Farmhouse Side Table

You've probably noticed that I haven't posted in a few months on here. 

I have still been finding pieces and projects, but have not had much motivation to actually work on them. For this, I am attributing it to my new real-world job that I started last November. It has certainly been keeping me busy, but for the rest of the year, I am making a dedicated effort to work on projects for the rest of the year. When I was really working on this, I couldn't wait to get out of work to go home to work on this. I missed that little bit of excitement in my nights and now it is back!

Anyways, so with this table, found it as a local Goodwill. Like I do with all my projects, I fall in line with all the details, original hardware and great lines. It was also marked as solid mahogany. It was pretty scratched up, had collected quite a few dust bunnies and looked like some sort of liquid has been dropped on it. 

So to start, I started with my Shop-Vac (Christmas gift from my dad from 2014, thank you Dad!) and go rid of the bunnies and spider webs. Next, I used mixed TSP and hot water to wash it down. I was really hoping this would clean whatever liquid had dropped on this table so I wouldn't get any bleed through in the paint. Then, I lightly sanded with 150 grit sand paper and gave it one final sweep with the Shop-Vac. Here she was before I started painting. 

My eye usually only sees in neutral colors, so of course I wanted to go white for this table. I decided to use Behr's New House White. For my projects, I have been using Behr paint for quite some time. Behr Premium Plus Ultra has always been my preference for the specific product, in hopes that it will really block stains. For this project, I wanted chalk paint so I could distress it. I used the same recipe that I have always used, one part water and one part Plaster of Paris mixed first, then three parts paint. Works like a charm every time.

So I start spraying with my Home Right Finish Max sprayer and get the first coat on. Within a few minutes, I could already see the bleed through [insert sad face here]. From my experience, there are just some stains that come through no matter what. That is when I go to Zinsser Shellac primer in the spray can form. I have used this on multiple projects and it has blocked every single stain, absolutely love it and highly recommend. They occasionally go on sale at Home Depot, so I usually try to get quite a few when they do. 

Then, the table just needed two more coats of paint to get full coverage. Here is a sneak peak after I did some slight distressing:

One part of this table that I did not take pictures of before/during/after that I am sad about is the hardware. It was so tarnished, but had such great character. So one morning as I was getting ready for work, I put the pieces in a bowl and sprayed on the liquid form of Barkeepers Friend. It sat for probably about 20 minutes. Then I washed it all off with a scrubby and couldn't believe how the hardware looked brand new again. Pictures next time for sure. 

Then to seal the table, I sprayed on General Finish HPTC in Satin. Here is the final table, I absolutely love it. Can't wait to start on some more projects again. 

What do you all think? 

Thanks so much for reading, hope everyone is enjoying 2017 so far!

-Shayla

Linked up to: Making It In The Mountains

Antique White Dresser

I received this beautiful dresser as a custom order. There is an entire set with bed frame and tall dresser that I will be working on as well.  This has been in my client's family for a very long time and they wanted to change the look and now use it for their adorable baby girl's room once she is out of her nursery. 

It had been painted previously in a green color with a glaze. Here is a picture of the color, unfortunately I did not get a great before picture that included the entire dresser.

I lightly sanded the existing paint with 150 grit paper and then applied primer to make sure nothing came through with the white paint. The below picture is after one coat of primer. I then added a second coat to get more even coverage. I think that was mostly due to me not mixing it properly the first time. That is also my crazy garage where I work on projects and have my currents WIPs.

This piece had the original hardware, but it was very tarnished. I wanted to save the hardware as much as I could to keep the history of the piece. To clean it, I used bar keepers friend, hot water and a toothbrush. I spent a good amount of time cleaning, but was very happy with the results. Look at the difference! 

For the paint, I used General Finished Antique White milk paint and it took about three coats even with the primer. White is one of my favorite colors to paint, but if definitely requires a lot of coats. The Antique White milk paint coverage is great and it is such a beautiful shade of white, perfect for the beauty of this dresser. Next, I used General Finishes High Performance Top Coat in flat to seal the dresser with a foam brush. 

This is one of my favorite pieces I have done, hoping to come across more pieces like this soon. The detail on it is incredible as well as the quality of the dresser.

For my staging, I think I need to start hanging items on the wall, but I am afraid to put a bunch of holes in it. Does anyone have any tips for that?

Thanks for reading, 

Shayla

Linked up to: 58 Water Street | AKA Design | The Crowned Goat