Shabby Chic; Volume III

Seakay

Hi Florenceem - sure someone will be along in a few mins to give you advice. Meanwhile, #2502 onwards gives the latest lot of ideas on painting different surfaces if trawling the whole thread is too much for you! Alternatively put a key word into "search this thread". Brushes are fine, there is no need to invest in a sprayer if you don't want to.

emma_kate

Florenceem wrote: »

This is my first post on here. I haven't transformed any furniture before so have an awful lot to learn. I will ask really basic questions.
1. Does a piece of furniture have to be wood to be successfully changed - ie - not cheap/veener sorts?
2. I have a chest of drawers - rescued from a neighbour who was throwing it out. It is a heavy piece of furniture. It has been painted - think it is white gloss paint - can I do anything with it? At the moment I have a 70s unit in the bedroom - small drawers - so not enough storage space. The painted COD has proper size drawers. My plan is to hopefully sell off the retro unit and use the COD instead. Advice please - Mr F is totally unpractical. Do you need a sprayer to transform furniture or can you brush paint? Very limited supply of tools here.

Veneered wood is fine! Over gloss you could use chalk paint like Annie Sloans and wax or use Zinsser primer( Bullseye 123 water based) and any paint over the top. However if you want to go gloss you should be able to paint right over the gloss with a minimal sanding with a fine sandpaper. Hope that helps! Brushes are great!
The paint you chose all depends on the finish you want the piece of furniture to have, ie, shiny, matt, etc. Good luck!

Florenceem

emma_kate wrote: »

Veneered wood is fine! Over gloss you could use chalk paint like Annie Sloans and wax or use Zinsser primer( Bullseye 123 water based) and any paint over the top. However if you want to go gloss you should be able to paint right over the gloss with a minimal sanding with a fine sandpaper. Hope that helps! Brushes are great!
The paint you chose all depends on the finish you want the piece of furniture to have, ie, shiny, matt, etc. Good luck!

If I want a shabby chic look should I sand first and then paint? I don't want a gloss look - I think it just looks like painted furniture - iyswim.

chalkysoil

saw this on pinterest and thought "hot" water ... must try again. The wall cabinet I'm painting at the moment which was shiny brown teak now looks 100 years old & rough cut wood as I think I put the Annie chalk paint on too thick. Never mind, it's got fossils in it so not inappropriate.

danemi1

aaagh am having a mare painting my chairs - they were mahogany then i esp'd them and painted them with farrow and ball dimity two years ago - now we have done the kitchen its time to update so bought laura ashley scarlett - and seeing as they had already had esp on them before the ivory I thought I would be ok to just sand to give a key then paint - I gave them 2 coats yesterday of scarlett then left to dry - sadly or should I say annoyingly whilst I went to get the children from school and by the time we had walked back they were wet I brought them inside and left to dry overnight - this morning I have sanded them down and this is how they look now - what do you think does it look like a paint job gone wrong or could I get away with loving and embracing the shabby chic look - I already love it but they are shabbier than intended - please be totally truthful
http://danemi1.blogspot.co.uk/

emma_kate

Florenceem wrote: »

If I want a shabby chic look should I sand first and then paint? I don't want a gloss look - I think it just looks like painted furniture - iyswim.

Your best bet for shabby chic is to get some Annie Sloan Chalk paint (or make your own) and wax. No sanding needed just paint away! You can also distresss the edges slightly with sandpaper once it's done if you like that look.

emma_kate

danemi1 wrote: »

aaagh am having a mare painting my chairs - they were mahogany then i esp'd them and painted them with farrow and ball dimity two years ago - now we have done the kitchen its time to update so bought laura ashley scarlett - and seeing as they had already had esp on them before the ivory I thought I would be ok to just sand to give a key then paint - I gave them 2 coats yesterday of scarlett then left to dry - sadly or should I say annoyingly whilst I went to get the children from school and by the time we had walked back they were wet I brought them inside and left to dry overnight - this morning I have sanded them down and this is how they look now - what do you think does it look like a paint job gone wrong or could I get away with loving and embracing the shabby chic look - I already love it but they are shabbier than intended - please be totally truthful
http://danemi1.blogspot.co.uk/

I'm not loving them if I'm brutally honest but it's not the painting and distressing I'm not liking. I think you've done that quite nicely. I just think the colour hasn't worked. Just my opinion and each to their own! Keep at it till you love them!

danemi1

thank you emma kate - since posting above I decided against it, have sanded back, given a coat of ESP and have now given them a coat of scarlet - waiting for it to dry and then will give another coat and we will see where we are then - thank you I do appreciate it - the gingham is Laura Ashley Scarlet Gingham and the paint is from there and is scarlet so am hoping once done and dry it will look right - let me know what you think once they are finished wont you??? Hopefully they will look better with the depth of the red x

Florenceem

emma_kate wrote: »

Your best bet for shabby chic is to get some Annie Sloan Chalk paint (or make your own) and wax. No sanding needed just paint away! You can also distresss the edges slightly with sandpaper once it's done if you like that look.

Never heard of that paint. What is best for me to do - buy or make?

emma_kate

Florenceem wrote: »

Never heard of that paint. What is best for me to do - buy or make?

Well you can only buy it from Annie Sloan stockists so if you don't live near one you will have hefty postage added to the cost and its not cheap. But if you've not done this before it might be simpler. Have a google for stockists. You will need wax too.
There's a recipe above from chalkysoil that you could try with ordinary emulsion (matt) but once you've paid for a can of emulsion and the plaster of paris there's probably not much in it. If you have a can of paint already then that would be cheaper. Or if you happen to have plaster of paris powder lying around...
Or perhaps you can get some zinsser bullseye water based 123 and then any ordinary matt emulsion will do. Again, you'll need to wax though.
For me, I'm miles away from any Annie Stockists, and close to a zinsser stockist so that's what I go for! Too tight to fork out on postage!