I love teaching furniture painting workshops and hope to start doing them again soon. One of the best parts is seeing different color combinations that people choose. Somebody asked me for inspiration yesterday on a table she just picked up and I had an idea immediately. Several years ago, somebody in the workshop we taught at Michigan State University layered white over blue and it was absolutely gorgeous!
There were so many awesome furniture makeovers from the workshop we taught at Michigan State University. Everyone did an amazing job!! I gave them a little guidance then was BLOWN AWAY by their finished pieces.
The first piece I’m sharing is this beautiful hand carved antique table
Martha had it in her shop for a while and it wasn’t getting much attention so she thought she’d take a whirl at painting it. She started out by giving it a coat of blue/gray. I typically use gray under white but I absolutely love the combo Martha did. We no longer carry CeCe Caldwell. If I were to replicate this look now, I’d use either Dollar Bill or Tarnished Platter from APC.
It was gorgeous with one quick coat!
but she was on a roll… She wanted certain areas to have more coverage with the 2nd color while still popping the details with the first. Demonstrating on her piece, I showed everyone how I do it.
Well, let me tell you ~ Martha is a quick learner! While I was going around the room helping other gals ~ she did this with a little Vintage White!
A little wet distressing and a little Clear Wax sealed the deal. Here’s a shot of the finished piece. It hasn’t been buffed yet in this photo but it’s already breath taking!!
Isn’t it AWESOME!! I don’t think she’ll have any trouble selling it now!!
Great job Martha!!
I’ll start teaching again as soon as I’m able. Right now I have my hands full dealing with cancer in my family.
To create this finish, paint your piece in a medium to dark gray. Apply a good coat of gray being sure to completely cover everything. I typically apply two thin coats so I don’t miss anything. Check out our large selection of colors here.
For the white washing, use any shade of white. I personally don’t use the super bright whites or whites that are too yellow for this application but you can use whatever you like to compliment your base color.
Water a little white paint down until it’s the consistency of milk. I also pour a blob of paint onto a plate and use this in conjunction with the other. It’s important to use a wide whispy dry-brushing brush for this application so you get random coverage otherwise you’ll completely cover the other color.
Dip brush into thinned paint and dab off on paper towel. Make LONG, strokes in the direction of the grain. While still wet, lightly dip the very tips of the bristles into the paint blob on the paint and dab so it’s not globby and thick anywhere. Again, do very long strokes all the way across the piece of furniture without lifting if possible. You’ll achieve much better results if there is hardly any paint on the brush. It’s a lot easier to add more than it is to apply it to thick and then have to wipe some off.
I recommend messing around with this on a scrap piece until you get the hang of it. I basically do this same technique for white wash, weathered wood and liming.
Create the look of Weathered Wood
Give a piece a faux lime wash
I layered a medium gray over a slate color before adding the white. I love how it looks when you use three colors.
Create a Faux Zinc like to make your pieces resemble those pieces you love in
Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware. This is requires several steps with dry time in between but I love the results. If you’re interested in how to do this, let me know and I’ll do a tutorial.
We carry a large supply of chalk and clay paints, finishes, clear coats, glazes, mica powders, wax and brushes at both our locations. Shop both our West Michigan locations seven days a week or order online HERE.
A friend recently asked me to come over and grab some of the stuff they were clearing out of their garage. I only planned on grabbing one lingerie chest but, as usual, she started packing other things in my van including two end tables. On my way out, I noticed an old bookcase and an idea popped into my mind. I took it home and quickly got to work.
This old bookcase came out of an elementary school and was very solid. It was pretty rough to the touch so I ended up doing a lot of sanding with my mouse sander to smooth things out.
While most people would see it as a horizontal bookcase, I saw a cool locker for somebody’s mudroom. After everything was sanded, I flipped it on it’s back and marked four spots to screw in the new feet.
I glued and screwed them into place. I wasn’t able to clamp the back two feet so I taped those into place and let them set up overnight.
I did a little more fine sanding by hand to smooth out the rough edges then gave everything two coats of our chalk and clay paints.
I added three vintage coat hooks to my new lockers to complete the farmhouse look then found a scrap piece of wood to make the shelf.
I am not the most patient person so accuracy is not my strong point. Instead of making a bunch of measurements, I simply laid the board up against the lockers and marked the inside and outside edges of each locker. Using a square and my miter saw, I made as many cuts as I could then used a chisel to chip out the 1″ pieces at the ends. I glued supports underneath and secured everything into place.
I’m pretty geeked that it turned out as I had envisioned. I brought it to Not So shabby where it sold before I could get many more pictures.
I’d love to know where it ended up. It’s not often than I actually create something like this and I’d love to make more of these.
Here are some other items available at our Not So Shabby location, 2975 West Shore Drive, Holland, MI 49424 (East of US31, South of Riley).
Both our locations are open 7 days a week. Shop paint at Not So Shabby in Holland or Changing Thymes – Wilson, 2900 Wilson Avenue SW, Grandville, MI 49418. Hours are listed on our website towards the bottom of the page at www.shizzle-design.com.
Save 10% on ALL items in our Shizzle booth at Changing Thymes, 2900 Wilson Ave., Grandville, MI 49418 on May 11-12. 10% applies to all items including items already on clearance.
Hop on over to my ShizzleLLC Facebook page to watch our latest challenge video creation which is pinned to the top of my page. Then please comment on that video post on Facebook on May 11th. It’s part of our DIY Boot Camp Challenge so all comments and shares will count towards our win. Laughing is permitted lol
I have a crush on antique highboys. Seriously, I’m drawn to them; they like suck me in and say “buy me, buyyyyyy me”.. So when I stumbled upon this one recently at Changing Thymes, it wanted to go home with me. It’s not that I wanted it, I needed it.
Changing Thymes on Wilson is one of the locations where I sell my paint and when I go in to stock my inventory, I usually go out the door with something else from another vendor.
Save 10% on all regularly priced merchandise in our Changing Thymes-Wilson booth this Friday & Saturday, April 20-21
Changing Thymes-Wilson Location Only
You can still get great buys at Not So Shabby and Online because there are still a lot of other quarts and sample pots of paints already on clearance and that sale will continue as long as supplies last. To get those deals, shop online HERE or at either West Michigan location including Changing Thymes at 2900 Wilson Avenue, Grandville, MI 49418 and Not So Shabby, 2975 West Shore Drive, Holland, MI 49424. Sale items online and in stores are priced as marked. On Friday and Saturday though, I believe this is the sale where they take 10% off even sale items. If not this one, then it’s next month but you’ll at least get 10% off everything April 20-21 at our Changing Thymes location.
For most of us, Easter Sunday represents a day of new beginnings, a fresh start, a clean slate. This year strikes another cord for our family; it’s not only Biblical renewal, it’s a year of many firsts because, for us, last year was a year of many lasts. Continue reading “Somewhere over the Rainbow Skies are Blue”
