Wintergreen and Autumn and Painting and Sixtieth Birthdays…..All wrapped into one!

Autumn.

In Greenwood, Virginia.

 Crimson colored leaves……..

blue blue skies……..

black kitties….

Sunday was my friend, Molly's,

SIXTIETH birthday.

So I scooped her up for a little overnight

escapade.

We hit Devil's Backbone Brewery,

IPA makes any day better;)

…and then up we went to the tippy top of Wintergreen Resort,

where my friends, Kim and Jon, have a condo.

They had this dresser that had been painted in a metallic finish, 

and had some funky mismatched drawers…

So while Molly chilled after our big lunch,

I got to work...

I mixed up a custom blend of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint 

using Graphite, Old White, and French Linen.

Here it is after base coating.

 Before I went to bed, though, 

I couldn't stand it.

And tried applying dark wax to one of the drawers….

 But I felt like the finish was a little too flat, 

so I simulated distressing 

by dry brushing Graphite over the surfaces.

And then I decided to paint just the pulls

with Old White.

Amazing how this brightens the whole piece!

Next morning, 

I got to waxing: 

clear first, then dark.

The dark wax really warms up the color substantially.

All waxed...

After the wax was dry, I buffed to bring out the sheen.

Gorgeous!

Hitting dark wax on the pulls really

"knocks down" the white and ages the pulls.

Okay, now I will admit it:

I was the one who painted this metallic finish….

years ago..

how embarrassing...

Practice makes perfect indeed.

On to assignment two:

This console that Kim had painted.

The color is great, 

it just needs some aging.

I sanded down all the edges...

and then waxed with clear and dark.

I added lots of dark wax in all the grooves and

imperfections. After everything dried,

I buffed to a lovely sheen.

Farewell, Wintergreen!

 Heading down the mountain, 

we decided to partake of a few fish tacos 

...and IPA, of course, 

 at Blue Mountain Brewery.

What an absolutely amazing day.

Picture perfect!

One final stop, 

at Pollak Vineyards...

For a reflective stroll around the lake..

…and a final glass of celebratory wine.

Happy 60th, Molly!

A Beautiful Armoire - Dumpster Diving at it's best!!!!!!

One of my best alley finds of all time………..

was this dresser I spied in the alley this summer.

 I was walking at the time, 

so I went back and hauled this baby home.

It needed a little clean up, 

but was structurally sound.

And then I realized, 

there was another piece in the alley that looked like 

it might be a hutch top….

hmm..

So back I went.

And tah-dah!

It's an armoire!

(And, YES, 

I moved this baby all by myself..geez.)

 Wilma was very excited...

 Here's the back, that I took off in order to move it easier.

Obviously this was designed for an entertainment center.

 Last week, I was finally able to tackle it.

Here it is with one coat of 

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White.

 I am so excited at the thought of getting this 

OUT of my dining room….

It's already been spoken for……

I just need to finish it up.

 After two coats it is looking good!

 I covered that back piece with bead board vinyl wallpaper, 

and then primed and painted

it in Sherwin Williams Rainwashed.

 Then I did the same with the rest of the interior.

 Next, distress sanding, waxing, and applying dark wax.

I slid the top off over to the dining room table to

be able to paint and wax the top of the base.

Here it is back together and all finished!

 

The original hardware looks great on it!

Inside….

 Outside.

Awesome storage piece!

Come and get it, Fletch & Meredith!!!!!!!

Revisiting an Early SheShe piece…Small Chest of Drawers

 Wow, I recently bought back this piece from a client,

who purchased it from me right after I started doing this for a living!

 It's a little chest of drawers with a cultured marble top. 

At the time, I was into this pearlescent mauve glaze….

but now, I think it's time to do a little updating!

 Here's what I did to update it.

First, I sanded and added some Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in French Linen.

Then I clear waxed the piece, 

and then dark waxed the edges.

 It looks like this..

better…

but not finished yet...

 Next, I went to my handy dandy stocked-full garage 

to see if I could find some hardware

that would fit the existing holes...

I came up with these little french pulls, 

but the finish is all wrong: bright gold and white...

 No problem.

I base painted them in Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Chateau Grey.

 Once dry, 

I added another paint coat but this time in Provence.

And then I added Jacobean stain to the hardware.

While that was drying, I decided to add a little

stain to the details in the piece as well.

Ah, yes, much better.

Now you can really see the details.

Here it is with the hardware installed.

Perfectly lovely!

 Inside the drawers are lined with old newspaper.

 She's all finished.

 Plus this new look goes much better 

with the yellow in the simulated marble top.

Great storage piece!

For sale. $265

A Petite Roll Top Desk Gets a Layered Makeover

 I purchased this cute little roll top desk last week

at  RVA Antiques.

Not because I needed a roll top desk…

But because it was such a bargain!

And I figured I could spruce it up a bit and resell.

 When I bought it,

it was painted in a two tone treatment of taupe and cream.

I thought the finish was rather flat looking, 

and the hardware was nondescript.

 Here's what I did to make it shine!

I started by sanding down all the edges,

and dry brushing Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old Violet

and Greek Blue

on the roll top and the little squares on either side,

Then I dry brushed Old White 

over those areas as well as the taupe areas.

 See how I'm "building" a layered look?

Next, I distress sanded all the edges again.

 Then I clear waxed, 

and added dark wax along the edges and crevices.

I found these red knobs that I really like with the palette...

 Next, I had to find some pulls…

I decided to use these simulated rust cup pulls

I purchased some time ago from Hobby Lobby.

 I painted them with Emperor's Silk and then dark waxed them

and they match the knobs perfectly!

 Here's the piece with the top up.

I didn't touch the inside…just left as is.

And the drawers were already lined with decoupaged book pages..

how awesome is that?

 Next I added some hits of Emperor's Silk here and there,

to integrate the red hardware.

 Finally, I added some dark Jacobean stain to the distressed edges…..

where the wood was peeking through.

 I love this layered look.  

It's so much more interesting that just a coat of paint.

I think it's looking pretty fab with it's new makeover!

This would be a great piece for your laptop/bill paying station, etc.

Just roll down the top, and it's all out of sight!

For sale. $255.

Ebony Greek Key Motif Table

A couple months ago - on her morning walk - my friend, Molly, 

texted me about a table someone had tossed curbside.

Fortunately my car was fairly empty at the time (a rarity), 

so I zipped on over to Northside.

The table was still there but the top was in bad shape.

BUT... it had two awesome pedestals, ugly finish but great detail.

So I promptly removed them with my handy power drill,

loaded them up, and hauled them to my storage garage.

And they've been there patiently

waiting for just the right project.

Bingo!

My friend, Tara, bought this awesome table top for me at a dealer sale recently.

Beautiful ebony table with gold greek key motif.

Nice and chippy finish.

 So I pulled out one of the pedestals and got to work.

 I first base painted it in Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Graphite.

 After it dried, I brushed on an ebony stain.

And attached the pedestal to the base.

GORGEOUS….

It's another one of those hard-to-part-with makeovers.

For sale in my Greenwood booth. 

$189.

Thanks, friends, for keeping your eyes open

for those abandoned pieces 

that just need a little SheShe love!