Tutorial Upcycle a vintage buffet and hutch into Restoration Harware style mudroom cabinetry Part Three

TaDa!! Audrey is ready to make her debut! Are you ready? First a reminder of how she looked the day we met, at the very back of the consignment shop, one step away from a trip to the dump:

and here she is today:

My Fair Lady!!!

If you remember Part 2 of Audrey's story, I had gone as far as painting the outside and took you through those steps. Today is about the finishing touches.

Audrey's interior was in very good condition and I could have left everything stained in the rich brown that was so common for a fruitwood piece like this in the 1970s. It actually didn't look too bad but you be the judge:

That shot was with two coats of Old White and before her Coco wash and dark wax.

I just felt that Audrey wanted to be more French country girl, so I chose to paint her interior in Annie Sloan Duck Egg. I thought this would be a pretty surprise and be in keeping with the French country style. I did a couple of practice boards of the Duck Egg, one with dark wax and one without, and after much backing and forthing I decided to just go with the clear wax. Both are lovely in my opinion but the dark wax tends to bring Duck Egg into the green tones to my eye and I am more partial to blues.

Next step was finishing the buffet doors. These were originally raised panel doors concealing the shelves on the bottom of the unit and they were in excellent condition, but I intend to use the shelves for shoes and boots in the mudroom. Because of this I want the cabinet to be ventilated, and so I removed the panels. (I shared that tedious step with you in Part One of this make-over. You can review that if you have forgotten or if you are joining in late!)

I know that a lot of Upcyclers are using chicken wire in cabinet doors, and I think it looks fine if you are going for a shabby chic look. Since in my humble opinion chicken wire looks more shabby than chic (please accept this as personal taste, not a put down) I looked around for alternatives. I checked out radiator panels, and they might have worked, but were not quite what I was looking for. Then I remembered that my son and daughter-in-law had used a product that I quite liked when they did their kitchen reno. Lucky me! when I called to ask where they got it, they volunteered that they had some left over and I could have it. But was it enough for all four cabinets? YES!! Audrey you are going to look SO FINE!  (happy dance)

And that is how I ended up with decorative 1/2 inch diagonal steel mesh for the door inserts. These meshes have wires running at 45 degrees to the panel edge, and they are crimped to prevent slipping. This is what the mesh looks like .

What you see here is how I used masking tape to mark the pattern that I needed to cut to fit into the door. You can also see that this wire mesh was galvanized steel grey. Nothing at all wrong with that. However, Audrey's jewellry (aka the cabinet pulls) are the original brass with such a lovely patina. I didn't want the wire mesh to clash (translation: I decided to spray paint it to match). It took all of 5 minutes to change it to antique brass thanks to my trusty can of all in one covers any surface any angle indoor outdoor spray paint.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. That wire mesh had to be cut to fit where the panels had been removed and I want to warn you right now that if you ever try this you need, NEED, to wear safety goggle and protective gloves. Bits of the wire go flying everywhere when you start cutting it and I had a piece in my hair when I was done, so I was very glad for my goggles. And no, you do not get to see how I looked in them. And the edges of the wire are extremely sharp, so the gloves will keep you from looking like you were trying to bathe a wild cat.

Here is the step by step on the wire mesh inserts:

Trace the outline of the panels you removed and mark it out on the mesh using masking tape. Then carefully cut the mesh. This part took longer than putting two coats of paint on Audrey, if you can believe it.

Then spray paint each panel. I waited until I had cut them out so I wouldn't ruin the paint job when I was cutting it. And, here is a tip for spray painting: paint inside a box to avoid overspray everywhere!

 

 

 

Next step was to fit the mesh into the doors, and pray that I hadn't screwed up when I traced or cut it out, because there was just barely enough of it for the four doors. I had some palpitations on this part, as I knew that this is actually not a cheap product and although I got it for free I absolutely hate the thought of wasting anything.

 



Although the mesh fit nice and tight into the rabbet around the door, I wanted to be sure it wouldn't slip. And because I am no good with finishing nails (split the wood every time) I decided not even to go there. Instead I used some picture hangers I had in my trusty tool box. They worked nicely.

I also wanted to cover the sharp edges of the wire so nothing could get snagged or scratched (like me or a grandbaby). Now a proper carpenter would have made some molding to go around the rabbet and do a professional job. However, I am so far from a carpenter that it isn't even funny. So I went scrounging around in the garage for something that I could use. And voila! I found this package of foam insulation for around doors--completely UNOPENED, LIKE IT WAS MEANT FOR AUDREY. A sign for sure.

This stuff is soft, pliable, easily cut, has an adhesive backing, and was just sitting there with nothing to do and nowhere to go, so obviously it was meant to be. Here is how the back of the cabinet doors look with the mesh installed. You can see how I used the foam around the edge and kept it all together with the hammer on picture hangers:

Now this cabinet is just for me. If I were doing it for someone else I know I would have found a way to finish it more professionally. However, this is on the inside and so I am okay with it being less than professional looking. But take a look from the front:

And here she is again, all ready for her new role in my mudroom (which still hasn't been built--insert eye roll here). Until then, Audrey will be sitting plumb in the middle of my dining room, making it impossible to walk through or have people over for dinner.

But, the good news is that a friend came by the other day and said Audrey looks so good she should stay in the dining room. Nope, she will be my elegant mudroom cabinetry. Do you remember what our architect had envisioned? Here is a little memory jog:

And do you recall my inspiration piece from Restoration Hardware? Here it is up beside Audrey:

Nice, but I like Audrey SO MUCH BETTER!! I hope you like her too, and that this tutorial was helpful. Oh, people have asked me how much time it took, start to finish. Not including times when I was waiting for something, like paint to dry or trying to find hooks, etc,  I think this project came in around 9-10 hours total. If you decide to tackle something like this, I'd love to hear about it.

Blessings,
The Duchess of NewLife


 

Tips for removing paint from surfaces and clothing

Hi readers,
Today's post is a quick one, as I'm working on finishing up two painting projects.  It is all about getting paint off of places where it shouldn't be! I hope you will find it helpful.

1. Getting dried paint off of glass, including mirrors: Dip clean cloth into clear mineral spirits and hold it onto the dried paint for several seconds. follow by gently swiping with #0000 steel wool--do not apply pressure, do not scrub. Then wipe with a clean dry cloth.

2. Getting dried paint off of hardwood floors: a soft clean cloth and rubbing alcohol, then wipe with a clean cloth and warm water.

3. Getting dried chalk paint off of clothes: just throw them in the wash within a couple of hours of painting and it all washes out.

4. Getting dried latex paint out of fabric including carpeting: warm water and Dawn dishwashing liquid on a soft clean cloth--not too saturated--keep dabbing and rubbing always moving to a new clean part of the cloth, then rinse with clean water on a cloth and dab with a towel to dry.


Happy painting!

The Duchess of NewLife

Beaux R'eves: Paint, Paint and MORE Paint! and a Duck Egg decision...

Beaux R'eves: Paint, Paint and MORE Paint!  Have you ever picked up a novel that you read before and read it again? Or watched a movie for the second or even third time? If your answer is yes then you know that each time you revisit something you may enjoy it even more or discover something new in it. That is true of the way I read and then re-read other people's blogs! Recently I read again Cindy Ritchie's description of the make-over of a Costco chest with Duck Egg Blue Chalk Paint. BEAUTY-FUL. You can follow the link to that post at the top of this page.

Seeing Cindy's chest again is what helped me decide to do the interior of my latest project in Duck Egg. (I had been wavering between that and Coco.) thanks Cindy for helping me move forward on that one.

Here is just a sneak peak at my re-do, before and after:

 It's the ugly duckling buffet and hutch, vintage early 70's.

Here is the interior, first coat of Duck Egg. I was actually watching the paint dry, loving seeing the colour transform before my eyes. Literally 15 minutes later I applied the second (1/2) coat of Duck Egg. She is still a work in progress, but so far 'Audrey' has had a two coats of Old White followed by clear and dark wax on the outside of both the hutch and buffet as well as the Duck Egg interior. I have been working on her outside in full view of the neighbours who have shown quite an interest in her transformation.

I decided not to change her hardware, but I think she could do with less of the "jewellery". This is what she was wearing when I found her:

And this is all I will be putting back on her. The glass inserts and 'tinny' mesh will be gone as well.

Stay tuned for the 'big reveal' in a few days!

Blessings,
The Duchess of NewLife

Tutorial: Repurposing an old hutch and buffet into mudroom storage Part Two

Since my last post I have been hard at work on Audrey's make-over. For those of you who didn't read my Part One, Audrey is my new vintage hutch and buffet narrowly saved from a trip to the dump last week. Her transformation into storage for our new mudroom is well underway. Here are some highlights of phase two:

1. Shellac, to enhance adhesion of the chalk paint on really shiny surfaces and to stop bleed through (commonly seen with pieces that have a red stain and pieces from the '30s and '40s). Although the instructions on the can suggest applying it with a cloth, I followed the advice of my Annie Sloan Chalk Paint stockist (Nicole at The Painted Bench in Oakville) and used a chip brush. Shellac is very thin and runny, applies easily, and dries within minutes.

Shellac is a natural substance sourced from a secretion of an insect in Asia--helps it to stick to tree trunks! However, shellac has very strong vapours due to whatever they add to make it dry so quickly, so use in a well-ventilated area!

2. Paint, paint, paint! Two coats of Annie Sloan Old White. Really, 1.5 coats since I watered it down the second time to 50/50 with good old H20. The second coat was a lovely smooth finish and gave perfect coverage.

 

3. Chalk paint color washing technique with Coco. This was my first big project using a wash and I found it a bit intimidating. My first attempts were too light for the look I was going for, which meant I had to adjust both the consistency (50/50 water to start and finally 2/3 paint and 1/3 water) and drying time before wiping off while the project was underway. It all depends on the final look you want to achieve. A thinner paint mixture and shorter drying time will give you a very light wash. Thicker paint and longer drying time gives you a more opaque coverage which can be patchy. Especially for the rustic, worn and weathered look I was trying to achieve the thin mixture was not what I needed so using more paint to water and letting it sit a little longer before wiping certainly helped. Tip when wiping off the color wash: do not wipe in circles! Wipe the paint off the way you apply it, with the grain of the wood. All things considered I think my first attempt at a color wash on a project of this size  turned out ok. I knew that the dark wax would change the appearance considerably so I wasn't overly worried. This shows the top and side of the hutch when I was applying the Coco wash:





4. Wax on, wax off. I let the paint dry overnight due to the humidity. Next morning I brushed on the clear wax. It was very hot that day in my garage/workshop, and the wax was really soft and easy to work with. Now I know that a lot of the bloggers are saying to wax lightly. However, I saw Annie Sloan on a video saying that she actually uses a fair bit of clear wax when she is going to apply dark wax. The key though, is to be sure you wipe off the excess. Most people get into trouble by applying a lot of clear wax and not wiping it off properly. Chalk paint is dry and porous. You brush the clear wax in, pushing it into the paint. Then you wipe off what hasn't absorbed into it. 

5. Apply dark wax. If you are going to apply dark wax, you must do it while the clear wax is still wet. This is your safety net you see because if you get too much dark wax the clear wax allows you to take it off again, provided you are quick. If I can give you one important tip here it would be to work quickly and on very small sections at a time. For this project, I was meticulous about doing that.  Here you see some photos of a leg before and after dark wax:

See how beautifully the dark wax has filled in all the crevices, the detail in the carving, and the worm holes? I used the dark wax to even out the colour where I felt the wash was too dark, and to give the whole piece an antique looking patina. Here you see me working on some of Audrey's skirt: after the Coco wash I applied the clear wax

 Then dark wax

Where I felt I had gotten too much dark wax, I simply erased it by getting a small amount of clear wax on my cloth and wiping it away. Then I could reapply the dark wax the way I wanted it.

I finished the buffet in just over an hour but couldn't start working on the hutch as a terrible thunder storm came up. I had just enough time to close up the garage and run to the house before the down pour.

I will repeat all the steps on the hutch as soon as the weather clears. But Audrey will not be finished until she gets her "quiet riot"--painted inside in an unexpected and lively colour.
I will tell you about that in Part Three! 

I hope this little tutorial has provided some helpful tips on color washing and applying dark wax.

Blessings,
The Duchess of NewLife

Tutorial: Repurpose a dining room buffet and hutch into stylish mudroom storage Part One

I never seem to be able to leave well enough alone. And I've done it again. Our architect's design team created lovely plans for our new mudroom. They included custom built cabinets with cubbies for storing shoes and hats and gloves and other what nots, with a built-in bench in between. It was really quite nice, and just like the ones I had tucked into one of my many idea books on Houzz, something like this one by Susan Obercian Design :

Nice, isn't it? but for some reason, the more I thought of it the more I decided that lovely as it is, it doesn't 'fit' my style. My dear husband really had no idea what to make of me when I announced that I had changed my mind about the built-ins. What do I want instead? Glad you asked!!

I want this:

In case you are not sure, the object of my desire is that awesome vintage dining room buffet and hutch at the very back of this consignment shop. Gorgeous, isn't she? Ok she is not gorgeous. She is old and out of style. She was all the rage in the 1960s. (When I was young everyone's dining room had one of these babies!) BUT she has great bones! She is SOLID FRUITWOOD. And she has potential!

When I laid eyes on this ugly duckling she was forlornly sitting at the back of the shop, where items go that no one would buy. Next stop, the dump. I couldn't believe my eyes. Why had no one else seen what I saw? I didn't even bother to phone my husband, which I normally would do, you know, to create the illusion of a discussion when in actuality my mind is totally made up, but this time I didn't even think of talking it over. I knew I wasn't leaving the store without her. I am so very lucky to be married to this guy. He just said "ok if that's what you really want." I guess after 34 years he has realized that there is no point resisting when my mind is made up! So, for just over $250 she was all mine. Now all I had to do was get her home. A quick call to our wonderful son, and presto, he and dear husband had her loaded up in the back of a truck and away we went.

I was so excited I couldn't sleep while I planned with intricate detail how I would accomplish this makeover. My little mind was working over time. I knew she could look fabulous given half a chance, like Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady, and I even started to refer to her as Audrey.

Finally I decided on a Restoration Hardware type finish. Since Audrey is not overly fancy I thought this might work, give her a whole new modern vibe while still with a nod to her vintage origin. I agonized over paint colours, and especially over how I would execute the look. I think I studied close to a billion Pinterest images before I felt secure about how to make this a reality.

Let me step back a bit and share with you the 'vision' that was guiding me here. Because a picture is worth a thousand blogs, here is my 'inspiration picture', Restoration Hardware potting shelves:

Do you see the resemblance to Audrey? No? Well, keep reading...


Next, off to my local Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Stockist, The Painted Bench in Oakville. The owners, Nicole and Melanie, are so helpful and supportive. I chose Old White (seems I can't get enough of this warm historical white) and Coco. After a brief chat with Nicole in which she gave some wonderful tips about using shellac to seal vintage furniture to avoid bleed through and how to do a wash (I thought I knew how to do that but live and learn!), I flew out ready to start primping Audrey.

 

Here is a close-up of this girl. Now, imagine the molding gone. Poof! Glass doors gone. Poof! (Now you are looking at lovely open shelves, 4.5 feet of them.) Next the bottom doors with those old style panels. Poof! Panels gone, replaced with wire mesh. Oh yeah, you can see it too right?

 

Now, I have vision, I have persistence, I have resourcefulness. What I don't have is power tools and brute strength. So that's where dear husband comes in once more. It was sooo easy to sweet talk him into removing those panels! Here is a photo of him working away at removing them while I took down all the glass doors.

 

 



Let me tell you, this wasn't easy without using a router and jig saw to cut it out, but I wanted to save the panels if possible so that I could use them as practice boards. And I'm glad I did! One of the things I discovered by doing this was that paint is seriously affected by the colour of whatever it is painted onto. Here is what I mean. Below is a sample of Coco painted directly on the fruitwood panel (and some experiments with Old White on top of it). It looks positively olive!



The next photo is Coco applied over a base coat of Old White. Crazy! I liked the warm brown and gold tones that this brought out.

This is a tip that I hope you use yourself since it can be disappointing to have your piece turn out a different colour than you had imagined. Based on this I decided to use a base of Old White and then try my hand at colour washing the Coco over top. More on how that turned out in a future post.

For now, here are some photos of Audrey letting go of her 1960's accessories.

See what I mean? GREAT bones.

The last thing I did before starting to paint was to bring out my instrument of torture...

here's a better look -->

This is a home-made antiquer. A maker of genuine authentic worm holes. A simple paddle made of a board, just the right size for my tiny hand to comfortably hold, with a bunch of very sharp pointy screws on one end. And, my oh my, poor Audrey got the daylights whacked out of her with that thing! Instant worm holes!

I thought the worm holes would add a little character, and they would really show up nicely with the help of a liberal application of dark wax.

With all these steps done, I called it a day and dreamed all night of Part Two of Audrey's makeover. I'll write about that and show more pictures in a future post. For now, I hope I've inspired you to think of new ways to give new life to old and worn items, like dear Audrey!

Blessings,
The Duchess of New Life