ASCP French Linen Coffee Table

I am meant to be continuing the packing up the house while the kids and Phil are watching a friend's netball final, although with the rain pouring down I'm not sure if it will be going ahead.  Instead of packing, I'm procrastinating (the job at hand just seems so daunting) and thought I'd share a coffee table I repainted a while ago.

I bought this coffee table because I absolutely loved the shape of it and was tempted to keep it myself. I bought it home and hadn't even had a chance to think about it when a couple came to see me about some furniture and they saw it and asked to buy it. They asked for it in ASCP Duck Egg which I personally think is a tricky colour to furnish with unless you live on the beaches or Queensland. Anyway the long and the short of it, the couple decided to not take the coffee table after I painted it as they changed their mind and stayed with their chrome coffee table with their black leather lounges. They were so lovely though and offered to pay me for their change of mind and subsequent repainting as I knew I'd have trouble reselling a big Duck Egg blue coffee table. I am still painting some more of their furniture in their house so it wasn't a quality issue, just a decorating dilemma.

I shared the coffee table on my facebook page and it was bought by Nicola who asked me what colour I thought would be good for her lounge room that had lots of deep reds and cream. I suggested ASCP French Linen which she loved.

For repainting this piece, I fully stripped off the ASCP Duck Egg off the top but for the curvy legs I just painted over. I gave the taupe paint the same treatment with a sealer and dark wax to give it some aging and to play up those details.  Nicola loved it and wrote to me how much she loves it in her lounge room... so all's well that ends well.

Okay - I have to get stuck into packing now. I'll be in trouble if Phil comes home and all I've done is blog...:)

There is some respite though as we are headed to Nielson Park Kiosk for my cousin's 50th birthday lunch. I love that place so am looking forward to it.

wishing you a lovely weekend also.

Fiona x

Are you sick of painted sideboards yet?

...if so I'm sorry but I've got another one to share with you today. There probably won't be too many sideboards getting painted while we renovate so this may be the last one for a while.

Larissa from Meshea Lifestyle has asked me to keep an eye our for a large sideboard that she could use in her front window as a display piece. She will also have it for sale but wanted to load it up with home wares so agreed to buy it from me rather than have it on consignment. When she has it all set up in her window I'll share a photo with you but here are some photos of it in her shop garage.  At 1.7m long, it's a huge old thing.

The sideboard is probably a Depression era piece and was quite dirty and dinged so I decided to paint it quote rustically.  I used ASCP Paris Grey and dark wax. I thought the doors were too plain for the piece so I added mouldings.  The mouldings break up that huge empty space and also give the dark wax somewhere to be featured.

The photo below shows the state of the original timber and varnish. Very reddish brown.

I think it's much easier on the eye now. I like things that are toned down.

I painted inside the cupboards are they really needed it. Great storage in this sideboard and I'm sure Larissa will be able to make great use of it as a display piece.

I have a lot of packing to do over the next week or so and I also need to work out how I continue working while we renovate. As I'm going owner builder I will have less time to paint but I still want to keep my business alive and flourishing. I have thought about renting a studio or shop but I really need to spend a lot of time onsite at home to manage the build. I'll see how things pan out I think and how I can juggle it but bear with me if this becomes a little bit of a home renovation blog for a while.

I'm sure you'll be interested in that still though, won't you??

Fiona xx

A Vintage French Painted Sideboard for Emily

I've got a gorgeous project to share today. Some pieces are just wonderful to paint and I am grateful to be asked to paint such beautifully shaped furniture. Emily's grandmother recently moved into a nursing home and her family sorted out her possessions. Emily became the lucky new owner of a beautiful vintage sideboard and she and her father went halves in paying me to paint it.  When I picked it up from her grandmother's home, Emily's dad said "now Fiona, you will make it beautiful, won't you?"

I hope I've satisfied him.

Emily originally asked for it black like the sideboard I painted recently.

Lilyfield Life black sideboard

She has a lot of black furniture in her house already and when she came to discuss colours and sheen with me, she saw the French dresser I had just finished that was sitting in my hallway waiting for me to take to the new owner and fell in love with the grey and white finish. I love this finish also so was more than happy.

French Dress turned TV Cabinet

So I painted her sideboard in a similar fashion. I used ASCP Paris Grey and Pure White for the trim. I then waxed the whole piece with ASCP Clear Wax and Dark wax on the details and distressed.

Below is a little comparison with the piece unwaxed and waxed to show you the difference that dark wax makes to the authenticity of an aged piece.

Antiquing Wax makes a big difference, doesn't it. I know a lot of people are a little fearful at using dark wax but my advice is have a go and practice. Read my tutorial here for more details.

I took the sideboard to Emily last weekend and she was thrilled with it. How nice to have something of her grandmother's in her dining room. 

Thanks for stopping by and also for all your nice emails and comments on my post yesterday

cheers Fiona xx

Recent life and painted furniture projects

Hello lovelies, I just have to start with how much I appreciate you reading here and that I love all the support you give me and my painted furniture business. It has been fantastic meeting so many of you with the painted furniture classes and I look forward to continuing that when I have my studio.

Life has been good lately. I've finally started taking better care of myself and am seeing changes already including being even happier with life. I am normally quite happy but more sleep, more water, better food and lots of exercise really makes you feel good. I'd forgotten :) I'll let you know how I get on but it's good to give myself priority and I think I'm probably not the only one who that happens to (tell me I'm not anyway!!)  I gained about 20 kgs, 5 years ago, with a mis-prescription of antidepressants. I wasn't depressed, I was cranky/cross from a Mirena IUD that sent me a bit mental and the doctor just prescribed antidepressants and to be honest, it was a bit like I was drunk all the time (ha ha Phil loved it as I am great fun after a few drinks) but I stopped all my good habits and stacked on the weight. With one thing and another I never lost it and even gained another 5 kilos and now it's more than time to lose it again. 

Wish me luck.

I have a couple of little projects to share. I've been packing up the half the house (which actually ends up involving most of the house as we move things around) in readiness for our renovations. Less than three weeks till demolition! It's such a big undertaking and I am very excited. Ask me again in 5 months and I may not be so happy about it, but for now I can't wait! I bought fantastic bunks from eBay last weekend and we put them up straight away (after giving them a good old scrub) and the kids are now sharing a room and loving it. It's very nice putting them to bed together and hearing them chat after lights out.

I recently painted and upholstered this little stool that Emily was given by her grandmother. 

She was quoted a ridiculous amount by an upholsterer and as I was already painting her sideboard (which I'll share tomorrow) I said I would do it at cost for her. She bought the fabric in Northbridge and unfortunately bought about 10cm too little but I managed a work around with a wide band. I actually love the look and would definitely do that again on a piece. I think the wide band makes it very classy rather than using gimp braid.

I also made my gorgeous friend a table runner for her birthday. She was recently lamenting the state of her dining table. I think her dining table is probably the most beautiful table I've ever seen but she was thinking that it wasn't styled nicely, so for her birthday I made her a table runner and bought her a lovely silver painted tray (from Bed Bath n Table).

Of course I had to test it out and photograph it at home before I took it to her. Below you can see it on her table with beautiful birthday flowers she received from her new job. Lucky girl.

Some of you may recognise the fabric if you've been following me for a long time. It was the back hanging for my booth at the now defunct Balmain Road Antiques Centre.  It is kind of fitting that I used it for my friend's table runner as she has been one of my greatest supporters on this creative journey and when I told her where she'd seen the fabric she said she loved it even more that it once hung in my booth.

Oh I miss having my little booth. How I loved filling it each week. Such a shame about the owner and his unethical ways and that it went into liquidation. It was very handy for me as it was just at the end of my street. A perfect location. Oh well, some things don't work out do they!

I thought you might like to see the before photos of some pieces I'm painting this week. Nicole asked me to find her a hall table. This one I found online fit the bill perfectly and I will be painting it French Provincial black.

Joanna and David are modernising their house and have asked me to paint this Japanese Tansu in a bright white. It's currently strewn all over the floor in my lounge room with two coats of primer.

I will also be painting this little piano stool white and recovering the seat. It'll be for sale.

Wish me luck for the work, the house pack up and the healthy regime. I am really looking forward to some positive results on all fronts.

love

Fiona xx 

Painting Chairs the Easy Way

Lucy asked me to paint her set of 8 beautiful Chippendale dining chairs. I gave her a quote, she accepted, we scheduled in the job and last week she brought me the first four chairs to paint. We had to do them in two lots as all 8 didn't fit in her car.  It suited me anyway as it meant I didn't have half painted chairs ALL over my house.

Lucy and I decided on a colour for her chairs, the paint type and sheen. She wanted very durable chairs that should could wipe down and that didn't require any ongoing maintenance. I didn't think that a waxed finish would fit that bill so I suggested we use Dulux Aqua Enamel in a semi gloss. Dulux Aqua Enamel is a fantastic paint that dries very hard.  It's the modern equivalent of oil paint with the added benefit of a non-yellowing formula. The colour Lucy chose was Dulux Light Rice Half. It's a lovely non-yellow beigey white.

I sanded the first chair lightly and started hand painting on the primer and I quickly realised I'd very much under-quoted on these chairs. Quoting on chairs is always a complete bitch difficult - they take a long time to paint but no one seems to appreciate just how time consuming and fiddly they are to paint and they don't want to pay very much for chairs. To be honest, I don't usually agree to paint chairs as I'd rather paint a whole chest of drawers than one chair. As these Chippendale chairs are very ornate and huge and dark, dark brown, it took me ages just to do one semi-translucent primer coat. I was going to be earning about $2 an hour on them!!

My clever Phil suggested I crack open the paint sprayer that Bosch sent me 8 months ago to trial. It's the Bosch PFS 55, a fine spray, portable hand held system that retails for around $100.

I seriously had the sprayer stashed under the bed as I had been very nervous about using it. I told Bosch that eventually I would get around to using it - I just needed to summon the courage. I have always been 100% about hand painting but these chairs really needed the primer to be sprayed at least. I set up a make shift spray booth in the back yard and sat down to read the instruction manual. It seemed pretty straight forward and I'm a bit of a jump right in and have a go person so I watered down the primer, set up the spray gun and started spraying. Wow it was fantastic!! I know it's just a DIY level tool and not a professional level fine finish sprayer but it's also a fraction of the price and perfect for my use especially when I am hand painting over the finish.

A solid coat of primer in about about 3 minutes and no drips or runs. This was better for my profitability and hourly rate! I quickly sprayed all the chairs and let them dry for a few days. (Stopped by the rain Sydney has been having but it was fine by me as it's always good to give the paint a good cure time between coats). I sprayed two coats of the Dulux Aqua Enamel, sanding lightly between coats.

For the last coat I hand brushed the paint to give them the look that Lucy wanted. Because Aqua Enamel dries so very hard, I had a little trouble distressing these chairs and ended up using a razor blade to lightly distress them.

Lucy came to pick up the first four the other day and was so happy with them that she even got a little teary. They are for a dining setting given to her by her much loved mother who recently passed away. It's so hard losing our mums isn't it? I am very happy knowing that I've made these chairs how Lucy wanted them and she will use them and think of her mum.

Now for it to stop raining so I can paint the other four. Maybe I'll even watch the instruction DVD that comes with it!

So my tip for a very quick and easy way to paint chairs is use a spray gun at least for the undercoat/primer. I'll definitely be using the Bosch PSF 55 again. I was completely surprised by how easy it was to use, what a great finish it gave and how quick the clean up was. I'm not sure what I was afraid of!

love from a girl 

who has just learnt something new!

Fiona xx

Vintage Cabinet turned Bathroom Vanity and my daughter at the Opera House

One piece of furniture that I always get a lot of comments and questions about it my bathroom vanity. I bought a vintage gramophone cabinet on eBay years ago and knew that eventually I would turn it into a bathroom vanity. I really dislike most of the new bathroom vanities on the market. They are too modern, made of MDF or ply, and just a bit boring to my mind.

Rachael contacted me after seeing my bathroom vanity on the internet as they are about to undertake two bathroom renovations. She asked if I had any pieces of furniture similar. I actually had an old gramophone cabinet sitting in my furniture stockpile as I had bought it thinking it would be perfect for our new bathroom but it ended up being a little too small. So I sold it to Rachael and Luke all painted for their bathroom ensuite.

When I bought this piece the things I liked about it were the dimensions. With the timber lid/top removed it is a perfect height to put on a slab of stone and a non recessed basin. It is also 60cm deep which fits a good sized basin and toiletries. I liked that it had two little cupboards and while the shelf underneath is not original it's a great addition for storing baskets or rolled towels.  How beautiful is the design on the doors and the turned legs.

Because this is an old gramophone cabinet, removing the top was very simple. I just unscrewed the hinges and kept the beautiful bevelled top for another project. I sanded down the piece gently and primed it with two coats of with Zinsser Bin inside and out. Because this is used in a bathroom where it will get splashed and also be exposed to condensation, I painted every single bit of it: inside and out, the back and underneath.  I painted it in Dulux Aqua Enamel in a bright white. It took many many coats to get a nice solid coverage.

Here it is mid way: You can see how the paint is still a little transparent. People often ask me how many coats of white are required. I say keep painting till your paint is no longer transparent. This will all depend on what colour your timber is, what colour white you choose, what sort of paint you are using and how much titanium is in it.

and finished

I just placed the timber top back on for photos but here it is below ready for installation in Rachael and Luke's bathroom.

Here's it in situ - beautiful.

I am now keeping my eyes peeled for more pieces like this for Rachael and Luke's main bathroom and for our two new bathrooms for our upstairs renovation. If you see anything that you might think is suitable I'd love to hear from you.

Also I thought you might like to see a few photos from a wonderful evening out last night. My daughter's school choir participated in the Combined Public Schools Choir at the Opera House. I was such a proud mummy, seeing all the children and hearing them sing so beautifully. A fabulous evening and a few tears were shed by proud parents. My daughter even said "Mummy I could see you crying from where I was standing."

Hopefully the rain settles down so I can do some more painting. Have a wonderful day.

cheers Fiona xx