Shabby Chic; Volume III

annie-c

esmf73 wrote: »

Hi all, have just bought a LARGE pine (orange-y) dresser for £30. It is in a bad way as it had been stored in a garage that wasn't water tight, but I think with a bit of love and attention it could look lovely. Question is - what love and attention do I give it? Initially I know that I have to sand it down to get rid of the orange-y varnish but what then? I have two very energetic children (one of whom is ASD) so if I paint it it needs to be hard wearing.

Was thinking (depending on what I find after its sanded) that I could paint the unit a white / cream colour, but leave the top of the base natural and just oil it. What paints do I use, do I have to use special ones?

Any help welcome - I have read through some of the thread, but can't manage all of it yet due to the boys xx

esmf73 wrote: »

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HANDMADE-FARROW-AND-BALL-PAINTED-DRESSER-BUTTERMILK-WAX-/270774102358?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Kitchen_KitchenFurniture_EH&hash=item3f0b64e956

this is a link to an identical dresser on ebay. mine is not painted and not gorgeous, but ebay is giving me ideas. Can I do something similar to my kitchen??? Thanks x

Hello, and well done on your bargain dresser!

The ebay one is obviously new and so the finish has been applied to bare wood there, which has helped with the lovely finish.

All wood darkens with age though and some pine tends to go orangey. There is not much you can do about the orangey colour except stain it or paint it.

Since yours is varnished, as Pooky says, it will be hard to get all of the varnish off the surface in order to restain or wax it.

I have an oak dresser, which had a dark finish when I bought it on ebay. I painted all of mine, except for the top work surface, which was easy to sand back to natural using a belt sander. I then used 7-8 coats of Rustins Danish oil on the bare wood for a natural finish.

For the painted finish, I rough sanded all over, using a mouse sander to thoroughly roughen the finish. Then I used 2-3 coats of oil-based undercoat and 2-3 coats oil-based eggshell to give it a very tough finish. Even though I don't have kids, I have still had to do one or two tiny touch ups to the corners of the doors, but otherwise the paint finish has lasted well over about 5-6 years now.

You will need to think about how to get the time and space to do yours up as it is not a quick job. Mine took 5 days from start to finish, though I was only working a couple of hours a day max, but allowing for drying time. Using water based paints would give a much quicker drying time, but it will still be important to allow plenty of time between coats to get a truly durable finish.

I would recommend researching thoroughly, both on this thread and by checking out blogs etc, via google, beofre you start. I'm more than happy to answer questions, and am sure others are, but I couldn't possibly remember off the top of my head all the things I read before I started, and the things I learned along the way (though I probably wrote about them at the time). I don't mean to be harsh, I really admire you taking the project on with the kids around, but you will learn so much from reading up yourself and, with kids around over the summer, it will be even more important to get all the materials and prep done before you start painting if your time is limited.


Good luck! Don't forget to post pics if you have time! :T

craftycrofty

Bibbitybob wrote: »

I've used burnt umber acrylic paint diluted to get a similar effect - paint on and wipe off. It worked well, but I prefer to sand paint away. Sometimes I think a wash can look grubby, but that's just down to my personal taste.

Thanks for the advice. I know what you mean about grubby. I'm not sure my skill levels are up to using that technique! Do you ever use wax over the paint? I've read somewhere (can't remember where!) of someone waxing over the newly painted surface.

CC

Bibbitybob

bensonsmum wrote: »

A question for you - i see that some of you (lately Bibbitybob) have faced the front of drawers with a patternd wall paper ( i think thats what it is), may i ask when you have put it on are you still using a wallpaper adhesive or would it be better to use a textile spray adhesive? and also when it comes to finishing it are you going over it with anything to give it a protective coating?

I used PVA to stick mine on and it dries clear so you could go over the top with it too. How about trying on a test piece to check it doesn't change the colour?

One mine was dry I sanded the edges with a fine sandpaper to distress it a bit, sort of took the colour and pattern off and smoothed the edges, I really like the effect.

craftycrofty, I don't use wax over the paint but it's worth a read back through as a few people on this thread do

princessfufu

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/534/dsci0923.jpg/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/853/imag0194jw.jpg/

Hello - I am a very long time lurker and have took much inspiration from you all so I thought I would share my very first attempt at shabby chic. This chest of drawers was left in the house that we moved into and are rennovating so I hope you think I have done a respectable job! The stickers came from a 'large sample!' from a B&Q border!!
Best Wishes xx

bensonsmum

Bibbitybob wrote: »

I used PVA to stick mine on and it dries clear so you could go over the top with it too. How about trying on a test piece to check it doesn't change the colour?

One mine was dry I sanded the edges with a fine sandpaper to distress it a bit, sort of took the colour and pattern off and smoothed the edges, I really like the effect.

craftycrofty, I don't use wax over the paint but it's worth a read back through as a few people on this thread do

Thanks so much Bibbitybob - im on my second coat of paint and waiting for it to dry, once the painting is all done im going to give it a go - as you suggested im going to try a sample piece first before i do it on the actual dresser. I have got right into this lately, it gives me something to do, doesn't cost a lot - only a bit of paint and some patience and the satisfaction i get when i see the finished article is amazing.
I had my first attempt yesterday at covering a lampshade which i picked up for 10p ar a boot sale, i followed a tutorial on the net as to how to do it and must say im pretty pleased overall - the only downside was the spray adhesive i used has got a sort of yellow colour to it which you can feintly see through the material, does anyone please know of a fabric spray adhesive which is colourless please? that i could use... as you can see from the picture you can see the yellow through the white material, so any suggestions would be great please xxx

Bibbitybob

That looks fab bensonsmum! I've got a lamp shade waiting for the right fabric, just haven't found it yet lol. I know it's my answer to everything at the moment, but I'd be tempted to try PVA glue rather than spray adhesive. I know you can get repositional spray which I found doesn't mark, but it also has a tendancy to fall off after a while.

Those drawers look great princessfufu, keep up the good work

bensonsmum

Bibbitybob going to give the PVA a go on a broken lampshade with an odd bit of fabric and see how i get on before trying to do a proper one again, as the fabric i used from Laura Ashley isnt exactly cheap so don't want to waste too much of it.
I followed your suggestions for the drawers and they look absolutely fab, i did exactly what you said about sanding them down, and doing it your way also took off all the excess overhang of the paper - which i must admit i was worried about how i was going to get it off. I have taken a photo so you can have a sneaky preview just feel a bit like a new mum at the moment - so proud of her new baby lol xxx

Bibbitybob

Ooooh that looks gorgeous bensonsmum! I was looking at that paper for my bedroom but think I've decided on the Nina design instead

bensonsmum

Thank you Bibbitybob - without your help i wouldn't have done half so well - so i reckon the credit should go to you:beer:

savingmummy

I am a bit of a shabby chic fan and have a shabby chic bedroom, DD`s bedroom is shabby chic, my garden is 60% shabby chic!!
NOW i have kitchen bits that are shabby chic eg, egg rack, cupcake stand, wall plaques and little wooden heart hangers, baskets (not yet being used).
I would like to do a red/cream shabby chic theme in the kitchen, BUT we cant change our fitted kitchen and it isnt cream/white its faux wood (think it is beech in colour)

Could i still get away with doing a shabby chic look kitchen just by decor and assessories?
Would it look silly and look incomplete?

I have found tiles for the kitchen which are shabby chic in look, And we will be painting the walls a deep cream.

I have some pics so you can see might make it easier for you to see what i mean, a bit big though i will remove them once you`ve seen them LOL!