Hand Painted Console, Chest of Drawers and Upcycled Drawer Faces

This summer has been great for finding awesome furniture pieces to transform into beautiful, unique treasures. I've had some fun wall and ceiling projects (wait til you see my blog next week!), but am really enjoying rejuvinating old furniture. I've had some custom orders as well. It's so exciting when someone wants you to find a special piece for them and put your painted spin on it!
I won't rehash, sanding, priming, painting, glazing and polyurethaning furniture but here are some fun pieces I've recently completed. This chest of drawers is SOLID! Very heavy and sturdy, although to see it now it looks elegant. This finish has the look of raw silk. A hint of shimmer and texture.

This was the chest before I did anything to it. It was a dark cherry finish and on the inside too. I used the slightly red copper tone for the stencil to give a flow when you open the drawers. Here's the piece before.

I also found a more modern, mid century looking piece. It looked like the perfect piece for a huge, flat screen tv. And someone had already cut out two of the interior drawer faces for audio video equipment! Score! Here's this piece before.

I decided since it had a modern flavor, that I would keep a clean finish to it. I almost did it laquer white. Then I decided a nice neutral beige (who am I? I NEVER do nice and neutral). I did add a little pop of soft aqua on the inside (I just had to add some color)! I think it has a coastal feel to it, but also work very nicely in any decor. The hardware I painted gloss black. Would love to hear what you think!

I also had an awesome client give me all of her doors and drawer faces since she was refacing her kitchen cabinets. All solid wood and in good shape. Here's what I did to upcycle a few of the drawer faces.

Found these cool iron hooks and painted the drawers and hooks the same. Added a few hangers to the backs, and now they're beautiful coat or towel hooks! You can find these in my online shop. Thanks for looking!  http://www.etsy.com/shop/savardstudios?section_id=11262369

Vintage Turquoise Console and Side Table

Console before

Turquoise is one of my favorite colors these days, and it it HOT in the interior design world. I scored this awesome vintage 70's console. Perfect to finish and post for sale! The side table was done in the same color, but was for a custom order. I decided to try a new awesome European paint on the market. I goes straight over most surfaces with no sanding or priming! How awesome is that! It's finished with clear or tinted wax instead of polyurethane or varnish. Here's the before pictures of each piece.

Side table before

Applying second coat

 I didn't sand, but I did wipe down both pieces. The first coat of chalk paint went on easily, but didn't quite give the coverage I wanted. I let it dry overnight before putting on the second coat. This is a photo as I am appling the second coat. You can see the coverage on the first coat was pretty good. 
I love the detail of this console. Very heavy ornate trim. A perfect piece for distressing and "glazing".
Here's the side table with both coats completed.

I used their recommended wax. Since I wanted to "antique" the look on these pieces, they have to be clear waxed first. This seals the paint so that the colored wax doesn't absorb unevenly. I used a small brush to get the wax into the grooves and used a t-shirt clothe to buff the flat surfaces and spead the wax evenly. Waxing was a very different experience for me. It seemed a little more labor intensive than a traditional paint and glaze finish. May be it's just something I'm not used to. I let the clear wax dry a few days, before I could distress the finish. This is achieved with a rigid sanding block and 100 to 120 grit sand paper. I hit the edges and high points in the detail. I even added some within the body of the flat areas.  
Once the distressing was complete,  I mixed a little raw umber with my wax. They actually make a tinted wax, but a little wax goes a long way, so I thought I'd just tint my own. Using the same technique, I brushed the tinted waxed into the grooves and used a soft cloth to move it around and give the pieces an aged look. For the side table, I added a fern stencil to the top. I added some warm silver metallic to the clear wax. 

Fern Stencil

The warm silver gave a very subtle accent to the top of the table. A very nice, unique accent on a popular pop of color, on an otherwise boring table.
The console turned out awesome too. I really wanted to paint the handles red, but decided a bronze paint would be more universally appealling. "Universally appealling"....such an ugly phrase. Maybe I should have done red...   I would love your opinions and feedback! I love hearing from you all!

Completed vintage console

Completed side table

The product I used on these pieces can be purchased locally in Charlotte, NC at Great Walls Supply. Check out their website! http://www.greatwallssupply.com/  And as always, the console is currently for sale in my Dilworth Blacklion store on East Boulevard, and online in my Etsy store  www.etsy.com/shop/savardstudios

Distressed Turquoise Buffet

For my first ever blog, I thought I would talk about a beautiful piece of furniture that I just posted to my Etsy store www.etsy.com/shop/savardstudios  and will also be placing it in my Eeeklectic Town booth at the Dilworth Blacklion www.eeeklectictown.com .  I love refurbishing old, solid wood furniture. I picked this piece up from Craig’s List for $65. It was solid maple and very heavy.  A steal!

 But I quickly had buyer’s remorse. It needed some re-gluing, one of the bullet catches was broken and the hardware was horrible and not a standard size. It was requiring more work than I had hoped. So I let it sit…for months. Finally, I had a vision. I didn’t want to go with same old same old antiqued ivory. I wanted something bold and spectacular! Turquoise! And bronze! Perfect! I found some time to work on it. I decided I wanted the top to remain stained, but it was pretty scratched up. I retrieved my trusty palm sander and striped the top down to the bare wood. I wanted a warm but dark finish. I started with a coat of cedar stain. Looked a little like the original early American style (yuk!) When that was dry, I put a coat of jacobean stain over that. Jacobean is a dark brownish black. It was perfect to tone down some of the red, but still beautiful and warm. I also strategically placed the Jacobean stain to be darker in some areas. I varnished it with a satin varnish. I thought it turned out great!

For the base, I wanted the boldness of turquoise and bronze (love some metallics!).  I used a bronze metallic base paint that’s actually a primer and basecoat in one. One day I will turn you on to my favorite place to get my furniture primer. Of course I scuff sanded the old finish so my primer would bond properly.  I also filled the original hardware holes. I measured and redrilled new holes for the new hardware.  I coated the base and inside the drawers and doors in another primer tinted to Porter/PPG Calypso blue. I used a primer for this also, because I didn’t want to do the bronze inside the doors and drawers. Just saving a little time.

After this dried for a few days, I used a 100 grit sanding block and lightly scuffed all the high points (areas that would naturally wear). I also add some in the body of the doors and drawers and sides. To tone down the blue, I made a glaze using van dyke brown acrylics and latex glazing liquid. I brushed on the glaze and buffed it off with some cheeseclothe. After drying for several days, I top coated the finish with a flat latex varnish.

I searched the web for new hardware, which I found in two different places online. http://www.etsy.com/shop/WenziPlace
http://myworld.ebay.com/alforu2buy

 The final product!

Obviously, it’s not for my dining room. It wouldn’t match my turquoise silk drapes. But it’s available at the local Dilworth Blacklion in Charlotte, NC or online through my Etsy store. I would love to hear your comments!