One piece... Three Projects. -part two - Desk to Tween Vanity

I few weeks ago I  updated a wash stand and had some left over pieces.  I wanted to show you how I use every single piece if I can and promised three projects from one piece. See the first project here.

 

That wash stand had a lovely little  tippy mirror on it that I couldn't use because a few of the spindle pieces couldn't be tightened enough.  However there was nothing wrong with the mirror itself so I wanted to find a new home for it. 

I repaired and painted a turn of the century ladies writing desk and chair last year but couldn't sell it because it was just too small for a desk by todays standards.  There definitely wasn't enough room for a computer and all the stuff that goes with it.   

This is how I married the two pieces together.   First I repainted the desk with a lovely soft white called Queen Annes Lace from BeautiTone .

Then I painted all the pieces that held the mirror together.

It's easier to scrape the paint off the mirror after it's dry than it is to tape it off.

I printed this postage stamp photo and used tracing paper to transfer it to the desk top, and drilled two pilot holes for the mirror spindles. 

At this point I did a dry fit to make sure everything was going to fit together.  You can see the fine lines where I traced my picture.

I  hand painted the picture and when it was dry I lightly sanded and distressed to make it look like it had been there for a long time.

Now I had to get rid of the blue inside.  It just wasn't right for a young lady's vanity.

Ahh... much better. Things are starting to come together.

























I wanted to do something different with the seat so I found a bright pink bath mat on sale and used it to recover the seat. 



I painted the mason jars to add the finishing touch and I think I've created a vanity that any young lady would love.

Sideboard makeover. with DIY chalky paint recipe

This area in my kitchen was being used for a coffee station with extra storage for my tiny kitchen.  My daughter in law gave me the sideboard about a year ago and it fit here perfectly but it needed some colour to get rid of the dated look. 

With some help from hubby we lifted it to my work table and  remove all the drawers and doors. I had no intentions of laying on the floor with a paint brush in hand  to paint the bottom edges. Maybe twenty years ago but not now.

After a good wash to remove any grease  I got busy painting.  The great thing about my DIY chalky paint is not having to sand or strip before using it. It sticks to almost anything. This is the outside after the first coat. Luckily it only needed 2 coats because the paint has awesome coverage, even when using  a light colour over dark finishes.

I painted the inside as well. I figured it would get a lot of use so painting the inside a lighter colour would make it easier to find things.   (And to be honest it will inspire me to keep it tidier as well :)

 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Much better.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I took the handles off the doors and raised them off the work surface by setting them on a few plastic bowls.  I painted the hinges because I didn't want them to stand out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I painted the body  with a lighter shade of the blue, by adding 1 part blue to 3 parts white.  I used the full tint blue for the top of the buffet, the door fronts and the shutters and shelf.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the sideboard  all finished with  clear furniture paste wax to protect it.

 I always reuse the hardware as long as it's a complete set. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love these little glass jars I got at a yard sale.   And of course a chocolate and a vanilla candle will make everything smell awesome as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These tins were my grandmothers. The dark blue tin always had buttons in it and the light blue one still has a little label on the lid that says ribbons and bows.

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And of course I love the old canning jars .




































This is what I finished with, a nice coffee bar storage area, just like I wanted.


This is my DIY Chalky Paint Recipe

Mix 1/4 quarter cup of Plaster of Paris (you can get small containers of this at the hardware store)

with 1/8 cup of water until smooth.

I put mine in a plastic container with a lid because it will keep for about a week if covered.

Next add about 1 cup of you wall paint and mix thoroughly. Any acrylic or latex paint will work but I use the cheap stuff. Stay away from paint and primer combo's

Now paint.  This will stick to any surface. I've even painted glass and metal with it and had good adhesion. 
If you are painting walls ie:panelling with this , just use it as you would a primer and then do your second coat of paint right from the can.  It works amazingly well.

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Vintage Ladies Writing Desk

 

Isn't this little set absolutely adorable. 

 

 

I purchased this beautiful ladies desk at a yard sale and thought it was one of the nicest pieces I had come across since I started collecting projects.  Even with its terrible orange , yellow and brown flower   print seat,  and with one of the back cross pieces in the chair broken  it was a bargain at $20. 

I found a label on the bottom that said it was from a furniture place right here in Ontario in the early 1900's, and that made it even more appealing to me.

Normally with a piece of furniture of good quality I would try to refinish, but this one needed some wood filler and that doesn't take stain very well.  So I decided to paint.  This is the first piece of furniture I ever painted using my own mix of chalky paint.  I know everyone's recipe is a little different, but this is the one I use.  I can't remember where I found it but I googled it of course.
I mix 1/2 cup of Plaster of Paris into 1/2 cup of warm water. 
I add to this mix 1 + 1/2 cups of regular latex paint. 
I have found any brand of paint works but don't use the paint with primer combo. What I love about it?...it covers any surface and you don't need to sand and prime first.  yay

The desk and chair I painted 2 coats with this pretty blue I had on hand, and let it dry really well. Then I used a sand block to lightly distress the corners and edges, and where I thought it might wear naturally.  I just wanted to give it a pretty shabby chic look. Then I finished both pieces with a natural colour paste wax for furniture.  This rubs on over the chalky paint so easily and when almost dry it buffs to such a pretty shine.  As a protective finish this is very good.  I love it because if some time down the road your piece needs a touch up it is very easy to rewax and buff.

Then I had to tackle the awful dated seat. 

I looked for a small remnant that I could use ,this blue print was as close as I could find at the time.

Overall I like how it turned out, but I'm still not sure of the upholstery.  I might look for something a little different.  What do you think?

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The perfect pair of Chairs.

Aren't these chairs pretty. elegant.

This is the first time I've done over a pair of matching chairs and I must say I am really happy how they turned out.

 

 

And this is what they looked like when I got them.  You can see why I'm so pleased with the end result. 

 

 

 

 

I removed the seats and gave both chairs 2 coats of my own chalky paint. This colour was a mixing mistake at the hardware store.  What I call oops paint.  I always check whenever I'm in any paint department to see if they have any of these mistakes.  Often I can find colours I like for very cheap. This is definitely one of those colours. It's almost the colour of graphite. When the paint was completely dry I finished them off with a coat of dark furniture wax.

 

 

 

The seats were recovered in this great fabric. I love the pattern.  I actually recovered one seat twice.  The first time I did them I didn't match the pattern on both chairs and didn't like that they weren't the same. 

 

 

 

 

So I redid the second one to match and am really glad I did.

 

 

 

 

 

I like that these chairs will look just as nice in a bedroom or living room and can be used as extra seating in the dining room for those big family meals.

 Where would you put these if they were in your home?

 

 

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Serving Tray makeover

Vintage tray and tiles

 

I love how this little serving tray turned out. Much better than when I purchased it at our local Thrift Store about a year ago.

 

 

Vintage tray from thrift store

 

It had these little hand painted flowers that someone had lovingly done.. probably in the 70's. It was  loved once but the romance was definitely over. 

 

 

 

Vintage tray

 

I gave it a good cleaning and put a liner in the bottom just so I could use it in my coffee station, but I really wasn't lovin' it. 

 

 

 

Tile store displays

  

Then last week I was gifted a bunch of Tile sample boards from the flooring section of a hardware store. When they arrived I just happened to lean them down beside the hated serving tray and WOW it was love at first sight.  It just happens that way some times.  A piece will just scream at you, telling you what it needs. Well this little tray needed these tiles. You can tell it didn't want the ones pictured above though..  I forgot to take a before pic of the tile boards. :(

I got busy and pried off all the tiles from the boards that I wanted to use, and then I removed all the mesh backing and glue from the tiles.

Vintage tray freshly painted

 

Once I had all the tiles cleaned off   I gave the tray a couple of coats of my own chalky paint mixture in this great graphite colour.  It already looks tons better.  While the paint was drying I sorted the tiles and dry fitted them all together so I could play with the arrangement...  My dear hubby had some tile glue (Installing tile is what he does after all) and I glued all the tiles into the tray.

 

 

 

 

Vintage tray with glass tiles

 

I used a combination of four different sizes of tile in a mix of textures and colours.  Samples are great for this because of their variety.  There were some glass tiles along with porcelain, marble and slate.

I think I should have bought a lottery ticket that day because the tiles fit in this tray very tight and I didn't have to make a single cut.  I did however spend a bit of time playing with the arrangement to find the right tiles to make the fit. Cutting may have been faster.

 

 

 

Beautiful vintage tray

 

I Love how this turned out.  The tiles are fitted so tight that I don't have to use any grout to fill in the spaces.  Hubby says I still can if I change my mind but I don't think it's necessary.  I would make a dozen of these trays if I could, but it's nice knowing it's a one of a kind piece.

I imagine myself curled up in a big chair by the fire, and this tray on a little table near by holding my favorite book and a cup of hot coffee.  How about you?

 

 

 

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Please leave a comment and tell me

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