old White

Very excited this weekend to show you how the little hall table turned out. I am so pleased with it, and can't wait to see it in the hallway of our new house. It started off like this.........

and now for the finished piece.

I love how the colour (Provence) has turned out. I firstly gave it a coat of clear wax, then before it dried applied a light coat of dark trying to make it a bit uneven.

It looks like it has been sitting around in some French house for years, slowly ageing. I only started using the Annie Sloan Dark Wax last year, and every time I use it I love it a little more. Can't wait to try a crackle glaze finish and accentuate the cracks with the dark wax!

Remember this old bedside cabinet from last week with the damaged veneer that had to be removed? Well I gave it a coat of the new Annie Sloan ENGLISH YELLOW chalk paint. 

It was quite difficult to cover the dark wood colour. I can usually get away with one or two coats, but this one will probably need a third coat.

Each coat I added made the colour deeper and more vibrant, but I have used about a quarter of a tin of paint on this piece, quite a lot for such a small cupboard. I should get this one finished next week, and will let you see in next Sunday's blog ;0)

Next I masked off another nice mirror I brought in from the shed last week.

Decided to go back to my old favourite OLD WHITE after all the crazy colours I have been using recently. This one will need a couple of coats, then I will distress to show off the nice carving detail

I took the picture above to show you how sometimes some of the oil from the wood seeps through the paint. There are a couple of ways you can get round this. Adding another layer of paint just doesn't work. That was the first thing I tried when I had this problem with a chest of drawers I was painting white. One way to seal the oil in is to spray with a clear varnish before continuing with a second coat. The second way is to wax over the affected areas before repainting. I have chosen the wax method for this mirror as I am not sure where I have put my spray varnish. I will post pics of the finished project next weekend.

While I had the Old White paint on my brush I decided to paint the second of the three beech chairs. It has had one coat of paint, and I will add a second coat next weekend.

Once painted I popped it down near the door to dry, right next to the little painted table that one of my friends gave me last year. I noticed that the curve on the chair leg was almost identical to the curve on the table legs, so I made the quick decision to paint the table white also!!

Something felt very wrong about painting over the beautiful hand painted roses, but I still think I made the right decision, and I think this table will look amazing teamed with the beech chair.

I will give you an update on this one next Sunday.
I bought a couple of big mirrors on ebay today and picked them up this afternoon. Only paid £10 for both, and still deciding whether to paint them, I quite like them the way they are.

Busy week at work this week, and it's my husband's 40th Birthday on Wednesday. 

Hope you have a good week, and please leave a comment. I would love to hear from you!

Celica Number 3 !

Well, what a week!! Forgot to tell you that I was involved in a car crash a couple of weeks ago. Stupid young girl cut across in front of me and bashed the front of my car in. At first the insurance company said they would have it repaired, but when it went in to the body shop for an estimate changed their minds as it was going to be too expensive, and have now written it off. They only told me on Thursday, so I had to find a replacement car quickly.

So I spent Thursday evening on Autotrader and Ebay Motors, and managed to find another T Sport, one year older, but lower mileage. Picked it up yesterday :0) This is the 3rd Celica I have owned, they are brilliant cars! My first one was a 1996 Japanese import.

I really liked the shape of this one. My second was a 2004 T Sport in Thunder Grey

and this is the one I picked up yesterday. It's a 2003 T Sport

Thankfully the payout from the insurance covered the cost of the new car, and the increase in my insurance policy. I drove it back from Manchester yesterday, and it seems fine, but will get my mechanic to check it over for me ;0)

Had a nice long lie this morning then got to work on my painting. Firstly I finished off the gold edged mirror.

I lightly sanded so that some of the original gold paint could be seen, then stripped off the masking tape and gave it a good clean. Currently hanging in my hall, I am not sure whether to keep this one for the new house. I will hang onto it until I make up my mind, as I have a few mirrors in the shed ready for painting

 Next, I finished off painting the PROVENCE hall table. The top needed a second coat, and I touched up here and there where I had missed. I had seen a sideboard on pinterest that had been painted with the same colour, then sealed and aged with dark wax. I loved the colour that resulted so decided to give it a go. Here is the drawer before....

and after. I firstly applied a coat of clear wax, then rubbed in dark wax until I liked the shade.

I has painted over the handles, so sanded back so some of the metal would show through. I then rubbed on some gold rub, which is wax based, and once dry buffs up just like the Annie Sloan wax

I am so happy with the texture and colour that I ended up with. Can't wait to see this piece completed. I will finish it off next weekend and let you see. This one is a keeper and will take pride of place in the hallway of our new house :0)

Next, I finished off the chunky pine chair. I had given it one coat of PARIS GREY last week, and as I quite like to see the pine through the paint in places decided not to give it a second coat. Once it was dry I lightly distressed and sealed with clear wax.

This chair is now listed on ebay.

I am slowly working my way through the pieces of furniture still in the shed. My next project is a cute little bedside cabinet. I brought it up from the shed and as I was cleaning it off ready to start painting I notice that the veneer had bubbled and was lifting. This must have been caused by dampness where it was stored. Only thing for it was to strip the damaged veneer off.

With a little help from my wonderful husband, the side and front cupboard door were stripped off.

I have not decided what colour to paint this one yet, and also whether to change the unusual old handle that was on it. 

Tune in next week to find out!

Upside Down You're Turning Me!

Well, what a whirlwind of a week we have had! A property came into our price range that was previously too expensive for us. It had been dropped by £10,000 in the space of 4 weeks, so we just had to go and see it! It is a large extended 4 bedroom detached house with a lovely back garden and conservatory. 

We viewed on Wednesday evening, and our offer was accepted on Friday :0) We are just keeping our fingers crossed that everything goes through smoothly now, and will not relax until we have the keys in our hands!

No car boot sale this morning as it was freezing cold! We decided to have a day at home, staying cosy. I carried on with the projects I started last weekend. The nice white nest of tables sold through the week, but the GRAPHITE chair is yet to sell. I painted a second coat of PROVENCE on the hall table, and will finish it off next weekend.

I have a few old mirrors in the shed so chose a nice oval one to paint with Annie Sloan Paris Grey

It has really ornately detailed  frame, and a nice chunky bevel edged mirror

I started off by masking off the edge of the mirror with masking tape. The best way to do this if you have a curve is to tear it into small pieces, as in the pic below. Any paint that does get onto the mirror can be easily scraped off, that's one of the advantages of using chalk paint.

I gave it one coat of paint, and used the brush in a stippling motion to get into all the nooks and crannies.

Once the paint has dried, I will sand it back to let some of the gold shine through. Might hang on to this one for the new house

I will show you the finished mirror next week. 

I had painted everything I had looked out of the shed last weekend, so I went down to see what else there was. I still have a set of 6 dining chairs, a further 4 chairs of different styles, a bedside cabinet, and something else right in at the back that I can't get into to see! I chose a nice pine chair and managed to get a coat of Paris Grey on before the sun started to go down (at 4pm)

Always remember to turn your project upside down first, it's too easy to miss parts if you don't ;-)

I really like it in this shade, quite Scandinavian looking. Once it has dried I will decide whether I want to add a second coat, or go for a more washed effect.

Just wish there were more daylight hours. I hate having to down tools at 4pm when there is so much more I could do. The good thing about our next house is that I will have a room inside the house for a workshop so I can paint whenever I like :0)

Finally today I would just like to wish my big sister a very Happy Birthday! She is spending it in Paris (maybe that was why I chose to use Paris Grey today?) and will be going out for a special meal tonight at one of her favourite restaurants there. 

Happy Birthday Jo!!

A Day in Provence !

Well, we got up last Sunday and headed out to Hanley Car Boot sale, but it was closed. We were so disappointed and we hadn't been for months! Never mind, we will catch one soon. It gave me longer to get on with painting my furniture, and I got quite a lot done. here is the wooden chair before painting.

 I also wanted to add a little something extra, and had been dying to try out a new stencil I bought last year. I mixed a little of the GRAPHITE with some OLD WHITE to make a nice shade of grey that would tone in with the chair colour.

And here is the finished one! A coat of Annie Sloan GRAPHITE, which I think really suits the style of the chair.

I then added a coat of wax and polished to a nice soft sheen. I love it, and yet again I am having trouble parting with it as I think it could look great in our new house (wherever we end up). ;0)

Yesterday I finished off the nest of tables and have taken a photo to list them on ebay. I also finished the two shelf units, the little spice rack and the curtain hold backs.

Today I couldn't wait to crack open the PROVENCE paint, and found the perfect project at the back of the shed. I picked this lovely little hall table up at the Nantwich Car Boot sale last summer and have been dying to paint it!! I love the shape of the top and the little drawer.

First things first, I turned it upside down on top of an old painting sheet, then started with the legs.

The paint was still showing through a bit after one coat so I will need two coats on this one. 

and I decided to paint the inside of the drawer in the same colour to give it a  nice finish. I might also line the drawer with some coordinating paper.

I really like this shade, and might use some dark wax to bring out the detail and dull the colour down slightly.

I had to stop painting around 4pm as the light was fading, so frustrating when I just want to get on and do more. In the next house I will make sure I am not restricted by daylight and will set up my workshop somewhere like an integrated garage, or spare room inside the house. 

Next weekend I will try and finish off the hall table, and I will start painting a nice gold edged oval mirror, and another chair maybe in my new ENGLISH YELLOW !

Have a great week!!