Sharing a quick blog post on a little red dresser that I started almost a year ago. I finally pulled it off the back burner to finish it. I chose American Paint Company’s Firework’s Red for this antique piece using random brush strokes to build texture.
Yes, I literally finished this one in the office.
I mixed up a custom glaze using brown and black to accentuate the texture and deepen the color.
I love the color of the glass drawer pulls. I’ve always love this color gemstone too.
I rolled her on off to our Not So Shabby location in Holland, Michigan where she’s looking for a new owner.
Several years ago, I purchased a beautiful antique bow front mahogany highboy. I wasn’t sure how I wanted to paint it so I set it aside for a while until I came up with an idea. I took it to Not So Shabby and it sold right away.
Fast forward to a few months ago. I was stocking paint at that same location and needed a screw driver. I ran back to grab one when I got a glimpse of a nice dresser in one of the other vendor’s booths. My first thought was ~ wow, that’s a really cool piece!
I popped in and out of the storage room and went whizzing back up front when a 2nd glance stopped me dead in my tracks. I was like whaaa? I was like huh?? No wonder it caught my attention, it was my piece. Well, not really ~ I didn’t own it anymore ~ but it was my artistic flare, my idea, my design.
I had originally painted it in CeCe Caldwell’s Vermont Slate. The VS appeared more blue than I remembered but the drawers still looked great. The strange thing was how beat up the legs were, almost as though someone dragged it across a sidewalk. There was also a teeny wear mark on the top that bugged me. How did that happen? Where had this dresser been? Did that vendor buy it from me the first time or did someone buy it and then move out-of-town and sell it?
It was priced lower than what a solid mahogany bow front dresser goes for in this area at and all it needed was a little TLC so I bought it back to do a quick flip. Yeah, right ~ like that ever happens.
I was JUST going to fix that TINY LITTLE spot on the top but before I knew it, I had slathered a thick coat of stripper all over the top. You know, for that tiny spot the size of pea. The ad rep. never noticed the thick, green, gooey gel on the highboy before she landed her purse and 3 ring binder on top of it. OOPS!
That was a real joy to clean up. I eventually got back to the dresser and finish stripping the top.
Wow, what beautiful Mahogany!
I also HAD to repaint the entire body of the piece to give it a more rich color and to repair the scrapes on the legs. Easy right? Right! As long as you’re in a workshop working without interruptions.
That seldom happens in our studio. Between paint deliveries, paint shipments, customers, phone calls, emails…, there’s rarely a solid chunk of time to work on a piece. I stopped and started this dresser about seven times but because days and weeks lapsed in between, I kept forgetting which color I had used. Lincoln’s Hat, Cannonball, Freedom Road, a mis-tint of Freedom Road…
Freedom Road ~ Cannonball ~ Gun Powder
I kept messing with it until I had everything the way I wanted. I don’t think there was a part I didn’t touch.
I waxed everything with except the top which I sealed with American Paint Company’s Hard Coat. I prefer to apply Hard Coat with a sponge, but on this particular piece, I wanted to imitate the cross hatch marks on the front so I brushed it on in both directions to create linen weave. Did I take a picture of that. Ummm, nope ~ guess not.
It’s all fixed up and ready for its new owner. I loved this piece the first time. I love it even more now and if for any reason it doesn’t sell, it will fit perfectly at the top of our staircase :D.
It’s just the two of us: My sister and I own and operate Shizzle Design which originated in my garage. We have and will continue to work hard, God willing, to provide you with the best service we can because to be honest, it’s a fine line between feast or famine when you’re in our line of work.
We specialize in painting furniture and are truly humbled to be known as a leader in the world of chalk and clay paints. Stop in for paint and we’ll offer you honest and knowledgeable answers for all your chalk and clay paint needs.
We are not paid employees of any paint company, we simply retail the paints? It typically takes me about 10 hours to publish one of my blog posts. Everything from shooting the photographs, writing the content, editing, cropping… is given freely. The only way we make money is if someone purchases paint, workshops or painted furniture from us.
We are blessed to teach people from all over the U.S. Join us for a super fun hands-on chalk and clay paint workshop in a casual & fun atmosphere. For a list of current classes, click here.
Subscribe to our weekly blog posts for tips, tutorials, ideas & painted furniture inspiration. Enter your email in the right hand column of our blog to stay in the loop.
Like our ShizzleLLC Facebook Page Be sure to click the down arrow to “get notifications”. You’ll see a lot more posts if you leave comments and share our posts. We are at the mercy of Facebook. On average, FB only “serves” our posts to about 20 people out of 6,000 people who’ve liked our page. Sad but true. The more you comment and share our comments, the higher your chance of getting our posts. We share what we’re working on EVERY single DAY so you’ll usually find out about new classes, new products, new furniture, sales… if you follow us there.
Purchase our painted furniture at our Shizzle Design Paint Studio 2018 Chicago Dr., Jenison, MI 49428 or Not So Shabby at 2975 West Shore Drive in Holland, Michigan.
Buy Paint Shop our large inventory of chalk and clay paint and supplies on our Online Shizzle Shop or at our West Michigan LOCATIONS.
The fact that I love creating unique finishes on my painted furniture is not a secret. With so many people in West Michigan painting furniture, I really strive to create pieces that stand out. I’ve never really followed the beaten path anyway.
One of the things I love American Paint Company is that their products can be used in so many different applications. They have some of the neatest things to help DIY’ers develop There are so many fun products that my creativity is on fire.
Here’s a picture of the table before the applying the grit.
A friend of mine brought over a cool drum table she had painted and asked me to do my magic on finishing it ~ lol! She’s too funny ~ she’s the artist. She can paint… pictures ~ I just do the easy part. Laurie had painted a really cool clock face on the table top and I wanted to add a little more depth to create a more vintage feel. If you like this table, you can re-create it using: Dollar Bill, Home Plate and Gun Powder.
I lightly pounced my brush into some American Grit and then knocked off the excess by tapping on the edge of the jar.
American Grit adds another level of depth to a waxed finish. Make sure your wax is still wet so the dust has something to grab onto.
For this table, I used American Paint Company’s Dark Wax. It’s a great wax. Straight out of the can, APC’s Dark Wax will change the final color of your paint so do a test area on a scrap piece of wood…
I use it straight out of the container when I’m painting with dark and highly pigmented colors. Absolutely LOVE it! On medium colors, I prefer to mix it with Clear Wax. Why you ask? I do this so I have better control over how dramatic the color change is. The more Clear Wax added, the more sheer the antiquing will be. Does that make sense? I personally stick with Clear Wax when painting pastels or whites.
Laurie had already sealed it the paint with a clear coat but we noticed a few areas where the original mahogany stain had bled through the finish. Feathering in some dark wax is a great solution to the problem.
Create this kind of dimension with American Paint Company’s Dark Wax & American Grit
I applied a thin coat of Dark Wax feathering it out so it was smooth and even then pounced on American Grit, working it in to various locations until it looked the way I wanted.
To apply American Grit, pounce it around and work it into the wax. It’s such a fine make-up grade quality that it essentially becomes part of the wax.
I LOVE how it gets into all the texture!
Isn’t it cool how it picks up so many variations?
Thanks for stopping by!
Feel free to share, pin, like and comment below
A hui hou ~ Shelly
For more Chalk & Clay Painted Furniture ideas, tips, tutorials & inspiration, subscribe to our monthly newsletter
I only caught a few shots of this little princess before she left the building.
She was already a beauty when I purchased her. The finish had really yellowed over time and she needed a little boost.
Before
I base coated the entire piece in American Paint Company’s Freedom Road then painted everything, except the top with Cameo, a limited edition color which has just been retired. Cameo is a very subtle, pale pink. I have to admit, I’m not a pastel person, but my friend kept hounding me to do this piece in that color so I finally gave in and painted the dang thing in pink just to shut her up ~ lol.
It actually is a very, pretty pink. It’s so subtle, that most people who strolled in while I was working on it, assumed it was a vintage white.
We may still have a few pints left of Cameo. If you’re interested; click here.
It was hot the day I painted this and the paint was drying faster than I could spread it on. I should have watered it down more than I did but I was too busy talking. Well if you know me; brush strokes drive me bonkers so when it came time to distress, I decided to use my sander. I use that brush as a little feather duster when I’m sanding. I usually wet distress, but when I do sand, I like to brush the dust away so I can see how far I’ve distressed.
Distressing back to the base color
This is the best overall shot I could get before she sold
Here’s the close ups
One of my awesome customers asked me what I meant when I mentioned I used cross-hatched brush strokes on the top so I shot one of my quirky videos to show her.
It was so cool to hear from the gal who bought this. She picked it up from our booth at Not So Shabby and once she got home, she contacted me to see if I could paint a twin size bed to coordinate with it. She said there is no hurry since her little princess is only 4 months old 🙂
Looking forward to finding the perfect bed to match!
Thanks for stopping by!
Feel free to share, pin, like and comment below
A hui hou ~ Shelly
For more Chalk & Clay Painted Furniture ideas, tips, tutorials & inspiration, subscribe to our monthly newsletter
It’s just the two of us: My sister and I own and operate Shizzle Design which originated in my garage. We have and will continue to work hard, God willing, to provide you with the best service we can because to be honest, it’s a fine line between feast or famine when you’re in our line of work.
We specialize in painting furniture and are truly humbled to be known as a leader in the world of chalk and clay paints. Stop in for paint and we’ll offer you honest and knowledgeable answers for all your chalk and clay paint needs.
We are not paid employees of any paint company, we simply retail the paints? It typically takes me about 10 hours to publish one of my blog posts. Everything from shooting the photographs, writing the content, editing, cropping… is given freely. The only way we make money is if someone purchases paint, workshops or painted furniture from us.
We are blessed to teach people from all over the U.S. Join us for a super fun hands-on chalk and clay paint workshop in a casual & fun atmosphere. For a list of current classes, click here.
Subscribe to our weekly blog posts for tips, tutorials, ideas & painted furniture inspiration. Enter your email in the right hand column of our blog to stay in the loop.
Like our ShizzleLLC Facebook Page Be sure to click the down arrow to “get notifications”. You’ll see a lot more posts if you leave comments and share our posts. We are at the mercy of Facebook. On average, FB only “serves” our posts to about 20 people out of 6,000 people who’ve liked our page. Sad but true. The more you comment and share our comments, the higher your chance of getting our posts. We share what we’re working on EVERY single DAY so you’ll usually find out about new classes, new products, new furniture, sales… if you follow us there.
Purchase our painted furniture at our Shizzle Design Paint Studio 2018 Chicago Dr., Jenison, MI 49428 or Not So Shabby at 2975 West Shore Drive in Holland, Michigan.
Buy Paint Shop our large inventory of chalk and clay paint and supplies on our Online Shizzle Shop or at our West Michigan LOCATIONS.
I’ll never forget the sparkle in my dad’s eyes when he’d open one of my handmade cards. It meant so much to him that his little girl took the time to create something from the heart. He told me time and time again how they were far better than any other gift that could be purchased in a store.
Apparently that planted a seed
because my entire life,
I’ve treasured hand crafted items
From a very young age, my brother, sister and I were inspired to make something out of nothing.
This is my sister Cathy some time back in the 70’s. While every other kid on the block was building a snowman, Cathy came up with this! Seriously, she was way ahead of the game!
Think Outside the Box!
The neatest thing about creating your own gifts is the flexibility to customize it. Any space, personality or style can be built into the design. Here are some of my own creations for inspiration.
An easy and functional gift you can make is a a simple coat rack. I love to give these as house warming gifts and wedding presents. Creating things with hooks is an obsession that started years ago with addition of one simple hook.
Just One Hook ~ That’s All It Took
My family prefers hooks over hangers. Apparently we’re just far too lazy, I mean busy ;), to open the closet door and put our coats onto hangers. Since our entry closet wasn’t used for it’s intended purpose, I turned that into a pantry which was a much better use of space for our 100 year old Craftsman style home ~ but what about all those coats?
Well hooks of course! I wanted something that matched the character of our 100 year old home and stumbled upon the perfect hooks at Hobby Lobby. This was probably twelve years ago, but the hooks are still one of my favorite things in our house.
For our Family, Hooks are the Way to Go!
Don’t have an open staircase? No worries, use an entry wall. All you need is a piece of wood and some hooks and you’re on your way to a cool and function drop zone.
Create your own Custom Coat Rack
I painted, dry-brushed & distressed this piece of wood, Shizzle Style, using chalk/clay paints.
Ready to give it a try?
Awesome!!
Just hunt through your garage & find something you can use as a base!
For a more rustic look, use a piece of barn wood. It needs to be strong but not too thick and long enough to fit your space.
Once you find a piece, measure out the right size for your entryway, bathroom… then lop it off with a miter saw. WhAAAAAt? You’ve never used a miter saw? but but but, they’re so much fun to use!!
Here’s a quick video to show you how easy it is to use a miter saw
If you’re not comfortable using a saw, then by all means, go to Home Depot and choose a piece from their leftover bin. They’ll even cut it to length for you. See, you’re all set, now you just need your hooks. These are cool because all you need to do is screw them in.
My sister Cathy and I are fortunate in that we paint furniture for a living. That means we end up with off all sorts of leftover hardware. We also end up with leftover pieces of furniture. Everything is up for grabs at Shizzle Design!
Take this small headboard for instance. To me, it looked like the perfect focal point for someone’s mudroom so I started playing around with ideas.
The way I save pictures has evolved so much over the years. My boxes upon boxes of photos have been replaced with sharing them online. I no longer have to spend hours meticulously putting together one scrapbook because I can bust out a much more professional, long lasting & high quality picture books quickly and easily by downloading my pictures to Shutterfly.
Create Awesome Picture Books on Shutterfly!
It’s still fun though to create cool picture displays for our home. I made this photo display with a piece of reclaimed barn wood, some thrift store picture frames, belts and miscellaneous drawer pulls.
Create a One-of-a-Kind Picture Hanging Display Board
It’s important to me that my pieces are unique so the random picture frames and knobs work well for my personal design taste. I use our paints and finishes to turn the miscellaneous frames into a one-of-a-king pieces of art. The frames were layered in colors, dry-brushed then wet-distressed using a damp rag. Within minutes, I had all the frames painted and distressed as if they had weathered naturally throughout the years. Gotta love that!
Since you can basically hang anything from a piece of wood, why stop there? One of my all time favorite pieces was made out of parts of old furniture. All I had to do was add the pulls and do a little dry-brushing to tie it all together. I love the architectural interest of this one, with function to boot!
Create a Bling Thing ~ Shizzle Style
The perfect gift for the girl who loves her bling!
Nothing’s off limits at Shizzle Design. A few years ago, I scored a large, solid wood door which came out of an old hospital in Kalamazoo, Michigan. I loved the vintage Fire Escape that was on it, we just cleaned it up and added one of my favorite hooks to create a unique architectural piece.
Why stop with hooks and drawer pulls?
I found a bunch of these on trip to the World’s Longest Yard Sale
and turned them into Unique Coat Racks
This was BIG ~ Over 5′ wide
The colors in this belt inspired my latest picture display
I started the design process by laying out some ideas
I kept messing with it on and off and thought was finished…
Now that I see the pictures side by side, I think the center frame should be changed back to a piece of barn wood.
What do you think?
A hui hou ~ Shelly
For more inspiration and Painted Furniture Makeovers, Click on Portfolio at the top of our website
We just received our first small shipment of new American Home Collection colors from American Paint Company. We received our pint size cans cans and will be getting sample size pots some time after the new year.
Don’t forget about our Special Workshop Series going on Nov 14 & 15
Three classes from Intro to painting with chalk & clay paints to more advanced techniques teaching two of our favorite finishes and create & take paint parties. Read all about them here.
At each location, vendors have stocked their booths with their very best merchandise, holiday gifts, treasures and unique finds. I will be at Not So Shabby Friday night to get a jump-start on my Christmas shopping.
****We are offering****
20% off
All furniture and home decor in our booth at Not So Shabby!!
Two Days Only ~ Friday, Nov 7 & Saturday, Nov 8
Friday and Saturday ONLY!
Take 20% off…
Holiday Decor is Priced to sell!
Christmas Gift Sets
Christmas Decor
A realy cool piece of Vintage Ceiling Tile repurposed into Art
(sorry about the blurry picture)
Awesome hand painted Merchantile Sign …
I’m tempted to go back to grab this because I LOVE this piece!
We’re also bringing in a lot of Christmas decor and are still working on hand-made gifts as well as paint specials and wax kits. Stop in and say HI!
Don’t forget about our Special Workshop Series going on Nov 14 & 15
Three classes from Intro to painting with chalk & clay paints to more advanced techniques teaching two of our favorite finishes and create & take paint parties. Read all about them here.
Shizzle Design is a small family owned business in Jenison, Michigan. My sister Cathy and I work, paint, ship and teach our chalk and clay paint workshops out of the same space where we paint all our furniture. We are truly humbled to be known as a leader in the world of chalk and clay paints.
Cathy and I empower DIY’ers by sharing our years of experience. Stop in for paint and we’ll offer you honest and knowledgeable answers for all your chalk and clay paint needs.
Did you know we are not paid employees of American Paint Company? It typically takes me 10 hours to publish one of my blog posts. Everything from shooting the photographs, writing the content, editing, cropping… is given freely. The only way we make money is if someone purchases paint, workshops or painted furniture from us. If you enjoy the information you get in our website, please share and let us know.
We are so blessed to have taught people from all over the United States and Canada. Join us for one of our super fun hands-on chalk and clay paint workshops. Learn in our casual & relaxed environment. Click Paint Workshops to see a list of current classes offered.
Subscribe to Shizzle Design for tips, tutorials, ideas, pictures, videos for our furniture painted in all natural chalk and clay based mineral paints.
Did you know that you can get these sent directly to your inbox and that it’s FREE? It is ~ what are you waiting for? Enter your email in the right hand column of our blog to stay in the loop.
We have a Shizzle Design Facebook Page. We share all sorts tips, ideas, photos EVERY DAY and offer special deals (which you’ll only know about if you’ve Liked our Facebook Page).
Pin our posts on Pinterest ~ Find all sorts of inspiration here.
Shizzle Design is an Authorized Retailer for American Paint Company Paints. We offer a large inventory of chalk and clay paint and supplies at our Shizzle Design Paint Shop /Studio, 2018 Chicago Drive, Jenison, MI 49428. We also stock several other shops in the greater Grand Rapid’s area, to find out where, click LOCATIONS. Not from Michigan? No worries, we ship paint and paint supplies worldwide through our Online Shizzle Shop.
Cathy and I always look forward to seeing the transformations that come out of our furniture painting workshops and September was no exception. While I missed most of the before pictures, I caught most in the process. Some pieces that were brought in were larger than the limit so those had to be finished at home. I’ll post photos of those pieces if they’re forwarded to me with permission to post as soon as I get them.
Please note, sofa tables are too large for a five hour workshop. Most students end up having to purchase more paint when they do these and typically run out of time to complete it during class. Our hope is always that we can walk you through each of the steps including waxing and buffing. We are here to answer your questions. Please call or email us with any questions you may have.
Isn’t this gorgeous?
She plans to finish the top with Wild Horses and Dark Wax. I can’t wait to see the finished piece! It was looking so cool even before it was waxed!
Mrs. Bond’s husband also did an awesome job on his table.
He painted it in Wild Horses, layered over that with Beach Glass then sealed it all with a mixture of both Clear & Dark Wax.
She layered over it with American Paint Company’s Beach Glass.
Look at the results! How COOL it this?
I love how she distressed her chair. Wet distressing all over like this gives your piece such a buttery smooth finish, you won’t be able to stop touching it. Ok, maybe that’s just me :D. She also buffed this to the most beautiful sheen!
This blue Tea Cart was originally painted in a shiny pale blue paint. It was given a base coat of APC’s Wild Horses
Navajo White was layered over the brown everywhere except the top. This piece was painted to use for the cake stand at her daughter’s wedding. How cool is that? She was able to get everything painted and distressed during class but had to take it home to apply the topcoat and black glaze (over the brown top). I think she clear waxed all the white.
Jen brought her mom to the workshop to celebrate her birthday
They had to jet off to the Birthday Party so Jen was kind enough to send me finished pictures of her table.
I have more makeovers to share but I need to get some sleep. I’ll share the rest of the makeovers next week.
Please note… Some of the colors used in this workshop have just been retired. This means the warehouse isn’t making any more of those colors so we cannot order more. Colors are going fast!!
HUGE PAINT SALE GOING ON NOW!!
Stock up now by stopping into our Jenison Studio or order online while supplies last at Online Shizzle Shop !
American Paint Company prides themselves in making the healthiest paint available for the DIY furniture painter while staying on trend with the home decor market. With the addition of the new chalk & clay colors from American Home, American Paint Company is retiring 15 older colors. They are also moving eight of the pint size Ellis Collection colors to the main line which means those 8 colors will be available in quarts & samples and the pint sizes will be phased out. The other four have been retired and are on sale now here.
American Home’s Limited Edition Colors include 12 new trend colors are now avilable in pint size cans. Sample size pots will also be available some time in 2015. We have not received an official release date of those.
Pre-order new colors now HERE. Pay nothing until they arrive some time in November 2014.
When pre-ordering be sure to include: your name, shipping address, email address & phone number so I can set those colors aside for you then contact you when they arrive. You won’t be invoiced for pre-orders until we have them in stock (late October/early November). If you live in the greater Grand Rapid’s area, leave the same info then let me know you’ll be picking pick them up at our Jenison Studio.
Shizzle Design is a small family owned business in Jenison, Michigan. My sister Cathy and I work, paint, ship and teach our chalk and clay paint workshops out of the same space where we paint all our furniture. We are truly humbled to be known as a leader in the world of chalk and clay paints.
Cathy and I empower DIY’ers by sharing our years of experience. Stop in for paint and we’ll offer you honest and knowledgeable answers for all your chalk and clay paint needs.
Did you know we are not paid employees of American Paint Company? It typically takes me 10 hours to publish one of my blog posts. Everything from shooting the photographs, writing the content, editing, cropping… is given freely. The only way we make money is if someone purchases paint, workshops or painted furniture from us. If you enjoy the information you get in our website, please share and let us know.
We are so blessed to have taught people from all over the United States and Canada. Join us for one of our super fun hands-on chalk and clay paint workshops. Learn in our casual & relaxed environment. Click Paint Workshops to see a list of current classes offered.
Subscribe to Shizzle Design for tips, tutorials, ideas, pictures, videos for our furniture painted in all natural chalk and clay based mineral paints.
Did you know that you can get these sent directly to your inbox and that it’s FREE? It is ~ what are you waiting for? Enter your email in the right hand column of our blog to stay in the loop.
We have a Shizzle Design Facebook Page. We share all sorts tips, ideas, photos EVERY DAY and offer special deals (which you’ll only know about if you’ve Liked our Facebook Page).
Pin our posts on Pinterest ~ Find all sorts of inspiration here.
Shizzle Design is an Authorized Retailer for American Paint Company Paints. We offer a large inventory of chalk and clay paint and supplies at our Shizzle Design Paint Shop /Studio, 2018 Chicago Drive, Jenison, MI 49428. We also stock several other shops in the greater Grand Rapid’s area, to find out where, click LOCATIONS. Not from Michigan? No worries, we ship paint and paint supplies worldwide through our Online Shizzle Shop.
For more Chalk & Clay Painted Furniture ideas, tips, tutorials & inspiration, click:
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