LIGHTEN UP!

This is an armoire that houses our television and it's been great.  But, I've really been on a painting streak lately and the armoire was next in line.  This was taken with my phone's camera - but you get the idea.  This room is dark anyway and the armoire didn't help.  So, it was time to lighten it up.  I have a lot of brown, beige, and aqua in this room and this piece is going to be aqua.

 The ottoman that I made last winter has the same color aqua in it - a better picture is below.

And a table between the loveseats . . . aqua.

Even the paintings in the room have some aqua in them.

So.  It's done.  It's aqua.  And I love it!  

No Annie Sloan Chalk Paint here.

    

 I used a mixture of Olympia paint from Lowes.  The first color I tried was way too light - it looked cold.  So I added a little more greenish-aqua from the table project above, and the end result was a lighter version of that table.  Then a little distressing and some dark wax.  By the way, the distressing was really easy, even though it wasn't Annie Sloan's famous chalk paint!

Tomorrow, I'm going to share a failed project.  I figure we all have them and I know it does my heart good to read your posts about what worked AND what didn't.

Saturday Chair Project - After

Here's how I went from:

   

                             this                               to this  

for only $4.95!

The chair project from yesterday is finally done.   A few notes . . .

 I used a hot, dry iron for the Paris postmark from the Graphics Fairy.  Just as the video says, you can't over-iron.  If you have to tug at all to lift the transfer paper off the fabric, iron some more!

When it's transferred, it easily peels off.  But, you see the transfer paper around the letters?  :(  

 I found that after washing and drying the fabric, the excess transfer paper dissolved a little more.  At least it isn't shiny - that's the good thing!  And maybe after enough people sit in the chair, it'll blend in even more!

There she sits, stripped down to her underwear!  And then the fun part - painting and distressing.

From this . . .

to this!

Now, here's what I did and some comments on what I should have done! 

What I did:  I printed out the graphics fairy Paris postmark onto Transfer Artist Paper (TAP) and cut loosely around the design, then ironed it on.  It transferred very quickly!  I bet I only ironed with a hot, dry iron for about 10 seconds and it was transferred!  

What I should have done:  I should have cut as close as possible to the graphic printout before ironing it on the linen.  It looks fine and I bet I'm the only one who could tell the difference, but the little bit of transfer paper I left around the design didn't completely disappear.  So, take the time to really cut it closely.

and

What I did:  I took the chair into the garage and went full blast with my palm sander.  I mean, full blast!

What I should have done:  Maybe start out with a piece of sandpaper in my hand and take it slow and easy.  It doesn't look too distressed in the photo, but in real life . . . it's pretty distressed.  You can always take more off . . .   So, I ended up retouching the REALLY distressed areas with a little paint.

But, it's done and I really do like it . . . but it's kind of like going to someone's house for dinner.  It always tastes better when someone else cooks.  Well, if I saw this chair in a store I'd REALLY love it, but I know where all the little glitches are . . .

-Nan

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