Anyone who who knows me, knows that my hands tremble around raw wood. It just seems like a crime to leave wood bare. I know many cringe at the thought, but I just wanted drench every inch of grain into juicy red, yellow, green purple, blue or back acrylics. And then dip it in a ginormous vat of varnish.
But that’s just me.
If you want to play, here’s how. You go to the thrift store and find a sturdy chair or table. Sit on it and make sure it is not rickety. Chances are it will have some varnish on it. You don’t have to bust out the electric sander, but at least score a piece of medium grit sandpaper and go over the wood. Dust off any powder. Don’t forget to wear a paper mask, because that dust is nasty!
Next, start painting! I always start with a medium/large brush and base coat, base coat, base coat! I like to paint a contrasting color on every side. If I want yellow, I first coat white mixed with yellow because white works great as primer. Let it dry and then add full-strength yellow. do this for all the colors, just so there is a strong foundation underneath.
Let it all dry and then go in with a smaller brush and clean up any excess strokes. Now go in and add doodads, squiggles, zigzags, etc all over. Let it dry and then add a coat of spray varnish. Do this step outside. Let it fully dry and then add another coat. And another!
Whoever sits on it, tell them to please have respect and not put their feet on the bottom bar footrests. Your paint job will last much longer!
Table and box I painted and decoupaged a long time ago with Mexican Loteria cards.
I know how you feel! A few blocks from my house is a little area where, on the weekends, there are always people outside selling brightly painted furniture, and I always hold back tears because I can’t buy it. Then I realized I could paint my dining room table bright red, green, and orange, but since it was passed down from my mother, I’m almost afraid to.
Hi Crafty Chica! Your blog looks so great. Love all of these ideas. We’re doing a ton of projects on Martha Stewart.com this summer in the workshop–people are uploading their own images every week. This week’s is stamping. Might be cool for you to upload yours there too. Anyway, congratulations on your blog!
I love to read anything the Crafty Chica wants to share!
But Cathy, you can’t tell people not to put their feet on footrests! It’s like saying not to lean your back on the backrest!
Now I’m going to go read some more Crafty Chica ideas!
A woman after my own heart. I LOVE to paint furniture. It is sooo addicting! I have counted over 25 painted pieces in my home alone. Chairs, mirrors, shelves, bookshelves, dressers and my favorite–vintage dressers! I am in the middle of painting an antique bookshelf for my daughter’s room. I figure yeh, its antique but if the stain is too dark and I hate it cuz I am constantly dusting it, I will paint it to make it work for me.
Keep up the awesome work, chica!