A Bit O' Whimsy: coco chalk paint

Showing posts with label coco chalk paint. Show all posts

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Painting my Piano

I finally finished the last huge piece of furniture for my formal living room. Painting the piano! I've been thinking about it for along time but couldn't decide on the color until everything started to fall into place.

I got this piano as a gift for my birthday 2 yrs ago, my sweet husband surprised me with it, how fun. It is a very used piano off of Craigslist. I probably wouldn't recommend painting a brand new piano. The brown color was really weighing down my living room, it was almost making it feel like there were two separate spaces, one bright cheery side with reds and whites and the dark brown side that didn't fit in.
I had the usual concerns about painting a piano but it is pretty easy when you use Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. I left my piano in the very spot it always is in to paint it, no sanding or priming necessary with the chalk paint. I debating for along time between a Paris Grey or Old White. I finally settled on Old white, knowing secretly that I plan on replacing the carpet with a beautiful laminate whitewashed wood flooring that I already have in my kitchen. This will all take place when I have the money and my husband puts in the flooring himself ;)

Anyways.....back to the piano, I still haven't decided if I'd like to use a dark wax over it, I have a huge armoire in the room that is heavily dark waxed and I just don't want everything looking super old.

When it came time to distress it, I used a neat distressing trick that you may or may not already be aware of. Since it was in my home, on the carpet, instead of sanding down the edges I used a damp wet rag to wipe the areas I wanted to distress. It takes a bit of elbow grease but it does a great job and looks very natural.
It is also a great technique if you have another paint color underneath that you'd like to show through.

Because of the- no sanding at any point in the process- I wasn't worried about ruining the important stuff on the inside of the piano and changing its main function, music. Not that I can play the piano really well, someday right?

I just love the little flower carving detail, it adds such character to the piece. I painted it in coco chalk paint to make it pop a bit and match with the stool. Do you recognize the stool, it's from one of my older posts?

I'm almost ready to take final pictures of the entire room for the blog but I'd thought it would be so perfect to show it when it's all decorated for Christmas. It's like my living room was made just for Christmas, it's so perfect:).

Jenine

Linking back to...
missmustardseed.com

Monday, October 22, 2012

Antoinette Armoire

I came across this cutie on Craigslist. I don't usually find real antique pieces for a decent price around here, I almost feel guilty for painting it. If we all paint the antiques there'll be nothing left to get real patina right?

I justified myself painting it due to an added shelf that wasn't original. A little rippling and clearly some wood glue. No one was rushing to buy it earlier on Craigslist as is. I hope I improved this piece and someone will love it. .

This "armoire"? Not even sure if that's what it is, or should be called, as it is quite small. I think it would be perfect for a girls room to hold books, movies, or blankets. I could see it in a large bathroom holding extra towels, or perhaps a guest room to hold extra sheets and blankets.

I painted the base coat in ASCP Coco, then Antoinette over it. I fell in love with those colors together and really wanted to use them. I love brown with pink. Instead of sanding to give a distressed look, I chose another method. I wiped the edges with some elbow grease and a damp rag. It's a great way to distress when you paint with two colors and want the color underneath to show. I think it looks very natural, not to mention you don't have all that dust :) Less sweeping my garage floor = more time for my family!

I painted the inside in a latex mint green paint that I had leftover from previous jobs. I think it gives it a nice pop and adds a fresh look to it.

I'll be putting this up for sale in my shop Monday evening. If you have questions about it please feel free to contact me using my contact button above.

Jenine

Linking back to...
www.kammyskorner.com
www.savvysouthernstyle.net
www.funkyjunkinteriors.net
www.iheartnaptime.net
www.theshabbycreekcottage.com

Monday, April 2, 2012

Nightmares

It has been a rough few weeks here in our home. Both my husband and daughter have been sick and I can hardly keep up with things. Well, about a month and half ago I started painted this dresser for a client who found me on Etsy. She had seen one of my sold armoire/dressers and wanted one similar, but with different colors. After much deliberation and changing her mind a few times, she decided on Coco with a Paris Grey wash. I have never used the Coco myself so I referred her to the Annie Sloan website to get an idea of the color. I painted the first coat and sent her a picture.

We both thought the Coco looked much lighter than what we anticipated. Back to square one. Do you pick a different base coat color or add some graphite to darken it up a bit? We decided on darkening the Coco, I then applied the Paris Gray wash.

Too light. Then I applied the dark wax...

Still too light. I planned on being able to have this done for her in a week but it was taking much longer. I ended up having to leave mid project and run to a wedding out of town for a week.

She had a whole week to decide on where she wanted to go from there. She decided on Coco with just dark wax over the top- a beautiful neutral that will go well in her home. The dark waxing brings out the carving just right. I was so happy with the outcome and thrilled to be done after a month of working on it.

When using Etsy, I always go through Uship with items that are very heavy and are going far. I've had great luck with it and the prices are the lowest I can find. My favorite part is they pick it up at your home and drop it off at the new owners.

No such luck this time. The shipper said he'd be here in a day to pick it up, but he didn't call or show. We called, him he said the next day, and this went on and on for days. He never answered when we would call. I stayed home for 3 days expecting him each afternoon to pick it but no such luck. I finally had enough and ended up canceling my shipping bid and picking up another Uship bidder. Instead of this beautiful piece being on its way to Boston to a new home, it is sitting in my living room looking out of place. My client has been amazing and very understanding. Just a few days and this bad boy will be places I've never been so lucky to visit.