Girl with the crystal chandelier

 

Isn't it just amazing how a great paint job can totally transform an entire look and style of a tattered piece of furniture?

I started with a really good cleaning! A couple to be exact-

The exterior of the dresser is painted in APC's (American Paint Company) Navajo white-2 coats, it's just a really nice crisp clean look!

The front frame and interior of the drawers are painted a lovely purple tone to give it a nice contrast, polished & finished look when the drawers are open-it's really important to pay attention to these hidden details, it gives your pieces that extra designer look that only comes from custom hand touched work!

Now...Possibly the hardest and most time consuming thing is trying to narrow down all of those creative thoughts that are racing through an artistic persons head! 

But once you get a clear focused idea -there's just no stopping you!

I started with a light graph that I sketched out with colored chalk-just to keep my angles fairly identical on each side.

Once again using the APC's paint- "Crushed Tea"  I began the design.

I looked at a few different chandelier designs to get a feel for what style I liked before starting and just kind of customized a personal design that I think fits the size and shape of the dresser.

This is the final look of the design, I really do love how the APC's, "crushed tea" almost looks like a watercolor painting!

The original handles were painted with a hammered metal finish, I think they fit in to the new look and style just perfect!

Until the next project, keep those brushes wet-n-flowin'!

Door Envy!

Do you ever drive past a home and just say "WOW"? There's just something about a beautifully painted front entrance that makes a home just stand out among the rest, you know the one, the one that has that flair and character. Makes you just know that there must be a very interesting story and family that is beyond that door.

This is the inspiration photo that I used to come up with the color, in particular the bright vibrant green and the rich purple of the wall. This homeowner has a deep love for the Mexican culture and is just moved by all of the rich colors that embrace the Mexican heritage. She wanted to be reminded of that feeling and wanted her entrance to reflect her personality and love for color!

I first layered the door with a bright pop of a green/yellow base, I would call it almost chartreuse in tone (it looks a bit more yellow in the photo than in true life) I matched it up close to the color of the chair so I would get that bight layer peeking through once the top layers are on.

Next is that deep rich purple tone just like the walls in the inspirational photo. I did a "dragging" dry brush application on this particular layer still leaving areas let uncovered allowing the bright tone to show through.

Time to glaze!!! This is where the magic happens! I just brushed on the dark glaze with a brush working in small sections, and immediately wiped it back off. I work very quickly when doing this stage so that the glaze does not dry out trying hard not to go back over it and overwork any of the areas. This will cause your glaze to pull back off in areas and it gets clumpy, so try to ignore that urge to keep going back over a section once you leave it.

So this is the final outcome, once your glaze is applied you can go back in and add little areas of the two base colors here and there if you want just to add a bit more dimension. This dimension is what gives the feeling that it has been painted years ago and is weathered naturally through the years.

This beautiful Red door was created for a local Holistic center, they requested a healing "chakra" color, a color that "gets to the root of the problem".......the interpretation is that of an antiqued barn finishe with just a hint of golden metallic for that extra shimmer that just slightly cathes the light. Just beautiful!

 Here are more "door envy" projects I have created in the past, this particular door was for a brand new home, the homeowner here wanted the door to look as though it had been there and had aged gracefully throughout the years, I think it turned out beautifully!

You would never have even noticed the door on this house before it's door envy makeover, see what that extra attention to your front entrance does? Just amazing!

This "door envy makeover" is still one of my absolute faves! The homeowner here said she needed something that would coordinate year round with her oversized cobalt blue planters. I immediately knew it had to be a bold purple/with a little fusia undertone. But how could I properly relay how this will look to my customer? Luckily I came across this photo of a beautiful bridesmaids dress that had the exact colors I had in mind! My brave customer said "yes, go for it".  And I must say it turned out GORGEOUS! Don't ya just love it when a plan comes to fruition??

Would YOU like to have a "door envy" makeover?? I'm booking appointments now, contact me to discuss details. This same technique can be made to any piece of furniture too! Have something you would like made over? Just give me a yell :)

See you all next time, and remember to keep those brushes wet!!!

Thanksgiving Giveaway

It's a Thanksgiving Giveaway! You must visit my Facebook page to get entered, please like and share (remember to share publicly so I can see your name to enter it into the drawing).

Good luck friends!

Hand painted wineglasses that are sure to bring that festive "pop" to your holiday decor or table arrangement. Add tea lights or votives, light and enjoy!

Best of luck to all who enter :)

Danielle Loves Nostalgia

Dedicated to a dear, sweet and extremely talented photographer and vintage loving friend of mine "Danielle"  

This is what she looked like when I started off, yep, I've seemed to have gotten myself I to yet again another veneer stripping project!

It actually went much quicker than I had anticipated and that was a welcome surprise. I used a very hot iron and a cloth, (just some layered paper towels in this case since it was a small job). I worked in small sections leaving the hot iron sit for a bit while I chizzled away on another area. It actually worked very well and was fairly painless doing it this way.

After a good cleaning I covered the first layer in APC (American Paint Company) beach glass, it's still wet in the photo but it is one of my favorite color they offer.

Sometimes I like to paint late, midnight here to be exact, when the house is quiet and calm. I thought this was kinda funny because all the decor was still up from my daughters birthday party, looks festive huh??

The main white color is again American Paint Company's "Navajo White", two coats, smoothed and lightly lightly distressed edges.

I totally missed taking photos of applying the beautiful nostalgic camera fabric to drawers but I simply measured out fabric to drawer bottoms, applied an even thin layer of mod Podge to drawer surface, gently laid in fabric using a credit card to smooth out, then another application of mod Podge over the top to seal.

And taaaa-daaaa!!! "Danielle Loves Nostalgia" is ready to live her new life!

See all of Girl UPcycled's items on Etsy

www.etsy.com/shop/girlUPcycled

Look no further Charlie Brown!

It's the Great Pumpkin!

My husband had recently pulled up our water reserve tank that we had in the depths of our spring and said he was getting ready to chop it up and take to the dump. I had just mentioned, about half jokingly, "oh wow... too bad we couldn't do something with it?" And then immediately I could clearly see that it was a pumpkin Jack-o-lantern just waiting to be finished. I mean really... isn't that totally normal thinking??? Well it is if you are an "UPcycler".

So that afternoon away we went, our whole family jumped in and got involved! We started with painting the base coat pumpkin orange (but of course), next I just sketched out a funky classic Jack-O-Lantern face with chalk and we all stepped back and let my husband take over doing the pumpkin carving with a chainsaw. Our daughter said, "Boy, I bet nobody's daddy but mine is carving their pumpkins out quite like this!" I had to laugh!!! But she was right!

We then actually found some bright yellow, the same yellow they use to get your attention when road workers want you to be "cautious" yes... brightest of brights! The inside was painted a couple of coats and wow what a huge impact that made, it kinda had a glowing effect even with out any lights inside it.

We used a big stump that still had some of the root formation as the stem, I think it was the perfect addition for the top!

And this is what he looks like at night from the road. Why did we spend all this energy on something so silly??? Well, we simply like to spread happiness! So if you happen to be driving along a curvy country road in Muskingum County, you might just see a big ole' Jack-o-lantern greeting you with his quirky smile!

Nothing like staying home for real comfort

The Dinner table is possibly THEE most important piece of furniture your home will ever have, so why not take the effort to make it extra special? No, that doesn't mean you have to run out and drop all those hard earned dollars on a highly expensive piece. My customer had purchased this some years prior from a large warehouse store, it was the classic chunky wood table that was the basic stained wood top with dark black legs.

It was one of those mass produced sets that were very common and popular in many households but still very sturdy and great shape, "good bones". It has little dings and scratches on the tops from the families past meals and gatherings they had shared together. The perfect reason to just keep it and give it an "upgrade".

So out came the furniture paints, I used a beautiful natural color "Sackcloth" from the American Paint Company on the base of the tables, chairs and bench, at least 2 coats lightly sanding in between coats.

I'm going to do a whitewash over the tabletop so I needed to sand it really good to give it a good base to adhere to.

I then mixed Navajo White from the APC company with water to give it a milky consistency, working very fast I applied the paint with a brush keeping in the direction of the woodgrain and then again quickly wiping off with rags or paper towels also in the same direction of the woodgrain. Don't forget your table edges. I did this three times until I achieved my desired amount of coverage.

Next, I added some fun stripes to the sitting bench for that little added "pop" of personality that my customer was looking for. Just simply measure out your stripe widths, mask it off with light adhesive painters tape and add your desired color in two coats. Gently remove tape after it is dry to the touch.

The last steps were to clear wax all of the chairs, bench and table legs, buff it out until it has a nice sheen, then I applied 2-3 coats of clear hard top coat to the table top for that extra protection it will need, (also from APC).

And there you have it! The perfect dinette set that your home and YOU deserve! You will spend many, many hours with the people that are the most important to you around the dinner table so why not make it personal and beautiful? 

The table is now ready for all of those wonderful loving festivities! Bon appe'tit!

When I saw you, I fell in love

I must say, I really did fall in love with this piece upon first sight, in spite of the ugly paint job and chippy layers. I could even envision the colors on it. I knew I was feeling like it needed some warm hints of purple tones but I also knew I didn't want an overkill on the purple.

My first base coats I used were the APC's ( American paint company) Crushed Tea, I absolutely LoVe this color because it has a warm base to it which means it looks lovely with purple/red based colors.

Next came the APC's "purple majesty" in which I painted all the great accents with a smaller detailing brush. The inside and out sides of drawers were painted this lovely robins egg blue (my own special paint mix)  which just brings that perfect element of surprise to the interior. Momma always says "it's what's on the inside that really shows who you are"...she IS talking about furniture right?? ;)

Now for the FUN!!! I watched one of my "furniture paintin' Sisters" from the Paint Me Beautiful store that we all work in use this same mixture on the chair (which is photographed down below with the desk) and yes....It made me squeal! This was the exact final "icing on the cake" that I was looking for!!!

A lil' APC's Clear glaze mixed with a dash of Cameo...the perfect light glaze was ready!

While using any glaze you want to work in sections Annnd...work fast my friends!

Paint on-wipe off...do NOT overwork it...ummm...did I mention not to overwork this?! Why you ask? Worst case scenario is it will pull your layers of paint off that you've worked for hours on to get it ready for this magic step...soo just practice up if your a newbie.

I use a smaller detailing brush on the legs and all area that has scrolling, you want all of those lovely details to really "pop" with the glazes.

I really love to add extra little additions that are unexpected and I thought this quote from William Shakespeare was perfect!

"When I saw you,

I fell in love

And you smiled

Because you knew."

Just look at the close up detailing and texture that the glaze gave it, just beautiful! This is when old pieces that have years of layers of paint chipped away underneath are benificial.

Remember, you can find this item or have something made like this at Girl UPcycled on etsy,  https://www.etsy.com/shop/girlUPcycled or if you live near the Zanesville/Columbus Ohio area, please take time to visit the Paint Me Beautiful store where there are four of us showcasing our paint technique and work, you will be happy you did!