the little cottage on the pond...: Country Chic Paint

Showing posts with label Country Chic Paint. Show all posts

11.22.2014

Sealing in the chippy charm...

Now that Travis is off turnaround we are going to try and cross a few projects off our list. The laundry room is the next big project, and I am thinking we will tackle that in December, but for today we are making Sara a headboard.

Originally I was going to do something like this...

Minus the fabric, tufting, or super fancy engraved wood- and the expense. Yeah, totally just like that.

I've had an old door that I found in a junk shop for a few years ago. In the last house it sat propped up against the wall in the living room. I adore the size (a bit smaller than a standard door) and love that it came out of one of the old houses in Galveston. It's chippy perfection, and I got to thinking that it would probably make a really cool headboard in her room.

What you can't hear is me talking like the magician who is sawing the girl in half...

Well, except that it is more than likely painted in lead paint and tends to spread bits of chippiness wherever it goes. Like little sprinkles of happy, only I really can't have Sara picking paint flakes out of her hair everyday, so I decided to use some Country Chic Paint Tough Coat on it. It was the perfect product to lock in some of that chippyness without me having to worry about it yellowing down the road.

Travis used hinges to connect the two boards together.

Once the Tough Coat dried it was time to hang it! We used super sturdy hanging hardware to insure that it would stay in place. Nothing is worse than a headboard crashing down on you in the middle of the night. And why is it that those things always happen in the middle of the night?? Like the object is being held in place with solar energy...

I'm so pleased with how this little mini-project turned out. I think the door-turned-headboard adds some chippy charm to her room and really pops next to the black wall. Throw in the added bonus of it being a no-cost project!

Next, I will build her a wooden valance to go high up over the window and cover it in the same black and white stripe material as her bedskirt. Then I think I'm going to call the room finished, but we all know how that goes ;)

11.11.2014

Acorn painting...

I had the chance to get away over the weekend, and I came back feeling a bit more recharged. Dallas was lovely, and my hostess had some lovely land and trees to explore. At one point I was walking and heard something loud come crashing down near my head- I think the squirrels were entertaining themselves by throwing acorns at me.

You know what they say, "When life throws you acorns..."

Paint them.

So I did. I started out with three lovely colours of Country Chic Paint- Brandy, Rustic Charm, and a new not yet named shade of buttercream yellow. I thought that the acorns would look lovely on a Thanksgiving table.

Small project, but I like using a bit of nature when decorating the table for Thanksgiving. Plus, nothing is more relaxing than sitting painting acorns while sipping a hot cup of tea :)

3.26.2014

Purple paint challenge...

Head over to the Country Chic Paint blog to see what I did with a little pot of purple paint that came with a challenge...

2.04.2014

Making a picture frame...

Yesterday was cold and rainy. Our weather this winter has been much colder than normal, and temps are expected to drop back into the 30's, so the succulents had to be brought inside...

Since we were pretty much home all day and it was too cold to paint out in the workshop, we decided to build and paint a frame for a piece of art my dad had given me. He had the piece drawn by an artist on the street the last time he was in China. It is a lovely piece and the colours were perfect to use in Sara's "beachy lounge room". I didn't want the picture to look too formal, so I knew I would be giving it a super shabby treatment. I had been given a few samples of paint from Country Chic Paint, and I thought that a combination of Cherry Blossom and Cheesecake would look lovely on a frame...

Travis bought two pine 1 x 3 x 8 pieces, and two 1 x 2 x 8 pieces.

Then he glued and nailed the 1 x 2's to the 1 x 3's to add some thickness and an inset for the glass inside the frame:

Then he ran it through the saw on the flush side just to make sure they were smooth and even, and clean up the edge...

Next, he cut 45 degree angles for the lengths of each side. He uses a chop saw for this...

After the angles were cut, he glued the edges and nailed them together. He tells me the trick with glue is to apply it and then pat it down. This prevents the glue from running...

use a 90 degree cut to place in the corners and steady your frame while nailing

Pooky and sanding follows to finish the corners...

Now it's time to paint! I started off with a coat of Cherry Blossom as my base...

After the base coat dried, I took a candle and smeared some places on the frame where I wanted the next coat of paint to meet a resist, or not stick to the frame. You can use vaseline for this step as well.

Then I applied a second coat using Country Chic Paint in Cheesecake. You can see here where the paint looks a little grainy from the wax I used on the base coat.

Once that was dry it was time to hit it with the sander. I wanted a severely distressed look for this frame, so I used my hand sander with a 220 grit paper. I hit the corners a little harder which caused some spots to show through to the wood. That was fine since I knew I was going to be going back over it with a few waxes. You can see here where the paint resisted taking to the pink...

Then I used some of the Country Chic clear wax and gold wax to add a little sparkle to the frame. Once the wax was dry I gave it a good buffing with a soft cloth until it was butter smooth...

I love how the gold wax looks on the raw wood!

Travis and I added the glass, placed the paper on top and backed it with a piece of quarter inch plywood, and secured it with inch and a quarter finishing nails.