Appraisal of Furniture - what's it worth?

Invaluable recently contacted me with the following information about when to get your furniture appraised and I thought it was worthwhile sharing with you. 

So many people wonder if they should be painting Grandma's antiques. Well you know my view on that - if you own it, go ahead and paint it but you might want to check it's not extremely valuable first.  Personally I think so many people over-value their old furniture as I see so much timber furniture selling for cheap prices - even beautiful old cedar pieces  - and I think that if you are going to treasure it more painted then go ahead.  But you know, I'm no expert ... so here's is the experts guide on When to get an appraisal on your antiques and old possessions.

We all have seen people get lovely surprises on Antiques Roadshow and the like when old things they found in their attics are worth a fortune - has anything like that ever happened to you?

(Most of the furniture I paint is far from valuable. I like to give old tired pieces a second chance and look for old bit that wouldn't sell for much in their current state. If it's expensive, I generally let someone else buy it who will on-sell it as it is. You know I can't resist leaving my mark on things!)

Fiona xx

Quick and Easy Update a Coffee Table

I've got such a lovely little update for you today. This one is always a winner for a fresh new look.

If you have a coffee table that's in good nick but you want to brighten it up or change its look with out a lot of work then a great way is to paint the base.  This is a fantastic project to do if you are a novice painter as you don't have to deal with the large flat surface of the top. The apron and legs of a table are much easier to paint :)

This coffee table is so beautiful but I had tried to sell it as is and was unsuccessful. It seems you all want painted furniture from me. I didn't want to paint over the beautiful parquetry top but wanted to add my signature touch so I decided to paint the apron and base. I chose ASCP Old White. I actually removed the top completely to paint as it makes it much easier as then there is no cutting in and you will get a much neater finished product. 

I then used ASCP Clear wax with a touch of Dark wax for some antiquing highlights. I decided to not distress this one. This is a such a well made piece and was actually bought by an antiques dealer who no doubt will sell it for three times the price I sold it for. (I love that my prices are reasonable!)

Have you done this to a table before? You really can knock the project over in a couple of hours. I did it to a friend's dining table while she was cooking dinner one night. By the time she'd cooked, I had finished and we all sat down at the "new" table. Talk about having to sing for your supper.

Fiona xx

French Style Bedsides in Ochre and Graphite

These bedside tables were pretty ugly when I bought them. So much so that the guy I bought them from nearly didn't bother trying to sell them. But i could see past all the busyness of the timber veneer and I loved their shape. I knew that with paint they would be toned down and look less dated. 

With this type of furniture I suggest giving it a good sand as the high gloss of the timber means that paint doesn't stick as well as more matte, porous surfaces. You don't need to completely removed the old varnish, just sand enough to create a good key. I would sand even when using Zinsser primer or chalk paint.

I decided to paint over the hardware as I wanted these bedsides to be very neutral. I chose ASCP Old Ochre for the base and completely painted and waxed the bases before painting the top in ASCP Graphite.

I waxed the tops also with clear wax. I'm going to share some more of my tips for waxing ASCP Graphite soon. There is one little trick that will save you so much hassle that you'll love me for it :)

I love how they look now and that little shelf will prove very practical for books and magazines I think -instead of everything piling up on top of the bedside table. These have already been sold.

have a good day

Fiona xx

sharing at

www.frenchcountrycottage.net

At Home : Lilyfield Life

I hope you enjoyed your long weekend (for us Australians at least). We were so happy to see the sunshine again as it's been freezing here. Although a friend just got back from the UK and said they have similar temperatures so perhaps it's not too bad. 

We had a weekend mainly at home with a few little outings. Nice to spend some quiet time with the kids. I didn't do any painting as my back has been aching and I wanted to give it some rest. I thought I'd share some photos from around the house. (We are still working on it but very unstressed and relaxed about our progress)

We had a leisurely browse through Rozelle Markets on Saturday afternoon and I picked up a set of vintage Willow pattern plates for a great price. It's not often you get  set of ten. I have a few already at home that I love using so these will be nice to add to my collection.

We also went to the zoo (along with a HUGE amount of people) but the sun was shining and the kids weren't driving me nuts (okay they did a little :)) but Phil bought me some coffee and we had one of Sasha's amazing home made brownies and it was all good. Sydney sure does shine in the winter sun.

Hope you had a good weekend also.

Fiona xx

Vintage White Chest of Drawers

I've been missing in action - keeping busy with painting and also some other work (you know and life in general) but just not managing to update here. Thanks for the prompts to blog again. I have finished a lot of furniture recently and will share it this week. First up is a very special piece of vintage furniture - it was my mother's and also mine when I was a girl. It badly needed refinishing as the varnish was all scratched so I did a lot of sanding :)

Painted in a beautiful white chalk paint and waxed for a smooth finish, these Edwardian drawers are for sale. It pains me a little to part with them but I don't have a perfect spot and I'd rather someone else have them and treasure them.  Just perfect for a baby's or little girl's room. 

 Dimensions are 90cm wide, 45cm deep, 110cm tall. 
 $475

The drawers all slide well and the tops little drawers are just perfect for jewellery or hair bands etc. I am pretty sure these drawers are cedar. Solid timber and very well made. Pick up from Lilyfield or I can arrange local delivery or work with your courier.

If you are interested in purchasing or inspecting please call Fiona on 0405766445.

thanks xx

Something very pretty for a change

After all that black furniture I felt like painting a pretty French piece. Last week I bought this old imported bedside table - from a distance it looked nice but it was cream with a weird green glaze and up close it was looking a bit rough. There were some deep scratches in the paint work on the side that you couldn't pass off as gentle wear and tear.

I decided to paint in ASCP Duck Egg Blue with Old white on the trim. I then antiqued with dark wax to add some authenticity to the paint work. 

I am pretty happy with how it turned out. I know these colours aren't for everyone but I just thought it was sweet and could be a pop of colour in a room without dominating the space like a bigger piece would.  It was snapped up for sale so I suppose it struck a chord with others as well.

I need to organise some art work for the lounge room walls. Slowly getting there with the house...the list of things to do is still endless. I suppose it's like that for everyone and their houses though.

Fiona xx

Black Painted Furniture

It seems that there are lots of people are crushing on black painted furniture. I thought I'd share some more tips on painting with black and also some examples.  I have painted several pieces black or Graphite lately and everyone who comes to the house has commented how much they love them. Painted black furniture is pretty much the opposite to why I started painting furniture. Our house was quite dark before we renovated and I wanted white bright furniture to lighten up our space. Almost every piece of furniture at home was white (and still is). I do think though that a piece of black furniture can anchor a room and add sophistication.  I do have a couple of pieces that are black in our lounge room now and I like the elegance they bring.

My Paris Map Cupboard

This was made using an image transfer technique  - I will be putting together a class soon on how to do this. It's such a great technique to learn. Let me know if you are interested.

My marble top Pot Cupboard

This piece never sold which surprised me as the marble on the top is so old and absolutely beautiful. We love this piece so I am more than happy for it to sit in this spot next to the fire.

Here are some other black and ASCP graphite pieces I have painted.

As well as my tips found in this blog post I wrote a while ago on Painting Black Like a Pro, I also think a good tip is to never use a white primer. If I am not using self priming paint as my top coat, I will do a coat of ASCP Graphite first and then use my acrylic black paint. This saves many coats of black paint which equates to time and money and results in a way better finish.

Also remember that the way light shines on black will mean that the higher gloss paint you use, the more the imperfections will show. Black is a difficult colour to paint with so one of the best things you can do is to sand your piece smooth before you start painting. Your finish will only be as good as what you start with.

If you are waxing ASCP Graphite so not use white fabric to apply or buff your wax. You do not want white fluff in your wax over the black surface. Either use steel wool or a black sanding pad or even black fabric. The 3M Sanding Sponges are fantastic to use. You can order them online or buy at a hardware shop. You may also find that the ASCP wax is a little draggy on graphite - I will often use a wax that is mixed with orange oil such as Howard Feed n Wax Carnauba Beeswax and Orange Oil. 

ASCP Graphite Javi Chair

Distressed timber and Black looks fabulous like the chair above. The warmth of the timber is beautiful against the black. When distressing use a fine sandpaper or sanding pad as you don't want scratches on your paint - you want it to seem as though the paint has worn off naturally over time from every day use.

ASCP Graphite Serpentine Drawers

Do you have black furniture in your house? What are your best tips for painting with black? Anything I've missed?

Fiona xx

Timber and Black is the New Black

In painting circles, ASCP Graphite is the new black: well then I'm going to take it one step further and say ASCP Graphite paired with natural timber is the new black.

I am embracing old oak dressing tables at the moment. I bought this dresser/chest of drawers from a guy who when I asked the history of the drawers proudly said he'd bought them in Newtown years ago and had spent a weekend stripping of the paint and restoring them. So I bit my tongue, paid my money, put the drawers in my car and didn't mention that I was a furniture painter...and I quickly drove off already planning in my head how I would paint these (and feeling the teeniest little bit guilty.)

But you know what I figure that my buyer will love them painted, then one day she will eventually sell them and then one day in years to come, someone will decide they hate the painted finish and will spend a happy weekend sanding off my paint and they will proudly say "I restored these drawers" and they'll love them and feel very happy with their efforts and that's what makes the world go round.

The drawers were stained but with a reddish brown paint and not properly sealed or the sealant had worn off - they were quite rough to touch so I immediately started sanding...and sanding...and sanding. But you already know how much I love sanding. 

Sometimes little details all work out. In the seller's photo below you can see the iron ring handles that were on the little drawers - obviously not original but neither were the brass cup handles. I love the brass cup handles with the black paint but the iron rings had to go. I never keep them on furniture because I just think they are ugly.

Luckily I had some small brass knobs off another piece of furniture I'm painting at the moment. The other piece is going grey and my client wanted pewter knobs instead of the original brass so I was able to swap out these knobs. Perfect..and it saved me a trip to the hardware shop.

I also removed the upright mirror holders as the mirror wasn't sold with the dresser. I'm sure I'll find a project down the track I can use the timber for.

Do you love the ASCP Graphite and timber together?

Fiona xx

PS in case you are wondering, this piece has already sold

How to Paint Old Oak Drawers

As you know I am always going on about how great paint is to transform your home and your furniture but I really think 

Paint. Is. Magic.

Paint is such a great way to update old tired furniture and you know what? so is sanding. I know everyone hates sanding but I just love to sand. With old oak furniture, especially old dressing table like the one below, I like to leave the tops timber. Sloughing off all the old grime, varnish and marks and then refinishing with a clear coat or wax will really bring the original wood grain back to life.  It just a pleasure to do.

I found the drawers above on Gumtree. I forgot to take a full before photo and I'd already started sanding the timber top when I remembered that I blog and really should document my work a little bit better. Just imagine that the top was the reddish/brown of the drawer fronts. These had a lot of dings and water damage so I did a lot of sanding. I used my orbital sander to make it quicker and easier but you could also sand by hand if you have the patience of a saint. 

Here are my tips for achieving a glass like surface when sanding timber:

My tips for using an Random Orbital Sander

The fast and random motion of a ROS will allow you to sand without leaving scuff marks on your surface, however you can do a few things to assist this. Here are my tips for using this versatile sander:

1. Wear a dust mask
2. Clean out the dust box regularly or use a vacuum
3. Keep the sander moving with the grain of the wood
4. Be careful near the edges to not sand them too far down and go over the edge
5. Don't apply too much downward force, let the sander do the work, you are really just guiding it.
6. Start with a lower grit disc to strip off the old finish. I start with 80 grit as I find that removes a good amount of old varnish quickly without scratching the surface too much. Work through the grits until your desired finish (smoothness) is achieved. Don't skip grit grades. I will change sand paper grit grades around 4-5 times depending on the timber I am sanding.
7. Wipe down your sanded surface regularly as you work.
8. One you have a very smooth surface, wipe with a tack cloth, wax then apply a polishing disc to your sander and polish.  You can also do this step by hand.
9. My last tip is when buying power tools, buy the best one you can afford/justify as you generally get what you pay for and when I buy tools I'd prefer to buy once and have it last a long time.

To paint your piece, start with it upside down. (You will probably want to turn it upside down on a towel or old piece of carpet to protect the top surface. Sand and clean your piece. If it's anything like this piece you'll probably have to deal with some spider webs.

Take the drawers out and if you are changing the handles now is the time to putty up any old holes and drill new ones.

Once your piece is repaired and clean then prime. If you are using chalk paint or any other self priming paint then your first coat of paint will act as a primer. I always start painting on the legs and then the sides of a piece. I leave the front till last when you are "in the groove" of painting as this is what will be most visible.

Once the first coat of paint is dry you can give the piece a light sand to make the finish extra smooth.  A lot of people will skip this step but it's up to you and what you want the finish to be. (Your first coat will probably be patchy as below but that's okay, keep on painting)

Apply your additional coats of paint. I use long brush strokes and feather the paint so I can achieve a very smooth finish. There are so many different ways of applying paint but this is what works best for me. If you want a more textured look, you may want to use a cross hatch method of painting and also drag your brush back through partially dried paint. This will create a lot of brush marks and stippling that will be great for antiquing with dark wax - it will create little crevices for the dark wax to settle in.  For this piece however I wanted a smooth look.  

Don't be surprised with light colours, red of black that you may need to do more than two coats of paint to achieve a good opaqueness...especially if you are top coating with wax, as wax always makes the paint a little transparent.

Once you have finished then wax, sand and distress. how much you distress will be a matter of personal taste. Personally I'm not a big fan of over the top distressing. I like just a little natural wear and tear around the edges.

Reapply your hardware (or apply your new hardware like these gorgeous chrome cup handles I chose for this piece) and stand back and admire your work.

If you have any problems when you are painting your old furniture such as bleed though or sagging - I'm talking about paint sagging not 47 year old body parts sagging :) - you may like to read my blog post tutorial - dealing with common paint problems.  I've complied a big list of common problem and my solutions for them. I hope this all helps you in your DIY endeavors for transformation your home and filling it with beautiful old second hand furniture.