 A bit of a distraction this month-furniture upcycling! The shape of this cupboard caught my eye, but I wasn't enamoured colour-wise. |  |
I spotted it on Ebay and did the usual sneaky snipe with 7 seconds to go at the end of the auction and won it for £25. So at that price I was willing to have a go at customising it.
I wanted it navy blue, but paint suppliers had bright blues, smokey blues and green blues but no navy, unless I had it custom made for mega-bucks.
I took a chance and bought two 150ml pots of Annie Sloane chalk paint-one in Napolean Blue and the other in a graphite grey, hoping that would be enough paint for the job and that mixing the two would result in the desired colour. I also bought a pot of chalk paint wax as I wanted a shiny finish.
I gave the cupboard a good wash with sugar soap and washed off 50 or so years of dirt and furniture polish. I sanded the cross pieces as I wanted them to give a yellow/orange contrast to the blue.
Then came the paint mixing. I added a teaspoon of graphite to the blue and mixed vigourously! No perceivable difference, so I added another two teaspoons and stirred vigourously, but still bright blue! To cut a long story short, I continued in this vein. a couple at a time, and finally thought s*d it and tipped the whole lot in! A glorious dark blue emerged, navy but on the side of airforce blue. Gorgeous!
I applied it with a small sponge roller, because we'd had good results with our kitchen cabinets, using this method, but I didn't take into account that the kitchen needed a matt finish and I wanted a shiny one! Trying to work the clear wax into all those little orange peel bumps was a nightmare and as much as I applied the wax, waited 24 hours for it to dry and buffed with an electric buffer (x3) I couldn't get the desired effect. Wahh!
Back to square one-sand it all back (three coats of wax clogs up the sandpaper something rotten!) and try to get rid of the bumps with relative success and try repainting. And that means I've spent more money. Maybe buying a finished cabinet would have been a better idea?
I wanted it navy blue, but paint suppliers had bright blues, smokey blues and green blues but no navy, unless I had it custom made for mega-bucks.
I took a chance and bought two 150ml pots of Annie Sloane chalk paint-one in Napolean Blue and the other in a graphite grey, hoping that would be enough paint for the job and that mixing the two would result in the desired colour. I also bought a pot of chalk paint wax as I wanted a shiny finish.
I gave the cupboard a good wash with sugar soap and washed off 50 or so years of dirt and furniture polish. I sanded the cross pieces as I wanted them to give a yellow/orange contrast to the blue.
Then came the paint mixing. I added a teaspoon of graphite to the blue and mixed vigourously! No perceivable difference, so I added another two teaspoons and stirred vigourously, but still bright blue! To cut a long story short, I continued in this vein. a couple at a time, and finally thought s*d it and tipped the whole lot in! A glorious dark blue emerged, navy but on the side of airforce blue. Gorgeous!
I applied it with a small sponge roller, because we'd had good results with our kitchen cabinets, using this method, but I didn't take into account that the kitchen needed a matt finish and I wanted a shiny one! Trying to work the clear wax into all those little orange peel bumps was a nightmare and as much as I applied the wax, waited 24 hours for it to dry and buffed with an electric buffer (x3) I couldn't get the desired effect. Wahh!
Back to square one-sand it all back (three coats of wax clogs up the sandpaper something rotten!) and try to get rid of the bumps with relative success and try repainting. And that means I've spent more money. Maybe buying a finished cabinet would have been a better idea?
 |  |
Well I'm afraid I still couldn't get it right so I finished it off with some lovely retro fabric, designed by none other than Heather Moore of Skinny laminx fame!
And THEN-I put it back onto Ebay!! Hopefully someone will like the shabby chic look or will have more energy than me to do a proper job! Sigh!
UPDATE: SOLD! And looks fab on a parquet floor in someone's lounge! Would you believe it!
And THEN-I put it back onto Ebay!! Hopefully someone will like the shabby chic look or will have more energy than me to do a proper job! Sigh!
UPDATE: SOLD! And looks fab on a parquet floor in someone's lounge! Would you believe it!
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