The best brush for painting details on furniture

Good morning from "tropical"Sydney! It's like someone's dragged this little corner of the world closer to the equator: high humidity and afternoon thunderstorms. Not very good for when you are putting a new roof on your house. Luckily there's a break in this morning's rain and I think the roof tilers will finish it all in a couple of hours. Our builder and I will both breathe a sigh of relief with the house being water tight.

Last week a painted a sweet little timber plant stand. It's very old and is missing a few pieces of the timber trim but I love the shape and think it will be pretty in a corner of my house somewhere. 

I painted a simple fleur de lis on each of the four sides. The plant stand is painted in a light grey (ASCP Paris grey with white mixed in it and the fleur de lis is ASCP Pure White). Several years ago I made my own stencil of a fleur de lis using a print off the internet, a scalpel and some thick mylar. I don't actually like stenciling because of the blurred edges you get. Instead I use the stencil to trace the pattern lightly in pencil and then I hand paint the design. 

If you are hand painting decorative detail on your furniture, a lovely brush to use is a Talkon Dagger brush. It is an elegant brush that creates beautiful curves for flowers and fleur de lis.  You can buy these from art shops or the internet for anywhere between $5-$30. The one I'm using cost around $9 from Tilly's Art Supplies in Rozelle.

I use the paint from the lid of the tin and gently dip the end of the brush into it, then with a steady hand I paint the detail. Don't worry that the first coat of paint doesn't look good. It never does.

But after a couple of coats of paint it will look lovely.
What's your favourite brush to use?

Today I'm heading out to pick the tiles for the bathrooms and laundry. Wish me luck
Fiona xx 

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Miss Mustard Seed

Furniture Paint Effects - dry brushed and washes

I probably should have just sold this piece unpainted as it was in lovely condition and looked nice. However Catriona visited me to see what I had for sale and loved this piece and wanted it painted in a washed effect so I agreed. I thought it was a good chance for me to practice my painting technique anyway.

To get this effect I sanded the cupboard down lightly then did a rough base coat of ASCP French Linen. When it was dry I then dry brushed ASCP Old Ochre. To dry brush, I shake the tin of paint and then take off the lid. The paint that remains on the inside of the lid will be enough for you to use. Dip a dry paint brush into the paint very lightly. Then blot the paint brush onto some paper towel to get off most of the paint. With barely any pressure run your paint brush down the surface to be painted. Try not to get big blotchy spots, you want gentle light lines. 

 Once I was happy with the dry brushing and it was dry, I watered down more old ochre paint in a bowl to create a wash (which also lightens the paint colour) and carefully washed the paint in biog strokes along the grain of the wood. 

I then waxed and lightly distressed it. Saying it like that makes the process sound very simple but I did several layers of the washed and probably mucked around too much. I need to improve this technique and get it more streamlined. I wish I had a teacher to take me to the next level of furniture painting. Until then it's just a matter to practicing, reading online and trying new things.

Catriona loved it and so did I. 
It's such a well made stately piece.

I could have happily kept this one.

Fiona xx

Latest available pieces from Lilyfield Life

Good morning! I hope you've all had a lovely weekend. We were wanting to spend sometime on the beach but in between house chores, some school posters to be made, my son dancing with his school dance group at the Rozelle Festival and sport we didn't make it. Anyway I did do some painting and I have a few little pieces for sale if you need to sort out your house before the Christmas festivities or even if you are feeling generous and want one as a present for a loved one. 

Go on - Spoil yourself (or someone else).

Duck Egg Cupboard

An ASCP Duck egg rustic cupboard and 4 drawers. Solid timber. Dimensions 60cm wide by 42 cm deep by 74cm tall. Perfect for a big bedside, lamp table, hallway: a great for a pop of colour in any spot really. SOLD

I really love ASCP Duck Egg over dark timber such as this mahogany cupboard (not so much over orange pine or paler timber). I have distressed this cupboard slightly so you can see traces of white paint and the timber through the duck egg paint. It gives it a lovely soft worn look. Although a piece of jagged timber gave me a humongous splinter when I was sanding. The cabinet is all smooth now but I'm pretty sure there's still a sliver of it in my finger. I'm hoping it works its way out soon.

Pale Grey Hall Cupboard

Painted in a soft pale taupey-grey that I mixed (a lovely pebble colour) then antiqued with dark wax and very lightly distressed. Beautifully smooth paint work. (I always do a lot of sanding) Perfect for a narrow hall or small space. Dimensions are 90cm wide, 32cm deep and 79cm tall. For sale $425. Pickup Lilyfield.

I think this piece is one that looks better in real life than in photos. The paint is a lovely colour. I'm more than happy for people to come and inspect. Just let me know.

I had several people ask me about the woven chair that is in the above photo. I love this chair. I think it's one of the nicest things that I've done. I upholstered it a few years ago and it's still looking good.

It's not for sale (and never will be!) although I'm tempted to do another so let me know if you are interested.

White French Style Coffee Table

This piece has already sold. Well sort of sold as I swapped it with my neighbour for some pilates lessons. My hips are a little sore since I've started running (...if you can call it that) again and my neighbour is a wonderful pilates instructor so when she wanted this coffee table as a little table for her grandchildren we did a deal.

We were using this coffee table for a while as our own but I recently found a couple of ones that I love so I decided to sell this one so repainted it in Dulux Natural White and as Marg is using it for kids, I used scrubbable paint and also gave it two coats of Porters All Purpose Sealer for extra durability.

I also am almost finished painting that lovely mirror in the corner. Can you believe that the frame is actually a heavy plastic? 

Vintage Oak Cupboard

This is an interesting little cupboard that I found recently. Lovely old oak with vintage timber castors and the most beautiful handle. I painted it in ASCP Pure White and wax for protection. To give it a soft shabby chic look, I lightly distressed the edges. So pretty (especially with those fading peonies). SOLD.

I'm hoping to get a few more pieces finished this week so check back if you are looking for anything.

yours in paint and a love of vintage stuff

Fiona xx

Two turquoise pieces - such a splash of colour

When I painted the piece of furniture that Wagner Australia bought and gave away on my facebook page, the marketing manager asked for me to paint the piece in a bold bright colour. I love bright splashes of turquoise so I went to my local paint shop and checked out the colour range. I chose Dulux Porpoise Place but it's not the exact colour I ended up with. I first selected a semi gloss acrylic but it was way too shiny for my liking so I went back and aimed to get the same colour in a flatter sheen but the guy at the hardware shop mixed the colour into the wrong base colour. Porpoise Place is meant to be on a Ultra Deep base but the hardware guy accidentally mixed it in a Deep base. So I then mixed both my tins together to get a mid sheen, mid colour paint and it turned out perfectly. A custom mistake!

Above is a close up of the French desk before I lightly distressed it. My client Nicole had asked me to find her daughter a french style dressing table that I could turn into a desk for her daughter. A few weeks later I found this stunning walnut piece. Usually these dressing tables only have two drawers on each side and longer legs but I was thrilled to find this one with 7 drawers in total. Nicole loved it and asked for me to paint it in this turquoise/teal. I always get confused with turquoise, aqua, teal etc and never know what exactly to call them and this colour proves difficult to capture in a photo anyway but trust me it's gorgeous.

I replaced the original hardware with crystal knobs. There's also a beautiful piece of glass to go on the top which I think will be good for a desk to protect the paint work.

When Nadine, another facebook follower, saw this desk she asked if I had any small pieces for a hall table and could I paint it in the same colour as her hallway need a bright piece.  I had a gorgeous vintage music cabinet in my stash which she loved.

Pretty ugly in my opinion in it's original finish especially paired with those gold star knobs.  I painted the whole thing, inside and out with the turquoise paint mix and added little silver knobs. In progress below. For both pieces, so I didn't need to use a primer (as I didn't want any white peaking through) I used the first coat with a custom mix ASCP. The custom mix is one I did ages ago and I had enough to use as a base coat for both pieces but not to do three coats on each. It's probably close to Florence but more blue and then I did two coats of the acrylic paint. 

And finished.

The details on this piece are lovely also. The little silver disc covers the original gramophone winder holes.

So if you love this colour and want to replicate it, I would get the hardware shop to mix Dulux Porpoise Place into a deep base in a satin finish. It won't be exactly this colour but close enough. Dulux Waikiki might also be an option.

Just to finish I thought I'd share some photos from the weekend at the beach. I think this summer will be a hot one and when I'm not working you will find me here...

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Miss Mustard Seed

My hand painted french furniture in situ

I love seeing where my furniture ends up, especially when it's beautiful french furniture that I was honoured and thrilled to paint. I recently visited a client's new house and she owns three pieces that I've painted. Two were custom pieces that she found and brought to me for painting and the third she purchased from me. 

Actually I'm not sure I ever blogged about this lovely demilune french cabinet. I don't even think I have a before photo but it was extremely shiny. I painted it in ASCP French Linen. I sanded it a lot and it is so smooth and lovely.  Here is the cupboard before hand. I bought it relatively cheaply because it had a big chunk out of the door. I fixed it with builders bog and painted it.

Sam has beautiful taste and a lovely home. It's such a thrill to see my painted furniture in such a gorgeous home.

Details of this lovely sideboard can be found here.

These photos were taken three days after they had moved into their new home so I was so impressed with how quickly Sam had unpacked and got the house looking gorgeous.

The third piece is a desk that will live in the guest room which wasn't ready so I'll just share the photo when it was at my place below.

I thought I'd also share some photos of the lovely spring trees around Lilyfield. I love this time of year. Still loving the early morning runs. I'm slowly getting better. Slowly but surely.

Enjoy your day

Fiona xx

TV Cabinet turned French Armoire

Sorry for my absence; does any one even notice?? :) but I've been painting, renovating and recruiting this week and also I started running again so when I normally make time for blogging, I've been sleeping soundly! and relaxing at night in front of a bit of Dexter on Netflix. Bliss. I'm a happy woman, always am, but especially these days. Anyway onto a recent project...

Paint is a pretty incredible thing. One of the main things I love about it is that it takes away a lot of the fuss of a piece and tones it all down. Take for example this TV cabinet. 

When I bought this several people wondered why. I even had one regular customer who I showed it to and she wasn't interested but when she saw it finished she was desperate for it but it was already sold. When you are buying furniture to paint you have to look past all the fuss of the timber and just look at the overall shape. I loved the fat bottom of this piece and thought that it could get past its humble beginnings as a tv cabinet and become something else quite special.

Even with it's first coat it looked better (in my opinion)

Once the first coat was on I moved it inside to be relatively dust free. I can't wait for our renovations to be finished and to not have to paint next to my bed any more.. or perhaps to not have to sleep next to where I paint. Luckily I have a patient husband.

I painted this piece in Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (ASCP) Paris Grey with white highlights.

I used dark wax to antique the piece and lightly distressed it to being out some of the detail. Inside I used a teal for a lovely pop of colour. 

I made shelves out of some left over fascia board from my neighbour's renovations. Nothing like using what you have to keep your costs down.

Here are some details.

On the renovation front, this week the eaves are going in and the downstairs roof struts are going in place. The roof tilers are booked for Monday week and we all can't wait till we can get rid of the tarp.

cheers Fiona xx