DIY Monday: Antique Desk Makeover, the end!

All the details on this piece gave me fits!

The end is near!

When last we saw the desk

As you may recall, my husband managed to salvage this old desk from the trash heep at a building where he was working.   

I spent a lot of time just working on the prep part of the desk.   The poor thing had 4 layers of paint and stain (at least) that I removed from all those little details and the legs, oh the legs gave me fits!

The drawers

My kiddo was very specific.   She wanted white, she didn't want it distressed but she wanted it antiqued.  The top had to be stained and I better do it right.    Normally, I don't use a gloss poly on pieces but her father requested it and I figured, what the heck.  It is pretty and I sanded the top down well so the gloss will highlight the beauty of the natural wood and stain.  

The shiny top

For this piece I used General Fiinishes Antique white Milk Paint and Java Gel stain.   Now, let me say I was shocked at how deep and dark the Java came out.  I left it on only a few minutes but the stain just penetrated the wood like water.   I told my husband I have never seen a piece of furniture that wanted to be stained more.  

For the antiquing I decided to use a silver glaze sole by Maison Blanche paint company.   When I buy paint I tend to use either General Finishes or Maison Blanche.  Now, I have some real milk paint that I am going to try on another piece so we will see how that works.   For this piece, because the kid was so clear on her wants, I decided to use something I had success with previously.

Silver antique

So I painted the body first with three coats of General Finishes Antique White.   Next came the Stain.  As you can see below the top just soaked up the Java Gel.

 

Luckily there was still grain showing through and I loved the contrast of the really dark top and the light body.  

All Done

Once the piece was done we moved it into the living room, temporarily so that we can get rid of the old computer desk.   I have some pictures on my camera that are way better and I will add them as soon as I figure out why my disk scanner on my laptop isn't working.   (It's always something!).

So to recap this project:

The desk was totally free and I am so glad my sweet hubby saved it from the dumpster and certain death!

The days/nights of stripping this thing made my time spent incredibly long but I think the finished product is simply lovely, feminine, and perfect.

The painting and staining took approximately 3 days from start to finish and included:

*3 coats of GF Milk Paint

*1 coat of Java Gel

*5 coats (with light sanding in between) of Poly Acrylic Gloss on the top.

*1 coat of satin Poly Acrylic on the base

* Antiquing with Silver Organza by Maison Blanche Paint Company

*Clear wax for protection

*Maison Blanche white Limestone Wax to soften the overall effect.

*Lots of buffing, cleaning, and bath time for me!


In between all of that I managed to help hubs repair our old shed/barn, mow an acer of lawn, plant the first round of our garden which included Turnips, Cucumbers, Zucchini, Yellow Squash, radishes, Cantaloupe, Blue Berries, Raspberries, and Grapes, and also some flowers (Which my chickens were eating the tops off!).   Just an average weekend when we are home.  There is no rest for the wicked.

Happy Monday everyone.  It's spring break this week and we are doing lots of fun stuff like dentist appointments. 



Part 1 of the Desk Makeover

DIY DAY TWO: Chest of Drawer Wars and Maison Blanche La Chaux FrenchLime Paint Review

When I bought this chest of drawers to refinish I had no clue how much work or how complex it was going to be. 

Before 

This was my first major piece to upcycle that was not a piece I already owned.  What I learned is:

-Always open all the drawers to make sure they slide easily,

-Always inspect all the drawers carefully for cracks, 

-Inspect all sides of the furniture for water damage, veneer damage, and just general pulling away of 'stuff'.

I spent a lot of time sanding swollen drawers down, gluing dovetailed drawers back together and regluing veneer on which I wasn't completely prepared for when I purchased this piece.  It worked out okay but it was a lot more work then I originally realized.   

After primer 

Once I had everything glued, sanded, and ready, I primed this piece because I wasn't taking any chances.  I hadn't used the paint product I was about to work with before and this piece is old and had some different veneer on it than I had ever seen. 

Drying process-La Chaux 

La Chaux by Maison Blanche is an amazing Lime Paint product.  I absolutely love it. My husband was on his 7th annual guys only (thank heavens) camping and fishing trip last weekend and I took advantage of the opportunity of a boat free garage to paint and free up some space. 

 First I covered the piece in Maison Blanche Maison White paint then...

Amazingly thick! 

\

La Chaux French Lime Paint in Garconniere.  The French Lime paint is different from regular mineral and chaulk paint.  It is super thick and after you paint it on, you go through a process including swiping your piece with a plastic credit card type obtect when it is not quite dry and polishing with a plastic bag when it is still not dry...

Here is the video I watched about 5 times before doing the project. 

Now, an aside here, I didn't follow Annie's process completely.  After I was done swiping with a plastic card I found some areas where too much paint had come off so I went back and loaded paint on the plastic card and swiped paint directly from the card onto the chest which may be why my piece looks a little bit like leather or marble.   This process isn't hard but I wouldn't call it easy either.   It looks great when it is done but you have to be willing to stick with it and not give up.  Also, I wouldn't do this again on a day that is below 70 degrees.  I painted on a day that was 56 degrees and it took forever for the paint to dry.  I was, luckily working on two projects at once so I had something else to occupy my time but this took more than a day to finish.  (The end tables from Monday's blog were my other project).

Once it was all dry, I covered in a coat of polycrylic then clear wax and I added black lime wax and Silver Organza wax also from Maison Blanche and another coat of clear wax.   I guess you could say this thing is well sealed.  

Almost done-how rich is this? 

The paint dries with different tones to it based on the way you manipulate it.  It is truly amazing.  It has such a depth and when you add the wax it just brings it out even more.  I really love it and look forward to using it again on special pieces.  It isn't for everything, but for special pieces.

Center after Black Lime Wax 

This piece turned out to be special and I learned so much from it that I can say, it was truly worth the growing pains.

Shadows effect thie look on this photo a little but I wanted a pretty setting 

I love how this piece turned out in the end.  If I had thought ahead I may have filled the handle holes and totally changed out the hardware but I went with the original and I like the slightly masculine feel they add to a piece that seems dainty to me with the floral inlay.  

The final product!

And it is finally completed!  

*Nobody asked or paid me for this review.  The opinions expressed are mine.

DIY Day: Ugly 1970 End Table Makeover Amazing Transformation

Really ugly old 70's tables after I started sanding 

I spent all weekend working on a couple of projects, this being one.  My grandmother had some of these tables when I was a kid.  I think maybe she had square ones but I remember loving opening the doors.  Anyway, because I have that 1970 house, I have been dying to add just a touch of period piece to the home.   Nothing crazy like green shag carpet or orange counters.  I am not going for the Brady Bunch, just a little nod to the homes time. These tables were perfect! They were ugly dark and perfect.  Originally I thought I wanted to stain the tops of these but the more I started working with them, the heavier they felt and the more I realized I wanted them light and airy feeling because of how heavy they feel.  Something about these tables and the thick, carved, dark wood that made me feel weighted down. 

Light and airy!

So normally I mix my own chalk-like paint.   I usually use a flat latex and add calcium carbomate which is chalk and some water and get the perfect chalky finish but I had some wonderful Maison Blanche paint on hand and I LOVE Maison Blanche paint because Annie Omar who is the creator of the brand lives in Frisco, Texas which is a hop, skip and a jump from me and the lady I buy my paint from, the wonderful Melissa AKA Dumpster Diva  is always so helpful when I go in with a problem.  (Just wait until I blog my second project, nothing but a problem!).

Hardware back and finishing  touches in works

So the paint I used from Maison Blanche for this project is Creme De Menthe and Franciscan Gray for the base, mixed in about a 2-1 ratio and the top is Maison White.  I used a polycrylic top coat to seal it and then I added brown wax to antique both the top and the base.   I am going to be honest here, the doors on this piece were a pain but aside from that, this project was easy peasy.

So adorable!

These tables are in my *formal living room and my only regret is that somehow I lost one piece of the hardware when I was working on the tables in my garage and I am going to have to crawl around on my hands and knees until I find it so I can hand the final knocker.  Yes, people, I lost my knockers!

So what do you think?   I love the tranformation.   My tables turned out so adorable.   These were so simple.  The project I am going to share later on maybe this week has been a royal pain by comparison and the piece turned out amazing but it isn't mine. ;( 

I know I say this all the time but I just love turning old and ugly into knew and pretty!!!

*By Formal Living Room I mean the space we don't have a TV.  This room has the fireplace and originally my thought was 'reading room' but it is right next to the family room and the TV and honestly, very rarely does anyone sit in there.  In fact, when I was changing out the old glass and metal tables I had for these, I noticed a layer of dust on the sofa.  No, I am not even kidding. :)