detail oriented

This  antique table was such a sweet find.  

I painted it in my favorite blue plaster paint, lightly distressed and waxed. 

It lived with me for a while before it went to the Old Bank Market. I miss it daily.  The dark wax brought out so much of the character in this piece.  It brings a lot of interest to a space with such beautiful details . 

 

Before: peeling veneer and water stains
After: original beauty highlighted in a new hue

rustic blue sideboard

It makes things a lot easier if a client has a vision.  If they can show me three pictures of what they like, I can usually come close to their vision.  This was a dark mahogany stained server with great storage and in fantastic shape.  My client wanted something rustic and distressed that sat flat on the floor. It took a few weeks to find but it was perfect.  Painted in Benjamin Moore's Old Pickup blue mixed with plaster and then sealed in a dark wax.  

I didn't know whether or not to leave the hardware or clean it up to a pretty shine.  I bought this sideboard as a set with a matching china cabinet so I tried both finishes on the hardware.  I liked the cleaned up version, but my client like the more rustic, untouched hardware.  

See? Client with a vision really helps!

Right at home!

Red Redo

 This cabinet came with my sister's house.  It is half wood and half mdf and therefore weighs 500 lbs (maybe a little less).  It wasn't being used and my cousin needed a TV console.  See how it works in my family?  I painted it inside and out because naked mdf looks like...  mdf.  It's cute now!  Oil rubbed bronze on the hardware, a colonial red paint and a tiny bit of distressing, sealed in my homemade Jacobean wax. It looks right at home in my cousin's 200 year old Cape! 

I painted the inside white and green.  It's clean and a little unexpected fun.

pretty in pink

 Painted in a color picked by the client for her 4 year old.  As I finished the first coat, my own princess said "Momma, this is such a pretty desk, I hope you don't make it look old and dirty."  It was a good perspective and I agreed with her, so rather than give it a lot of dark wax I gave it a white glaze.  It turned out great! A little wax at the end to seal it and bring out some details, but certainly not too dirty.

My friend bought this desk off craigslist only to find a leg had snapped at some point and the seller didn't disclose this.  I really only know how to glue things, but I was assured by my neighbor, Kate at heirandspace, that it would probably be the strongest leg after glue.  She was right! It was impossible to find the broken leg after the painting began.

Victoria

 I picked up this antique dresser and it was beautiful already.  It had years of cat scratches and divots on the top side but the drawers worked and it was super solid.  I had been wanting to try a Union Jack piece for my sister-in-law and although it was a ton of work, it was also a ton of fun. I love the way it turned out and I can't wait to do this again. 

and I took all photos without the hardware on?

Seaside Holly

This was a a fairly plain cabinet and hutch in need of love. A craigslist find that came dripping in some sort of kitchen grease and donning heart shaped drawer pulls. I scrubbed it down and primed it immediately so that I could see past the years of yuck.  I eventually took it out of storage and painted it one of my favorite colors,  Amelia's Island blue.  It lived in my house for a bit. I never actually moved into the storage spaces.  Just stared at it while waiting for spring to brighten up with color.  

It lives with my sweetie-pie god-daughter now in her beachy bedroom.  

before and after
It's hard to photograph the true color.
I'd say it's in between the two versions above.