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.

Whitewashed Vintage Dresser

 

The last time I visited my family in Sacramento, I found this awesome pair of old dressers on caster wheels at a yard sale.  I do not come across such stylish dressers often, let alone two at a time! 

 

I was so excited and the woman I bought them from was happy when I told her that I fix up furniture.  She asked me if I was going to paint them white.  I thought about it and realized that when I started fixing up furniture, it seemed like I painted everything white.  I rarely paint anything plain white anymore, but I thought this dresser would look pretty in a simple white finish.  I decided to do white with a twist by adding a French Linen wash over Pure White Chalk Paint®.



 

 

The top was scratched, gouged and well-worn.  I patched the uneven spots with wood filler and then sanded it smooth before painting.

 

I love the long legs on these dressers and the fan detail on the second drawer.

 

I like the contrast of the original dark hardware and caster wheels against the new white washed finish. 

 

I used a dry brush and only applied one coat of Pure White Chalk Paint, so that the dark stain beneath would show through and add depth to the finish.  After the Pure White dried, I mixed the French Linen 50:50 with water to create a wash and brushed it over the white.  I used a rag to wipe off and blend the wash over the white.  I left the wash darker over the fan detail on the drawer front to accent the piece.  I completed this piece with Annie Sloan's Clear Wax for a soft, smooth finish.

 

 

While this is not a true white wash finish, it is a great way to create a white washed look over wood that is in poor condition and has been patched with wood filler.  I would not have been able to do a white wash over the wood filler, without it showing through.  The dry brush provided more coverage over the imperfections and the French Linen wash blended it all together.



Painted Built In Cabinet and Beach House Tour

I was recently hired by a customer from Loot to paint a built in cabinet in the master bedroom in her beach house. 

During the recent remodel of her beach house, she had a cabinet builder make the built in to fit the space between her two closet doors.  

She wanted it to be neutral enough to blend in with the white and grey color palette, while still standing out against the white walls.  

I painted the cabinet with Country Grey Chalk Paint.  To define the top, above the drawers, I whitewashed the natural wood and sanded to distress it.  I also added the same distressed white finish to the trim on the drawer fronts

To tie the cabinet in with the greys in the room and, because Country Grey is not technically grey, I applied a wash of French Linen Chalk Paint.

This woman has exquisite taste and I want to give you a tour of her gorgeous, sophisticated beach home.

Isn't that an amazing headboard?! It is a salvaged architectural piece from an old house.

The luxurious, velvet and linen bedding is by Bella Notte. The blues, greys, and creams of the bedding tie in perfectly with the color scheme of the room and the newly painted, built in cabinet.

She created a relaxed eclectic look by using two different night stands and lamps and adding unexpected pieces like this perfectly shabby chair.  

  Her sister bought this darling, ratty, old chair at Loot and it looks perfect in its new home.

The living room is neutral and beachy too.  The grey washed hardwood floor is not actually wood; it is tile.  I could not tell, even in person, until I touched it. No need to worry about scratching this flooring!

One of my favorite things in the whole house is the chippy, old front door.

Look at that charming letter slot on the front.

I sure do love that door!

The elegant kitchen was remodeled with custom cabinetry and stainless appliances.

The guest suite is ocean inspired and so lovely to look at.  Besides the pretty interior, the guest bedroom looks out on a beautiful flower farm.  What a location!  Beach on one side and flowers on the other!

She created an eclectic look in the bedroom with more mismatched lamps and night stands.

On the other side of the bed is this dear, weathered, vintage night stand with original paint and curvy, little legs.

On to the bath...

I want to know where she got that adorable occupied/vacant sign on the door of the guest bath.  

Both bathrooms are outfitted with custom cabinets, complete with louvered doors, and topped with marble.  

Just when I think it can't get any lovelier, I step out on their deck and take in the panoramic view of the great Pacific.

This was an inspiring place to paint!  

Whitewashed Farm Table

My brother is a contractor in Sacramento and he does what I do, only on a much larger scale; he fixes up run-down houses to resell.  He found this table in one of the houses he was rehabbing and offered it to me free of charge.  This table is the heaviest, most solid table I have ever had to lift.  I would be very strong, if I had to move a table like this everyday!

The table was in pretty bad shape when I got it.  I forgot a complete before picture of the table, but here is the top after I sanded the old, polyurethane coated finish.  There were a couple of issues with the top, one being that there was a deep stain on one side.  I had originally planned to use a wood stain on the table top, but I was concerned that the dark spot would show through.  

The chunky legs had very chippy, dark blue paint on them.  I wanted this rustic blue paint to be exposed in the final finish of the table base.

I painted one coat of Old White Chalk Paint over the apron and legs and then distressed them heavily, so the old, blue paint underneath was exposed.

Since my idea for a natural wood top was not going to work out, I opted to whitewash the top, so that I could still see some of the wood grain on the top.  I used Old White mixed with water, painted it on, and wiped it off with a rag. After the whitewash dried I used a scouring pad and water to scrub away the white in places, exposing some of the wood grain. It was a little too stark white when I was done, so I mixed some French Linen with water and applied that over the whitewash to tone it down.  

I waxed the entire table with Annie Sloan clear wax.  It looks like a weathered, beachy, farm table now.

This post is linked to the parties on my sidebar.

Whitewashed Gray Dresser

My friend stopped by the shop recently with this beautiful dresser in the back of her car and asked if I wanted to buy it. It is so nice when people bring furniture to me and especially when it is a fine piece like this one! I love the fancy scrolling details and the turned legs on petite caster wheels. 

The front looked like it was missing something on the raised center, so I added some wooden appliques that I acquired a while ago from a yard sale.  

This dresser is really wide and has a divided drawer at the top, so it could also be used as a buffet or sideboard.

I painted two base coats with French Linen Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.  Then I dry brushed Old White over all the details.  

I wanted the color to be more subtle and chalky, so I mixed some Old White Chalk Paint with water to make a wash and painted that mixture over the entire piece.  I whitewashed one drawer at a time and wiped it back with a cloth to leave a thin layer over the gray.

I love the way the French Linen looks with the whitewash over it.  I also whitewashed the lovely hardware on this dresser.

I finished the dresser by lightly distressing here and there.

This post is linked to the parties on my sidebar.