vinyl + chrome = love

Danaannie sloan chalk paint, beach house, before and after, chrome, furniture, paint, painting, retro, selling, trash to treasure, upholstering, upholstery, vinyl 1 Comment

We’re just barely back from our honeymoon. Still organizing life and most importantly all of our Brimfield finds! However I couldn’t leave you hanging without a little dose of Circa Dee.

I’ve got a before & after for you from the archives. I can’t hardly believe that I’ve never properly shared this project with you. It is definitely one of my favorites around here. In fact, there has been a debate on whether or not we should keep it for ourselves. We don’t actually need this adorable retro dinette table & chairs however it fits in perfectly at the beach. And we happen to have an open space for it. Hmmm…

updated retro dinette (2 of 23)

Of course I didn’t take a proper before shot. More like an in progress shot after we started taking the chairs apart. As you can see they were covered in the original vinyl which was in bad shape. And then there was newer vinyl (not pictured) haphazardly tacked on over the original.

Off it all came! The chairs got updated with my modern spin on the original vinyl – bright aqua marine grade vinyl. So fun!

updated retro dinette (18 of 23)

Don’t you just want to sit down?

updated retro dinette (10 of 23)

Now for the table… I love the original table. Nice and solid. What you can’t really see are all of the dings, filth and general wear & tear. So ultimately we stripped it with the intent to stain the original wood with a more modern dark color.

But at the end of the day we settled on a couple of coats of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in graphite. I think it adds another modern punch that coordinates with the bright chairs very well. I topped it off with a couple of cots of furniture wax. It has a nice smooth finish.

updated retro dinette (12 of 23)

And check out all of those legs! We cleaned and shined up all of that chrome which really gives off the retro vibe. All of that gorgeous chrome is the feature that is saving the table from staying in our home. We have all brass accents so the chrome has to go! Too bad for us but maybe good for you?

updated retro dinette (8 of 23)

Wouldn’t you like to have a glass of wine at this table?

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April 30, 2013home

chippy chippy ya

Danabefore and after, diy, miss mustard seed milk paint, painting 1 Comment

It seems like I’ve been picking up little foot stools left and right lately. They’ve come in handy in the milk paint workshop series.

And also for keeping my sanity.

I haven’t had time to dive head first into a big paint project like a dresser lately. If you haven’t guessed we’re in final crunch mode with wedding projects here but painting is very calming for me. So producing a quick before and after is quite satisfying. Let’s take a look!
kitchen scale, linen & lucketts green chippy milk paint

The upholstered stool used to look like this. stool before

Although I’ve been in a needlepoint place lately, this stool just wasn’t cutting it for me. Plus the needlepoint violets were super dingy. Maybe that is not evident in this before photo.

stool before

I applied kitchen scale milk paint – two coats. I didn’t add the bonding agent so I got some chipping around the top edges. kitchen scale chippy milk paint

The violets got stripped and replaced with reproduction ticking fabric.

kitchen scale chippy milk paint

I never snapped a before picture of the other little stool. This one was highly varnished so I was sure the milk paint would chip. Sure enough, it did. Linen milk paint is painted on top and lucketts green on bottom. No bonding agent/primer.

kitchen scale chippy milk paint

In areas where the paint did chip, a great crackle formed! Fun, right? I love how the chipping and crackle gives such an authentically antiqued finish.

linen & lucketts green chippy milk paint

Well it’s been non-stop around here. In 24 hours, I made visits to all 3 locations to restock. Btw milk paint will be completely restocked on Thursday in Doylestown. Plus there are vintage treasures galore at both Serendipity in Doylestown & West End Garage in Cape May. Our Brick & Mortar will not be open at all in May due to our wedding schedule.

After Thursday, I’m off the Circa Dee clock til I’m a married lady. At least that’s the plan! I do have some posts lined up for you but I will be tabling furniture projects and the general running around. Be sure to check in thgouh. I’ve got a ton of fun tutorials and projects to share post wedding! The summer will definitely be busy at Circa Dee!

kitchen scale, linen & lucketts green chippy milk paint

April 22, 2013home

making an impact

Danaannie sloan chalk paint, before and after, community, diy, earth day, impact thrift, miss mustard seed milk paint, painting, phantastic phinds 1 Comment

Celebrate Earth Week at Impact Thrift’s ECOfest Home Show!

On Saturday, April 27, 2013, join Impact Thrift Stores in Feasterville for ECOfest Home Show, a day filled with valuable information, informative and interactive (free!) workshops, and easy ideas you can implement in your home today.

My contribution to ECOfest is this…

pink sideboard

I started this project way back at the Philly Home Show. Impact sponsored our craft room which allowed us the opportunity to show different paint techniques as well as to upcycle and repurpose items on the fly. I completed the drawers then and finished up the rest of the piece just last week right in Impact’s processing warehouse which is a playground for someone like me…between all of the treasures plus the ample painting workspace!

Linen milk paint over Henrietta chalk paint

It will be available for sale at ECOfest and will benefit Impact Thrift Store’s charities. For those readers visiting from Impact who are new to painting, here’s the 411 on the products used…

The pink base color is called Henrietta by Annie Sloan chalk paint. I applied 2 coats of this. Chalk paint was sponsored by our friends at Phantastic Phinds and is available for sale at their shop in Erdenehim, PA. No priming or prepping necessary.

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Henrietta

The drawers had such great details to highlight so I chose to paint a coat of Miss Mustard Seed’s milk paint in Linen (available here). It did what milk paint does best and produced some subtle crackling around the details. I added antiquing wax to highlight it.

Linen milk paint over Henrietta chalk paint

I also distressed the lines of the drawers to further highlight the details.

For the inside, I chose to use a wash of Ironstone milk paint to highlight the real wood grain. This piece was a combination of real wood and veneer. The top was super shiny veneer actually.

Ironstone milk paint drawers

I used Miss Mustard Seed’s furniture wax on the entire piece. I love how that wax smells.

wax

I never took a true before pic but this was a classic 1970s dining room buffet.

before

I had a vision of repurposing it into a changing table/dresser in a nursery. This piece has some serious storage that would accommodate a nursery just right and it is extremely sturdy!

pink sideboard

How have you made an impact this Earth Day?

April 15, 2013treasure

stool sample

Danaclover market, miss mustard seed milk paint, paint, painting, selling, workshop 4 Comments

Honestly, I couldn’t think of a better title for this post.
Today I want to share a sample of what happens when mixing milk paint colors.

milk painted stool & vintage counting board

But first a little eye candy from the Circa Dee space at yesterday’s Clover Market. We had an amazing day. I can’t thank everyone enough! The crowds were out in full force and were snatching up lucky finds like crazy. Here’s a bit of what we had to offer with more booth photos posted on facebook…

Clover Market April 2013

Back to the post at hand…

milk painted stool & vintage counting board

Last Thursday was the first milk paint workshop where we tackled mixing the paint, using it as a stain, wash and using hemp oil. I used this little plywood stool as a sample applying ironstone milk paint to the top.

milk painted stool & vintage counting board

At the end of the class we got crazy and mixed up the remaining colors which introduced this magnificent mauvey pink color.

milk painted stool & vintage counting board

Tricycle + Mustard Seed + Kitchen Scale + Ironstone = Mauve

milk painted stool & vintage counting board

If you want to walk on the wild side with us this week, there is still time to join. On Thursday we will be focusing on using the bonding agent to produce a controlled, opaque finish. And next week, we’ll be getting chippy!

I know there is an interest in a Saturday workshop. I hear ya loud and clear my milk paint loving friends!

Let’s shoot for a date in June where we’ll do the entire workshop series in one day. Don’t quote me just yet but what does June 15th look like for those of you that are interested?

I’d like to schedule something before everyone starts taking off on summer vacations and May is pretty much out of the question for me with the upcoming nuptials and all!

Happy Monday!

April 3, 2013home

the dresser in the window

Danabefore and after, diy, miss mustard seed milk paint, painting, selling 2 Comments

Oh heey! By now you may have caught a glimpse my latest dresser on instagram or facebook. I snatched this image from my friend Denise at The Painted Home. She is a fellow vendor at the new Serendipity Shops of Doylestown.

6257ead698ad11e29b7122000a1f9a64_7

The dresser is in my window display at Serendipity. I am very excited about windowscaping. I imagine that windowscaping will take on a life of its own much like my seasonal (or monthly) mantelscaping has at home! I just have to figure out the best way to capture a photo of the windowscape without the glare of the window. More about that later but for now let’s talk about the dresser, shall we?