Complete Royal French Chair! Everyone needs one! |
So rather than replace them, she asked me if I could redo them. Since I never say no, I took them home. You would think since so much of the finish was peeling, it would have been super easy to get the balance of the paint off. Wrong. I used a green, environmentally friendly paint stripper. I finally had to enlist the help of my husband's eternal patience and muscle. He finally prepped them down to the metal!
I used a "green" metal primer from one of my favorite online vendors. I used a dark brown because I wanted it to show through the cracks. The picture is one coat, but I did two coats.
I used a crackle size (which is what makes the cracking paste crack) from another fav online vendor. I randomly applied it so that I wouldn't have cracking all over. The shiny, darker areas in the picture have size on them.
After the size dried, I applied my tinted crackle paste. It comes white, so I added a little raw umber to tone it down.
After drying, this is how it looked! Cracked beautifully!
It still needed to be toned down and given some dimension. I mixed a glaze in a dark putty color and appilied it all over the lamp, wiping it off to soften the effect.
Once dry I applied 3 coats of exterior sealer. Lots of layers and labor, but we saved the lamps from the landfill and now they are just as beautiful as before!
You are so talented! I love your posts and and the transformations. Anything old can look new again. That's kind of how I feel!
ReplyDeleteI hear ya sister! Wish a little paint would renew me! Thanks for your encouraging comments!
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