A french sofa and inspiration for reupholstering

Good morning! I am looking forward to a good week ahead. I have some gorgeous pieces to work on. This morning I wanted to share a gorgeous old French sofa. I actually sold this to Jemima of Saddler and Co in Dubbo. She has an upholsterer work for her so she was going to recover it.  It’s so beautiful as is but will look even nicer with new fabric. I wish my upholstery skills were better: actually I sway between wishing that and hating how hard upholstery is on your hands so maybe it’s better I don’t tackle these big projects :)

I thought I’d share some inspiration for recovering old French sofas. I’m really partial to the heavy bold stripes. Sorry about photo quality of these: all sources from Pinterest .

This sofa below is my favourite of all time. So beautiful 

What’s your favourite ?

Fiona xx

Hamptons style furniture for Matthew

Matthew rang me and asked if I could paint his old pine furniture to fit in with some new white furniture he has bought in the Hampton style. Of course I can :)

He wanted a satin bright white so I used Porters Paints satin water based enamel in their brightest white, Snow White. It’s such a great paint, yes you have to prep and prime but the finish is so hard and durable. Great for a modern finish.

The nooks and crannies of the wine rack took me ages. I spent hours cleaning them as they were really dusty and primed them first with Zinsser BIN and then I actually sprayed a few coats of white to get a good coverage and then hand painted the final coat. The rest of the piece I hand painted.

Because Matthew wanted a Hamptons look which is quite clean I recommended he take out the stained glass and replace it with clear glass. A cheap option that I think really makes the pieces look less country. See below for a comparison.

Matthew was so happy with the piece and appreciative of the process. I also painted a little side table for him in the same paint.

Here are some progress photos; I’m including these as I think the first coat can be so ugly and people when first painting furniture can be really discouraged. My advice is always to just keep on painting as each extra coat makes it look better:

I also replaced the handles as these cup handles suit the Hamptons style much better than the Asian style ones originally on the piece. 

So much white paint, so much effort but a very happy customer

Fiona xx

Weekend and some pieces

Good morning! Whoops I found this blog post in my drafts and had never hit publish a few weeks ago. Sydney looks amazing in the photos and the furniture is nice also 😘😉 so I’ll update and share it even thought it’s a bit overdue.

 We had a lovely weekend (a few weekends ago now), dinner out Friday night at out favourite Italian, Mammia Mia 2 movie (fabulous), Sunday brunch with family, and a big walk around South Head on Sunday afternoon. The weather was glorious. 

 

We ended up at Bondi Beach and it was just beautiful. 

So good to be in the stunning parts of Sydney. Good to get out and about.

I also finished these pieces.

A sideboard dating from 1920 now fresh in jet black paint and gently distressed. This piece ended up getting shipped to Brisbane and my buyer is just thrilled with it. 

I also restored this beautifully made antique oak dressing table. I should have taken a before photo but believe me, it was a mess. So dry, filthy and very marked. I’m so happy with how I restored it.

I am painting a little secretaire today. It’s so old and gorgeous and I found some very old money and notes in it. I’ll share tomorrow hopefully

Fiona xx

French bombe style bedside tables

Good morning, thanks for the emails and comments. I really appreciate being in touch with you and I’m glad to be back blogging again. Ha ha I’d better not jinx myself 😊

Yesterday I finished and sold these gorgeous French bombe style bedside tables. I don’t usually buy previously painted furniture as I don’t like dealing with other people’s paint work. These are so lovely  and practical that I decided that it was worth the extra effort and hassle. 

I gave them a very good sand to get rid of any paint drips and other imperfections and then a really good clean. I then painted them with Fusion Mineral Paint in Champlain. 2-3 coats for full opaque coverage. I then sanded them smooth and gave them a waxed finish...and screwed back on the hardware, styled them, photographed them, listed them and sold them straight away. It always makes me happy when that happens. 

 

The drawer interiors are a pale taupe. Great storage in these pretty bedside tables.

I also used FMP Champlain on another piece recently; these vintage bow front drawers. The drawer interiors were painted a lovely bluish grey. So elegant.

It’s such a lovely off white without too much yellow. 

I’ve got some fantastic pieces at the moment; loads and loads of drawers coming up so make sure you’re on my FB or IG pages as I always list their first or drop me a line and I can notify you when I’m about to list them.

Cheers Fiona xx

An easy update for an old mirror

I thought I’d share how I updated an old metal mirror recently. It’s such a beautiful finish and very easy to replicate. I always find that mirrors are a great canvas to practice new techniques on. I hope this helps you with your painting.

Firstly choose an ornate mirror as the crevices and details is what makes this mirror texthnoque looks so good. My mirror was metal and the gold was quite faded. I used a black etch metal primer and quickly sprayed both sides of the mirror. This both primes and acts as a base for the paint.

I then used ASCP Florence and poured a small amount on a paper plate. With a dry brush I then stopped and lightly brushed some paint across the mirror frame.  You want your paint brush to be very dry for this technique so don’t overload your brush and dab off most of the paint. See how dry my brush is in the photo above is.

Once you are happy with how your frame looks you can let it dry then wax. 

If you want to get really creative you can do another colour over the top again to add even more depth.

Enjoy your painting

Fiona xx

Ps The mirror has already sold 

A gorgeous cedar linen press

Good evening (Saturday night), Phil’s out at the Bledisloe Cup and the kids are asleep and I’m in bed watching the Italian Job on Netflix but I thought I’d just quickly pop in here and post about a lovely piece I finished and sold yesterday.

It’s so beautifully made with the sliding open fronted drawers. So practical and lovely. 

I gave this a really good sand as the varnish was a bit old and bubbled. I then wiped it down with wax and grease remover for a very good clean. Once it was all dry, I painted it with two coats of Fusion Mineral Paint in Ash. The colour is exactly the same as ASCP Graphite. I then gently distressed the edges and details and waxed it all with ASCP Clear wax.  The finish is really perfect. It took a while to perfect my dark finishes but it’s worth the effort and practice if you are struggling with them. 

 

I also polished up the original brass handle and key. It’s really pretty. 






This sold right away with loads of people wanting it.

I bought this from a couple who recently bought a lovely old house in Lane Cove. The old lady they bought the house from had this piece her whole lifetime and wanted it left with the house; unfortunately the couple didn’t want it and just had it in their garage and the husband was getting annoyed with it in his man-space. Lucky for me and lucky for my vintage loving customer.

Have a good weekend 

Fiona xx

PS the walnut Graphite sideboard I blogged about last sold today. 

Charcoal and Walnut sideboard

Good morning! We have had an interesting few weeks to say the least. Lots of work also that I’m looking forward to sharing. I recently finished this huge walnut sideboard. I have painted this in a beautiful charcoal Graphite and stripped the top so you can see the gorgeous walnut grain.

The interior is all in a sea foam green. I also spent ages polishing up the original brass hardware. So gorgeous

Details are:

Available: an absolutely stunning vintage serpentine front sideboard. Painted in a gorgeous matte charcoal and the walnut top has been stripped and beautifully restored. The original brass hardware and key have been polished. 3 lockable cupboards all with removable shelf and painted sea foam green. The two outer drawers are divided and felt lined. Very gently distressed in the carved details. See comments for more photos. 

183w x 55d x 102h (inc backing board) cm 

$1200

Pickup Lilyfield or ask for a delivery quote

Let me know if you are interested in purchasing or viewing this piece.  Today I’m working a vintage cedar linen press. It’s so nice also. I am always happy working in lovely old pieces

Enjoy your day 

Fiona xx