I haven't had much time to finish and post updates of some projects I have been working on. With most my coworkers now laid off and myself taking over several jobs, glad to still be employed but also down in the dumps about all my friends and their uncertain fates, (and mine as well) has kind of zapped my energy for awhile. Rain and cooler weather has moved into Seattle - fall is here. I am happy about that because I love to nest and nothing is more comforting to me then a warm fire, hot tea and a good book or decorating magazine in the evening. But that meant my work canopy outside has had to come down until next spring.
I have been continuing work on my painted furniture. I had posted my round breakfast table earlier in the summer season. It was pretty unexciting and drab, although the perfect size for where I wanted to use it. It had to have a make-over in order to live in Elinor Cottage.
It's not quite there yet but here it is, mid-stage. I base coated it "Cottage Linen White" by Waverly and then added some color with "Atmosphere Blue" by Restoration Hardware.
Here it is, sitting atop my work table in the corner of the LR where it will eventually sit once done. I do not have a garage to work in and my art studio is up a narrow 30" stair so taking the table up there is not an option. It will have to be finished in place, I'm afraid!
Now the time consuming part begins - gold leaf detailing.
I have red arrowed the areas that will receive gold leaf. The beaded detail is a flexible plastic accent you can find at doityourselfchic.com The architectural accents just glue on and are ready to be primed/painted. In this case I am priming the trim with an ochre tinted base and will then gold leaf over that.
The gold leaf is actually a composite because it's more affordable at $7 per pack of 5" sheets then real gold leaf at $38 per 3" pack. As long as I lacquer over it, it will not tarnish. I use a water-based lacquer called "Crystalfin" which I buy at Dalys here in Seattle. It wears hard as nails. I already base coated most of the table with it except for the areas I have to add gold leaf. They will get a coat after I'm done with them. "Crystalfin" comes in matte, satin, semi-gloss or hi-gloss. It's a wonderful product. I first saw it used to protect a hardwood floor.
Stay tuned later on for the finished project!
OK, I have had many house projects planned for a few years now but over the course of each season, I manage to come up with just as many excuses to not get them done. Most of them need to be done outside during nicer weather and when I don't get them done, I sit all winter lamenting the fact that I wasted my summer doing nothing. I have now decided to kick my own butt and get some things done before the weather turns. In the front yard, I set up a cheap canopy I got for $30 at Big Lots. (protection from rain and sun).
Last week I began with the coffee table. I got it off Craigslist for $30 - a Queen Anne style with a dark cherry stain and 2 drop leafs. I lovely table, although the top was scratched up. Well, my house is blue and white and not suited to dark wood so the table was destined to become white. I spent a few days preparing it - washed with TSP, then sanded and primed with KILZ. Then it received 3 coats of white latex paint. I use the same white throughout my house: Waverly's "Cottage Linen White". It's a lovely shade of soft white - not a cream but not too stark either. Then I coated the painted table with gloss Crystalfin lacquer. I always protect my painted furniture with this acrylic lacquer which cleans up with water and soap. It comes in several sheens from matte, to satin, gloss and hi-gloss. So the next project in line was the round table that sits in the corner in the living room. I bought it to sit at and read or drink tea. It was hard to find one that size for a good price. It's a 36" round for $160 from Target. Quite sturdy. here is what it looked like when I bought it. The base (hard to see in the picture) was a dark, dirty cream (very unattractive) and the top was a darker wood. It's been out under the tent for a week now, going through it's transformation. In a few days I will post a picture of the finished piece for comparison. Stay tuned...
Wishing a dear friend a heart-felt Birthday greeting and wishes for a wonderful day.:)
I was just sharing my experience with reupholstering a piece of furniture on the Victoria magazine forum when I tried to upload a photo of my project and it repeatedly failed. So, frustrated, I decided to blog about the piece instead and then let the VF readers link to my blog if they wished, to view the settee. Here's the history behind it: one day at work, probably 8 or 9 years ago now, I checked into my email and saw one had just come thru 3 minute ago from my boss's antiques gal. My boss had a bunch of stuff she was giving away and it was located on the 2nd floor landing of the privately owned office building I worked in. Without a word to anyone else (it was first-come, first-serve) I bounded up the stairs, three at a time, to the landing and practically landed on top of this gorgeous old settee with very Rococo lines. It once had a broken front leg which was repaired but very obvious. And on it's front was a horribly ugly purple tapestry with tiny white daisies. It was badly stained with white paint. On the back was a soft peach damask but was rotting and stained badly with a bright green paint.
Needless to say, I was given the settee as I was first to see it and put in a request for it. So once home, I had to make it usable. I tried my hand at reupholstery - my first try. I found and bought the fabric I wanted - a denim-shade of blue and white stripe ticking stripe for the front and a solid blueberry blue damask for the back. I took photos of the piece before I began to remove the upholstery and as I removed each piece, I set it carefully aside, labeled, to use as a pattern for the new fabric. Under the purple fabric on the seat I found an old layer of modern batting and then what looked like horsehair. Hand made nails. I lifted the hair and saw underneath the original peach damask still intact.
Not wanting to destroy what I'd found, I decided to put a fresh layer of batting over the horsehair and then my fabric on top of that. When I can afford it, I'll have a pro redo it for me. Once the front was done, I did the back and then added braiding to the areas where I tacked the fabric unto the frame. All in all, it looks acceptable and I have used it in my living room ever since.
Since the people way back then - I assuming 18th c - were so short, I needed to raise the seat a bit ) I am 6' tall and when I sat on the seat, my knees almost came up to my ears!) hahahaha very graceful looking. So I bought a king sized bed pillow and sewed a blue toile ruffled and piped cover for it. It sits comfortably now and I'm happy with the piece except for one thing - I still want to gold gild the frame. So this is my "before" photo - before I add gilding. When I get it done, I'll repost the photo to show how it turned out. I have never water gilded so I will do it the lazy way and oil gild.
