BLACK CHURCH PEW - bench build

Part three of the church pew being cut in half brings me to painting the second bench. I choose black for the look of this one. 

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DRIFTWOOD FINISH ON A DINING TABLE - using annie sloan chalk paint

This is a dining table I brought back to life creating a driftwood finish for the top and beautiful dark legs on the bottom.

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BLACK MILK PAINT - used on a chest of drawers

 

BE-CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR

I wanted to working with milk paint more to see if I liked it. I had only dabbled a bit with it to this point. I decided to jump head first in to do a big black chest of drawers. Black is also a very tricky finish to get right but I tried.

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HOW I CREATED A RICH ESPRESSO FINISH - with chalk paint

BUT DOES IT COME IN BLACK?

We all know AS Chalk Paint doesn't come in black and I wanted a nice dark rich finish. I only had AS Graphite to work with, which is a flat charcoal color. How was I going to pull this off.

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BEFORE & AFTER 2012 - recaping projects

For the very last post of this year I'm sharing 20 of the most dramatic Before and Afters of 2012.

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HOW TO MAKE SUBWAY ART - reverse stencil

There are a few tutorials available around blog land showing how

to achieve a subway art look, so why am I offering another?

I wanted a certain finished look that I was not able to find

and I wanted to share some of the unique qualities that AS Chalk Paint offer in the process.

I used vinyl letters creating a reverse stencil on top of white chalk paint,

The letters were made with commercial adhesive vinyl

left over from my contractor days. (drawer liner or mac tac should work)

I used a computer program to get the size and shape I wanted

then printed them out and cut them by hand.

I only wanted the white for the letters so I washed the rest off with water.

I did not want all that extra white coming through areas that were going to be distressed.

The remaining steps I took are:

1) painted over everything with AS Graphite

2) once dry, remove the vinyl letters

3) waxed the drawer face

4) distress with sand paper

5) wax and buff to a shine

The finished project is pictured below.

You can see some of the drawers have the extra white underneath.

I found it was messy that is why I removed it but maybe you'll like it that way for your project.

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Have you stopped into firstfinds hardware store lately?

Here are just some of the switch plates available for your home.

 

 

ART DECO TURNED SHAKER - vancouver subway art dresser

How to take an Art Deco Dresser and give it a Shaker Style.

One thing that dates art deco furniture is the flush and rounded tops.

So I removed the original top and replaced it with a nice fresh pine board cut to size.

With some walnut stain, wax, and my new gloves we were off to the races.

Having a curvy kick at the bottom is common in a lot of furniture

but I removed this one to get straighter lines and offer a masculine feel.

Two final steps to help achieve the look was to add the vintage metal wheels

and simple metal knobs down both sides of the drawers.

And that's how you get a shaker look from an Art Deco Dresser.

More beauty pics can be seen on yesterday's post

Next time I'll share how I did my lettering and finish on the drawers.

VANCOUVER ART - subway art tall dresser

I've been wanting to do a true tall boy subway dresser for some time.

 

And recently a couple of my fellow blog ladies have inspired me to get moving on that project.

First up is Bliss @ Bliss Ranch with her Kodak Dresser.

http://blissranch.blogspot.ca/2012/04/my-kodak-moment.html/

  

And secondly is Suzan @ Simply Vintageous

 http://suzyq-vintagous.blogspot.ca/2012/04/my-ny-subway-dresser.html

My main inspiration started with this fabulous shaker style tallboy @ Lindauer Designs

http://www.lindauerdesigns.com/nyc-subway-sign-dresser/

But I had to do it in the VANCOUVER style,

and add what I'm calling my signature typo.

Only those who know Vancouver should be able to find the spelling mix-up,

but for the most part you read it the way you are suppose to. 

  

Next time I'll share how I transformed this mid century look into a shaker style,

in a few steps.

Let me know if you see the typo ...

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Here are some unique hardware pieces available at

FIRSTFINDS HARDWARE STORE

 

 

 

 

 

MEETING OVER COFFEE - desk and chair set

These two pieces were random finds that I redid and paired up to make a splendid set.

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TOILE UPHOLSTERY - french country wooden chairs

When the weather is nice I run ragged working outside getting all sorts of projects painted. Unfortunately not all of them get finished in order but I

have managed to get some Toile chairs finished to share with you.

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IT'S NOT OVER TILL THE FAT LADY SINGS - black harp table

I want to say this was a simple revamp I did on this recent find,

however this piece is anything but simple.

All the ladies in the shop we found this table in, had ideas of

purchasing the table themselves but agreed it was very dated in appearance.

Who wouldn't fall in love with her shape and style.

Some prep work,

A bit of primer,

A little bit of paint,

And a good polish,

has made her sing once again.

I do believe this table was made by a craftsman and is not a

production line manufactured piece making it one of a kind.

You can always follow along on 
INSTAGRAM @4_the_love_of_wood
where you get sneak peaks of what I am up to.

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Stop into FIRSTFINDS HARDWARE STORE to see all the
vintage switch plates to choose from

Firstfinds Hardware Store
  also has hundreds of vintage hardware
 pieces available for your next project.