GOLD CHEST

 This was gonna be a fun project, I thought, as I checked this thing out!  It is GOLD... WOW!   And that's not a good WOW,  the gold paint even had little black specks in it.  UGH!!!  I couldn't wait to get my hands on this.  Since this was a metallic gold color, I needed to use a good primer.  I chose to use a spray primer because of all the intricate detail.  B-I-N Zinnser Shellac Primer is a fabulous product and it comes in a spray form... SCORE!!!  I used the entire can to ensure I coated this piece well!  

After coating with primer and letting it dry, I sprayed this piece using my handy dandy paint sprayer!  The color is an antique white, which is a slight off white.  

2 coats of paint and I used my brush for a 3rd coat on the top and a couple areas of the trim!

The paint has dried and is now ready for glazing!  Glazing will give this piece the antiqued, aged look it's screaming for!  The glaze with sit in ALL those cracks and crevices! Check out the difference in the drawers! The top one glazed and the bottom one is not.

Glazing is underway...

I lOVE how the the sides look!!!  I used a small paint brush and basically just painted around all the edges, let it dry slightly, then wiped away any of the excess. 

TEDIOUS TASK...  this is what took the longest!  But well worth it!

 After letting everything dry for at least 24 hours... time for a clear coat.  I usually use a Polycrylic and brush it on but again, this piece has SO much detail, I wanted to use a spray form.  Polycrylic has a spray in all 3 finishes... clear satin, semi-gloss, and gloss.

I personally like the satin since I don't like things too glossy!  

The clear coating has dried and it's time to attach the hardware.  This hardware is original to the piece and didn't need changing.  It went with the new look perfectly!  

I LOVE HOW THIS TURNED OUT!! and my customer was equally pleased!!!

What a difference!

WINDOW FRAME MAKEOVER!

I bought about 5 of these HUGE window frames from someone on Craigslist who used them to display ornaments at the Christmas Show!

They have been sitting at my mom's house waiting for me to think of something to do with them!

After having a conversation with someone about decorating their mantel for christmas, I thought of these!  She has a huge stone fireplace and needed some decorating ideas! She needed something BIG that would stand out.  I immediately thought that THIS would be perfect!  After deciding on the color, I got to work!

I scraped and sanded a lot of the old paint off.  I didn't completely get it all off since I wanted an old, distressed look.  I wanted you to be able to see that there was some paint underneath.  The original latch was still in place as well as a sash on one side!  

There were some glass panes missing but I thought that just added to the character of this piece!

I used a antique white paint by Valspar and applied 2 coats.  After that dried, I went to work with sanding edges and corners.  I even scraped some of the paint back off in random areas.  This really gave it special touch!

To give it an even more distressed, old look, I used some glaze to fill in areas of scrapes and dents in the wood.  Glazing also catches in the corners and any grooves there are!  I love using this stuff.  You can get this at your local paint store.  I bought my mine at Lowes, and just choose the brown I wanted.  Basically, it's just watered down paint, which I might have to try and make myself next!  All you have to do is paint the glaze on, then using a clean, dry cloth, wipe off. Be careful not to wipe off completely in the corners or any of the places you want it to stick.  The glaze with "stain" the paint a little and give it a great look!

Valspar Signature
Tintable Glaze

I let the glaze sit for 24 hours then coated it with Polycrylic.

(I always have this on hand!)

The finished product after cleaning the glass, and decorating it up a little! I might just have to make one of these for me!!!