Faux wood grain on a dresser

All done refinishing the top of this dresser.....it was pretty banged up with the paint peeling off so bad I just needed to scrape the paint off .....to reveal super shiny 80's laminate

I wanted to add a faux  wood grain because I didnt want to repaint the bottom as that part was still in great condition and I had no idea what color was used before

One coat of fusion in Algonquin, 2 coat of a dark brown glaze. I could have stopped the as it was pretty but I wanted a more gray than brown so i added a white wash to finish it off 

Evolution of building a table

The evolution of building a table 

 I got the inspiration to make this table when I found this pinterest image but wasn't confident enough to make a dresser so I made a table.

 It takes me about a day to make something from start to finish. Im getting better with drawers too but i still find making them daunting . Im quire impressed with the way my skills are improving 

I got the plans off this website and modified them a bit to fit supplies and tools 

https://www.thenavagepatch.com/diy-rustic-console-table-free-plans/

its starting to look like something , I like to paibt and stain it as soon as i can even before its assembled if i can 

Once it was done I painted it with typewriter milk paint and stained it with colonial by Minwax.....I love the way it turned out 

MY take on paint

I get asked a LOT about what paint I use, what is my favorite, what to use on what and other questions. my answer is always it depends. I have played with most types of paints with my scrapbooking, in my house renos, furniture makeovers and just plain old curiosity. I can say with full honestly I really don't have a favorite. I use what I have or what I think will fit the project best

So lets start  

Latex paint

latex paint is found at any hardware store, comes in a million colors , is inexpensive , easy to use, easy to  clean up, require no sealing unless in very high traffic places and sticks to most surfaces. its gotten a bad rap in the furniture painting world and I don't really know why because I can do with latex paint what I can do with all the others.

So things I have found  a little more difficult is that if you don't want brush strokes with latex you need to be more careful and use better brushes than the other paints and it is a bit more difficult to distress .... not impossible but does require more elbow grease. Once it's dry if you made a mistake like drips it is really hard and almost impossible to fix without restarting your whole project ..... you do not really need to seal latex paint unless its a table top or another high traffic project.

I always buy the sample size so i don't have a  huge can to store and they are around 7$

Milk paint

I LOVE working with milk paint. This paint comes in a power form that needs to be mixed with water (yes that is annoying as hell), the finish is beautiful, it doesn't come in a lot of color but the colors they do have are fabulous, it does need to be sealed but even if you don't  seal it , it feels really nice to touch. Milk paint only had like 4 ingredients and is a old timey paint your great grandfather probably used. It is also very easy to distress. Milk paint sometimes needs a bonding agent to help it stick to certain surfaces

Disclaimer : If you are a perfectionist or like to have control don't even bother trying milk paint. Milk paint had a mind of it own and will do weird things. like flake off, crackle , change color and chip. I personally think that my favorite part but iIknow it freaks out some people.

A bag of milk paint is around 25$ and it seems to last a very long time

Chalk paint

I have a love /hate relationship with chalk paint. On one hand it saved my ass a few time. Chalk paint will STICK to anything seriously, it does not leave many paint brush strokes, comes in beautiful colors, distresses well and you can easily fix mistakes with chalk paint...

What I don't like about chalk paint is the work needed after painting to have a nice finish. Chalk paint is porous and well chalky once dry and if not sealed properly will stain easily, be hard to clean  and it feel rough to the touch. To have a nice finish with chalk paint you need to sand lightly and seal it properly with either wax, a polycrylic or a sealer made for chalk; paint. so chalk paint is less work to start but to finish the project is a bit more work. 

chalk paint is usually around 25 $ for a small can

Mineral paint

Mineral paint is a happy medium between chalk paint and latex paint I find. Its matte like a chalk paint and stick very well to almost any surface and you don't really need a sealant with it. To me it feel like a very high quality latex paint in eggshell except it distresses easier.  This is a new paint for me and I only have 2 colors but the more I use it the more I like it.

Its around 25$

Clay base paints

Clay paint is for when you want to get funky and artistic. This paint is fun to play with and comes in the most vibrant colors. Up until  you seal it you can always reactivate it with water and change it up making a perfect paint to blend and mix and match colors and do allfunky bohemian style things with it. you can do  artistic stuff with all the others paints too but with clay paint if you decide after its dry, you don't like something just spray it with water and fix it.

It is like chalk paint it is very porous and NEEDs to be sealed but its definitely a fun paint to play with. the price of clay paint varies a lot from brand to brand 16$-25$

 

And let not forget the old tried and true craft paint, it is cheap, there is a million of colors to choose from that you can do pretty much anything with

I like it best for little projects and touch ups but you can certainly paint bigger things with this and it does a good job too

I used all my paints on this chair just to see if one would stand out and honestly none of them did... so my verdict is use what you like and have fun painting  ...

Unicorn Puke and other experiments

This weekend I decided to dig out these 2 old coffee tables ?! night tables!? Not sure what they are

I can't remember where I got them but they have been useful over the years but let's face it they are ugly and one was completely broken 

(broken door, damage to the fake wood and handles would not stay on). 

I was planning to document the whole process whether it failed or not but I was having so much fun I totally forgot .... I know bad me. 

I promise to make a tutorial in the future PINKY SWEAR.

My aim was to learn new techniques and make both look completely different. on the good one, I decided to play safe and decided to try glazing and new distressing techniques. Glazing is much more difficult than I was expecting. I painted it gray and then added a dark brown glaze and at the end, it did turn out beautifully and it fits in my spare bedroom perfectly. 

I do not use fancy paints I just use whatever I have on hand. the only time I will use a specific paint is if a customer requests it 

Now for the unicorn puke, I have been admiring the Boho style of paining for a long time and watched countless youtube videos on it. I was fully prepared to fail on this. every tutorial I had seen on it recommended clay-based paint which I didn't have, so my broken table was going to be my guinny pig. 

my results are in my opinion outstanding, I am so proud of myself. I had to change the technique that other people used because of the paint I used. which was leftovers from my daughter's constant change of her bedroom over the years. I have to admit it exceeded my expectations. 

So a trip to the home hardware was needed to see if I could fix the door and the rest. 

I NEEDED to salvage my unicorn.... Guess what I did and it's just as good as the other one now 

I'm very happy with how both turned out 

***** for residents of grande cache only , I'm giving away the unicorn table,  all you have to do to be eligible to win is head on over to my Facebook page ( link is at the top of the page) and comment on the giveaway post ....GOOD LUCK ******* 

Wow! what a diffrence !!!

At the end of this year, I decided on a whim to sign up for a course that was advertised all over Facebook. It was free so I thought why not if I don't like it ill just stop. It was called the best decade ever with Mel Robbins.

I thought it was kinda stupid at first not going to lie but my whole mindset changed in a way I totally did not expect in so many areas of my life. I'm impressed because I read a lot of self-help books and listen to podcasts but this was maybe just what I needed at the time. All I can say is it worked for me. 

Not only am I happier, sleep better and don't sweat the small things as much. I have a million ideas too for my future and unlike how I usually am (all in and want it fast). I'm working at it one step at a time, which is a nice pace.

I have an Apprentice

George had been bugging me for a few days to teach him how to build stuff like I do, and since it was family day and I had no projects on the go we decided to build a shelf with the leftover lumber I have on hand
I let George pick the project, colour and design. I was a bit surprised at his choice but it turned out beautiful. possibly my favourite project to date. I would have kept it if I had had a place to put it.

This is the project he picked to make 

   

It is a beautiful project and it sold really fast to a man for a late valentine day gift, which I thought was really sweet. I got to deliver it and it made me feels like a florist suprising somebody with a gift. It made my day