Chalk Painted French Provincial Chair (What would you do?}

Friends, I could really use your help. Several years ago Mr. Frugalista inherited this French Provincial Chair and we had it reupholstered in a gold striped fabric. It looked great in our bedroom with the Wedgwood Grey painted walls and gold accents throughout the room.

Since installing the built-in window seat and bookcase in the master bedroom, we no longer have room for this chair in the room. The gold color doesn't work in any other room in our house either.

Considering the sentimental value of this chair and the fact that the upholstery is in excellent condition, I found an economical way to make this chair work in our home. I changed the color of the fabric by chalk painting our French Provincial Chair.

Chalk Painted French Provincial Chair

So I got to work painting it with a 50/50 mixture of  Pure White and Old White chalk paint.  Here it is after one coat.

This isn't my first chalk painting upholstery rodeo. I painted a Wing Chair and a French Provincial Armchair as well.

In the past I used a 1:1 ratio of chalk paint and water. This time I decided to try a different approach and dip the bristles of my brush into a pail of water first and then into undiluted paint. I have to say I much prefer this method as it goes on so much smoother. But first, like the others, I lightly dampened the fabric using a spray bottle.

I was very pleased with how fresh the chair was looking and the two toned white stripes.

After the forth coat I gave the chair a coat of clear wax to soften the fabric and now it feels like buttah.

So soft and pretty!  I gave the legs a little dark wax in the grooves to make the details pop and give the chair more depth.

Then came time to style it for photos.  It looks great with the small nesting table I refinished last year.

Since the tea was poured and the cookies were out of the package, I stopped for a break.

I'm definitely liking this chair much better in white but here's the thing...

...it feel like it needs something.

This is where you guys come in.  I could really use your help.  Which option would you choose if it were your chair?  

Grain Sack Stripes Added Using PicMonkey

If you can't leave a comment because you're not on Google+ then I'd love it if you headed over to my Facebook Page and left a comment there. Or there is always email.

UPDATE: What I ended up doing Update On French Provincial Chair.

Looking forward to reading your comments and suggestions.   

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Turquoise Sofa Table {It's Third Incarnation}

Our humble abode was is bursting at the seams with furniture.  Last weekend I bit the bullet and decided to part with some of our pieces.  Like this sofa table that we purchased several years ago at an auction.

Originally it looked like this...

Sorry, pre-blogging photo

...and then like this.

Sorry, before I knew anything about taking good pictures.

I decided to freshen it up with one more makeover before parting with it. The plan was to paint it turquoise with little distressing and silver leaf the grooves. Well this baby had a mind of it's own and no matter how hard I tried it decided it wanted more distressing.

Silver leaf in the grooves?  Heck no it wanted white!

So turquoise and white it is!  I waxed the entire table with my new favorite thing...white wax.

I kept the original (original from the first makeover) glass knobs.

I added some pretty to the inside of the drawer.

And now it is time to part with it.  Despite having no room in this house I really really really want to keep it.  I have absolutely no turquoise in this house but I still want to keep it.

But I can't so bye bye sofa table, I hope you find a good home!

I SHARE MY PROJECTS HERE

THANK YOU SO MUCH TO THE FOLLOWING FOR FEATURING THIS PROJECT:

    

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Vintage Executive Wooden Desk with Carte Postale Top

Last summer I picked this vintage wooden desk up at a neighbor's garage sale for a song. Several weeks later I discovered a wooden ladder back chair sitting in our back yard, compliments of the same neighbor. Running out of room bursting at the seams with furniture awaiting makeovers I finally dusted them off and got to work unifying them as a set with matching Carte Postale graphics and chalk paint.

Vintage Executive Wooden Desk Makeover

This is what the desk used to look like...

You can see in the photo below that the top had seen it's better days. I discovered a few messages carved into the wood.

I hummed and hawed about sanding it down to the natural wood but that would have required taking it outside. At the time the temperatures were ranging around -26°C (that's around -14°F) and there was no way in H E double hockey sticks I was doing that so I opted to stay warm indoors and paint the stop instead.

Desk Makeover

The carcass of the desk was painted in a custom white color consisting of a 1:1 ratio of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint­­™ in the colors Old White and Pure White. The drawer fronts were painted in the color Pebble Beach (medium gray color) by Country Chic Paint.

To give it a timeworn look, using 220 grit sandpaper, I distressed the edges of the desk and drawers.

Instead of replacing the bat wing drawer pulls, I spray painted them with Rustoleum Painter's Touch in the color Primer White (matte finish).

...and distressed them with sandpaper to reveal some of the original finish underneath.

The desktop felt like it was missing something and so I headed over to The Graphics Fairy website in search of the perfect graphic to transfer onto the top. As I always do, I found the perfect Paris Letter with Postmark.

I enlarged the graphic to fit the desktop over at the Blockposter website. I printed it and taped the graphic together. Using graphite paper, I traced the graphic onto the top.

Deciphering the Paris Letter and Postmark

Here is where the fun came in. As I was tracing the graphic it became difficult to superimpose because some parts of the original image were worn, making deciphering the cursive French handwriting a challenge. Wanting to accurately transfer the image I did some creative research on Google.

After a lot of digging, I managed to figure out that the circular date stamp was postmarked on November 2, 1837, in Boulogne-Sur-Mer, a city in Northern France with a mileage stamp of 643. It was addressed to Madame Sugat at 9 Rue Neuve in St. Denis, a northern suburb of Paris.

The oval stamp on the top left says Bonne Frères Boulange S•M.  I'm going to assume that is the name of the post office - Good Brother's in Boulange-Sur-Mer.

I'd love to hear from anyone well versed in marcophily to confirm if I am correct. Regardless it was a little eerie tracing the handwriting of someone who was alive 177 years ago!

I always like to add an element of surprise when the drawers are opened and thought this Old World Map wrapping paper was perfect. My preference for lining drawers is using wallpaper paste because I achieve far fewer air bubbles and wrinkles.

Most likely the bottom of this double drawer won't be seen once hanging file folders are in place but I gave it some paper goodness too.

Ladder Back Chair Makeover

Now for that chair that mysteriously appeared in my back yard. It looks like it originally was stained in a cherry color but had been spray painted gray. Unfortunately fortunately for me, the reason it landed in my yard, was that it was full of paint drips. Sorry, I forgot to take a picture before taking the power sander to it.

To unify the chair with the desk I painted it in the same colors as the desk and also gave it a timeworn look by distressing along the edges.

I transferred the same Paris Letter with Postmark graphic in a smaller size onto the seat.

Now they look like they've always been a matching set.

If any of you know anything about old postmarks I'd love to learn more about the one on this envelope dated back to 1837.

This wasn't my first desk rodeo. I've done a few in different styles like this Queen Anne Writing Desk or Curbside Secretary Desk and French Provincial Secretary Desk.

You will find this project linked to these fabulous Link Parties.

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Mr & Mrs {Post Valentine's Day Décor}

In the spirit of Valentine's Day and our upcoming 28th Wedding Anniversary I made some easy peasy DIY décor for the master bedroom.  I whipped (pun intended) these Mr. & Mrs. Wall Plaques up in an afternoon while waiting for paint to dry on a piece of furniture.

I already had everything I needed to make them.

What I Used:

• thin hardboard
• wooden crown plaques
• ribbon
• chalk paint in Old White and Duck Egg Blue
• Word document and laser printer
• graphite paper
• script art brush
• drill

These were so easy to make I feel kind of silly typing up a tutorial.

Step 1:
I cut the hardboard to size using a miter saw.  Then I drilled two holes on the top for the ribbon.

Step 2:
I applied two coats of a mixture of Old White & Pure White Chalk.

Step 3:
In Word I typed the words Mr. & Mrs. in the size and font I wanted and printed them on my laser printer.  Then I taped each word onto the pieces of wood and slipped a piece of graphite paper underneath.  I simply traced over the words to transfer them onto the wood and using chalk paint and a script art brush painted them in.

Step 4:
After they were dry I lightly distressed them using a sanding block.  Then I applied a coat of clear wax.

Step 5:
I purchased two wooden crown plaques at Michaels and painted them in Duck Egg Blue.  Then I attached them onto the wood using E6000 glue and let it cure for several hours.

Step 6:
I ran the ribbon through the holes and ta da!

My plan was to have them hanging on each side of the headboard.  Mr. Frugalista turned 50 Shades of Grey at the mere thought of hooks, tacks, or nails punctured into his precious DIY 5-panel door headboard.  Okay, so I can't blame him but he wouldn't even allow 3M Command Hooks!

I still think they'd look better hanging from the headboard.

I think one of the reasons we've survived 28 years of marriage is because sometimes you've got to pick your battles and know when it's just better to nod and say, "yes dear".

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Turquoise & White Wax Knechtel (A Table Makeover)

At last Table #4, the final of my side table makeover series in an attempt to clear out the workshop to make room for larger pieces. Meet the Turquoise & White Wax Knechtel!

If you haven't heard of Knechtel Furniture (I didn't prior to acquiring this table) it was one of Canada's largest furniture manufacturers from 1874 - 1983.  Daniel Knechtel opened his factory in Hanover, Ontario in 1874 using local timber to build his furniture.  This particular table was most likely built during the last decade before closing their doors.  It is a very well built table but sadly had seen it's better days.

Every time I looked at this piece sitting in the corner of the workshop it screamed "turquoise".  So I pulled out my can of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in the color Provence and got busy.

I painted the metal feet, studs and the grooves with metallic gold paint.

Then I went over the entire table including the gold with white wax to soften the appearance as well as dull the shiny metallic gold.

I'm glad I listened to my gut with this one as I'm quite fond of the color.  I confess, like the tulips in my MCM Tiered Table, the pretty hydrangeas are fake...faux...fabric because I was too tired...lazy...comfortable to get dressed, warm up the car, and head out in the frigid temperatures to buy some real ones!

So now that the tables have finally been cleared from the workshop, I have room for things like this...

If you haven't seen them yet, here are links to Tables 1-3 in this series:

Table #1:  Indonesian Swan Table 

Table #2:  Birds Of Paradise French Provincial Table

Table #3:  Mid Century Modern Tiered Table

Tables 2 - 4 are for sale but the Indonesian Swan Table was a keeper!

I SHARE MY PROJECTS HERE.

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