Happy New Year and One Week!

Happy 2014! I hope your year is getting off to a fabulous start and I hope everyone had a wonderful December holiday. It seems that the late Thanksgiving made it a challenge for all. It was frantic for me since this was the first time in about 20 years that I worked a "day" job and didn't take Christmas week off or have down time to get all the extra Christmas cheer completed! And my Mom treated me and my sister to a long weekend in NYC! It was awesome! I was hoping to post about it last month but would it be weird if I post in a few weeks? So of course, my apologies for no Christmas cards and no baked goodies. I'll do better next year!
I know my blogging is still taking a back seat but I'm finding that working full time and doing some weekend "Painting the Town" and "Savard Studios" Etsy stuff is about all I have time for. I do think I will find a better balance in the coming months so please just bear with me. I truly love all of my jobs and I would love to even post about my new career in medical devices. Would you be interested in hearing about that?
I'm still slowly working on my master bedroom makeover. I had to change direction a bit but I'll post on that later.
I've been working on some painting jobs but nothing too extravagant. I do have a few fun painting projects coming up and will be sure to post those too. I have some furniture makeovers as well and am hoping to do a showcase of furniture before and afters. This piece sold on Etsy and it is in process.

 It's a simple makeover but it will be gorgeous! I was tempted to keep it for myself!
This dresser is also in process.

I'm planning to do a simple white with cut glass knobs.

I found these knobs on Etsy. I'll leave the option to the buyer to have it distressed for a cottage look or to polyurethane it with a high gloss finish for a laquered, hollywood regency look. Which style would you choose?
I really miss blogging and interacting! Please nudge me occasionally to remind me someone is anxiously awaiting a new post! Stay warm!!

Silk Soft Metallic Paint

You know how much I love painting with metallic paints and glazes. One of my favorite metallic paints is called Silk Soft.  It's a much softer metallic look than other metallic paints. It has the sheen of silk. I've used it on walls, ceilings, trim, cabinets and furniture.
Silk Soft is what I used on the ceiling in this previous post. I used the "Autumn Berry" color  on my kitchen ceiling a few years ago.

I randomly brushed the first coat on then added a bit of glaze mixed with the same color and ragged off the second coat. All one color but lots of beautiful variation.
I used "Asian Silk" on the chest of drawers in this post. It is beautiful on cabinets as well. Here are some cabinets previously done using silk soft. This gorgeous Bombay style vanity was done in "Cappuccino" with an "Umber" glaze.

Metallic painted vanity

 



These master bath cabinets were done using "Pale Papaya" and a "Caribbean Caramel" glaze.

 

 

 

These laundry room cabinets were a boring white laminate. The client wanted to add some color and drama. These were done in "Pumice" with a black glaze.

 



I always finish my furniture and cabinets with a polyurethane sealer to give extra protection. However this product is incredibly durable, so durable in fact, that we tried an experiment by painting an outdoor cast resin stepping stone. We painted this frog stepping stone 3 years ago. It's been through hot summer's and cold, icy winters and has held up beautifully.

 

Although this is a sponsored post my opinions are my own. I am honored to promote such an awesome product. There is nothing else out there that even compares to this product. I hope you will explore their website and the many products they offer.

Lacquered Furniture - Black Armoire and White Console

I hope everyone had an awesome Easter and I hope you are finally enjoying some warmer weather where you are. I enjoyed some down time but am back painting full speed ahead! Here's a few completed pieces that are shipping to Vermont this week.
I'm sure you've all seen the lacquered furniture that is becoming increasingly popular these days. I had black lacquered furniture in the late 80's. Black is popular today but the bold, bright colors are really trending. I recently had a request to lacquer a few of  pieces I had in my Etsy shop. One to transform into a white console, the other piece to transform into a black armoire. I thought they turned out awesome.


Vintage White Lacquer Console with Bright Gold Hardware

 

Black Lacquer Armoire with Bright Gold Accents

I let a trusty cabinet guy spray lacquer them for me. The client wanted bright gold hardware so, I transformed the existing hardware with gold leafing. I used a metal spray primer and hand applied the leafing adhesive using a small brush. They do make an adhesive spray but I find it a bit messy. You can also use gold metallic spray paint but in my opinion nothing compares to the sheen of leafing.

Bright Gold Hardware



Bright Gold Chunky Hardware

They really are stunning! And what a transformation! What do you think of the before and after?

Vintage Console - Before

Vintage Console - After

 



Vintage Armoire - After

Vintage Armoire - Before

Here's some bright lacquered pieces I found on Pinterest.

These pieces are definitely eye candy! What do you think about these green lacquered cabinets?

You know how much I love gilded pieces... Check this out! Gilded and ombre! There is a piece in my future that I will be doing this on. Maybe pink faded to black or aqua to navy?

Bronze and Gold Super Ornate Media Console Transformation

This vintage dresser was an awesome find from a local thrift store. My trusty sidekick, Robin, discovered it. She sent me a photo and I said "YES! Will they hold it until I can get there tomorrow?" She generously bought it, help them load it in her van AND delivered it to me! What a gem! (Her and the console!) This piece didn't sit in my shop too long, until someone wanted it and was open to my suggestion on how to transform it. Note, I completely modified the hardware finish too!

 

This is what it looked like before, minus the gold faux satin fabric curtain behind the mesh wire on the center doors. It looked like someone had sprayed stain along the top and bottom edges in an attempt to darken the finish. Did I mention they did a lousy job?

 

 

See how dull the hardware was? Yuck! I typically just tweek the hardware finish but this hardware screamed for a facelift.

I knew the piece was going to be bronzey with gold accents. The piece was sanded and thoroughly cleaned. I started with a metallic copper/bronze primer base. This alone greatly improved the piece.

You can see on this door where the hardware was that the piece was originally more golden amber in tone.

 

The doors of course were primed the same way as the base. Since they were being COVERED in gold leaf, I applied the adhesive size directly to the bronze primer. If you would like a more detailed explanation on how to gold leaf, my blog sponsor, The Gilded Planet has some awesome video tutorials on gilding. 

Does it make me weird that I get so excited at how awesome gold or silver leafing looks on really ornate objects? It's an awesome way to transform outdated picture frames and mirrors. I will be hosting a basic gilding kit giveaway starting Sunday night. Be sure to check back so you can enter. Or even better, click that " Get my blog posts sent to your inbox" button on the right so you don't miss out!

Somewhere along the way (which I did not photograph), I top coated the primer coat with a bronze metallic paint. I used Charred Brown Brass from Blue Pearl. Their metallic paint has so much shimmer so that when you glaze over it you achieve a really rich, warm glow.

So here's the piece with the metallic base with the gold foil accents. It would look awesome in Las Vegas! Not so much in the average persons home. That's where the glaze comes in to play.

I used a raw umber oil glaze to tone it all down. You can see the difference in glazed and unglazed. The left picture of the doors show the glazed door on the left. The picture on the right shows everything glazed, except for the top drawer. What an amazing difference!

 

 

 

I let the glaze dry for several days, then coated the entire piece with an oil varnish. It really turned out cool. I truly apologize for my photography skills (or lack of). I am working on it. I think you get the idea. This piece was a beast so shuffling it in and out to try and get better lighting was a challenge.

 

So don't forget for all the gold leafing junkies out there, I will be giving away a basic gilding kit in the next week. Sign up by email so you don't miss the post. What piece would you transform with a gilding kit for gold leafing?

 

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Vintage Ornate Bedroom Set Ready for Paint

I found this awesome bedroom set this weekend! I love the look of this old furniture after it's been painted. I grew up with this style of furniture and thought it was hideous. Imagine that! This stuff is SOLID and it transforms beautifully. The large dressers make awesome media cabinets! It is missing a handle so I got a super great deal! 

The nightstand handles are different than the dresser, so I figure the door hardware can be slightly different than the drawer hardware. I found some similar large chunky hardware in this new Etsy shop called Perfect Hat.

I think I can use two for the center doors on the dresser and it will be perfect!  What do you think?

I find it very difficult to photograph mirrors and am still working on that. I think these mirrors would be awesome in a master bath with dual vanities. They are pretty big and heavy.

The queen size headboard is has really, nice detail! This was an awesome find. I usually break up sets and sell the pieces individually. Should I keep the set together? How do you shop for bedroom furniture? Pieces or a matching set? I would love your comments and feedback.

I can not wait to start transforming this! I plan to list it soon! Have a great last week of winter! Yaaayy!

First Holiday Season Online

So I made it through my first real holiday season blogging and selling online. My Etsy store opened at the end of November last year, so I don't really count last year. I'm so impressed with all the bloggers I've been networking with. They never stop, even blogging on Christmas day. Now you can schedule things to post whenever you want but still very impressive. I figure who want's to hear my ramblings over their holiday? Right?
Anyway, November was actually quite busy for me. Even sold 4 pieces of furniture! I did not expect that! You saw the post on the Gothic dresser  a few weeks ago.  It was a bit of a shipping nightmare but I finally found a super nice carrier to deliver it for me.
I also sold these two pieces together.

Turquoise Buffet

Turquoise and Cream Linen Cabinet

The buffet is going to be used as a bath vanity and the china cabinet (I love when I forget to take final photos, note no hardware) will store linen's. Both pieces are en route to Utah! Here are the before photos.

It's amazing what paint can do to update a sad, old piece of furniture.

My most exciting sale in November was more about where the piece is going that the piece itself. This little ole french tapestry chair is going across the world to Australia! I'm officially international!

French Tapestry Chair

I found a carrier that primarily ships high end cars between the states and Australia. They fill the extra space in their container with furniture items so it's very affordable to ship this way. I haven't mentioned this previously because I wasn't sure if the shipping would pan out. But it's at the warehouse and will be going on the ship in about 3 weeks. This is so exciting for me!! Silly me just thought I'd be selling my furniture with in a 50 mile radius. 

And of course, over the holiday season, I sold puzzle piece wine charms. puzzle piece earrings, custom wine glasses and beer mugs, wine bottle lamps, washer necklaces, towel hooks, many of the items custom. I also painted several pieces of furniture that were for Christmas gifts and striped a room. Here are a few of those photos.

I hope you all had an amazing Christmas! I wish you all a safe and Happy New Year!

Stunning Pewter Mid Century Gothic Dresser

This might be my favorite dresser make over yet. I briefly considered refunding my client and keeping it. :)

Gothic Pewter Dresser Mid Century

When I saw this dresser, I knew I had to transform it. It has the coolest architectural  lines! I am constantly on the lookout for unusual pieces with interesting details. Many of my aquisitions I list on Etsy in their original state noting they are to be customized. That's the great thing about Etsy. Artist love to do custom commissions for their clients. I like to ponder how I want to transform the piece, so prelisting it gives me plenty of time for that. My vision for this piece was either gloss white with gold accents or gloss black with silver or gold accents. But at last it sold, and when the new owner contacted me she was thinking pewter like a bookcase I had finished some time ago. She had a cool silver mirror and she sent photos.

It looked to be silver leafed to me with a heavy black glaze. So we decided to do the pewter as the main body color and silver leaf all the accent trim and add a black glaze. As always, photos do not do this piece justice. It is stunning! So this is the piece before.

Gothic Dresser Before

The process for this piece is similar to all pieces I transform. I scuff sanded the entire piece and wiped it down. I used a charcoal tinted primer and base coat.

It's a little creepy looking at this point. Don't worry, it get's worse. :) The previous bookcase had bits off red rubbed through so I randomly added some red splotches here and there.

Doesn't it look beautiful now? NOT!
Next, I applied leafing adhesive to all the ornate accents and after that dried about an hour, I started the silver. Here's another piece I silver leafed showing a bit more detail if needed. Silver leafed Chest of Drawers

Next I added a little beeswax to the red areas to aid in the distressing. Then I custom mixed my metallic pewter tint. It's a blend of a dark charcoal color and a warm silver. I coated the top, sides and flat parts of the drawers in this color. I used two coats. After that dried overnight, I used a sanding block to rub off some of the silver showing hints of red.

We used a black oil wash to tone down and darken the piece and to unify the colors.

I used oil because it seems to tone the leafing better than latex or acrylic glazes.
And we are still not done. The final step as always is a polyurethane or varnish. I used an oil satin varnish since we used an oil glaze. This last step really made the piece glow!

So if you've got a ugly, dated bedroom set that you've considered replacing, you should reconsider. Think green and upcycle it to an updated finish. Those old sets transform beautifully and they certainly don't make them that way anymore!