Pages

Friday, August 26, 2011

The Hideous Piece of Furniture in the Driveway

I thought this little guy was a real cutie when I saw him at the thrift store.  However, after I'd put on the base coat and had set it out to dry, my husband came home from work and said, "Where did you get that hideous piece of furniture that's in the driveway?"
GAME ON!  I had to make this thing extra cute!

A while back I scored BIG TIME and won Kathie's awesome chalkpaint giveaway at A Few Good Pieces!  I'm not done with the first piece I used the CP on, but I also decided to use it for this!

I used Provence and then trimed it in Old White. 

Then I taped off stripes on the front and painted them in Old White.

After that, I gave it a nice bit of distressing with my sander and sanding sponges (fine and medium).
*I have since done a piece with regular latex paint, trying to achieve a super distressed finish, and it has been 100 times harder to get the same look that happens so easily with CP.

Since it was looking so beachy, I thought I'd give it a whitewash.  I mixed some of the Old White with water and brushed it over everything.  When that dried I used my sanding sponges and lightly sanded again. 

I waxed with the light wax, followed by the dark.  I love how using the dark wax antiques it and seals in the same step!

OOPS TIP:  I messed up the sides by putting on too much dark wax.  I know that you can use the clear wax to wipe it away, but the wax had gotten lumpy and icky.  I used mineral spirits, and it easily wiped away all the wax so I could redo the sides.

Here he is, all ready for a makeover.  All right...he is a little ugly~

All done over, beachy-retro style!









Have a fun weekend!

37 comments:

  1. darling! I just happen to have those exact 2 colors in my garage, love love love the stipes!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oooh, it's lovely!!

    I've blogged about a piece in this colour combo if you have time to pop over....

    S x

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh how cute! I love the color combination and the stripes. Don't you love a good challenge?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ah Man, I wish I had a beach house, or at least a pool in the backyard, I'd buy that in a heartbeat! Nothing hideous about that little guy.
    Deb

    ReplyDelete
  5. This turned out so cute Kim!! I love how natural the distressing looks!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Your husband's comment brought out the best in you! Great job.

    ReplyDelete
  7. HUGE improvement! It's really cute now.

    ReplyDelete
  8. LOVE!!! Love the colors together & the distressing is perfection :) Makes me so happy!

    ReplyDelete
  9. i saw the before and thought, that can't be the hideous piece in the title....i think the before was pretty cool. and the after is awesome! i love the stripes!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Sweet! It went from hideous to "WOW" I love it. I see a feature or two in your future :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. The stripes make it so cool - very beachy!!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I never woulda guessed that was the same piece!! It turned out adorable!! Love the stripes and the distressing, perfection :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. I literally clapped when I saw this piece. I just love it. Your technique is just perfection. Thanks so much for making my little Market Mon. so awesome. Plse come again!!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Ooooo, so, so, pretty. Awesome transformation.

    ReplyDelete
  15. WoW..what a difference some chalk paint can make! I just love the beachy feel..great job! Julie

    ReplyDelete
  16. It turned out beautiful! What did your husband have to say about it after? LOL. My husband has stopped commenting, he thinks everything I bring home is ugly. :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. I think this is a spectacular makeover! I just love it! And thanks for the tip about the mineral spirits to remove the excess dark wax--I have added too much dark wax and then tried to remove with the clear and then ended up with a big old mess! :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Sooo cute! You did such a great job! The stripes add so much! Great Job! :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. SWEEEET! Wow, I would have walked right by this "before" piece! Your transformation is AMAZING! I love the Old White / Provence combo, how clever! I also love the new name for your blog. You rock!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Precious! I love it! Who would have thought it could look this way?! Great job!

    ReplyDelete
  21. So sweet. I love the stripes. So awesome that you won the chalk paint!

    ReplyDelete
  22. OMG Kim that is absolutely stunning! I like to think that I have a pretty good eye for transforming pieces that others can't necessarily see the potential in, but I have to say, that was one UGLY cupboard to start with, and you made it awesome! Hope your hubby ate his words, lol!

    xx Karen

    ReplyDelete
  23. Love the stripes and the whitewash finish. Game over and you won.

    ReplyDelete
  24. This came out very cute. I liked hearing the tip about the mineral spirits too.

    ReplyDelete
  25. This is so freakin cute! I LOVE it and wish I had a beach house so I could copy you!

    ReplyDelete
  26. I love the blue and white! You took something that was really ugly and turned it to really fab!

    Kristina
    @PearlGateway
    www.pearlgateway.com

    ReplyDelete
  27. I am so inlove with two toned furniture. This is darling! I would love for you to share your talents at my VIP party today. http://designergarden.blogspot.com/2011/09/vip-party-26.html
    Have a wonderful holiday weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  28. kim!!! i am in LOVE with this! awesome job! : )

    ReplyDelete
  29. love the little chest and id love to feature it if thats ok with you. let me know!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Definitely a night and day makeover. In other words, WOW!

    ReplyDelete
  31. Wow! You did an amazing job! That color combo is one of my favorites. :)

    ReplyDelete
  32. So, so cute! I want to buy a beach house just so I can put that whimsical piece of furniture in it!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  33. I'm sure your husband isn't calling it hideous now.

    zane

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment! Have a happy day! :)