Beachy caribbean blue china cabinet makeover

July 2, 2014 By

Hope you had a great Canada Day my fellow Canadians and, to my American readers, hope your Independence Day is fabulous!

We had such great hot weather here that it was hard to get all the jobs done but I did get this accomplished.   I’m thrilled with the little brightness it adds to this dark corner.

DSC_0108

If you don’t remember this is how it looked before the mini makeover.

photo 209

Such a cute little cabinet but it needed a happy colour!  P.S. Sorry for the all the reflections, it’s really hard to take a picture of a glass cabinet with three windows reflecting all around it.  You can even see my purple floral sundress that I was wearing when I took the photos 🙂

DSC_0112

And it brightens up this corner perfectly.  And if you were really paying attention, you’ll notice that I also changed out the hardware.  I had a cute crystal knob on hand that I used on the top door. But for the bottom I decided on a tiny brass knob instead of the larger crystal one, it just seemed a tad too big on the bottom door).  I also had great fun styling it.

DSC_0101

Some faux coral, a pretty glass aqua starfish, a little white canister from Indigo to add some texture and a trio of small blue bottles I picked up in California last year.  I may add some blooms to them as well.

DSC_0124

And last but not least a glass dome with some green moss and a few seashells to add to the beachy theme.

DSC_0123

DSC_0098

P.S. Since a lot of people asked, I thought I would include the recipe for homemade chalk paint that I used for this piece and in these furniture makeovers as well – China Hutch and Buffet (click on the name to read those posts).

Here’s the recipe (which I found online here).

Homemade Chalk Paint

2 cups of latex paint (I used eggshell) in the colour of your choice
5 tbsp plaster of paris
1 1/2 tbsp cool water (the original recipe calls for 3 tbsp, I like the thicker version of the paint)
Mix the plaster of paris with the water, stir thoroughly till there are no lumps.  Then add latex paint and mix completely. It should be just as smooth as the plain paint when you started.
 

The beauty of chalk paint is that very little prep is needed.  I very lightly sanded the piece because it was so dark and then I used a small foam roller to apply two coats of the chalk paint.  For the tight areas I used a tiny foam brush, letting the first coat dry for about an hour.  I then let it dry completely for a few days, before I applied  The Fat Paint Company Wax in antique.  I spread a very light coat  over the entire surfaces, buffing it to a shine, after waiting 10 minutes.  After a half an hour,  I used The Fat Paint Company Wax in natural,  to cover the entire piece and buff it to a shine, once dry.  If more shine is desired, another coat of wax can be used.  It goes on so nice and easy with a clean dry cloth.

If you have any other questions, I’d be happy to answer them to the best of my amateur painter ability 🙂

Lisa

Filed Under: COLOUR, Cottage, decor, DIY, Furniture, furniture makeover, Haven, inspiration, makeover Tagged With: , , , , ,

Exterior cottage love going on

June 25, 2014 By

Well, now with the warmer weather finally here, at least in my neck of the wood, I hope you are enjoying it. School is almost out and I’m sure that is a relief to end all the lunch making, homework checking and routine. Here’s to a great summer for everyone!

I have a bit of progress to report at the cottage.  Hubby has been determined to get the fire table finished, so here’s where we are now, and by we I really mean him.  I’ve done nothing, except help with the design and the finishes…of course 🙂   Can’t wait to try it out.

photo 234

And I received my fabric order from a few weeks back, so I’ll be sewing up a storm, whenever I can get a second.  These will be exterior cushions for the cottage deck.   Can’t wait for them to liven up the wood chairs, wood deck and log exterior of the cottage….you get the idea…so much wood…and so0000 much brown.

10415603_721486264560124_2839248500696968256_n

And kind of another exterior update, Hubby got the terracotta tile laid in the sunroom, right at the entrance to the deck.  It still needs to be grouted, I’ll share the progress once it is completed.  He’s been a busy, busy, boy.

While he was working away, I kept myself busy making over this lovely little china cabinet that a neighbour gifted to me.  I know it’s not really related to the cottage exterior theme of this post, but I’d thought I’d share it anyways.  It’s a perfect fit in this somewhat dark corner of the cottage, so I decided it should be a nice bright colour to liven up the corner.  This is how it looked:

photo 209

And in the process:

photo 145

I told you it was bright….and quite lively.  I used homemade chalk paint (Cyan Sky) and I will be giving it a going over with some antique wax (which will tone it down a little) and then of course, some clear wax to finish it properly.  I love, love, Fat Wax in case you are looking for a recommendation. Check out their website for locations near you.  I’ll post a picture once it’s completed, hopefully soon.

We also went to the Pontiac Artists’ Studio Tour a few weeks ago. I posted about it last year, when all the TBBs went.  Hubby got an adorable candy dish for his office (sorry forget to snap a pic before he went off with it) but I did get this great shot of an old barn on one of the properties.  There is just something about old, timeworn barns that appeals to me.

photo 3567

 

Happy Canada Day to my fellow Canadians and an

early Happy Fourth of July, to my American readers!  

Have a wonderful long weekend!

Lisa

Filed Under: Art, COLOUR, Cottage, decor, DIY, Events, Exterior, Fabric, Furniture, furniture makeover, Haven, makeover, nature, The TBBs, vintage Tagged With: , , , , , ,

And we have a Refinished Table!

January 6, 2014 By

Happy New Year! Hope you had a restful and fun filled holiday! Mine was great, very relaxing, spent a lot of time with family and definitely ate and drank too much. But then, that’s what the holidays are all about.

We spent some time at the cottage and I managed to finish my table makeover, finally.  It was more of a job than I thought, but isn’t that usually the way.  I had to make a compromise or two on the way but I still am very happy with the way it turned out.  It’ll be perfect for our card playing evenings come summer time.

So to refresh your memory this is how the table was looking. It was in pretty rough shape.  To read my original post, click here.

DSC_0774

I sanded slightly and painted the base in chalk paint (made by myself – click here for the recipe) in this bright green. I wanted to bring some lightness and freshness to the sunroom.

green

 Sherwin-Williams – Dancing Green 6716

Next up, I sanded the top which was much more arduous than I originally thought. The original finish kept gumming up the belt sander and then we tried the palm sander, which unfortunately due to our over zealous sanding caused many ripples in the surface and horror of horrors, went down to the plywood base…so much for it being a solid wood top.   Luckily, most of our boo boos were in the leaves of the table which I usually do not leave in place, as I prefer the smaller footprint in this room.

So after finally getting the top sanded, it looked like this.

DSC_0077

I had originally intended to sand the apron by hand and stain it the same as the table top, but after trying to do just a small area, I was totally discouraged and decided on the simpler and faster route of painting the apron the same as the base.  I know a bit lazy, but I really don’t have that much patience.

So I painted the apron and then stained and varnished the top (with a satin polyurethane) and here’s the finished result.

refinished table

DSC_0182

DSC_0208

I love how by painting the base and apron the details show up so much more than just staining the wood.  Sorry to all the wood lovers but there is definitely enough wood in this home!

Lisa

Filed Under: Cottage, decor, Dining, DIY, Furniture, furniture makeover, Haven, makeover, natural, Projects, vintage Tagged With: , , ,

Homemade Chalk Paint Hutch Makeover

July 2, 2013 By

Now on to my homemade chalk paint hutch makeover.   This is what I started with (please ignore the green painting tape):

DSC_0114

As you can see it just faded into the wood logs behind it, and the detail on the piece was totally lost.

First up, I painted the interior with the blue FAT PAINT that I had for my vanity. Much better.

DSC_0188

Now onto the exterior, I decided to paint it a soft yellow.  And as luck would have it, I had some leftover builders’ paint from our basement in a soft yellow.  Now off to find a chalk paint recipe, this time I wanted to try a homemade recipe.

Here’s the chalk paint recipe that I found here.

2 cups of latex paint (I used eggshell)
5 tbsp plaster of paris
3 tbsp cool water.
Mix the plaster of paris with the water, stir thoroughly till there are no lumps.  Then add latex paint and mix completely. It should be just as smooth as the plain paint when you started.
 

I mixed it all in a bowl and then poured the completed paint in a mason jar.  I kept this tightly closed and poured only a small amount in a tray as I was painting, so it didn’t become too thick.  I used a small foam roller and a bristle brush to get into the corners.

Now I’ll tell you what I did wrong….sigh….I used builders’ paint, my first mistake.  The paint was thin to begin with and barely thickened up with the plaster of paris. And my second mistake, the colour was too light.  See below.

IMG_3274

Looks too much like cream instead of yellow.  And the paint is just not covering, even after 3 coats!  As per instructions for working with chalk paint, I didn’t sand the piece AT ALL!  And you saw how dark it was, well if I was to do it over, I would definitely give it at least a light sanding as it was taking many coats to cover the dark wood finish.

So back to the drawing board, or paint store, I should say.  I went with a much brighter yellow…

Lemondrops

                                     Lemon Drops 2019-50 – Benjamin Moore

I mixed up some more chalk paint with the new yellow and now it is beginning to look a lot more like I envisioned.

DSC_0094

Much better!

I did give the piece a light sanding before I started with the second yellow.  I don’t know if that helped or not as it still took another 3 coats to cover the piece completely.  So 6 coats in total! YIKES! As I said, I would definitely give it a sanding before I started next time and I’m thinking that FAT PAINT worked much better for covering a dark piece. I didn’t have any trouble with coverage of my library table (but I had sanded most of it, except for the barley twists on the legs).  Click here to see that makeover.

After letting the paint dry for 24 hours, I started waxing.  I used FAT PAINT’s clear and antique wax. I love this wax.  It goes on easily and is easy to work with. It gives such a beautiful sheen.

DSC_0192

DSC_0076

I love how the apron and leg detail show up now in the lighter colour.

DSC_0080

I applied a coat of clear wax first, and then a very light coat of the antique wax and once it was dry, gave it all a buffing with a clean cloth.  The sheen is so lovely on waxed furniture!

VOILA!

DSC_0104 DSC_0096 DSC_0107

It just pops from the wall now and looks so much better.  Sorry for the faded out photos, it’s very hard to take a clear photo here as there is a large window right beside the hutch.

Next project, the matching buffet which I use in the entrance of the cottage.  Stay tuned…..

And an apology if you were trying to get on my site this past weekend, there had been so many visitors that my site crashed!  Wow, I never would have imagined that happening, so a big thank you for visiting and keep coming, we’ve fixed it so it won’t happen again.

And a reminder that Google Reader is no longer available.  If you follow me via Google Reader you can now sign up by email (see the link at the top of my sidebar) or by Bloglovin’, click here to follow me or use the link at the top of my sidebar.

I’m linking this post up to the Power of Paint at Domestically Speaking. Click here to check out all the other fabulous paint projects.

 

 

Signature-00134

 

Filed Under: antiques, COLOUR, Cottage, decor, design professional, Dining, Dining room, DIY, Furniture, furniture makeover, Haven, inspiration, lighting, makeover, vintage Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Chalk paint sneak peek

January 23, 2013 By

So, do you remember the library table that I picked up in Brimfield, Massachusetts, in the fall?

I was so happy to find it and I’m going to use it in my cottage bathroom.  You can read all about it in my previous posts here and here.

My design sketch for the bathroom.

I was thrilled when Victoria from the FAT PAINT Company offered some chalk paint for me to try out.  She even allowed me to customize my colour.  So I chose Benjamin Moore’s Van Courtland Blue HC-145.

 

I also picked up some of her antique and clear waxes.
Here’s the table in progress.
And a close up of a leg after two coats of the chalk paint.

After a light coat of the antique wax and clear wax and a little buffing.  Isn’t the sheen just lovely?
I’ve decided to keep the top in the natural wood finish but with many coats of clear wax.  You can see how the wood just soaked up the wax.

So here’s how it is now. I still have to put some more coats of wax on the top and I’m going to add some height to the table by adding some pre-made 4″ legs to the bottom. Wish me luck!

I’m off to the Interior Design Show in Toronto this week.
(Click on the logo below to visit their website).

So get ready for a slew of posts next week here and at The TBBs –  Wine, Dine and Design blog.

 

Filed Under: DIY, Events, furniture makeover, Haven Tagged With: , ,