Black-Washed Antique Side Table

As of May 4, my work schedule slowed down immensely. I've been pumping out furniture pieces during this down time. If you've been following for some time, you know that this year I've been obsessed with painting things black. 

(Click here and here and here and here and here to see what I mean). 

Well, here's another one for you. 

I first introduced you to this little antique table in this post:

It was just simple wood. This little corner of my house is funny shaped, and eventually I found the perfect spindly corner bookshelf to put here and store all our books. Click here to see that post.

So the little antique table floated around the house, until finally I was ready to part with it. I've seen this exact same piece painted in bright crazy colors, like turquoise and red, but that isn't really my style. 

So I decided to "black-wash" it. 

I used my go-to black: Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint in Typewriter

I painted the whole thing, and then sanded it off, heavier in some places to show that great wood underneath. 

I finished it with a coat of Miss Mustard Seed Furniture Wax. Of course, all her products are VOC-free. 

It sold already, to a lady in a red shirt, via Craigslist. 

Aloha, Rebecca

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Before and After - Tall Chippy Blue Chair

What's your stance on purposely chipped paint? 

If you love the look, then this a piece for you.

Take a look up close at what the Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint in Ironstone did on top of the sanded rattan:

Here's what was going on before. Seat cushion wasn't even attached when I bought it for an overpriced $15 from Salvation Army (seriously, their prices are ridiculous). And even though we're in Hawaii, no one needs another aloha print rattan chair to buy off Craigslist, seriously. 

I love this wood grain fabric, (I used it on this dresser, click here), and knew I wanted to use it as the seat cover. 

I have the matching red/black version of that fabric, which I used on the bottom just for fun. It's never going to get seen.

I'm actually not a fan of the chippy look, but I've always knows it was a risk when using Milk Paint. This is first time in 2 years it actually happened! 

I sealed it with Miss Mustard Seed hemp oil and furniture wax. 

This chair is for sale on Craigslist and Etsy for $65. 

Seat is 17" wide and 15" deep. 
Seat to top of back rest is 12". 
Floor to seat is 24". 
36" tall total. 

I think it's about bar stool height. It's tall. 

So ditch the excessive Hawaiiana print, and add this tall chippy blue chair to your home. :)

Aloha, Rebecca

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Help! I'm painting all my furniture black!

Ok, seriously, I'm painting everything black, and I can't stop… do I have a problem? My husband is thrilled, because he's been trying to get black into our home for years, much to my opposition. That was before I discovered Miss Mustard Seed's "typewriter" black. Yes, milk paint black. The perfect answer to the "farmhouse industrial" look I'm all about right now. I love it, and everything is being attacked with it. 

Let's recap:

First, these two dressers got covered in "typewriter": 

The Wizard of Oz dresser and the Refurbished Antique dresser

And I love them.

And we can't forget about the Black Wicker Chair!

Well, before we talk any more about black, we need to talk about blue. When I moved home from college, I "redecorated" my room from high school, had my dad build me this desk, and my mom picked up this little table for me at a garage sale. I painted it all a deep blue. (They're actually the same color, like the desk on the right but the lighting was weird). 

 Well, they were being sacrificed to my world of black "typewriter." But not without depth...

I gave them a quick white wash with "shiloh" first.

Then I went over it with Miss Mustard Seed's Luckett's Green. I told you, I wanted depth.

Excessive much? We can't just go straight black, we need layers, people!

And finally they ended up black, with a coat of hemp oil. Can't see the "layers" on the desk, but you can on the little table. 

I don't have a great picture of the little table, but here it is in my bedroom:

 After a few weeks, I felt like the desk needed to be more durable, so I cleared it off and gave  it a coat of Miss Mustard Seed's furniture wax. Perfection.

I feel super organized at my desk now. :) 

(I actually had another desk I was using, but my sewing stuff took over… see that post here.)

(the white cloth was on the desk for a bit because the hemp oil wasn't quite soaked in yet, and I REALLY wanted to bring it in the house, haha) 

So here's the recap of black furniture in my house:

My other furniture better run and hide!

Aloha, Rebecca

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Before and After - 2 chair makeovers

I love painting chairs. I think everyone should have a unique little accent chair in their home. I've come across a few "gems" and have had fun working on them over the weekend. There's 2 in this blog post, so make sure you scroll all the way down!

This first chair was tall and skinny and had this design on the seat:

I'm sure the artwork was beloved back in 1990.

BTW- that white thing below the trees was a drop of surf wax that found it's way to my chair.

Apparently this chair was from West Coast Chair Co. out of Tacoma, WA. 

I first sprayed the chair with Kilz, then a coat of a dark teal satin, then a coat of Shiloh in satin.

I sanded it with a 220 grit sand paper so the teal would come through.

I finished with Miss Mustard Seed's Antiquing Wax, and her Furniture Wax, which gives it such a smooth finish. 

The cushion is just a little extra flavah. Not all people would say it's their style, but I just love 1970s retro floral prints. The XL rik-rak ties are so fun. 

The second chair was a little more of an investment (financially and labor intensive), and truly an antique. The lady who sold it to me said it was a child's sewing rocking chair. 

Here's what it looked like before. Ivy loves putting things in its hidden compartment. The poor little decal was flaking off. 

At first I gave it a couple coats of "piglet" pink, then distressed it.

I was going to move straight on to antiquing wax which would accentuate it's crevices, but I felt like it needed more. I started to use Luckett's Green Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint, (frankly, because that's the only color of Milk Paint I have), and it got pretty crazy from that point on.

The green went on super thick, so I just started wiping it off with cheesecloth. Ivy came out part-way through and exclaimed, "Mom! Why did you paint my chair pink?!" (She thinks all my projects are for her). 

It still was way too green, so I got a bucket of water and a rag, and just started wiping it off. That's the fun thing about Milk Paint. It's really forgiving. I did a lot of distressing with 220 grit sand paper, down to the wood.

I love the hidden drawer. It's lined with a green and yellow tweed cotton blend, shellac'd in there. 

This chair is for sale on craigslist and Etsy for $65.
Click here for the link to Etsy.

This one's for sale on craigslist for $65.
Click here for the link to Etsy.

I've got a few more poor little chairs who need some love. So stay tuned for more!

Aloha, Rebecca

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