Vintage Cane Headboard

A couple of weeks ago, I finished this gorgeous, caned headboard for the same client that I painted these night stands for.  She is creating a French provincial bedroom and she promised to share pictures when it is all put together and decorated.

When she brought in the headboard, it had a greenish-white hue.  It had a strange finish that was dry, brittle and cracking off along the top, concave parts of the headboard.  I used a flat head screwdriver to pick off the paint on the parts that were chipping and then used woodfiller to even it out.  I sanded those areas smooth and then began painting.

This headboard has graceful lines and I love the caning!

I painted the headboard with the fabulous French Linen Chalk Paint. 

I wanted the elegant details to show up but not be too sharp of a contrast, so I dry brushed white over all the graceful lines and raised design on the top.

My client wanted her headboard to be more dramatic than the night stands, which were also painted French Linen, so I decided to try Annie Sloan dark wax in a glaze form.  I mixed the dark wax about 50/50 with unscented mineral spirits to make a thin glaze.  I applied the glaze over the entire headboard, working small sections at a time, and wiping it off as I went.

I had the headboard finished at the shop waiting for my client to pick it up and several customers were extremely disappointed when I told them it was not for sale.  They all told me that it is difficult to find vintage, king headboards.  I guess I know what to look for while I am out hunting for new projects.

I love looking at this headboard!  I guess you can tell that by how many pictures I included.  I think it goes well with the muted-tone, Union Jack table Nancy just finished.  

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Annie Sloan Chalk Paint at Loot!

Nancy and I are happy to be new retail partners of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint!  We are now stocking all 29 colors of Chalk Paint and waxes at Loot!  

I know I did not blog at all last week, but we have been so busy with everything going on at Loot!  We got back from a two-day, train-the-trainer, Chalk Paint workshop last Friday night.  Then, we had to have all the paint unloaded and displayed at Loot by Saturday.

Here is Nancy, armed with her paint brush, at the intensive Chalk Paint workshop we attended last week.  The workshop was held at 3 Oaks Studio in Clovis, CA.  Vicki, who is the California Distributor of Chalk Paint, taught us so many amazing techniques in her lovely studio.

Vicki taught us new ways to use Chalk Paint and we are looking forward to sharing what we learned at our workshops at Loot. Even though we have been using Chalk Paint for several months, we still learned new, impressive techniques and hints for using the paint and waxes to achieve so many different looks.

Vicki and her husband host weddings on their amazing property during the spring and summer.  It looks like a dream location for a wedding, doesn't it?

One of the new techniques Vicki showed us was how to use the new Annie Sloan Craqueleur.  This is a sample I painted at the workshop with crackled Old White, topped with dark wax. The Craqueleur was so easy to use and created impressive results.  We are looking forward to stocking some Craqueleur at Loot in the near future.

Nancy and I are excited to be teaching our first Chalk Paint workshop at Loot tomorrow morning!

Restoration Hardware Coffee Table Update

Back when Mr. Rubbish and I were both full-time teachers and had money to spend, I bought this pricey coffee table from Restoration Hardware.  It had a dark espresso finish with lovely column legs.



Before

I was getting tired of the dark finish and all the scratches on the top.  I decided to give the table an updated look and sell it at Loot.

Here is the new look for my old table:

After

Before

This is a really rough "before" picture because I had already started sanding the finish off and there is dust all over the top, but at least you can see the old finish and all the little scratches.  When I showed Mr. Rubbish the before and after pictures of this table, he accused me of being like the plastic surgeons who use good lighting and cosmetics to enhance their "after" pictures, while taking horrible "before" pictures.  I suppose he is kind of right, but it is mostly because I am so excited to start working on a piece that I just snap some quick pictures and get right to work.

The wood underneath the dark stain has natural distressing and looks like a reclaimed, farm table top.  After sanding all the finish off of the top of the table, I used Annie Sloan clear wax to protect the wood.  A friend of mine let me borrow her electric buffer and used it to buff the wax finish, both on the table top and base.  The electric buffer hardens the wax and gives it a beautiful sheen.

Once I finished the table I fell in love with it again and I decided to keep it instead of selling it.  Many times it becomes difficult to part with pieces of furniture that I relove, and every once in a while, I give in and keep one. 

I did not want to deal with removing the dark finish from the table base, so I used French Linen Chalk Paint over the original finish.  I painted one coat, which left some of the wood grain showing through. Then, I used Annie Sloan's clear and dark waxes over the paint to give it more depth.

The wood has tiny holes all over and I am not sure if they are man-made or come from tiny worms or insects living in the tree that this table came from.  Either way, I like the character they add to the table.

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