To paint, or not to paint...

One of the most common hesitations my customers face is the dilemma of painting over polished wood or not. 

At home I have several wooden pieces of furniture which are either varnished, oiled or waxed. I don't paint everything!

But it might surprise you that my decision not to paint them has nothing to do with its age, expense, lovely wood grain or exotic timbers. Its purely visual. If it looks better in wood I leave it. If it looks better painted I paint it.

What! You mean you might paint an antique mahogany dressing table?

Yes I might!

Painting something isn't the absolute end of the world.
It doesn't destroy the sub-surface in anyway. 

THE WOOD IS STILL THERE.

There are gentle paint strippers on the market that will successfully bring it back to its former glory if I change my mind down the track. There's no need to base painting decisions on the preciousness of the wood, but instead on your desire for painted furniture. Or not. 

And if you STILL can't decide, go half-and-half like the side table in the pic above. Problem solved. 

Ant x

Website: Voodoo Molly Vintage

Furniture Up-stylers | Custom Painting | Upholstery

Gate-Leg Table

We've owned this gate-leg table for a couple of years now. Along with many other things its been hidden away in the back of the storage room gathering dust and cobwebs, waiting patiently until we had the time to complete it.

We brought it from a lady who had a huge barn full of furniture. Unbelievably, despite being covered in grime the barn was bone dry and borer free.... so this piece was in excellent condition.

A few of the joints were wobbly after years of use, but nothing a quick glue and clamp couldn't fix.

Its a beautiful and an excellent example of how vintage can be turned into something fresh and adorable. 

We selected a soft Voodoo Molly "Half Fairy Cream" for this.... which is a blend of half White Crystal and half Fairy Cream - our most popular commission colour actually. 

Its hard to tell on this photo but the paint finish has turned out lovely and the distressing is a bit more subtle than it looks. 

Ant x

Website: Voodoo Molly Vintage

Furniture Up-stylers | Custom Painting | Upholstery

Nesting tables

We have completed two completely different styled nesting tables, for two different customers, in two different colour combos. But they both have something in common… the both look fabulicious!

This first one is painted in white and given a wax finish. Its for a holiday home which our customer rents out, so the tables need to be compact, functional and easily cleaned.
This second set has petite Queen Anne legs and a cute-as scolloped top. We painted the base in Voodoo Molly “Fairy Cream”, and the top in Voodoo Molly “Blood Red”. They are so adorable don’t you think?

Ant x

Website: Voodoo Molly Vintage

Furniture Up-stylers | Custom Painting | Upholstery

US Flag Coffee Table

Over here in New Zealand we're starting to get higher and higher summer temps. Thats great for sunbathing, but not so great for painting. At the moment the paint can start to dry on the brush. Arrrggg. Luckily for us we use Resene's Hot Weather Additive in the paint otherwise we'd not get much work done at all.

Yesterday we finished off this US Flag inspired coffee table. As many of our readers know we love to paint Union Jacks - like this one here, here and here - but we've never done this flag before! Heaps of fun and its turned out grrrreat.



The technique we used for distressing the stripes were discovered while making a "mistake" on another project. We used some plastic tape on some not-completely-cured-but-dry-to-touch paint. Unfortunately (or is that fortunately) we had run out of painters masking tape and we couldn't agree on who was going to nip up the road and buy some more lol. So instead of arguing about it out came some packing tape. *Hangs head in shame*.

After painting two coats we gave one pull of the plastic tape and the paint peeled off in this strange-as way!!

Uh-oh, OMG, WTF... which is literally what we said after a long pause with our jaw dropped.

Obviously it wasn't meant to happen. So on that particular project and we had to repaint it. BUT it looked so neat that I've used the technique a couple of times since.

It had a silver lining after all and I live to tell the tale. :)

Anyhooo, here is the finished result of our US flag table. The base is plain semi-gloss black which compliments the bright, shabby design on top.

BTW, the stars were tricky..... ;)

Kiwiana table

When I was small we could buy a whole bag of lollies for 10c and an iceblock for 15c. Time and inflation has increased since then....as has my weight tolerance to those sorts of foods too!

I don't remember how much a fish & chips cost but to me $1.20 sounded about right. :)

This is painted in VMV "Sea Monster" with a smiggon of VMV "Acid Yellow".

Vintage Rifle Case

Last weekend I met a lovely "collector of interesting stuff" and I had the opportunity of rummaging around his chaotic (yet organised!) piles. Among other things I brought this vintage rifle case and I knew the second I saw it that it would make a fab bench seat or coffee table. And I was right!

We spent a lovely afternoon re-lining it in felt and mounting some legs on it.... too much fun to call work me thinks!

Vintage Tea Trolley

This trolley has been used as a TV stand in our living room for several years. I'm guessing its from the 1940s or there about.

I'd always wanted to paint it white, but never got around to it.

Now I'm glad because it looks wayyyyyyy cooler now!

Its painted black with red and white union jack stripes. And the best news is its currently up for sale!

~~~

Check out my FOR SALE items
See samples in my GALLERY page
COMMISSION me to refurbish your furniture

EMAIL ME for enquiries

Like me on FACEBOOK
~~~

Coffee Table Restoration

When I first saw this coffee table I thought "OH KNOW"!  Fish tanks and polished rimu furniture do not become friends, and this water damaged table proves it.

I almost didn't take this commission on because it was so badly damaged, however I'm very pleased with how it turned out. There is still some minor damage thats noticeable if you look close enough, but boy, what a different don't you agree!

I ordinarily don't do these types of refurbs, but never one to bow down to a challenge I got the big guns out to tackle this baby. The top had been kept moist and warm for an extended period, so aside from the obviously water damage the top was also cupped (bowed). Flattening the sucker was the first step. 

I solved the cupping by damping the reverse and putting in a press for a week. This did the trick nicely and its flatted out nicely. To avoid it cupping again I sealed the bottom with the same varnish as I used on the top. This stops different levels of moisture effecting the wood again.

After it was flatted I had some major splitting in the wood to tackle, job number two. 

This was solved by mixing together wood glue and sawdust, then using it as a filler. This creates a very strong bond that makes it like solid wood again. It also keeps the filler the exact colour of the wood because you use the sawdust from the wood itself. Easy pezy. 

Next I had to sand the water damaged top. It had both surface white marks (affecting the varnish only), and deep black marks and pitting which had penetrated a long way into the surface of the wood. This meant I had to sand about 2mm down to get it even close to looking acceptable. This top is made from completely solid timber planks so I was able to start with a belt sander, then I progressed down to 1/3 sheet electric sander, and finished it off by hand. All the while I was reducing the grades of sandpaper, starting at 120 and finishing on 420 grit. 

Finally four layers of varnish was applied to match the deep gloss level of the rest of the table. Done! 

~~~

Check out my FOR SALE items 
See samples in my GALLERY page
COMMISSION us to refurbish your furniture

EMAIL ME for enquiries

Like me on FACEBOOK
~~~

Funky round coffee table

Today is Fathers Day so best wishes to all you Dad's out there. I haven't managed to see my Dad today as I'm not feeling safe to drive (back surgery issues bugger), but Mum & Dad will pop over to see me tomorrow for lunch. Yay!

My husband got a nice note and chocolates from our daughter this morning, which is his favourite gift.

I have just finished a cool looking coffee table and its now up for sale. This is actually Korean made, with great carved details. But I couldn't settle for just selling as-is of course.... so I painted it, glazed it, wrote on it, and varnished it. Done!

FOR SALE

I painted it white with some black vintage French typography. I distressed it before glazing with grey to bring out all the nooks and crannys of the carving. 

I was a little disappointed to discover a small crack in the wood after I had brought this, but luckily it is barely noticeable...

FOR SALE   NZ$250

~~~

Check out my other items for sale
See samples in my Gallery page

Email me for commissions or enquiries

Like me on Facebook
~~~

This table was featured this week on Shabby Art Boutique's Shabbilicious Friday party, be sure to check out Kerryannes great website for inspiration and lots of yummy shabbiness.

French Style Nesting Tables

My pants just got completely covered in paint. Grrrrr. Whilst packing all the equipment and stuff away after this project I accidentally dropped the paint-brush-washing-bucket onto the floor, splashing painty mess-ness upwards like a milky white volcano. 

Nice. 

Remind me again why I should ALWAYS wear my painting clothes when working..... au revoir nice pair of jeans.... 

Anyhooo, do you like these nesting tables? 

Oui oui..

FOR SALE  NZ$175

~~~

Check out my other items for sale
See samples in my Gallery page

Email me for commissions or enquiries

Like me on Facebook
~~~

Oak Extension Table with 4 chairs

Oak is such a lovely homely wood which I adore. I have refurbished a few items in this lovely timber and the rich grain still never fails to amaze me. I brought this dining suite mainly for the impressive turned legs of the table, but the whole set is gorgeous.

The table top had a lot of heat & water marks which have been removed... what a difference just doing that made!

Now look at that grain.... wow.  Warm and delicious like steam pud and custard. hmmmm. The fabric is a chocolate brown with turquoise floral designs. I tried several different fabrics but this one was the best by far. Lovely. I've used this fabric before in this project here.

The wood itself has been cleaned down, stripped off, re-stained and re-polished. All of the photos here were taken before the final coat of protective varnish... so lets say it is wayyyyy better in real life. :)

The carving on the chair backs are subtle and understated, just the right balance for this table. I can just imagine the furniture maker with his hammer and chisel...

We have a very similar table to this in our dining room. But its no where near as good as this! This set is full of friggin-awesome-ness!

SORRY SOLD

~~~

Check out my other items for sale
See samples in my Gallery page

Email me for commissions or enquiries

Like me on Facebook
~~~

French typography coffee table

Yay, this is my first post in a couple of weeks and I'm glad to be back!

Well at least part-time anyhow. As some of my readers might remember I had CTS surgery on both of my hands 2 1/2 weeks ago, but look at me now... I'm working again! :)))) And holding a teeny tiny brush too.

Last night me and my daughter decided to paint our coffee table with some super cool french typography I found on Graphics Fairy.

I had already posted a before and after photo of this table here. But it was missing some spark.

And this has spark now.....In fact its red hot baby!! :)

We painted the type on whilst watching True Blood. hehe. I love that show. Although the fiddly letters were a little time consuming it was also very therapeutic sitting there couched on our WHITE shag carpet using BLACK paint (don't tell my hubby ok). Thanks graphics fairy for giving us a super-quick image.

Speaking of Graphics Fairy I was pleased to win their "Brag Monday" last week for my French Inspired Makeup bags. How cool is that?! Each week you can submit craft or diy entries which have used their copy-right free images. Its a great source of inspiration and images so be sure to check it out.

SORRY - NOT FOR SALE 

~~~

Check out my other items for sale
See samples in my Gallery page

Email me for commissions or enquiries

Like me on Facebook
~~~

Half round hall table

This is a refurb I did a long time ago but have never featured on my blog (well, I don't think I have).

This table is a fairly modern reproduction of an antique style hall table. The legs screw off for easy shipping, which was handy because the buyer of this lived out of Auckland.

Doesn't a lick of white paint freshen things up nicely! The legs have some lovely grooving which render itself nicely to a little shabby-chic distressing.

SORRY SOLD

~~~

Check out my other items for sale
See samples in my Gallery page

Email me for commissions or enquiries

Like me on Facebook
~~~

Flapless coffee table

I brought this lovely mahogany drop-sided coffee table from a fellow crafter. She had a lovely house in the bush and enjoyed crochet etc. Unfortunately it just wasn't very practical - for her or for me. It seems like a great idea having side flaps but it really wasn't. Besides, one of the flaps were damaged anyway.

So, I whipped both sides off with a screwdriver and gave it a fresh lick of.... wait for it.... white paint! There is something about fresh white paint that livens the most boring piece of furniture up.

And you don't need much money to dress things up either! The 'table runner' is two bamboo place-mats pushed together, and the candle holder was a cheap tea-light candle holder, with 3 thick church candles.

Compass drop leaf table

~~~

Winning doesn’t mean coming first, it means completing something you have never done before.

~~~

A friend of my husband gifted this table to us about 10 years ago. It used to have a round glass top to it. That made it easy to clean, but impossible to drop the flaps down! A guy must have thought that one up, lol.

But this wee table fits into our small dining area well so I've keep it all this time. Its also mighty handy having fold down sides.

It used to be dark brown. About 4 years ago I painted it white. Then 2 years ago I did a blue/white shabby chic top. Time for a change again!

Shabby Chic Extension Table

There are 18 more days to go until I have back surgery. I'm furiously trying to fit as much stuff as I can into each day (making them count!) because I know I won't be able to do any more furniture restorations for a while. :(

But, at least I will have lots of time to do some of my other (neglected) hobbies such as crochet/knitting, oil painting, doll making etc. A silver lining.

Anyhoooo....

I finished another project today.  Shabby Chic Funk at its best.

I brought this table from a lady who (funnily enough) works as a theater nurse at the hospital that I'm going too! How co-incidental is that one. lol.

Namco Formic Dining Suite

Huge Coffee Table with Union Jack

We brought this incredibly heavy coffee table new about 10 years go from D'Vine Furniture in Manukau City. I'm not sure why we brought it to be honest - it was always way too big for our little lounge.

Harlequin Coffee Table

Ok, its a bit hard to tell but this coffee table has a harlequin (diamond) 

pattern painted on the top with grey and blue. This table ended up in a 

Church conversion....

Oval Oak Side Table

AFTER

BEFORE

This was in a sad state when I got it. I stripped off the varnish, sanded 

and varnished the top, then painted the base.