2 colors = twice the fun!

Hello, hello! I just wanted to pop in for a moment and show you this TV console that I just finished yesterday. Here is a before photo:
Beautiful, right?! Such a solid and gorgeous piece to work with! Per request from client K it was first given a coat of Duck Egg blue, (by Annie Sloan Chalk Paint), and then a top coat of Paris Gray, (also by ASCP). After the top coat went on, I took a sanding block and rubbed the whole thing down, not enough to distress it, but enough to remove some of the Paris Gray and allow the Duck Egg to peek through. The contrast, though subtle, is absolutely stunning! My camera is not high tech enough to capture such subtle contrasts so you'll have to take my word for it ;) Then, I just used the sanding block gently around some of the edges of the piece and gave it a light distressed look.

Finished product:
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The next few are some close ups where I tried to capture the Duck Egg underneath:










What a privilege it was to work on such a beautiful piece! Definitely one of my favorite transformations thus far. And, I learned how stunning a subtle contrast in color can be! You don't always have to have 2 very contrasting colors to make a statement. Wonderful choice, K!

Thank you for popping by and have a wonderful day!

~Chelsea

Please, have a seat!

Hi Friends! Well, despite a delay in my dining seating order, (my client and I just haven't found the *right* chairs for her dining room yet), I've still been busy with some chairs this week! Since selling the Chunky Chair from this post I have had several requests for more like it! I found a great deal for 4 wooden chairs earlier in the week and did two of them in the 'Duck Egg' aqua color. They're a very different style from the previous 'Chunky Chair', but these have some really cool details that make them so unique! After the paint went on I distressed and sealed both in clear wax.

Pair a' Chairs
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I also had a request from the lovely woman who bought the Sweet Aqua Chair from this post for one in 'barn red', (she's a photographer, how cool!). Whether she's still interested or not it was so much fun to work with such a vibrant color! Definitely a step away from my cooler grays, aquas and whites!

Rustic Charm Chair
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Before these chairs are claimed maybe I'll sit down and kick my feet up!....oh wait, my kids are up from their naps. Some other day ;)

~Chelsea




Wax on, Wax off

Hello again! 2 posts in one day...wow. I DO have a life outside of this blog...I promise.:) Actually, the last post was about how awesomely busy things have been around here, but that's not very interesting to read about. I just completed a bench for a custom order which I thought might be a bit more interesting for you. This bench will eventually be part of a dining seating set. I've been hunting for the *right* chairs to complete the set and once they're found and refinished, I'll show you the bunch together! It's a cool project, actually! My sweet client, L, wants to update her dining room. She initially came to me about a dining table I was selling but ultimately decided she wanted to keep her dining table and get fresh seating. She really wanted a combination of a bench or two and chairs, (I love that!). Within a day of talking about it with her I found this bench on craigslist! It's a sizable 6ft long, solid wood and very sturdy. We were thrilled with this find but I wish we'd found two. Now, we are looking for chairs to go along the opposite side of her dining table and for the ends. They'll be refinished the same way, unifying them together as a set.

Before picture of the bench. It was already painted a muddy brown color. The nice thing about ASCP is that it adheres to anything so I did not have to strip the old paint.

After a few new nails here and there and lots of sanding on rough edges, I painted the bench in French Linen, (by ASCP). I did a very light coat of clear wax over the whole thing and then distressed using 220 and 180 grit sandpaper. Then I used a sanding block and lightly rubbed it over the entire piece. Doing this over the light coat of wax created a really cool streaky weathered look on the wood. Next, I did another very light waxing just over the edges where I had distressed. This is so key in making your distressed areas really pop out.

I think this finished product looks so awesome!
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Okay, that's it for today. Seriously this time. :)

~Chelsea