French Provincial Hutch with Chicken Wire

I recently came across this french provincial hutch at a yard sale.  I can never pass on a frenchy piece, so this one came back to the shop with me for a little makeover.

The hutch was done in the typical cream and gold, which is a common look for the reproduction french provincial furniture made in  the 1970's.  I wanted to make the piece look more like an old world French antique than a tacky, vintage reproduction.

I gave it a softer look by painting it with Coco Chalk Paint®.  I wanted to create a weathered look to make the piece look authentically older. After applying two coats of Coco Chalk Paint®, I made a wash by mixing 50% Old Ochre Chalk Paint® with 50% water. I painted the wash on in sections and blended it over the Coco with a rag.

BEFORE

AFTER

The Old Ochre muted the Coco and transformed it into a soft, warm, neutral grey. After the wash dried, I applied a coat of Annie Sloan Clear Wax, which made the color even more beautiful and added a smooth, creamy look. I coated the brass hardware with rustic brown spray paint to offer a nice contrast with the paint.

I painted the, previously gold, back and shelves with Old Ochre to brighten up the inside of the hutch.

The final part of the transformation was taking the glass out and replacing it with chicken wire that was also sprayed a rustic brown.   

The transformation from 1970's French provincial to antique French country is complete!

Wall Sconces on Old Shutter Doors

I love the synergy created when two pieces of rubbish come together to form something greater than each part could ever be on its own.  That is how I feel about these vintage, louvered closet doors and this pair of scrolling iron, wall sconces.

I really scored when I found this pair of wall sconces at the local Santa Cruz Flea Market.  I got both sconces for twenty dollars! When my upholsterer was picking up some of my other projects, she mentioned that she also did rewiring, so I had her take the wall sconces to rewire them.  She is a jack, or rather, jill-of-all-trades.

I salvaged the shutter doors from the Last Chance thrift shop at a local landfill. I got nine of them at only two dollars a piece.  They are really heavy  and solid, old closet doors. Perfect for this project!

I flipped them upside down, so the shutter portion of the door is now at the bottom and mounted the wall sconce to the flat panel at the top.

 It seems simple enough, especially when my brother happened to be in town.  He is really great at taking things apart and putting them back together again.  I remember his vast lego collection and his intricate lego designs. His skills came in handy for figuring out how to mount the sconces to the shutter doors.  He used a drill attachment that drills large holes to feed the, newly rewired, cords through to the back side.  Then, luckily, the wall sconces came with mounting brackets and all we needed to get was longer screws to attach the brackets to the doors and the sconces.

Voila!

I left the original, weathered patina, that only time can create, on the wall sconces.  For the shutter doors, I painted one coat of Coco Chalk Paint® followed by a coat of Old White Chalk Paint® that I thinned with water.  I wiped the white back as it was drying, so the Coco showed through more in places.  Then, I sanded the whole door to make it look like a rough and weathered, old shutter.

I placed my new lighting fixtures on either side of  my french doors in my new apartment.

They look so lovely when they are lit and add a lot of old world charm to the room.

This simple and inexpensive project is one of my favorites of all time.

Nursery Furniture Redo

 

An expectant mother hired me to transform a cradle and an armoire for her baby's nursery.

 

 

She found the petite, vintage armoire on craigslist.  It is the perfect scale for a nursery, but required a cosmetic intervention.

 

She wanted the piece to look shabby and distressed. I painted one coat of Paris Grey Chalk Paint® with a dry brush to allow the dark stain to show through.  I used a little Old White Chalk Paint® on the trim to show off the lines and details.  After the paint dried, I did a bit of distressing all over with sandpaper. 

 

I sealed the finish with Annie Sloan's Clear Wax. 

 

My client said this adorable cradle had been in her family a long time.  She just wanted it to be simple, shabby, and white.

 

 

I painted it with two coats of Old White Chalk Paint and finished the cradle with an all over, light distressing, to add to its vintage charm.

 

Vintage Cane Back Dining Chair Set

 

 

This is the third set of vintage cane back chairs that I have given a makeover.  There were six chairs in this set and the caning was all still in excellent condition.

 



 

The chairs were really dingy and dirty and one of them was painted bright blue.  I sold the two arm chairs to a Loot customer who wanted them painted in Emperor's Silk Chalk Paint® and upholstered in a natural linen.

 

I kept the rest of the set simple and neutral.

 

I painted the chairs with two coats of Pure White Chalk Paint® followed by a wash of Coco Chalk Paint®, made by watering down the paint. 

 

 

 The Coco wash subtly aged and softened the bright white paint and the paint on the edges of the chairs naturally crackled giving them an authentic looking patina.

 

 

I have a thing for stripes, so I chose an elegant, wide-striped, pale, cream and aqua linen to reupholster the seat cushions.

 

Pretty Paloma Dresser

Paloma Chalk Paint is a soft, pretty, lavender with grey undertones.  Annie Sloan knows how to create beautiful colors!

I recently moved and I needed a dresser for my new room.  I had this old, black dresser in my closet at my previous house and decided to spruce it up and bring it out of the closet.

I love it so much more painted with pretty Paloma!  The crystal pulls and silver keyhole look lovely with this subtle shade of lavender.

I found the perfect pair of vintage lamps at a yard sale for $10 each.  They are actually brass, if you can believe it?  I have never seen brass lamps in this shape.  I love these unique, French shaped lamps so much, that I knew I would keep them for myself.

I love using Chalk Paint on metal because it adheres so well and looks so natural.  I painted so many layers of paint on these, that I do not remember the exact order or colors.  It was something like this:  Old Ochre base coat, French Linen second coat, a lot of distressing, then an old ochre wash followed by a little more Old Ochre with a dry brush.

I needed a mirror to complete my bedroom vignette.  I just went shopping at Loot and took home this large, shapely, vintage mirror that I painted a few months ago.  I got it for $10 at The Salvation Army.  The frame is a plastic material, not wood, but you would never know by looking at it now.  Chalk Paint does amazing things!  I painted one coat of Pure White on the mirror frame and finished it with a wash of French Linen.  Because the plastic frame was dark brown and had faux wood grain the one coat of Pure White makes the mirror look like white washed wood.

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Round Back Dining Chairs

I would be thrilled to find one of these shapely dining chairs, so imagine my joy at finding a set of four.  Someone did not realize their value and had stored this set outside.  They were in bad shape and had black widow nests in the seat cushions.  I hate spiders, especially black widows, but I was not going to let that get in my way of salvaging these beautiful chairs.  I carefully removed the screws holding the  seat cushions in place and bravely killed any spiders that dared to crawl out.  Who said fixing up furniture was always easy or safe?

Before

After

After removing all the seat cushions, I patched any cracks with wood filler and then painted the chairs with two coats of Old White Chalk Paint.  I distressed the edges and then I painted a wash over the Old White, made by thinning French Linen Chalk Paint with water.

I wanted the chairs to be classic, elegant, and monochromatic.  I went to my favorite local fabric store in Santa Cruz and I spotted this fabric on the remnants table right when I walked through the door. I knew it was the one!  It is a heavy weight upholstery linen with grain sack stripes woven in and lots of texture.  The best part is that, because it was a remnant, I only had to pay $7.99 per yard!  I am sure this beautiful fabric is normally well over $30 per yard.

Next, I called my very talented upholsterer to pick up the chairs and finish the transformation.  She returned the chairs this past weekend and I cannot stop staring at them.

They look perfect in our Spring room at Loot!

They look perfect in our Spring room at Loot!

 This post is linked to the parties on my sidebar.