A Few of Our Favorite Things

No, I did NOT get a "before"

I know...I'm really terrible about that

close your eyes and visualize very light golden pine...

yep, you've got it. 

Not pretty.

Nothing, of course, that a little paint won't fix!

I call this my FAVORITE THINGS dresser

because I used some of my favorite products to complete it

 I've really come to embrace these dramatic triple mirrors...

they really make a huge statement!

(also, that little sign sums up my life...

it's not perfect, but my hair sure is!)

This is a much better representation of the true color

I used Luxe Grey from Amy Howard at Home's One Step Paint line for the base

(and on the hardware)

The hardware simply received two coats of OSP, wax, and Dust of Ages

Our wax of choice is Carnauba Wax from Real Milk Paint Co

I wanted the body of the dresser to be a bit more dramatic

(not as soft as the hardware)

so I used a custom blend of General Finishes Glazes

I'm crazy about how the glaze settled into the oak, highlighting the grain and the wear marks

(I know they are fabricated to mimic age, but who cares...they looks amazing!)

Here's a run-down of a few of my FAVORITE THINGS:

One Step Paint from Amy Howard at Home

Geneneral Finishes Glaze

Carnauba Wax from Real Milk Paint Company

What are your favorite, "go to" products?

M~

Seaside Lacquer

In typical fashion, I did NOT get a decent "before" photo!

You can pretty much imagine where this piece started, right?

It's come quite a long way, baby!

 and of course, the fabulous hardware!

This is a new product for us, and we're smitten!

It is called High Performance Lacquer Spray

from Amy Howard at Home

and it retails for $18/can

The color is Seaside, but it's available in a virtual rainbow of hues

We've tackled smaller projects with this product

but we were hesitant to do a large piece

Typically, spray paint isn't well suited for large, flat areas

(like the sides and top of this dresser)

We also worried it would take 6 or 7 cans to finish it...

So here is the run-down:

We cleaned this piece with Simple Green to remove any residue

We gently sanded the surface and wiped clean

(literally, we're talking a ten minute sanding job...nothing major!)

The trick to spray paint is to keep your flow level and even

overlapping a bit as you go

Make one pass, then STOP spraying

Begin spraying again and repeat the process

Dry time was super fast

(we are used to 24hrs between coats...this was more like 24 minutes!)

As you can see, the coverage is wonderful

We did three coats on this dresser

and used three cans of Seaside Lacquer

We hope we've inspired you to try something new!

We're sure glad we did...

Kenny and Michele

Cartouche Green

When put to task

choosing ONE color

from the 

Amy Howard at Home 

One Step Paint collection,

we were stumped...

How to choose?

They are ALL gorgeous! 

We use a lot of greys,

but we wanted something different

Vintage Affliction caught our eye, 

as did Chinese Red

but we both really, REALLY

loved Cartouche Green

(plus, it's the same color as our logo!)

When I was in elementary school,

all things Egyptian were very popular

Our home had gold leafed Pharaoh heads,

papyrus art, and who knows what else...

but the item I coveted most?

A cartouche necklace

Sadly, I never got one...

but now I have Cartouche Green instead!

(and Pharoah's gold on the hardware in homage to the namesake...)

If you are not already familiar with Amy Howard's product line,

go look...like, now...we'll wait

Amazing products, right?

Let me tell you a bit about our experience with the One Step Paint

It went on a bit thicker than it did the other day,

probably because the surface I was applying to was different

Two coats provided beautiful coverage

We opted to seal the surface with Amy's light wax

See that gorgeous sheen?

That's from buffing with a cloth, for about three seconds

Not exaggerating! 

Waxing and buffing this ENTIRE dresser took us less than 15 minutes

(and our arms were NOT limp spaghetti after!)

The light wax resembles pudding

and frankly, the color is a bit alarming in the jar

(fine, I'll say it. It reminded me of baby poop)

but FEAR NOT!!

it added the slightest bit of warmth to the color,

making it a tad deeper and more rich

without completely changing the color

Here's where we entered foreign territory...

using dark wax SPARINGLY and very lightly

Usually, I really love the look of dark wax settling into the brushstrokes

but in this instance, I wanted the color to remain true

and the piece to look fresh

We also used Dust of Ages over the dark wax...

on this color, it didn't make a tremendous difference,

but we'll definitely try it again with other colors

One of our biggest "peeves" if you will about most chalk-type paints

is that when buffing the wax or burnishing the surface, 

the high relief areas always distress slightly

If we were after that look,  great!

 Sometimes, however,  we don't want any distressing,

so it's annoying when the raised edges on the drawer faces 

or the sharper points on the lip wear away

with very little pressure

We're not alone here, right?  

Please tell me this happens to you, too!

Guess what?  Didn't happen with this product

Not a single speck of paint budged

Clearly, we did not distress this piece,

so we'll have to let you know how it distresses

in the future

(cause we are FOR SURE 

using this product again..

and again..

and again...)

It takes a lot to impress us...

we pretty much have "our" products we trust and love

so paint and/or wax has to be pretty great to hold our attention

This paint and wax?

Yeah, it's pretty great! 

Pandora

I have a super power

Kenny used to call it "mall-dar"

like radar for malls.

Wherever we traveled, I could find a mall

(much to Kenny, Mack, and Keegan's dismay)

It seems my super power also applies to French furniture

(oh happy day!)

Somehow, I can always sniff it out...

A glimpse of a dresser, part of a chair

whatever...if it's French, I WILL find it

For example, my friend Tracey and I were driving down the road

last week...I saw a pick-up full of furniture

Even at 50mph, I KNEW it was French furniture

(I know, amazing, right? Someone call Ripley's!)

We turned around, and sure enough

THIS was in the truck, upside down

with no drawers in it

 along with this beauty

I had to refrain from jumping up and down like an idiot

I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do with these gorgeous pieces

so I just started painting, figuring it would work itself out

I knew I wanted a greyish beige (more grey than beige) 

so mixed up a variety of colors and ended up w a lovely mid-tone warm grey

It's sort of perfect, don't you think?  

What to highlight with?

As luck would have it, my prize package from

MODERN MASTERS

showed up the next morning...Fate, I tell you...it was FATE!

I highlighted the top and some details with a gorgeous pearly white

and then accented that with gilding...

it turned out fabulous!

A little feminine, a little masculine...a lot gorgeous! 

But enough yapping...see for yourselves!

and don't forget about the nightstand!

That hardware...SWOON!

You can find these pieces, and many others, in our ETSY SHOP