Sunday 27 September 2015

Retro Sunday



I was so excited yesterday ! I had my G Plan E Gomme Ltd dining table delivered by courier from Southampton. I absolutely LOVE it!! The top will need sanded back (very lightly as it is veneer), and refinished with wax varnish. The base section also needed a paint so I have given it a coat of Annie Sloan Graphite this afternoon ;)
After my table arrived we drove up to a little village near Chester to collect a pine wine cupboard that I bought on ebay for myself. I plan to paint it the same colour as my big Provence dresser in the kitchen. I will show you pics next week as I forgot to take any today.
The car boot sale was a good one this morning and I bought this Stag chest of drawers. 
What a total mess someone has made of it, and it’s going to take me ages to strip off all the stickers. Someone has even gloss painted over even more stickers too :(

It needed rescuing though and I will spend time restoring it.
I also got a really quirky black metal mirror, made in Spain. Very unusual.
This afternoon I finished off the "Old White" frames I painted last week.
I gave them a second coat of paint, and once dry I used a damp cloth to rub off some of the paint to let the colour underneath show through.
Any paint that gets onto the glass can be easily scraped off with a blade. They turned out really nice, so I just have to clean up the glass and put them back together again. I will pop a little photo print in to show people what they will look like with a photograph.
Next I started this nice little project -
 I bought this cute little retro 2 drawer chest a couple of weeks ago. I took inspiration from my retro G Plan table and decided to paint it in Graphite.
 Although I do like to keep the original handles on most things, these were in poor condition and not very exciting. I found these beauties I have had for a few years, This is the project they had been waiting for.
I painted the drawers fronts in pale cream. I decided to use a spray paint as this retro piece is teak veneered and teak oil shows through the chalk paint if you are using a light colour. I applied 2 coats and couldn't wait to see what it would look like so put the drawers back in and took a couple of pics.

I love the monochrome look, and the knobs add a touch of quirkiness, which I love! I may give the black another coat before I wax and buff ready for sale.
Here's another project that has been waiting in the wings. I bought this fantastic metal Charles Rennie Mackintosh style chair over a year ago. It has been poorly painted and the seat pads in a hideous red and black flowery material.
 I removed the hideous fabric, and reupholstered in a piece of fabric I bought years ago. Isn't it funny how things eventually come together.
I covered the seat and back panel, and spray painted the metal frame in pale cream to match the fabric.


I just need to find the screws now ! Then secure the pads in place. This chair has been sitting so long in my house I am not sure if I can bear to part with it!

That's all for this week, there just never seems to be enough hours in the day.
Have a great week!!




Sunday 20 September 2015

Winter is coming!

As I told you in my last blog I am back at work full time and haven't really had time to write my blog as well as paint furniture at the weekend, so sorry I have not been around for a few weeks. I did however manage to finish the table and chairs which I am over the moon with, and they have alreay sold and have been collected :)
Here is the before picture.
I absolutely LOVE the snellen chart design fabric I found for the seat covers. I bought it on ebay !
I use Annie Sloan chalk paint for all my projects but sometimes the shades available can be a bit  restricting. Don't limit yourself to the paint chart colours as it is so easy to mix your own custom colours. I mixed Paloma, Graphite and Paris Grey to make this lovely elephant grey that coordinates so well with the fabric.
OK, so here are the photos of the different stages of restoring this table and chairs set.
Firstly, I sanded the old varnish off the table top, and made the poor decision of sanding it in the kitchen. It took me ages as there were at least 5 layers, and then it took me about the same time again to clean up all the dust!! It got everywhere!!
Next I made a start to the chairs, turning them upside down to remove the seat pads.
Next I carefully covered them with the new fabric, pulling it tight and stapling to secure.
Next, I painted all the chairs with 2 coats of the custom mixed grey paint, and once they were dry used fine sandpaper to lightly distress.
After sealing them with a coat of Annie Sloan clear wax, I then replacd the seat pads, which are held in place with 4 long screws into the base. Here are the before and after pics of the chair.
BEFORE
AFTER
Quite a transformation. I LOVE them, and they look fantastic in my kitchen, and I might have kept them for myself if I had not just bought myself 4 more modern dining chairs. (I will tell about them later). Next I gave the table top 4 coats of wax varnish, and painted and waxed the pedestal in the same grey to match the chairs.
The lady that bought the set asked me if I would mind painting the edge of the table too, so I did that last night, and waxed it this morning before her son collected it this afternoon. She also bought a couple of small tables from me, including this clock table which I would have like to have kept for my own house but I just didn't have a good place to put it.
So, about my new dining chairs. I took a mad notion to change my dining room furniture, and listed it on ebay a few weeks ago. It sold immediately and was collected the same day! I had been looking for something a bit more modern/retro and came across the new chairs in an ebay auction. The bidding was starting at £40, and luckily nobody else bid on them so I got them for £40. We did have to drive up to Stockport near Manchester to pick them up though, but it was worth it.
I found out they were originally from an office furniture company in Macclesfield and when I contacted them to ask the price I found out that they cost £213 each!! So new the set would cost me £842!! My next task was to find a table to go with them, and I wanted something different. I spent hours on ebay and must have looked at thousands of tables! Then I saw this one and fell in love!! It is an original G Plan table manufactured by E Gomme Ltd of High Wycombe in the 50/60s.

My only problem was how I was going to collect it from Portsmouth, over 200 miles away!! I contacted the seller and she was happy for me to arrange a courier, and I managed to get the table for £30!! The courier cost me another £60 making it a total of £90, and as I managed to get £135 for my old furniture I have replaced it for the same price, which is nice :)
Once I get it I will sand the top down and possible paint the legs etc. Will post pics once it arrives.
I also sold this black table this week, and the retro dressing table was sold and couriered to London last week, so my workshop is almost clear now giving me tons of space.
The car boot sales are starting to wind down now for the winter, but the weather was lovely this morning and we went to one at Weston, near Crewe and got some really nice things, no furniture though ;( as it was all too expensive.
Not sure what I will do with them, but the old Monopoly and Cluedo games are so cool I couldn't resist at £1.50 each!
 These little hooks will be painted and decoupaged with Alice in Wonderland illustrations.
 and I couldn't resist this shabby chic metal wall hanging chalk board for £1.
Got quite a few frames today, and went a bit mad frame painting when I got home!!
I would like to have got more done today, but the light is starting to fade now around 6pm, which is a shame, as during the summer I can work till around 9 at the weekends.
Busy week again at work (full time), but it will give me time to think about what to do next in the workshop ;) Oh, forgot to show you these two walnut bedside cabinets I bought on ebay this week.
and another project waiting in the wings is this lovely dresser I bought from a charity warehouse a couple of weeks ago. It is a cracker, and I can't wait to see it all painted up. Just need to decide on a colour, so if you have any ideas drop me a comment :)
Hopefully find time to blog again next Sunday, so see you then, and have a good week !