Shabby Chic; Volume III

hmo

unit looks great i passed a homebase today so bought estate eggshell in white

emmie1234

Have been lurking about this thread for ages and would like to ask if it's ok to join in? We have just moved house and I've decided to do up the furniture we already have shabby chic style I have sanded down an old pine pc cabinet today, (currently using it to store kitchen bits and bobs as don't have much room) undercoated it, and I've just put the second coat of eggshell on it and I'm really impressed already going to give it another coat later and will try and post some piccies when it's finished. Our local heart foundation shop has loads of gorgeous welsh dressers for between £20- £40 so hoping to pick one of those up next week and work some magic on it Have got the other half into it and he's loving it xx

hmo

emmie1234 wrote: »

Have been lurking about this thread for ages and would like to ask if it's ok to join in? We have just moved house and I've decided to do up the furniture we already have shabby chic style I have sanded down an old pine pc cabinet today, (currently using it to store kitchen bits and bobs as don't have much room) undercoated it, and I've just put the second coat of eggshell on it and I'm really impressed already going to give it another coat later and will try and post some piccies when it's finished. Our local heart foundation shop has loads of gorgeous welsh dressers for between £20- £40 so hoping to pick one of those up next week and work some magic on it Have got the other half into it and he's loving it xx

hi and welcome, you sound as though you are busy.

hmo

when i did the wardrobe and draws recently i put a couple of coates of clear mat varnish on after i had painted.

do any of you do this or not

shirlgirl2004

hmo wrote: »

when i did the wardrobe and draws recently i put a couple of coates of clear mat varnish on after i had painted.

do any of you do this or not

I have done but to be honest I haven't found it makes it any more hardwearing.On the positive it doesn't afect the look so there's no reason not to apart from the time involved and the money.

Kaz2904

emmie1234 wrote: »

Our local heart foundation shop has loads of gorgeous welsh dressers for between £20- £40

*Snipped*
Ours is charging between £100- £150 for hideous ones :eek::mad:.
They are so overpriced it is surprising they ever sell anything.

Bibbitybob

Thanks for the lovely comments, everyone!

Kaz2904 wrote: »

Who knew such an ugly item could look so lovely with a bit of trimming? That island is really good bibbity. How are you powering the microwave? (I like to know these things for future reference!)
I reckon you'll find that your most used area, it is flooded with light from the doors and will be a great place for food prep.

Proper MSE too - free unit, offcut of worktop, just the edging strip to buy saved us almost £2k off our kitchen quote :eek:

We put a socket in the floor under the island to power the microwave - we'll eventually run an extension lead up through the bottom of the unit because it's on casters so can be moved out the way if we want to make more room/put dining table in kitchen.

susan946

emmie1234 wrote: »

Have been lurking about this thread for ages and would like to ask if it's ok to join in? We have just moved house and I've decided to do up the furniture we already have shabby chic style I have sanded down an old pine pc cabinet today, (currently using it to store kitchen bits and bobs as don't have much room) undercoated it, and I've just put the second coat of eggshell on it and I'm really impressed already going to give it another coat later and will try and post some piccies when it's finished. Our local heart foundation shop has loads of gorgeous welsh dressers for between £20- £40 so hoping to pick one of those up next week and work some magic on it Have got the other half into it and he's loving it xx

Hello Emmie - I'm a lurker as well. I love to see what everyone is doing but just now I'm a bit limited by a back problem so I can do little bits and bobs but bigger projects are just dreams for now. Lots of plans, though!

Hope you will post some before and after piccies.

Sue

susan946

Bibbitybob wrote: »

I always sand, otherwise the paint doesn't key (stick!) properly. Depending on the wood, it's usually just a rough going over though.

Well here's the unit in the state we got it from Freegle...



And here it is after a little work as our new kitchen island. It still needs shelves adding in the giant gap, but it's pretty (painted it chalky swedish blue) and functional (hides the microwave and displays my cook books!)...



Still lots more work to do on the kitchen, as you can see, but Mr Bibbitybob finally put my light fitting and curtain rail up yesterday. We're going to look at tiles tomorrow, although I think I know what I'm after it's just a case of getting the right price!

This is fantastic. Who'd have thought such an ugly duckling could turn into such a beautiful swan. When you picked up the unit did you instantly know how you were going to use it, or was it the other way round - you decided to make an island and then thought what you had that you could use?

Sue

crusty_toenail

Bibbitybob wrote: »

Thanks for the lovely comments, everyone!



Proper MSE too - free unit, offcut of worktop, just the edging strip to buy saved us almost £2k off our kitchen quote :eek:

We put a socket in the floor under the island to power the microwave - we'll eventually run an extension lead up through the bottom of the unit because it's on casters so can be moved out the way if we want to make more room/put dining table in kitchen.

Amazing! I loved the kitchen island, they can be so expensive as you know, yours looks so beautiful, well done for thinking outside the box :T
After finishing my sc kitchen I'm onto the hallway now, starting with the skirting boards and stair spindels, with lots of dulux white satinwood, the transformation is amazing! I'm saving a fortune doing all the painting myself and will post up the pictures when complete:)