Wine Rack ReDo with Java Gel Stain

Every year, my kid's school hosts Pierogi Night to raise funds.  We collect raffle prizes from generous folks at the school - this year, we had over 200 prizes.   I love painting a piece for the cause.  This year, a friend generously donated this awesome wine rack, and I painted it in my favourite Annie Sloan Emperor's Silk with General Finishes Java Gel Stain.

Painting Kitchen Cabinets with Chalk Paint

At White Pear Studios in Oakville where I work, we have tons of customers coming in asking about painting their kitchen cabinets with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.  I always feel like the best knowledge comes from experience, so I was determined to find a kitchen to paint.  I would have loved to have painted my own, but I just had it gutted and spent a bloody fortune on new custom cabinets... like literally, 6 months ago.  So, yea, my kitchen was out of the question.  Luckily, I have an awesome friend that has welcomed me into her home numerous times, and she excitedly said "my kitchen is all yours"!!!

He are a few pics of her kitchen "Before"

We talked about doing several colours (NOT white haha), and finally decided that a trendy, deep blue on the cabinets, would be a dramatic change and would update the space.  Here is the design board I came up with.

I custom mixed my own paint using approximately 2 parts Napoleonic Blue, 2 parts Old Violet, 1 part Graphite... there was no science behind my formula.  I eye balled it!!!

This was by far, the biggest project I have tackled to date.  Organization, patience, and planning was key. I knew this was going to take a while, but I was prepared.  I'll be writing up a step by step blog post and share with you my whole process.

And here is the beautiful kitchen all complete.

Walls are painted Benjamin Moore Edgecomb Grey.

I also painted a new table and chairs for the space.  The pedestal of the table is painted in the same blue as the cabinets, and the chairs are done in Annie Sloan Coco.  I reupholstered the seats, and sewed the curtain panels in fabric from Fabric Land bought in Kitchener.  

All light fixtures, cabinet hardware and the rug are from Home Depot, and the gorgeous wall mirror (I still regret not picking one up for myself) is from good ol' Home Sense.

Last but not least was this adorable cabinet the family had.  I painted the outside in coca and the inside in the custom blue to tie everything together.  Accessories I scooped up from Target before it closed down :(

The difference is night and day.  I couldn't be more proud of this space, and I am very appreciate of the family that welcomed me in their home!!

Stay tuned for step by step instructions on how you can easily transform your kitchen with just a few coats of paints and a little bit of hard work!!

Provence Desk

Check out this gorgeous desk I just painted!  It's done in Annie Sloan Provence... a gorgeous teal!  

The drawers are lined in an awesome houndstooth shelf liner that I bought from Canadian Tire!  Crappy Tire has the BEST shelf liner!! Who knew!!

Here are some more Before & After shots...

Antiqued Union Jack Table

This piece took FOREVER to finish!!!

The good news - it sold right away.  

Bad news - after all that work, I got 2 crappy pictures and that's it.

Union Jack side table finished in Annie Sloan Graphite.  Flag painted with Old White, Napoleonic Blue and Emperor's Silk.  Finished with clear wax and dark wax.

Gold Dipped Hall Table

A huge trend I've been seeing this year is Gold Dipped accessories and furniture.  It's all over home decor sites like Pinterest, Apartment Therapy and trendy stores like Anthropologie.

I decided to take a go at this trend, and transformed a boring Bombay Co. hall table, to a chic, trendy show stopper that's already getting a ton of attention at The Painted Bench Oakville.

I started off by using painters tape and taping off the legs about half way.  Next, I painted on Artisan Enhancements Leaf & Foil Size.  I just used an old chip brush.  The stuff is stiiiiiicky, and there is no point in trying to save your brush!!! I let it dry for an hour, and next, I cut a fair size piece of gold foil and pressed onto the sticky surface.  It comes right off.  Super easy!  I wanted the legs fully covered, so I repeated the whole process a second time to make sure I got full coverage with the gold.... I did the same thing to the handles!!  The foil needs a top coat to be sealed, so I used General Finishes Top coat in Satin.

I'm very happy with how this piece turned out.  I think it's awesome and I'm now totally hooked on gold foil.  I want to gold dip everything!!!

Aubusson Blue

I just finished up this awesome table in Annie Sloan Aubusson Blue with Dark Wax.

I know, I know... horrrrrible pics!!!  As usual.

My First Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint Project

One of my best buds gave me this old, gorgeous wash stand for my living room.  I loved it as is, but every night it would stare at me and whisper "paint me.... paint me".  Argh, so I did... and I ended up painting it 4 times until I got it right.

I wanted to give it the "chippy" look, but the only way to get a true "chippy" look is to use milk paint.  I'm so anti-milk paint.  I hate that you have to mix it yourself, and I hate that you only mix what you need, because you can't store it.    So, I researched a few different ways to achieve the chippy look with chalk paint, and a few people suggested using Vaseline or candle wax.  

I coated all the edges in candle wax and gave the piece a coat of Old White.  I tried scrapping off the paint and yea, nothing happened.  Then I covered the edges in Vaseline and gave the piece a coat of Arles.  When I started scrapping off the paint, it literally just scrapped off.  In chunks.  It looked horrible,  So I sanded the crap out of it and gave the piece a fresh coat of Arles.

I caved and brought home some Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint in Boxwood.  I gave the piece 2 coats of Boxwood, waited for it to dry, and started chipping away with an old Star Bucks gift card!!!

It was the exact results I wanted.  I love the finished look.  The piece looks old and weathered in this awesome army green colour.  I just love it.  

And no, I will not post any pics of my failed "chalk paint chipping".  It was that bad.

Knobs are from Pier1.