Blessed Chaos: painting

Showing posts with label painting. Show all posts

farm table gone coastal :: REVISED

2/21/2010

In a few weeks we will be putting our house back on the market.

This means two things.

1. I will be constantly cleaning and picking up behind my boys in an effort to not let things get too out of control so I don't have to run around like a mad woman trying to make the place look presentable before a prospective buyer comes by.

Whew, that was a mouthful.

2. Any big projects on my mental list will be put on hold as I am thinking it's not appealing to have my buffet sitting atop a drop cloth, partially primed, with all manner of paint supplies scattered about. Sigh.

So, when I saw Layla's table, my heart went aflutter and I knew what I had to do. One last painting project.

I wanted to give our farm table a new look.

It's a great table. Super sturdy and can take any and all abuse my boys throw at it. I know some people, Didi, will think painting it was a bad idea. But I was bored by it and really wanted to lighten it up. I'm really drawn to driftwood looks but have been too nervous to attempt it.

Then Layla at the Lettered Cottage did hers. And she gave a great tutorial!

With one exception, I followed her suggestions to the letter.

Here's what I did.

Sanded her down. I had some help with that part.

That's a spider man face painted on Spinner's cheek. He got it at Home Depot, of all places. We went in to pick up a couple things and turns out they were having a festival of sorts. Face painting, popcorn, hula hooping, balloons, music and dancing, and kids workshops. Go figure. So, fun times at Home Depot.

And, of course, being the dangerous work that sanding is Tank insisted on wearing his helmet.

After sanding it down to a nice smooth finish (I did not sand the legs) I applied a coat of poly. Poly first, you say? I wondered the same thing. It's so the color the poly gives it will show through rather than the raw, sanded wood color.

While the poly dried I painted the legs. I mixed some heavy cream Behr paint I had on hand with some white until I got the color I wanted.

After the poly was dry I used a mixture of paint and water (50/50) and put a coat on top. When that dried I dry brushed about 5 coats or so. This is where I veered a bit from Layla. Around the fourth coat of dry brushing I added a touch of mocha glaze to what was on my brush. I was wanting to darken it up just a smidge. Once that was dry I sanded until I got a look I was happy with.

Then I used Deft furniture protector stuff. I know it has an official name but I can't remember it. It's a lacquer rather than a poly. Then I sanded it a little more to remove some of the shine. It is supposed to look like a piece of driftwood, afterall. I'll let you be the judge of whether I achieved that look or not.

I am liking how it turned out. It's a big change. When we move we will go with different wall colors so I am looking foward to pulling together the whole look I have in mind. At some point. In some yet-to-be determined home. For now, I have to get this place cleaned up. The realtor's are coming over to photograph.

I'm linking up to Cottage Instincts, Between Naps on the Porch, Domestically Speaking, Mustard Seed Creations, and Funky Junk Interiors.

Revised :: 2.25.10

Okay, so after living with this table for two days I decided the top wasn't quite right. My desire for a driftwood, rustic look just didn't come through as well. It was nice but not quite enough contrast between the table top and the base.

Pastor J liked it but, being the awesome hubs that he is, was fine with me tweaking it. He's getting used to this and let's me have my fun without too much protest over the disruption of removed furniture and general dismay when I am in the middle of a project while keeping up with the boys.

The table top really started bugging me Tuesday night. I could barely get through the night. It was all I could do to keep myself from getting up at 2am when I woke thinking about how I would achieve the look I wanted. I was so anxious to get it right. After dropping the kids off on Wednesday morning I came home and got to work. Here is what I ended up with.

I'm not sure if the difference comes through very well in the photo. But it is different. Looks more like an old piece of wood dragged out of a trash pile. Which is what I wanted.

I like the contrast between the top and base much better.

Here's what I did.

Totally trial and error.

I sanded it down a bunch. 50 grit, followed by 80 grit, then 120 grit to smooth it out a bit. I didn't sand it clean. It was patchy. With various shades of white still as well as various shades of the original wood showing through. Also did some distressing of my own by using the edge of the sander to give it some real rough looking places. Then I grabbed some stain, Early American tint, and covered it all. I wasn't sure this would give me what I wanted but I was determined to use what I had on hand. I like how it turned out.

I was afraid the stain would make the white that was coming through look dingy but it gave it a nice warm brown look which looks great agains the darker brown of the original wood that received the stain. I also dry brused a little black paint (flat spray paint to be exact, cause that's what I had) around the corners and randomly around the edges.

Once my mom came by to give me a much needed second opinion I applied Deft for a protective finish.