Quick and Easy Chest of Drawers Makeover with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint..

This was an old  pine chest of drawers where the varnish had turned a yellow/orange colour over time. To cheer it back up I gave it a quick and easy makeover with Annie Sloan 'Duck Egg Blue' Chalk Paint.  

It was an old piece of furniture but still in great shape. A few dings and scratches here and there but still very useful so once I painted it with two coats of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint I waxed it with a coat of clear wax, buffed it up and I am quite pleased with how it turned out.  

 It's one of the many older orangey pine pieces we have in our home in Mayo and I love it now all refreshed again in the Duck Egg Blue colour. Amazing how it brightened up the room once I painted just this one piece so I will definitely be painting the rest of the pine pieces.  It kinda helped that it was a sunny day and I was able to take it outside to paint it while being serenaded by the local sheep baahing nicely  to me in the background.  lol ..

 I might have gotten a little bit carried away but I painted the lamp too! 

Easy D.I.Y. Verdigris Painted Closets..

After I posted these verdigris Painted Built-In Laminate Wardrobes a while back a few people asked how I did them so here is a post on the how to, what's involved, what paints I used etc.  There are numerous different ways on the internet on how to do it so do google and have a look which is what I did and this is the technique I came up with eventually to get the result that I wanted.

   Here's the before..
These laminated wardrobes are fine and sturdy and the size is perfect for lots of storage but after over a decade of looking at them my daughter wanted something completely different, something in the Boho Chic style, something more colourful and well, just not brown anymore. 

And here is the After....

Below is more of a true colour of how they  really look. The sun popped out for a few minutes (this is Ireland!!) so I grabbed the opportunity. 

Here is a photo of supplies needed but I'll list them at the end of this post.

First off I painted out all the wardrobe doors including the frosted glass with black chalk paint. Any chalk paint would probably do but I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Graphite  (this also acts as a primer).

I let that dry completely before I applied 'Dulux Sea Urchin Green' from Woodies  (but you can use any dark green paint you have on hand here as it's only another base coat to build on.
I only applied it in patches at first and 'while it was still damp' I started to apply tiny amounts of the Coeruleum Blue with a medium sized soft bristle brush and just rubbed it into the damp sea urchin green to get that blue/green look of aged copper.

I don't have a photo of the sea urchin as I threw out the tin but I do think any dark hunter or forest green colour paint would do. I  just used it as I had a tin left over from a previous project.

At one point I felt it had turned out way to blue so this is where I added the Green Chalk Paint in Plaid. I worked again in patches with the same brush just working a tiny amount of green paint in all over  in patches here and there and really rubbing it in.

Now comes the Prussian Blue Paint. I used very little of this but it made a difference. Using the same brush I applied the Prussian Blue with light feathery strokes. Just tiny amounts on my brush was all I needed to add an extra shadow of colour.

From here I just eyed it every few minute to see if I needed to add more Coeruleum blue here or chalk green there or a little more Prussian and so on and I kept doing that until I was happy with it. At first I wasn't. It was coming out a bit too dark. So long story short I mixed a tiny amount of white paint |(I just happened to have white chalk paint left over from painting our kitchen so I used that) with the green chalk paint and with a damp lint free rag I started rubbing this in very lightly and thinly in circular motions in patches all over the wardrobes. And I liked it! It kind of added highlights.

I left it every now and then after applying each coat of paint just so I could come back and get a fresh perspective on the overall colour. Sometimes I was very happy with the result. Sometimes not. No worries though as nothing is sealed yet and all these layers are a good thing especially for the aged look. I just added more white to green if I wanted a lighter cloudier look. Or more blue to areas that were too light etc,

When I was happy with the colour I waxed the whole thing for sheen and protection. I used  Clear Bees Wax and a thick waxing brush, Again I think any clear wax will do but I had this on hand and it worked out just fine.  It smells though! So open your windows.

One Thing To Note!

I tried out a couple of different gold paints and this was by far the best one (below) for sheen and texture and it had that beautiful antiqued gold look to it. I used this for all the stenciling.

Gilding Wax

Supply List:

-Chalk Paint - Graphite, I bought mine in Sonoma Gift Shop, Ennis but Woodies carry a brand also. I just  haven't tried it.
-Dulux Sea Urchin (or any very dark green paint) I bought mine in woodies.
-Folk Art Grotto Ultra Matte Acrylic Paint 'Plaid'.  I got this from Art & Craft Co, Ennis.€9.95/236ml.
-Coeruleum Blue, Acrylic Paint from Art & Craft Co. Ennis.€5.50/75ml.
-Prussian Blue, Acrylic Paint from Art & Craft Co. Ennis. €5.50/75ml.
-Any Clear Wax. Woodies or any hardware shops.
-Medium brush & rags to apply layers of paint.
-Small brush (I used an eye shadow brush- it's all I could find at home and it worked just fine) to apply the  gold.
-Large brush to apply wax and rags to buff it.
 And that's it!
 Hope this helps you but if you have any questions just ask and I'll gladly answer them for you.
 Happy Painting..
 Marie:-)

Recovering A Torn Leather Chair With Fabric.

I found this old leather chair and had just the right piece of material in my stash of remnants to cover it with. It's completely ripped up but in such good shape otherwise. I would have left it behind only it was so sturdy, so comfortable and so well made that I  really just couldn't leave it behind now could I! 

So here it is below all 'newed' up again in chocolate and gold stripes, black painted, waxed and polished legs with a touch of gold on the tips.
I like that it's such a slim chair so it will fit in just anywhere. It would make for a nice little bedroom chair. I didn't even have to re-stuff this chair it was that perfect-other than the ripped up leather!

And Below we have Briggs modeling the gold and chocolate striped side chair.

A little detail photo of the tucking and pleating. And the gold dipped legs. Notice the arch on the seat which was a little more difficult because of its shape but which actually turned out way easier than I thought it was going to be.

And just so Baz doesn't feel left out!

Easy DIY Spice Rack..

And it really is easy. The Spice jars were taking up so much space and I could never find the spice I was looking for so I built this Simple D.I.Y. Spice Rack to fit the inside of our cabinet door. It does a perfect job of storing them all leaving lots of extra space and no more searching. So if you want to make one too - I recommend it. This really was very easy to do. And quick! I made this in a few hours one evening.Here's what you need:  (This was made before I had any power tools so it's even easier and quicker if you have a power drill and a jigsaw)

1.Wood strips. I got mine from Woodies or you can use scrap wood.

2.Tape Measure.

3.Rusty old Saw. I know mine looks bad but worked just fine. 

12 of  these 'L' shaped brackets (they come in sets of 4 in Woodies for around €2)

1. Screw Driver (or if you have a power screw driver thing-even better)

1. 1cm screws x 24 (that are so hard to hold onto and that's why the pliers!)

1. 2 cm screws  x 6 to add the front bars of the rack.

1. And a hammer

STEP ONE: The first thing you need to do is measure inside your cabinet door and check to see how much space you have so your door closes completely once the spice rack is installed.  THIS IS IMPORTANT  You don't want to make it too big so that your doors don't close properly. So cut once MEASURE TWICE.

STEP TWO:

Cut your wood strips. Measurements may be different depending on the size of your cabinetry but mine were as follows. 

For the Frame sides-cut 2 pieces @ 5cm Wide x 50cm Long

For the Frame Top & Bottom-cut 2 pieces @ 5cm Wide x 31cm Long

For the Shelves-cut 2 pieces @ 5cm Wide x 31cm Long

Use the 'L' Brackets and the 1cm Screws to put the frame together

STEP THREE: Once your wood pieces are cut just line them up as in the photos above. Make sure to leave enough spacing between the top of the spice jar and the shelf above it so that you can pop it in and out easily. You need to leave about two and a half centimeters of space here t have some 'wiggle room'. You don't want them to be too snug in there so be sure to  leave enough space and measure twice on this step also.

STEP FOUR:

Next mark where you want to put your shelf. I put a little line on each piece (see above) so if it moves you can just line it back up without measuring all over again.

STEP FIVE:Screw in the corner brackets to hold your shelves in place.

Next add the front 'bars'.You need 3 strips of wood @ 32cm long x 2cm Wide.  

You will use the 2cm screws for this step. 

Sand off any rough edges. (only takes a few minutes)

Then attach the rack to the door with the same 'L' Brackets.

I found it hard to hold the tiny screw in place while holding the door, the bracket and spice rack all at the same time so I found the sticky tape handy

If you have big paws like me then this pliers is handy.

If you look closely you'll see the wood started to split where I screwed in the front bars and afterwards I learned you need to drill a pilot hole first so this does not happen. We live and learn.

 

Make sure your screw is short enough so that it doesn't come through the cabinet door. I measured mine carefully but even then I screwed it very slowly with my hand on the front of the door constantly checking that the door wasn't beginning to crack.  I had no problems here it worked out just fine but I'd advise to take your time on this step anyway as you don't want to ruin the front of your lovely kitchen cabinets! 

And that's it for now. Happy D.I.Y.ing..

Hand Knit Bob The Builder

Remember This Little Guy?

Is anyone else fascinated by the talents of people who knit? Well I am. I cannot knit for nuts. And when Bob the Builder was all the range years ago My Auntie Claire didn't just run out and buy the plastic version  of him. Oh no - she made her very own hand knitted version of him for my son (who is now 16) so he's been in the attic all those years well over a decade now. Bob that is, not my son. Although we do have two imaginary people called Bridget and Mary who live in our attic and they're responsible for all the things that get lost or broken! But sin scéal eile. So ya, this little guy gets my vote or at least the work that went into him. He even has his own ittle hammer and tool belt made separately! So cute..

Actually I just realised he even has a special little holder thingy on the back of his tool belt for his hammer. Really amazing details! So you can see why I couldn't part with him. Recently my Aunt offered to teach me how to knit so I might just take up knitting in my old age. And we all know what Bob the Builder would say...

Or was that Obama?

Super Easy DIY 'NO-SEW' - Recovered Bar Stools

The before looks really bad but these chairs were actually still so comfy to sit on and still very sturdy so I decided to recover them. 

So this a close up of the cat claw damage....  

And here's the after before the next battering from the cats of course. They're clawing as we speak. We gave up shooing them off stuff long ago. That's how it is if you have cats.

I use an old cushion to get a more plump seat

It was just meant to be a quick fix but I think they turned out really great and took so little time to do (approx one hour per chair).  Oh! and I stuck in an old cushion to each stool to make them a bit plumper as they had gotten a little deflated over the years.

One other thing I did was use the reverse side of the fabric.  Here's a photo of the 'right' side of the fabric and while it's really nice I just didn't think the white stripe would be suitable for kitchen use so I flipped it and luckily the reverse side had a black fleck of thread going through the white stripe which gives it a more grainier look and I think it looks just as great and will be easier to keep clean.

The flip side...

This is all you need. A good Staple gun and sissors.

Here's a close up of some stapling and tucking details. You can barely see that one staple unless you are up close and scrutinising! 

You can just see one staple there on the black stripe but I can magic marker over that. The other staples are either hidden or landed on the white stripes so they're almost invisible.

Kevin giving me a helping hand for this part..

And here's Kevin helping me take this next pic just to show you how to flake those staples in there good and strong. I'm even seeing some pug hair on there already!! Oh yeah did I mention - we have two pugs also:-)

Here's a closer look of the above photo. I thought I'd have to add some piping here to cover the staples but because I added an extra cushion under the fabric - the seat puffed up and covered all those staples saving me that extra step.  Horray! You can see also I didn't have to cut and match up my fabric for this part. It's all one long piece of fabric. Well now wasn't that just handy dandy as that police officer lady  would say in 'Fargo' What was her name... anyway great movie.. must watch that again.

And here's a shot of the underneath. Pretty ugly but who cares it's all stapled good and tight and no one gets to see this part only aforementioned cats:-)

I'm very happy with them.Now I need to decide what colour to paint the legs. Any suggestion?