Shabby Chic; Volume III

emma_kate

Merry Mary, That's beautiful and I really enjoy your blog! x

smurph67

I have been given 2 pine wardrobes and a chest of drawers and I think that they are too dark for our bedroom, so I was condering painting them a cream colour but I have no idea where to begin. This will be my first furniture project. The wood on the wardrobes is quite knotty if that make any difference. also any help on the best brands of paint to use would be good

TIA

Sue

emma_kate

smurph67 wrote: »

I have been given 2 pine wardrobes and a chest of drawers and I think that they are too dark for our bedroom, so I was condering painting them a cream colour but I have no idea where to begin. This will be my first furniture project. The wood on the wardrobes is quite knotty if that make any difference. also any help on the best brands of paint to use would be good

TIA

Sue

Hiya, first of all you need to sugar soap them.

Do you know of they have a varnished finish or if they are waxed or natural?
If they are natural then you will need to treat the knots first. Two coats of Blackfriars problem solving primer on every knot will do it. You can use any old quick dry primer on the rest (or use the Blackfriars all over it) and then you can paint in water based paint like emulsion or chalk paint.

If they are waxed I'd give a light sand, and use the blackfriars primer all over it.

If they are laquered you can assume the knots are treated and just give a light sand or go straight in with Annie Sloan chalk paint. No sanding needed with that.
The Annie Sloan is a nice paint to use for this reason if you've not painted furniture before.

Don't forget to take pics before you start! Good luck!

merrymary

emma_kate wrote: »

Merry Mary, That's beautiful and I really enjoy your blog! x

Same here, Emma Kate! Thank you for your help right from the beginning. You're an inspiration to me :)

jumblejack

merrymary wrote: »

Hi guys, I hope you don't mind me showing my cabinet that I just finished with a little help from Dh
BEFORE

AFTER

Wowsers!

That's gorgeous! I bet you are completely thrilled and proud of the results. You deserve to be.

Absolutely lovely!

emma_kate

This is quite a fun and quick project!
I had a plain crate (bear with me because all the pics are in the wrong order AGAIN!!) and we came up with some lettering to make it cuter!
I was going to use marker pen. DON'T!! It bled into the wood.
I transferred the letters with carbon paper and filled it in with a tiny brush and blackboard paint which gives a very authentic matt look and great coverage in one coat.

These old crates cost a fortune on ebay and half of them are repro anyway. It's nice that you can choose something that's personal to you.

tiff

I cant believe how that changes the look of the box, probably you might walk by the box by itself as its plain!

mrs_baggins

I havent gone through all of the threads but I have been looking at some of the transformations and the 'after' photos look so fab! its hard to see from the photos but generally speaking when you paint say, an old chest of drawers, is it just painted all over or is it distressed to look like its been about for years and been scuffed here and there?

emma_kate

mrs_baggins wrote: »

I havent gone through all of the threads but I have been looking at some of the transformations and the 'after' photos look so fab! its hard to see from the photos but generally speaking when you paint say, an old chest of drawers, is it just painted all over or is it distressed to look like its been about for years and been scuffed here and there?

It's really your personal preference. I like a distressed look. It fits with family life and can take a beating.
Sometimes things just look great painted and not distressed. Just turning dark wood to pale painted wood can be enough on it's own. It's really up to you. I think there's both distressed and un distressed on here.

wilsooon

Hi there, silly question, but how do I tell if an item is waxed or lacquered pine? I've got a pine bookcase I bought recently (2nd hand) and I've no idea what the finish is. I'm considering investing in some Annie Sloan paint but a bit worried I might still need to deal with knots etc first.

Many thanks in advance (and why do I also post these queries so late at night???? )