Fabulous Furniture Makeovers from our Latest Shizzle Workshop

I blinked and this week was gone! Between hauling the kids back and forth to Vacation Bible School and Cathy out with a horrible Strep infection, the week just went poof.

I’ve had a lot of requests for how some of the finishes were created so without further adieu, here are the makeovers from last week’s Shizzle Style Furniture Paint Workshop.

Gail made our paint class part of her vacation. She and her husband drove up to Michigan and spent some time near the Lakeshore in Holland before attending our class. She brought in the most amazing ornate table that she refinished in one of my signature paint finishes.

Didn’t it turn out stunning? You can learn how easy it is to create this look here.

Mary & Sue drove in together for the workshop. From the sounds of it, Mary would give Karen from Redoux Interiors a run for her money should they end up at the same dumpster.

She scores all sorts of things in the alleys on trash day including this unique side table. She had already started painting it before I captured the before picture, but there was a lot of decorative painting on it when she started similar to what’s on the top.

She slapped on a coat of CeCe Caldwell’s Michigan Pine in a few minutes.

She then slapped on CeCe Caldwell’s Kentucky Mint in random places. While she was doing this, we could see some of the original gold popping through so she worked that into the design by wet distressing back through.

A little bit of Michigan Pine was dry brushed after it was wet distressed.

To break it up and tie in with the hardware, Mary painted the top with CeCe’s Virginia Chestnut. I love, love, love the brown with it. I think it will look fabulous in her daughter’s tropical themed room!

Mary’s friend Sue brought in an old gossip bench from her entryway. She is a bit of a perfectionist so the thought of slapping on a bunch of paint made her nervous when she first started messing with it.

Sue wanted just a touch of white to show through under the red so she did a thin coat of Dover White then painted her bench with American Paint Company’s Firework’s Red. This is the most spectacular red! I just love this color! Did I mention I like it ~ a little?

She distressed it little by little to reveal bits and pieces of the white and wood underneath. I think the color is perfect on this piece!

I don’t know what setting I had my camera on, but it looks pink in this picture

It’s not really pink ~ for some reason the color is off on this shot

In person, Firework’s Red is the most rich, beautiful red ever!

This was another quick re-do during the workshop. Mary slapped one quick coat of CeCe Caldwell’s Santa Fe Turquoise on her metal parlor chair to use as a planter.

What a cool pop of color against the flowers!

Bonnie sells painted furniture at both the new and old Changing Thymes in Grandville, Michigan but she wanted to learn some new finishes to kick it up a notch. She brought in a small round end table which she base coated in CeCe Caldwell’s Vermont Slate. She then painted over that with a custom mix I made up for her of Omaha Ochre and Vintage White.

She wanted to do a similar finish to that which I painted on this dresser ~

Did I ever even post on this dresser yet? Oh zazooz! I’m losin’ it!

Bonnie wet distressed to pull back the top layer showing bits and pieces of CeCe Caldwell’s Vermont Slate.

The last piece painted at the workshop is a rustic nightstand. I actually thought it was a drawer when she first carried it in. Bonnie used a simple coat of Vintage White, wet distressed back to the wood and in a just a few minutes, she had created this!

Isn’t it adorable? It could go just about anywhere now!! Great job ladies!! Cathy and I had a blast ~ thanks for sharing your day with us!!

Heres a sneak peak of what I’m working on now… see ya soon!!!

Have a great night!! Shelly

Click here to see many more Shizzle Design Painted Furniture Makeovers

Click here to see our Shizzle Tips, Tutorials & Video How-To’s

Click here to see our Funky Finishes

Linking up to these GREAT Parties!

Domestically Speaking – The Power of Paint Party

The Shabby Creek Cottage – Transformation Thursday

Miss Mustardseed – Furniture Feature Friday

Redoux – Friday Link Up Party

Homespun Happenings – Rustic Restorations Weekend

Funky Junk Interiors – Saturday Night Special

Silver Pennies – Silver Pennies Sundays

Knick of Time Interiors – Knick of Time Tuesday

a hui hou!

Shelly

June 20, 2013

So I like Color

I’ll never forget our first trip to The Children’s Museum in Portland, Oregon. Our oldest daughter was absolutely IN LOVE with the interactive water part of the museum where little kids get to put on raincoats and play with all sorts of cool water contraptions! I was struck by the vibrant colors that surrounded us and thought how cool it would be as a child to have a room painted with so whimsy. As soon as we landed in Michigan, I drove to Home Depot and picked up some paint.

When saw the vibrant colors of American Paint Company’s Paints, I couldn’t help but think of two things: garden chairs and children’s furniture. I had two twin Dixie headboards in my stash and wanted to paint them to coordinate with the ornate mirror that my sister Cathy had just painted.

I planned to paint a base coat of the Coral Reef and Orange Grove and then layer over it with Beach Glass distressing back through but I loved the blended orange color so much ~ I left it.

I still think it looks cool against the Beach Glass and Surfboard on the dresser. Might not be your thing, but I love it. Makes me feel like I’m in Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. You know the room, edible lollipop trees, chocolate rivers… you’ve dreamed of that too, I know you have!!

I did finish my daughter’s room that week so many years ago… I still love it today (when I can find it under all those clothes)

Took the matching twin headboards to my booth at Not So Shabby in Holland, Michigan and they were gone in a blink

Click here to see many more Shizzle Design Painted Furniture Makeovers

Click here to see our Shizzle Tips, Tutorials & Video How-To’s

Click here to see our Funky Finishes

Linking up to these GREAT Parties!

Domestically Speaking – The Power of Paint Party

The Shabby Creek Cottage – Transformation Thursday

Miss Mustardseed – Furniture Feature Friday

Redoux – Friday Link Up Party

Homespun Happenings – Rustic Restorations Weekend

Funky Junk Interiors – Saturday Night Special

Silver Pennies – Silver Pennies Sundays

Knick of Time Interiors – Knick of Time Tuesday

a hui hou!

Shelly

June 13, 2013

French Country Armoire ~ includes Video on Wet Distressing

I hope you’re all enjoying a picture perfect night like we are here in West Michigan! The sun is setting as I write this post and I have to tell you ~ I’m so excited to share the pictures of this piece with all of you!

I loved it when I purchased it, then I got it home and for the life of me, I couldn’t decide what to do with it. So it sat in my garage until last week.

I had a general idea of how I wanted to do it but it sure evolved over the course of a couple weeks. I wanted to create some kind of old world paint finish that would represent years of wear and tear.

You’re going to think I’m crazy for how I started it, but I wanted to create a colorful base coat that would make it look as though it had been painted many times over the years. I loved the blue and purple that peaked through on the inspiration piece I had seen online. It looks nothing like what I ended up with but hey ~ ya gotta start somewhere!

To replicate the undertones I had seen in the photograph, I busted out some Purple Mountain Majesty, Desert Cactus and Blue Jeans from American Paint Company and started slapping it on like a wild woman.

What can I say? It was the first week of summer break!

I have to tell you, I received some pretty interesting comments after I posted this shot on our Shizzle Facebook Page. That’s ok, I’m used to getting strange looks from neighbors, my husband, my kids…. but stay with me here, this is just my base coat. I wanted a light neutral and APC’s Rushmore fit the bill! It’s a beautiful taupe, one of my absolute favorites!! I poured my paint into a little bowl and diluted it with a little water slapping it on with random brush strokes to cover everything.

I had already painted the details with Freedom’s Road. It’s a deep slate color which looks similar to Lincoln’s Hat until it dries. That’s when you can see Freedom Road is slate and Lincoln’s Hat is black. Anyway… I painted the crown molding with Freedom Road then dry brushed with a little Desert Cactus.

Then came the fun part ~ I used a damp rag to wet distress / remove the Rushmore which started revealing some of the initial colors. Cath taped this video of me while I was distressing.

Click the following link to watch my VIDEO on how to Wet Distress Large Areas to reveal Colors Underneath

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFfW0xW3riU

Just keepin’ it real folks!

It looked cool but after I had finished the front of it, I stepped back and realized doing the entire piece like this would be WAY too much.

I had to break it up.

It was late, dark and I was tired and crabby that it wasn’t turning out how I had planned so I painted over the door inserts with Desert Cactus and after it was dry, did a crazy wet wash using Lincoln’s Hat.

That’s when my heart skipped a bit. It was finally starting to take shape and represent my style.

I worked on it on and off for several more days, tweaking it here and there until I was finally satisfied. Sit back and enjoy all the close ups.

The paint we use has both chalk AND clay in the mix!

Hope you enjoyed the ride! It’s already loaded up an will be headed to the store. For location and availability of this piece, click here.

If it doesn’t turn out how you imagined, just keep working it!

Have a great night!! Shelly

Click here to see many more Shizzle Design Painted Furniture Makeovers

Click here to see our Shizzle Tips, Tutorials & Video How-To’s

Click here to see our Funky Finishes

Linking up to these GREAT Parties!

Domestically Speaking – The Power of Paint Party

The Shabby Creek Cottage – Transformation Thursday

Miss Mustardseed – Furniture Feature Friday

Redoux – Friday Link Up Party

Homespun Happenings – Rustic Restorations Weekend

Funky Junk Interiors – Saturday Night Special

Silver Pennies – Silver Pennies Sundays

Knick of Time Interiors – Knick of Time Tuesday

a hui hou!

Shelly

June 11, 2013

Funky Finishes

Anyone who follows our blog has probably figured out by now that we’re not the type to slap on a fresh coat of paint and call it good.

We drive ourselves bonkers fussing over the smallest details. My sister and I definitely fall into the “Tinker” category and if you knew our dad, you know where we acquired it.

Cathy and I like to add multiple layers of paint and mix it up using a variety of techniques, brushes, paint colors and finishes. Because of this, we added a Funky Finishes section to our project gallery. The problem is, you don’t see the Funky Finishes button until you click on….

Portfolio at the top of our blog

After you click on Portfolio, you’ll see the Funky Finishes button. It looks like this!

Beneath our Funky Finishes button, you’ll find all sorts of different pieces we’ve refinished using different techniques. When you have a chance, click through some of our projects then let me know what you think.

Why am I mentioning this now? Because I’m getting super excited to unveil my latest Funky Finish on the armoire I just painted. I’ve been messing with this the past two weeks and will be finished soon. Here’s a sneak peak!

If you follow our Facebook Page, you’ve probably been following the progression of this piece. We share little snippets of information on our Shizzle Facebook page several times a day but I’ll be posting the complete transformation of this French Country Armoire later this week right here.

Many mahalos also go out to Marian at Miss Mustardseed and Danielle at Silver Pennies for featuring Cathy’s Vintage Dresser

Want to learn how to do this? Join us for a Shizzle Style Paint Workshop, check our 2013 Schedule here.

Have a great night!!

June 2, 2013

Design Gallery Room Competition using Flea Market Picks

We just got back from a fun overnight trip of pickin’ at the Michigan Antiques and Collectible Festival in Midland, Michigan. It’s a flea market spread over 80 acres with over 1,000 vendors near the thumb area on the east side of the state.

We went there to hunt for treasures for our Shizzle Design booth and check out the Design Gallery Competition.

Interior Design students from Central Michigan University and Michigan State University competed against each other in a room design. Each group was given a room to design s/a dining room, living room, bedroom… and could choose their wall color prior to the competition.

They were allowed to bring two items from home but they had to find everything else they needed for their design at the Michigan Antiques and Collectible Festival.

Friday afternoon, they jumped in their golf carts and raced off to score their treasures. They had to find pieces as the vendors were setting up and ask them if they could use their items in their designs, all items still were for sale and the girls were great sharing their prices…

There were six rooms designed ~ which one is your favorite?

Room #1 ~ Winner of People’s Choice Award

Room #2

Room #3

Room #4

Room #5 ~ Winner of Judges Award

Room #6

Aren’t they all amazing? So many cool elements in each room! I love the color combinations, the light fixture, the crates, the window treatments and the shutters in room #2.

I also loved the hope chest at the foot of the bed in Room #4

The girls who designed Room #6 pulled together some really neat elements creating this awesome bar.

What a cool score they found with this vintage cabinet in all it’s chippy fabulousness. I could walk right into this, kick back and relax. Seriously, any room with a rocking chair and a comfy blankee says home to me ~ love it!!

I was blown away with what they came up with. So many neat ideas from flea market picks!! Great job girls!! Can’t wait to hear who won!! Which one is your favorite??