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Annie Sloan Coco & White Dresser

April 14, 2016

Gorgeous Coco & White Dresser  

~SOLD~

Gorgeous large solid wood dresser painted in Annie Sloan “Pure White” chalk paint with Annie Sloan “Coco” drawers. Lightly distressed to perfection & sealed w/Polyvine Wax like Varnish.

Dresser Dimensions:
L: 62”
H: 39”
D: 20”

Annie Sloan Pure White and Coco Dresser

Annie Sloan Pure White and Coco Dresser

Annie Sloan Pure White and Coco Dresser

Annie Sloan Pure White and Coco Dresser

Annie Sloan Pure White and Coco Dresser

Creatively Yours….

My Signature

“Custom…Reclaimed…Restored. We do it all! Send us a note.”

Gorgeous Custom Blend Buffet/Sideboard

March 29, 2016

I was wandering through Goodwill (like usual lol) when I came across this huge curio cabinet tucked away in the furniture section.  I knew if I took the top of the cabinet off, that the bottom would make a perfect buffet or fun tv console and add a statement to the new owners room.

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I decided to use General Finishes’ “Linen” Milk Paint on this piece, which is super light and airy and exactly what I was looking for.

It’s amazing what a good coat of paint can do to an old piece of furniture!

Buffet console finished in General Finishes Linen Milk Paint

To add a little more life to this old piece, instead of painting the top I choose to stain it with General Finishes’ “Java” Gel Stain.  This is my go-to stain in my work room!  It just seems to look absolutely gorgeous on just about anything.

It definitely added a rich finished look to this antique piece.

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Before

Buffet console finished in General Finishes Linen Milk Paint and General Finishes Java Gel Stain

After

I then freshened the entire piece up by applying a coat of stain to the inside as well.

Buffet console finished in General Finishes Linen Milk Paint and General Finishes Java Gel Stain

Keeping the original hardware added to the uniqueness and antiqueness of the cabinet.

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24 hours later…and this new buffet was ready for it’s new home!

Buffet console finished in General Finishes Linen Milk Paint and General Finishes Java Gel Stain

On to our next project!

Creatively Yours….

My Signature

“Custom…Reclaimed.. Restored. We do it all! Send us a note.”

How to Fix a Broken Drawer Slide / Glide with Scotch Tape

March 12, 2016

So this is a problem we seem to have weekly at our Reclaimed Karma workshop.  We find the most beautiful antique piece of furniture with so much history, but then when it comes to the construction of the piece the drawers seem to always be a problem!  It never fails…the curse of the broken drawer slide hits us again!

Whether the drawers have Side-Mounts…

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Center-Mounts…

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or Under-Mount glides…

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They can always pose a problem when you are dealing with upcycling an old piece.  Lately, Chris and I seem to have the biggest problems with our antique pieces that normally are built with center-mount slides.  That is…until late the other night…when Chris stumbled upon a fool proof way to fix those pesky broken slides.  We decided to shot a quick youtube video breaking down how scotch tape has become our new best friend. 🙂

Hope our little discovery helps you as much as it’s helped us!

Creatively Yours….

My Signature

“Custom…Reclaimed…Restored. We do it all! Send us a note.”

 

 

A Touch of Gold

February 26, 2016

We received a phone call from a young lady just moving into her new place in the Metro Atlanta area who needed help bringing an old dresser back to life.  She had recently purchased this piece off Craigslist, and when she reached out to us for help, we had no idea how bad of shape the dresser was actually in.

Feast your eyes on this French Provincial ugly duckling!!!

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First things first, we had to clean this baby up! I started by wiping down the entire piece with a mixture of 1/2 denatured alcohol & 1/2 water solution.  I can’t even begin to describe to you how dirty this dresser was!

Now, if you follow any of my posts, you know that I am use to working with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint or General Finishes Milk Paint.  Both of which do not demand any major sanding or prep work before painting.  However, this dresser had so many nicks and scratches that Chris then had to do a good sanding over the entire piece.

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Even the inside and outside of the drawers needed some serious love.

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After a good sanding, the drawers and entire piece was ready for a new lease on life.

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The customer decided on a rich Annie Sloan “Cream” Chalk Paint to freshen up this dresser.

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We then added a pop of metallic gold on the hardware and legs for an added unique finish.

Gold Hardware Pulls

This was the first time I had experimented with metallic paints, so after talking with a few other “painter friends”, I was advised to get my metallic gold from either Target’s line called “Devine” or online through Modern Masters Metallic Paints. But….I was in a hurry and the nearest store was Hobby Lobby, so I ended up just buying a small 10 ounce jar of DecoArt Elegant Finish in Metallic Emperor Gold (on sale for $4.79).  That ended up not being the best decision for this project, I found DecoArt to apply very thin and a tad runny.  It definitely was hard to work with.  As you can see below, it showed every imperfection and I actually had to use numerous coats of paint to get that perfectly smooth finish I was looking for.  In the end, it turned out amazing…but I think if I would have listened to everyone’s advise, I wouldn’t have had the added frustration.

French Provincial Dresser in Annie Sloan Cream Chalk Paint with Gold legs and Gold Hardware Pulls

Once finished bringing this beauty back to life, it was definitely worth all the hard work!

She loved her “new” French Provincial dresser and I felt pretty accomplished! 🙂

French Provincial Dresser in Annie Sloan Cream Chalk Paint with Gold legs and Gold Hardware Pulls

French Provincial Dresser in Annie Sloan Cream Chalk Paint with Gold legs and Gold Hardware Pulls

French Provincial Dresser in Annie Sloan Cream Chalk Paint with Gold legs and Gold Hardware Pulls

On to our next project!

Creatively Yours….

My Signature

“Custom…Reclaimed…Restored. We do it all! Send us a note.”

The Cutest Vintage Chest of Drawers

October 14, 2015

I’m just amazed at the things people look at as “trash”!!!

Sooooo I’m on Craigslist one Sunday morning and under the “Free” section I see that there is an Estate Sale up the street where the new owner has decided to give away EVERYTHING left in the house for free!  Yep…I said it…FREE!

Thinking “This must be a scam”, I reluctantly drag Chris out with the truck to see if there is anything worth grabbing.  We pull up to a very old, run down, deserted looking house and actually contemplated turning around.  Luckily Chris was there because he convinced me to wait in the truck while he took a quick look inside.  He wasn’t inside more than a few minutes when he came back out, turned off the ignition and told me I wouldn’t believe what was left inside as “trash”.  Needless to say, we ended up loading up the truck with some amazing treasures.

I decided to start on this vintage chest of drawers first.  The detailing on this piece was gorgeous!

I could see Annie Sloan “Old White” Chalk Paint in it’s future.  So I went to work!

The drawers definitely needed some love!

I decided to give them a fresh coat of Varathane Kona stain.  Not only did this help to hide the years of wear and tear, but it also freshened up the smell in these antique drawers.

I wanted to top the whole piece off with a light brown glaze finish to add to that vintage look I pictured.  I waxed the entire piece first with Annie Sloan Clear Wax so that it would lay a good foundation for the dark glaze. If you don’t wax your piece first, the dark glaze can come out looking very “muddy”.

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I then mixed up my glaze which was a combination of half mineral spirits and half dark wax.

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I applied my glaze with a cheap paint brush from the dollar store and used a clean rag to then wipe the glaze back off.  It left my piece with that extra vintage flare I was looking for.

 

What a perfect vintagie cute Chest of Drawers!

On to the next piece!

 

Creatively Yours…

My Signature

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“Custom…Reclaimed…Restored. We do it all! Just send us a note.”

Now that’s a Kitchen Table!

September 15, 2015

A good friend of ours asked Chris to design a new table for his kitchen.  With the kitchen being the heart of his home, we wanted to make sure that not only did it function as a great kitchen table, but that it was a topic of conversation as friends and family gathered around it.  Chris started building the table with a large reclaimed wood pallet he found a few months prior.  The wood had been left outside so long that it had aged perfectly.

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After breaking down the pallet and building the table top, he went with a rich Minimax Early American stain and topped it off with three coats of Minimax Semi-Gloss Polyurethane.

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The table was looking great, but he still had a few things to add for that additional “wow factor” our friend was looking for in his new kitchen.  After the table was completely dry, he added a metal trim around the entire table for that pop of rustic flare.

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I painted the legs with Annie Sloan’s “Pure White” chalk paint to match his white kitchen cabinets…

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and new white leather bar stools. 🙂

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It definitely turned out to be the statement piece of conversation in the heart of his home!

On to the next project…

Creatively Yours…

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A Pop of Yellow!

August 3, 2015

Picked up this great dresser while shopping at a local outdoor furniture consignment store.

It needed some work, but had soooo much potential!

I love it when I walk into a room and there’s a pop of color that surprises me.  With that in mind, I decided to paint this piece Annie Sloan’s Arles Yellow.

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After a good coat of Annie Sloan Clear Wax, I loved the color, but kinda felt like it was still missing a little “pizzazz”.  So I pulled out my Annie Sloan Dark Wax, added some Mineral Spirits and made a rich dark glaze to add to the Arles color.  A few brush strokes later….and Voila!

That was just what it needed!  It turned out just like I had envisioned…maybe even better.

Actually decided to leave the bottom of the dresser its original wood finish.  I thought it added another bit of character to the piece.

No sooner did I move this awesome piece into my home to take some pictures, it sold.  And what the buyer loved the most…you guessed it…the pop of color it would add to her room. 🙂

On to the next project…

Creatively Yours…

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We would LOVE for you to…

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What a Perfect Little Desk

July 31, 2015

You guessed it…I was at yet another garage sale (can you believe it!) and I came across this cute little desk.  It was a tad bit boring, but had so much potential.  I couldn’t wait to get it home to give it a new lease on life!

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It was so cute, I decided to go with Annie Sloan’s Old White chalk paint on the “body”…

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and then for a pop of color and originality, I added one of my Faves…Annie Sloan Graphite to all of the original hardware as well as the top of the desk.

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I think it turned out GREAT! What do you think???

On to the next project… 🙂

Creatively Yours…

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We would LOVE for you to…

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Mid Century Mod Oh My!

July 28, 2015

I happened upon an estate sale the other month, it was like finding GOLD! I fell in love with so many pieces in that family’s home.  There was a set of two cute little solid wood classic Mid Century Modern side tables. I knew they needed to make it in our truck!

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Perfect storage piece…

Original hardware…

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I decided to go with painting these vintage bad boys an Annie Sloan deep creamy Aubusson Blue.

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I could tell by the feel of the wood and that it had a glossy finish to it, that the Annie Sloan chalk paint may take a few more coats to stick, so I decided to save time and lightly sand the pieces so as not to have any many problems with my coats of paint.

Rarely do you have to do any prep work when using Annie Sloan chalk paint (that’s one of the reasons I love it so much), but I knew this was one of those times.

Two coats later…

I decided to keep the original hardware…just cleaned them up a tad.

Each of their tops open perfectly to reveal hidden extra storage inside.

These are classic pieces of antique furniture that will definitely give a pop of color and be the conversation pieces in any room.

Measurements:

H: 22.5″
L: 23″
W: 17.5″

$250 for the pair…contact me for details.

On to the next project… 🙂

Creatively Yours…

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We would LOVE for you to…

Like us on Facebook…FBTWFollow us on Twitter…

“Custom…Reclaimed…Restored. We do it all! Send us a note.”

 

 

Don’t Leave Your Hallway Out!

July 7, 2015

We spend so much time making sure our house is a home.  We take pride in almost every room in our home but there is one area in the house that always seems to get overlooked.  Your hallway!  Personally, I know that in our home there are a few rooms I may not even go in throughout the week, but our hallway is walked through every single day. Your corridor deserves the same stylish energy you have put into the rest of your home.  From the perfect wall decor and great storage ideas, to unique lighting solutions, here are 10 different hallways to die for.

via John Umberger

After looking at so many beautiful hallway designs, I’ve decided my next project is definitely our mile long upstairs hallway.  Pictures soon to come!

Creatively Yours…

My Signature

We would LOVE for you to…
Like us on Facebook… FBTWFollow us on Twitter…
“Custom…Reclaimed…Restored. We do it all! Send us a note.”