Furniture styling – Small Furniture Forms – Shabby Chic and a Patinated chest of drawers

Hello 

At the beginning I want to invite all of you to my new GROUP created for decoupage lovers and for those who want to be closer to this art of decorating.

 PASSION FOR DECOUPAGE UK

This is closed group created for all things DECOUPAGE RELATED, as well as hand painting and paper craft in UK.
This group is only by an invitation.

You can share your work, photos, tips, tutorials or blog posts related to decoupage, hand painting or paper craft. 

Everyone is very welcome.

Today I’ll show you a small distressed furniture form - a jewellery chest of drawers.

PATINATING or in other word AGEING WITH PATINA is one of the operations of distressing furniture with the use of ‘sharp’ tools, paints and patina. 

I’ve decided to choose the colour which opposes the one used to decorate previous piece of furniture, made during the course '5 steps of furniture styling’. Here you can see the report and the final effect of some works. We use only small items during such classes because most of operations are time-consuming and require sanding, brushing or wax finishing.

The item is made from soft wood, probably from pinewood.

It is great to experiment with colours from time to time in order to get your dream masterpiece suiting to your own interior. 

While decorating with acrylic paints, the items frequently soak up water, thus changing their volume a little bit. Hence, I have felt the resistance while pulling drawers out. In such a case, you should polish the edges.

An extraordinary final effect was achieved thanks to the exchange of the round handles of drawers for the handmade twisted roses.

I’ve got a shabby chic piece which is greatly distressed.

 Furniture styling has absorbed me so much. I’ll show you soon a white washed stool, made with white washing technique.

                                               

This week I am sharing with

Show And Tell Friday

 

Shabilicious Friday

Dry Brushing - Coffee Table Makeover

 Today I will show you my work made with the use of technique of painting a variety of surfaces which are not only wooden but also made of iron, metal or even canvas. The technique is called DRY BRUSHING. 

 Having experienced it myself, I know that the effect got with the usage of this method depends on the amount of paint which is put on the surface, a type of brush as well as the colour of outer or primer paint. Generally, thin, narrow brushes are out of the question. You should also know that after finishing the process of painting, the work will be covered with wax or varnish which will brighten the final effect. 

 

Therefore, it is sometimes better to paint the surface more greatly in order to reach the intensive look of an old, used piece of furniture with the features of an antique masterpiece. 

Dry brushing is a method of putting paint on the surface with almost dry brush.

We can use acrylic or water based paints. Sadly, I haven’t got any experience with the oils because of the onerousness of washing the brush with special degreasing agents.

I’m often so excited because of a new project that I’m lost to the world therefore I couldn’t take the picture before starting the work.

 

A whole table was covered with a very dark paint and it was greatly varnished. The process of removing the paint lasted a few hours. However, thanks to it I uncovered the real structure of the wood.

I’ve used antique pine, water based stain as a base coat. Dry brushing was firstly made with white acrylic paint. Then, I’ve added beige and green. 

 

The whole work was covered with matt acrylic varnish.

The final effect is presented here:

See you next....

Hand Painted And Distressed Small Furniture Forms

I'm not sure if I already mentioned this, but I have found a completely new passion in my life. Browsing in one of the furniture stores I came to the conclusion that none of the objects on display was worthy of my attention. Simple shapes, narrow selection of colour and plastic imitating wood. Maybe it comes from constantly searching for something which is not made by the dozen. Apparently I am the type of person who is constantly seeking change and cannot seem to sit still.

Several weeks ago I was inspired by a course in finishing furniture, and because I still had four weeks of holiday in my pocket, I bought a ticket and went without hesitation. I traded walks on the beach for workshops with paints and brushes.
During this accelerated course I learnt several techniques of finishing:

WHITE-WASHING FURNITURE OR BLEACHING 

(exposing the grain of the original wood )

         HAND PAINTED STEP STOOL

RUBBED FINISHES
(DRY BRUSHING)

 GREAT COMBINATION OF WHITE AND GRAPHITE PAINTS

SHABBY CHIC 

        WHITE SHABBY CHIC JEWELLERY HOLDER OR KEY CABINET 

AGING FINISHES 
(PATINA EFFECT)

PATINA EFFECT JEWELLERY BOX 

 WORN STEEL

         
Multicolour rubbing, the last technique I have learnt. This tray I have also decorated with a blue poppy rice paper.

MULTICOLOR RUBBING

In a week I will show you my first piece of furniture made using one of the techniques I learnt - or my creative interpretation of them.

By now I wish everybody a Wonderful and Happy New Year. May all your dreams come true.
As someone once said:
"Our wishes are presentiments abilities that lie dormant within us, announcements of what we can accomplish."

                                                                                           Johann Wolfgang von Goethe