SunflowerHugs

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Posh Red Dressers

I have been wanting to paint something in Valspar Posh Red ever since seeing Picked & Painted redos in this color. I picked up a sample pot and mixed it into homemade chalk paint to paint this dresser. I painted the dresser with two coats of the red and started to distress it, but you really couldn't see it, so I skipped the step.

I chose to paint the top black because I didn't want it to be completely red. I had tried to sand the top down to stain, but I couldn't get it to come clean enough.

The trick with this color is to use some kind of glaze, stain or dark wax over it to make the color pop. I used Martha Stewart's Metallic Glaze in Black Coffee. I find this glaze to be very thick, but I applied it with cheese cloth and it was easier to work with.

I painted this next dresser the same color.

This piece was in deceptively poor condition. Whoever stripped it must have used a belt sander with a very low grit. All the raw wood was very rough and the top had tons of swirl marks. I don't know if they gave up stripping when it came to the drawers and side panels, but that black paint was just flaking off. I sanded the black paint as best I could and painted the entire piece with two coats of the Posh Red. Instead of using the Martha Stewart glaze, this time I covered the paint with Minwax Dark Walnut stain. I stained the top with it as well. I like this technique, but it takes a long time to dry.

The top had some visible nail holes along the sides, so I used wood filler on them. I couldn't cover it up with stain, so I painted two red stripes to hide them.

I didn't mind the swirl marks on the stained wood as there already was a lot of detail in the wood grain. I used AS dark wax only on the top and Minwax Finishing Paste on the rest of the body.

This red is a good color for my area (Eastern PA) since these pieces sold pretty quickly. I think it looks like the Amish made furniture, but I charge a lot less than they do!

Linking to:
I Should Be Mopping The Floor
Coastal Charm
Better With Age
Craft-O-Maniac
Cozy Little House
Lolly Jane
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
The Rustic Pig
Today's Creative Blog
Kammy's Korner
PJH Designs
Kathe With An E

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Secondhand Scores #9

When I was a kid my parents went to garage sales all the time. I admit I was totally embarrassed by it. I never really bothered going regularly until after I had my son. I realized I could get clothes and toys and things for him for pennies on the dollar and that is when my love for secondhand was born.

Garage sales are my favorite but I also go to flea markets, thrift stores and auctions. I am always on the hunt for furniture to paint, stuff for myself, my house, my kids and unique items that I could put to future use. I love the thrill of finding something that was once very expensive for as little money as possible.

In this series, I will share my scores to show you how much you could get for your hard earned money. Some days I hit jackpots, some days I get nothing, but I always have fun.

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Secondhand Scores #9:

It rained this past weekend so I was only able to go to two garage sales.

I scored these little measuring cups at one sale for $1. I love old school kitchen items. I have a wood cutting board that I am going to mount these on instead of the board that came with them.

I found a new indoor garage sale--or makeshift thrift shop. This couple just bought a 12,000 square foot building in town and the second and third floors used to be an old theater that they are selling used items in. The first floor is their living quarters and the fourth floor is the husband's karate studio. Pretty cool idea.

They got a lot of people because of the rain washing out most garage sales, but there wasn't a lot of stuff for my use. They did, however, have a five gallon paint bucket filled with hardware marked $.25 each.

Even though they were all the same handle, I had to get myself a bunch. As I was digging for the nicest ones, I found two French provincial handles. I scored 24 of the one style handle and the other two for $6.50 total.

It is so nice to get so many of the same style because it gives an option of changing out an entire piece's hardware instead of just the two at the top.

Linking to:
The Real Housewives of Riverton
Green Willow Pond
Not Done Growing
Southern Lovely
Mom On Timeout
DIY By Design
twelveOeight
Beyond The Picket Fence
Embracing Change
The Shabby Creek Cottage
Lamberts Lately
House of Hepworths
I Gotta Create
All Things With Purpose
Domestic Superhero
Crafty Scrappy Happy
Miss Mustard Seed
The Shabby Nest
A Peek Into My Paradise
Lovely Crafty Weekend
Redoux
Finding Fabulous
Funky Junk
I Should Be Mopping The Floor
Coastal Charm
Better With Age
Craft-O-Maniac
Cozy Little House
Lolly Jane
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
The Rustic Pig
Today's Creative Blog
Kammy's Korner
PJH Designs
Kathe With An E

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Bayberry Green Milk Paint

I was able to get a free sample of Bayberry Green SafePaint (milk paint for walls) from The Old Fashioned Milk Paint Company. The Weathered Door had a post on how she got the free sample and I immediately ordered one for myself. I was going to post a link to the page where it said you can order a free sample, but they have since taken it down and now charge for one ounce samples--sorry!

It was a eight ounce package of powder and I mixed up the entire thing because I didn't know how much I would need. Well, turns out it is a LOT of milk paint! I had to paint a bunch of things in it since the paint can't be stored for very long.

I started with this dresser.

I painted the body and drawers with two coats and did a wash on the top after I stained it. I did that because the top was not in the best condition and I needed to cover up the issues.

I sanded the entire dresser with a medium grit sanding sponge to distress and smooth the paint. The sanding brought out the wood grain in such a cool way. I waxed with Minwax Finishing Paste.

Next up was this corner shelf.

It got a rustic treatment with the color. I only painted one coat and then distressed heavily.

I waxed it with Minwax Finishing Paste and then moved onto this table that I got at the auction.

I sanded the top down and was able to stain it. Which created my favorite combo of dark stained top and green body.

This time the color was screaming Army Green to me and I wanted to add something to it that brought that out. I settled on a stripe of Valspar Posh Red across the front.

It was just the right little touch. I distressed and waxed with Minwax Finishing Paste.

I still had more paint left so I painted this little table that I had from my parents. It started out as a honey colored wood table. I painted it with two coats, distressed and waxed.

I still had paint left, but didn't use it because I ran out of time to paint that weekend. I hated to waste the paint, but to paint a dresser, shelf and two small tables with one free sample was pretty impressive.

Even though it's milk paint, it is not the type to chip, like Miss Mustard Seed's paint, because it is made for walls. The pricing is reasonable--comparable to latex, it goes on nicely (you just have to keep mixing it), dries very fast and smooth and is easy to distress. It is very different to use than homemade chalk paint, but you get used to it.

Linking to:
Dwellings
I Should be Mopping The Floors
Silver Pennies
Life On Lakeshore Drive
Classy Clutter
Homemaker On A Dime
Rain On A Tin Roof
Craft-O-Maniac
Coastal Charm
Cozy Little House
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
The Rustic Pig
Lolly Jane
Kammy's Korner
Today's Creative Blog
PJH Designs
Not Just a Housewife
Hickory Trail
Elizabeth & Co.
If It's Not Baroque
Savvy Southern Style
DIY Dreamer
Fluster Buster
The Real Housewives of Riverton
Green Willow Pond
Not Done Growing
Southern Lovely
Mom On Timeout
DIY By Design
twelveOeight
Beyond The Picket Fence
Embracing Change
The Shabby Creek Cottage
Lamberts Lately
House of Hepworths
I Gotta Create
All Things With Purpose
Domestic Superhero
Crafty Scrappy Happy
Miss Mustard Seed
The Shabby Nest
A Peek Into My Paradise
Lovely Crafty Weekend
Redoux
Finding Fabulous
Funky Junk

Featured by:
I Should Be Mopping The Floor

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Secondhand Scores #8

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Secondhand Scores #8:

Even though I planned to go to garage sales on Saturday, the flea market and a furniture auction on Sunday, I felt the need to stop by the Salvation Army Friday morning.

I am so happy I did because look what I scored for $14.99 for the pair--which is cheap for this store. The paint on the tops is peeling off and I think that is why they were priced so low and still available (the matching dressers were marked sold). I already sanded them off to be stained!

I scored all this between Saturday garage sales and the Sunday flea market.

The group of handles were $1 total.
The sand paper was $1 per pack.
The ceiling lamp was $2.

The pie plate and egg slicer were $1 each.
The little plates were $1.50 total.
The glass vase and wooden spatula were $.25 each.

Saturday I found these two tables at the curb of a neighbor's house. They are press board, but I thought since they were free I didn't need to be so picky. I can see these painted and distressed. I am also going to try to decoupage fabric or paper on the tops since they are damaged. I haven't done this before and I think it would be best to experiment on free stuff.

Finally on Sunday afternoon there was the bi-monthly furniture auction that I love to go to. Even though there was a lot of pieces being auctioned off, I didn't get anything.

Linking to:
The Real Housewives of Riverton
Southern Lovely
Fluster Buster
Green Willow Pond
Hickory Trail
All Things With Purpose
I Gotta Create
Mom On Timeout
Beyond The Picket Fence
House of Hepworths
Embracing Change
The Shabby Creek Cottage
Domestic Superhero
Bright Green Door
Crafty Scrappy Happy
Miss Mustard Seed
Liz Marie
French Country Cottage
Lovely Crafty Home
Dwellings
I Should be Mopping The Floors
Silver Pennies
Life On Lakeshore Drive
Classy Clutter
Homemaker On A Dime
Rain On A Tin Roof
Craft-O-Maniac
Coastal Charm
Cozy Little House
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
The Rustic Pig
Lolly Jane
Kammy's Korner
Today's Creative Blog
PJH Designs
Not Just a Housewife
Hickory Trail
Elizabeth & Co.
If It's Not Baroque
Savvy Southern Style
DIY Dreamer
Fluster Buster

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Assembly Line of Tables

I have become inundated with tables. I had the idea to start an assembly line of five tables to make a dent in my stash.

Here is the cast of characters. (Table five was switched in on a whim and I didn't have a before shot of it.) I sanded down all the tops and was able to stain all of them with Minwax Dark Walnut.

The first table was from the hoarder garage sale. I used a blue/grey oops color that I mixed into homemade chalk paint.

This paint is Behr Premium Plus Self-Priming Interior Flat which was also low odor, zero VOC. This paint was AMAZING! The coverage was incredible, although I am sure that is what made it hard to distress. I did do two coats, but probably could have gotten away with one. I distressed and waxed with Minwax Finishing Paste.

Since the coverage was so good, I thought this color would work great on this table and added it in.

This one only needed one coat and I distressed heavily. I used the dark wax "glaze" technique and also a little stain on the drawer detail since I was having trouble getting the wax in all the crevices. Can you believe they were both painted the same color?

I painted the next two tables that I got at this auction with Valspar Pine Green mixed into homemade chalk paint. After the three coats of paint, I distressed both and used the dark wax "glaze" technique. The green color was a little too bright for my taste and the wax toned the color down a lot.

It will be interesting to know if someone buys both or if they sell separately (I priced them the same).

I finally painted this table I got from the first auction I went to (in October) with three coats of Valspar Churchill Hotel Vanilla mixed into homemade chalk paint. I distressed it and finished it with the dark wax "glaze" to give it more depth.

Because my furniture budget per piece is pretty low, I get a lot of tables since that what usually falls into my price range. I still have quite a few to paint, but this freed up a lot of room (to buy more).

Linking to:

Dwellings

I Should Be Mopping The Floors

Craft-O-Maniac

Silver Pennies

Life On Lakeshore Drive