Before And After: Mod Bookshelves

Hello!

It's been a little while (sorry!) and I have been busy working...just have slacked off on the blogging side of things. Only human and all that!

But I'm here now with some gorgeous shelves to show you. Yay!!

This is my most recent project completed and I'm so happy with how it turned out!

These are going in a clients' daughters' bedroom, which is also undergoing an overhaul at the moment - fun!!

I'm not sure what this book shelf is normally called - I have seen a couple before - but I decided to call them mod bookshelves as they have a little 1950's feel to them, even though they possibly aren't that old. :-)

They turned out so good, I really love the look! See what you think...

I've styled it for a lot younger child - not having any tweenies yet myself, but I'm sure it'll look even more awesome in its' new room. ;-)

And for those interested in how I did this one, I give you...drum roll...

MY FAST SIX DETAILS

1. Give it a good (but quick) sand all over to help with paint adhesion. I used straight low sheen here - no chalk paint for this one! Then give it a good clean with a damp cloth and let dry. I get impatient sometimes...ok, a LOT, and always have the air compressor turned on when I'm working so I blow air over to help it dry quicker! I don't do this to help wet paint dry, I'd only blow dirt/leaves/dust on it and have to start again;-)

2. Lay it on its back and paint a coat on the interior, but not around the edges if you can help it. It doesn't matter too much if you get a little on the edges as we'll fix that later on. (By edges I mean the part that's left natural timber.)

3. Flip it upright and paint a coat on the exterior, again trying not to go over the edge too much. If you follow me on Instagram, you'll know what the blue colour is called. ;-)

4. Once dry, give a light sand with a 320grit sanding sponge and another wipe down before repeating more coats of both colours until you're happy with the coverage.

5. When it's all dry and you're happy with your paint job, flip it on it's back and grab a mouse sander and about 180 grit sandpaper and a steady hand, and sand the whole edge of the shelves that you want to keep as natural timber. The steady hand is so you don't go off the edge and take off paint that you've just finished applying! Practice on something else that has a narrow edge first if you're not feeling confident. I used 180 grit as I needed to remove the old varnish as well as some areas where I got paint on ;-) 

6. Time to seal. For the timber edge I used a little teak oil - no the timber isn't teak, but it just gives it a little depth that clear wax doesn't. Then the painted areas got ASCP clear wax, a good buff and it's finished!

On a complete side note - after typing fast 6 up there, I saw the other day (via Instagram) that Fast 7 is being filmed as we speak!! And I know that this is of no interest to any of you - unless perhaps you're my bestie or a male who's into cars - and I am not into cars at all (more into Paul Walker perhaps?!) but I've shared this un-interesting fact anyway...because I can! ;-)

That's all from me for now, have a lovely week!!

Courts xx

Before And After: A Duck Egg Coffee Table

Hello!

It's back to a good old before and after today! I won't be mentioning the 'e' word at all in this post...ok, just once for those that missed my last post all about 'exercise' or the 'e' word as I'll now refer to it as. And if you did manage to get through possibly my longest post ever - thank you!

Onto today's post though, which is all about this...

A custom piece for a client that was handmade and it even has storage underneath the table top. Genius!

This has been painted in DIY chalk paint in a duck egg-ish colour (can't remember its exact name) but it is very similar to Annie Sloan duck egg. I colour matched to a frame my client has, using my Dulux fan deck. 

It was then heavily distressed and sealed with wax.

The before -

You know, I never tire of the magic that happens just by applying paint and a little know how/creativity to a piece of furniture that is past its prime. 

It's why I love what I do! :-)

And for those of you interested in how I do my heavy distressing - I always use my mouse sander with a fairly high grit paper. I used 320 grit for this one, and I go over the whole piece. If I'm doing light distressing, I just go over where the piece would naturally get wear and tear.

But for heavy distressing, I use the high grit combined with heavier pressure by me (and my now growing muscles;-) and I cover the whole piece using quite quick movements. I try to create more friction so that the paint comes off wherever it wants to but at the same time all these factors combine to make it all really smooth in one step. 

If it still needs smoothing, I'll go over with a sanding sponge, always 320 grit.

Hope this makes sense! 

Could you stand a little duck egg at your place? It's a colour that makes me think of summer and the beach and holidays...

Courts xx

Before And After: Coral And Stainless Half Table

Before I show you my latest before and after, I would like to explain it a little. Bear with me, k?

I tend to go through creative phases...does that happen to you too?

First I loved antique furniture and now I'm more into mid century stuff. Once upon a time I would paint GT stripes on everything in sight and now I'm over that. There has been many other phases since then. 

At the moment I am in love with contrast.

What I mean by contrast is two (or more) polar opposites existing on the same piece.

For example: a person dressed in contrast might be wearing black pants and a white top - two contrasting colours. Which, btw, makes me look like a waitress if I were to wear black/white. I am suited to more blended colours but that is a whole other post...or ten ;-)

Another example of contrast is a person with quite dark hair putting a really light (or bright) piece/chunk/foil in for...contrast. :-)

Mixing feminine with masculine is another way to contrast. Or contrasting textures, like high gloss paired with dull texture. 

So in the spirit of my newest love...I give you -

The before -

This one has a couple of contrasts going on.
It's such a curvy, feminine piece so I chose this gorgeous coral colour and then added the stainless steel geometric shape to the top that is quite masculine. 

There is also contrasting textures going on here, with the distressed coral with some white peeping through here and there and then the full, sharp and geometric steel design.

For the stainless steel I used Rust-Oleum Stainless Steel paint -

Which comes in a box and has real stainless steel in it! See those little flecks in the paint above? Love it!! It gives the design so much more depth and interest than just silver paint (which I've used before) and it's also really tough and durable.
I met a Rust-Oleum rep (Hi Scott!) in Mitre 10 and he showed this paint to me - I wouldn't even have noticed it on the shelf, maybe new packaging is needed? - and the creative cogs in my brain started turning for different ways I could use this, other than painting a white fridge which is how this product is predominantly marketed. I do love a creative challenge!
So I made contact with the good people at Rust-Oleum and was given a tin of this to try...yay!!
Rest assured that even though I was given this product for free, I am under no obligation to sing it's praises here on extro. I am because I do truly (so far) love it!
I will always share the good stuff with you guys and if I don't love something...then you won't find me talking about it. :-)
I have one other project underway with this paint and lots of idea's in my head for other projects! It's a perfect way to bring some masculinity to a piece...or contrast if that's what you're going for!
You could also just paint a whole piece in this paint if you so desired :-)

FYI, this one is sealed with ASCP clear wax. I didn't seal the stainless though, I really love the look of it as is and figure it's so tough already that it probably doesn't need extra protection.
I'd happily sit stuff on it without fear of it scratching.

This one is for sale. (my email addy is in the contact tab up the top)


What do you think of this one?

Do you like a little contrast too?!

Have an awesome week, won't you?!

Courts xx