If you’re viewing this on Facebook, click the link to get a sneak peek of all the Christmas and home decor I’ve brought in!
It’s that time again… Save big at all three of our West Michigan Locations! Holland, Grand Rapids and Grandville
Nov 9 – Not So Shabby Christmas Open House
2975 West Shore Drive, Holland, Michigan 49424
DEAL – Save 20% on furniture, decor and Christmas (excludes a few items marked “firm”) and save 10% on ALL PAINT & PAINT SUPPLIES one day only at Shizzle’s Not So Shabby location. Click link for a sneak peek of photos for all 3 locations!
Last summer, we acquired several pieces of Mid Century Modern pieces of furniture. I have to tell you, it’s not my taste, so I was really stumped on what to do with them. They sat in our workshop waiting for their turn and I finally decided to knock them out and get them out of our shop.
I have to be honest, it’s very difficult for me to work on pieces when I don’t like the style. MCM is something that is usually painted a solid color so distressing was not an option. How fun is that? The lines are also very straight with very little detail, so it was pretty much torture for me but I plugged away and did my take on that era.
I started painting the base of the dressers in white but the original finish was leaching through turning everything orange so I stopped and gave each piece two good coats of shellac then painted them Navajo White. The asymmetry of the drawers drove me bonkers since half had a divider and half did not so I decided to paint the drawers on the right white as well.
I stained the drawers with stars with rich Java stain
I primed and painted the drawer pulls with a rich metallic.
These were sealed with two coats of American Paint Company’s Top Coat. I did four coats on the tops for added protection. It’s so easy to apply using a sponge; my sister Cathy likes to use rags. It’s really easy no matter how you apply it, just drippy. Be sure to have a drop cloth underneath if you’re painting in the house.
Ironically, I had one other piece of Mid Century Modern furniture dropped off at the same time.
This little blue nightstand disappeared immediately so apparently some people really get into this era.
This was painted with Peacock blue, glazed with black glaze and then sealed with American Paint Company’s Hard Coat. I brushed my glaze on with our Viniquities paint brushes. It does such a nice job at feathering it out and for this piece, I wanted to replicate more of a wood grain look with the glaze.
For the Hard Coat, I prefer to use a sponge or lambs wool. I’ve been able to create beautiful finishes doing it this way. When I try to brush it on, it dries too fast for me and I end up overworking it, then I brush over an area that’s half dry and I pull it… So much easier and faster just to use a sponge, at least it is for me.
Kalei took both pieces to Not So Shabby on his day off where they’re eagerly waiting their new owner.
Sorry about the lame pictures. It’s been dark and dreary and cold and stormy the past month. So looking forward to nicer weather.
It’s just the two of us: My sister and I own and operate Shizzle Design which originated in my garage. We have and will continue to work hard, God willing, to provide you with the best service we can because to be honest, it’s a fine line between feast or famine when you’re in our line of work.
We specialize in painting furniture and are truly humbled to be known as a leader in the world of chalk and clay paints. Stop in for paint and we’ll offer you honest and knowledgeable answers for all your chalk and clay paint needs.
We are not paid employees of any paint company, we simply retail the paints? It typically takes me about 10 hours to publish one of my blog posts. Everything from shooting the photographs, writing the content, editing, cropping… is given freely. The only way we make money is if someone purchases paint, workshops or painted furniture from us.
We are blessed to teach people from all over the U.S. Join us for a super fun hands-on chalk and clay paint workshop in a casual & fun atmosphere. For a list of current classes, click here.
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Purchase our painted furniture at our Shizzle Design Paint Studio 2018 Chicago Dr., Jenison, MI 49428 or Not So Shabby at 2975 West Shore Drive in Holland, Michigan.
Buy Paint Shop our large inventory of chalk and clay paint and supplies on our Online Shizzle Shop or at our West Michigan LOCATIONS.
Everybody has a “THING” for something ~ purses, shoes, jewelry… I have a thing for funky eclectic necklaces (if anyone knows some cool places to shop, let me know), old barns, creative re-purposed treasures and brushes ~ I have a thing for brushes!
I’m as laid back, easy going and casual as can be but when it comes to brushes, I’m downright picky. I’ve tried so many different brushes that are supposed to be “all that”, but didn’t meet my standards either because of the handle, bristles, size, design or quality. Brushes are one of the things I’m fussy about. That being said, I thought I would share the latest brushes added to our collection.
We are absolutely thrilled to be the first Distributor in the U.S. to offer Vintiquities Finest Quality Paint Brushes and Round Wax Brushes. Wholesale opportunities are also available for retailers; contact me here with your name and location for more information. Painting and waxing just got a whole lot easier!
Cathy and I are very blessed because we have opportunities to try and review all sorts of products. We’ve tried and not cared for numerous paints, paint supplies and brushes, but when we tried the brushes from Vintiquities, we fell in head over heals in love.
As an instructor, one of the most common things I notice over and over again in our workshops is students not loading their brush with enough paint.
Shizzle Tip: Many people just put a tiny little bit of paint on their bristles and then wipe part of it back off on the side of the can. What difference does that make? A BIG difference. It quadruples the amount of time it should take to cover your project and there ends up being a bunch of stop and start points.
By doing this, you’re not able to spread the paint in nice long strokes and the paint ends up being overworked in an effort to smooth it out which might actually pull the paint back off or you end up with a super thin layer that really doesn’t serve much of a purpose.
Moreover, applying a thin first coat usually sets someone up for failure when they go back to distress because they distress all the way through both colors which pretty much defeats the purpose of layering two colors in the first place. You don’t have to layer more than one color but if you do, I’m guessing you’re doing it so you can see both colors.
Our new domed oval paint brushes from Vintiquities offer full, lush bristles which distribute chalk & clay paint better than any other brushes we’ve used. They feather the paint out evenly whether creating smooth finishes or building rich texture.
They’re offered in two great sizes ~ 1-1/2″ and 1-3/4″
The bristles on these brushes are VERY nice and more dense than other wax brushes. Their dense firm bristles allows me to distribute my wax more evenly and with less effort.
I absolutely love the design of these handles!!!
How a brush fits in my hand is a huge thing for me personally because it affects the pain in my joints. These brushes fit the bill. They are so comfortable! I am soft handed when I paint but when I wax, I really scrub hard the perfect fit of these brushes along with the dense bristles are awesome!
Want to Retail The BEST brushes for Chalk & Clay Paints, Glazes & Milk Paints?
We’re Now Accepting Retailers across the U.S.!!
For the opportunity to retail these amazing paint and wax brushes, send your business, location and contact information here.
Other Favorites ~ Angled Paint Brushes will still always be a staple around here. They’re a great all around brush and are still my favorite for cutting in.
2″ Angled Paint Brushes will always be a staple around here
This wax buffing brush has been our favorite tool for years. It takes a lot of the elbow grease out of buffing. I still need to hold onto the drill with both hands but the drill does all the hard work for me. It buffs the wax out to an amazing sheen and I’m able to get a much harder finish than I do when I just buff with a rag.
Do you have to have a buffing brush to buff your projects? No, but it sure is a nice tool to have. I don’t know what I’d do without mine.
That being said, I just received a great question on our drill brush that I’d like to share with everyone.
“I’ve heard rumors that the drill brush can spin off the drill when you stop. I’d like to purchase one but I wanted to double check with you before I order one.”
Shizzle Tip: So glad you asked this Joyce! It’s a GREAT question and I’m going to share it!!
My sister had that problem when she first used our drill brush with her drill (we were sharing one because we couldn’t keep them in stock). She asked me how to keep it from coming off. I’m like “huh? What are you talking about? It works fine.” She grabbed her drill to show me. She ran it for a while then released the trigger and the brush spun off. “You see!”
I gave her THE look like she had flown over the cuckoo’s nest thinking she had her drill in reverse. I put the brush in my drill and buffed away with no problems. Now I was really cracking up and she was getting mad but we did eventually figure it out.
The drill brush and the drill bit are two separate pieces that thread together. It’s actually a brilliant design. We’ve been using ours for three years now and it’s as nice as it was the day we bought it. What figured out that her drill was set on THE very fastest combinations of settings possible. The sudden release of the trigger stopped the bit in its tracks. If you’re drill has its top switch on the normal setting (#1), your drill brush should work perfectly. Does that make sense? So when you’re buffing, the threads are as tight against each other as they can be (righty/tighty). Pull the trigger all the way, just make sure you don’t have your drill set on its super turbo setting and it will be your new best friend. 🙂
You can usually adjust your drill in two locations, the torque on the chuck as well as a switch on the top which really amps up the power. On mine, there is a simple switch on the top of the drill that you slide up or down to choose #1 or #2.
All we had to do was switch her top switch from #2 to #1 and it worked fine
The threads will occasionally loosen a bit when I stop using it but it’s no biggy; I just twirl it to tighten the threads and adjust my drill down a little bit. When you start buffing, it automatically tightens up anyway. If you want to buff the quick and easy way and get the nicest finish ever or if you’d like to try it out for yourself, stop into our Shizzle Shop at 2018 Chicago Drive, Jenison, MI 49428 or order one online at: www.shizzle-design.com/store.
Here’s a quirky video from a couple of years ago showing you how I use it
We were so blown away with Vintiquities Brushes that we joined the team and are now the official distributor for the U.S.
If you’re just need some brushes for yourself, we have them in stock online here as well as all our West Michigan Locations:Here. Email us at shizzledesign@gmail.com if you would like the opportunity to retail Vintiquities Brushes in your shop.
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