1st Commission

The very same day I sold my coffee table with the French Advertising Graphic, I had a call from a lovely lady who had seen it and wanted one just the same, I explained that the pieces I have are "one offs" but I would try and find another table similar and reproduce a similar piece for her.  After a few weeks of searching I found another coffee table almost identical, the dimensions were a more rectanglar rather than square but luckily it was virtually the same, so we set to work and completed our first commission.

 

I think I prefer the rectangle.  It was painted in Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, Old White and then waxed with brown Briwax and finished with clear Briwax, to give a distressed and Vintage look.

Today I went to my favorite place - Ardingly Antiques and Collectors Fair at the South of England Show Ground, I picked up a few things which I will share very soon.

Bye for now.

CJ

Pretty Louis Blue Side Table

After a very challenging couple of months I have managed to get another project finished, this little side table or bedside table has little drop down leaves each side, which makes it ideal if you need a little extra space to put things on.  Its a lovely little piece, and beautiful wood, I sanded the top and stained a slightly darker colour and then gave it a good wax with brown Briwax,  The rest I painted in Annie Sloan Chalk Paint - Louis Blue, which is such a pretty colour and really looks great against the dark wooden top.  I added a touch of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White just around the edge of the drawers just to add a touch of interest, before distressing and waxing it.

I am really pleased how it turned out and have added it to my For Sale page.

Before:

After:

I am off across the pond to San Francisco tomorrow to see my baby brother and family.
I have a couple of projects lined up for when I get back home.

Bye for now.

CJ

Coffee Table with a "Delicious" French Feel!

At last I have finished another piece of furniture! Laura (my daughter) hand painted this gorgeous vintage French sign onto the largest coffee table ever! what a centre piece this would make, alas too big for my living room so I will add it to my For Sale page.

This is a handmade antique pine table, which I have owned for many years. I sanded off the old wax and then Laura worked her magic on the top, copying a graphic from The Graphics Fairy. Once she had finished her bit I got to work and painted the bottom in Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, Old White, I then distressed, and waxed with clear Briwax and  Dark Brown Briwax, to give it an aged rustic look.  I then slightly distressed the art work with fine sand paper and waxed the top using the dark brown Briwax, and...

Voila!

 This is what it looked like before...

I was in such a hurry to get started I forgot to take the "before" photo's, hence the top had already been sanded!

I have heaps of projects to do, will share some more very soon.

Bye for now...

CJ

Vintage French Grain Sack Cushion & Hand Painted French Sign

When I was in France I was lucky enough to find a vintage grain sack at a local brocante, It was the size of an extra large tea towel.  I sewed up both sides and added some tape to the top and "voila" a vintage cushion.  These grain sacks were used to store grain in and are made of really tough linen, if you are lucky you can pick them up with a lovely hand stitched monogram like this one, it also has a band of  stitched detail which gives a little added interest. I am very pleased with it and it only cost €3!

Hand stitched monogram

Interesting detail

The gorgeous authentic looking vintage French sign was hand painted by my daughter Laura, she traced the lettering onto a piece of wood I prepared for her, using a graphic from the Graphics Fairy

She then painted the lettering with acrylic paint, I slightly distressed it by lightly sanding over the lettering and finished by waxing with a rustic brown Briwax.  I fixed some picture hanging loops and cord and "Bingo" a lovely rustic vintage French sign.

I have picked up some interesting pieces of furniture recently which I will share with you soon.

Bye for now

CJ

French Table Makeover

We had a very productive time at our little holiday home in France, apart from some decorating and general jobs we had to do I managed to makeover a table which we inherited when we bought the property.  I have been dying to get my hands on it ever since, and despite hubby Mike saying it was only fit for firewood, I think I did a pretty good job to make him eat his words!

This is what it looked like before:

I sanded down the top, with a belt sander to remove all the paint and debris on the top (there was lots of very old paint and something very hard like cement!)  After I lightly rubbed down the bottom and legs. and gave it a coat of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White, when this was dry I put on a coat of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Paris Grey, I then lightly distressed the parts I had painted and  then gave a coat of clear wax followed by a brown wax.

I also "re-cycled" an old side of a bed we were taking to the dump - it was in pretty bad shape as it had been out side in all weathers for months, I sanded it down with the belt sander and then painted it with Farrow & Ball - Light Blue, which is the colour I painted the kichen units.

Before:

And after:

I am pleased as I have a shelf which didn't cost a penny, just a little bit of time and effort, and it just goes to show what you can make out of something which was destined for the dump!

We are back home now and I have started working on some new projects which I will share very soon.

Bye for now.

CJ

Pretty Duck Egg Shelves, finished with Laura Ashley "Lilac Floral Wallpaper"

 Just managed to get the shelves finished and photographed before packing up my paint brushes for 10 days, whilst we are in France. 
Someone had handmade these shelves, although they were well put together they had the worst stain job ever!  I sanded them down to take off the rough bits and filled some of the joints with wood filler, then painted them with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Duck Egg Blue. I very lightly distressed and gave it a good wax with clear wax only.
I then added a board at the back which I had covered with Laura Ashley, Lilac Floral Wallpaper in Duck Egg, which I think looks very fresh and pretty and it's a little bit different than straight forward painted shelves. I stuck some wooden embellishments on the top as well to give it a little bit more detail.

Here's the before (naff photo - sorry)

I am pleased with them, I do have some more shelves, which I will share at some point in the future.  We are off to France tomorrow and I will be on the lookout for some lovely vintage French things to share with you.
Bye for now
CJ

"The Desk"

 At last I finished "The Desk", I have had this in the shed for more than 3 years, and so I thought this should definately be the first piece I blog about.  It was dark brown mahogany, in good condition, the top was a bit scratched, but this didn't matter.  I was going to keep the top mahogany and wax it, but things didnt go as planned so I ended up painting it.

The whole thing was painted in Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Paris Grey.  I then added Old White to accent some of the edges, Afterwards I sanded off some of the edges to distress it a little bit.  Then  I used a clear wax followed by a brown wax to age it.  The waxing is hard work and takes more time than the painting, but my wonderful Daughter Laura helped me.  She is going to get involved with this blog too and  we have been looking at some projects to do together which I think you are going to love...watch this space!

I have to say... I am very pleased with it.  I whizzed round the charity shops to get some props for my pictures - not the old bakerlite phone though, this was lent to me, but I am going to find it difficult to give it back!

Here's the various stages.

Before

 Work in progress!

 Not bad eh!

I have been working on my next project which I should be able to post before I go away on Sunday, a sweet little set of shelves - guess where they have been for the last 18 months? - yep the good old shed!

Bye for now.

CJ

Vintage Inspiration for your Home

Welcome to my first blog, I have been painting furniture for many years now and thought it would be fun to start sharing my projects with you.  

I am mad for anything vintage and I have a shed and garage full of furniture and bits & pieces that I have yet to transform, so I have dusted off my digital camera and I am starting to photograph my "before" pictures.  

As I progress with my projects I will take photos so you can see the transformation.

I hope my blog will inspire you to try some projects yourself and add a vintage feel to your home without spending a fortune.

Bye for now

CJ