Pickled Oak Pedestal Table - CeCe Simply White

Remember back when I worked on those two round oak side tables (here)? Not too long after I got those tables, I had an opportunity to get a full-sized oak pedestal dining table (with a leaf). I went back to find a before shot - and everything I have is with the table in pieces...

Sorry for the mess, this is the side yard during the Summer - TheSmithGarage extension. You can see the pedestal - it was split when we picked it up - the center piece is not supposed to be in two pieces. The top is the wood colored top under the green/white one (which is another project for another blog). And the little legs under the table top is another table that Mrs. Smith already finished and sold over at Oregon Street Antique Mall (don't think she blogged on that one).

I did some work on the pedestal - dowelled and glued it back together. I also had to sand the lacquer off of the top with a belt sander - it was just way to thick to give the pickled affect on the oak. I did not sand the pedestal or feet. I used CeCe Caldwell's Simply White (you can buy it here), which has become a favorite of mine after painting so many bright & cheery colors. Something about Simply White just gives off a good feeling.

Here is a shot I got after painting the pedestal and feet, but before I got to the top. You can see that I brought the lacquer off all the way to the bare wood - most of the stain came off as well.

Another great thing about CeCe Caldwell's Chalk and Clay Paint - no fumes - I did most of the work on this indoors where it was a comfortable 70 degrees (instead of outside where it is about 105 degrees). I did not water down the Simply White. I actually keep a separate bucket with a little water in it, and dip my brush in there occasionally when needed. I feel like I have better control of what I am doing. The key to this style is getting the paint wet enough to seep into the grain of the wood, but not cover the wood entirely.

Here is a shot ofter all the paint is on that I want. The next step will be sanding for me.

I took the table back outside for the sanding. After sanding, it is "Tea Time" - that is another term for CeCe Caldwell's Clear Wax - smells like HONEY! That's because it is 100% green, made with beeswax - love it. I let it cure overnight then buffed it out.

So here are a few shots of the finished look.

I love the satin finish gleaming in the sunlight!

I took this shot so you could see the seam where I had to fix the split. A little line of "demarcation", but another "SAVED" piece of broken furniture.

So glad I had an opportunity to work on this table. It will go in TheSmithHotel booth at Oregon Street Antique Mall this next week. So if you are in Redding and looking for a great deal on a solid oak table that was once destined for the wood pile - here it is!

I am looking forward to a few custom jobs over the next few weeks. Check back to see how they turn out.

Mr. Smith

French Countryside Tall Dresser

In the spirit of The Tour de France, this is a story about a shabby tall dresser that was in much need of love. Inspired by some fine furniture pieces that I have seen on my travels (none of them from France, but definitely French inspired), I set out to give this tall dresser new life.

First - a picture of a 1958 Dunelt 10-speed.

This is the bike you may have found Brian Robinson riding - the first Briton to finish the Tour de France and also the first to win a stage in the 1958. It's had better days...haven't we all.

Here is a shot of the dresser in the "extended" Smith Garage - something we try to do in the Summer weather to get outdoors where there may be a breeze. Inside the garage - it gets too hot to work in the evenings.

My inspiration - a tall kitchen cabinet I saw while Mrs. Smith was walking through Anthropologie.

I know it is hard to see, but there are tones of rust, yellow and gold underneath the gray finish. So I went through my CeCe Caldwell's colors and came up with Georgia Clay, California Gold, Omaha Ochre, and Seattle Mist to try to get close enough to produce something Anthropologie might display in one of their stores.

Mrs. Smith helped me on this one as well. She has been itching to paint more, so here we go. Some of my worst fears - getting bit by a Rattle Snake on a long run in the woods, swimming in the water with beavers, and painting with Mrs. Smith. You ask why? Well, when you are running, your heart rate is elevated allowing the venom to course through your veins rapidly....  Oh... You were wondering why I fear painting with the Mrs. - you should go read Mrs. Smith's blog about that. I am getting better - it has only been a couple of weeks. And this piece turned out great, so she is getting better. It goes to show that anyone can paint with CeCe Caldwell's paint.

Now that is out of the way, let me show you what we did with this dresser. We painted on spots of Georgia Clay. After that dried (not long since we are out in the heat), we applied California Gold, and then a good covering of Seattle Mist. On the top, I had some residual oil/candle wax coming through the paint after everything dried. I slapped a coat of white latex paint over the spot to seal it from coming up into the chalk and clay paint. Then when I reapplied my CeCe Caldwell's paint, I forgot I had used California Gold and thought I was using Omaha Ochre - so - it got a little edgy. Four CeCe colors on one piece. Here it is before we started sanding it back down.

So you can see the Seattle Mist was over the whole thing, but we didn't paint it on real thick. When I started sanding, I started with 150 grit, and it worked great, so I didn't go any coarser. Here is the sanded piece - prior to wax.

Here is the important part of bringing out the colors - wax! The colors are there, you can see them, but they are not vibrant. The CeCe Clear Wax cures into the layers of paint and brings the colors out in a great way. Here it is waxed and buffed - keeping the original hardware untouched.

Sorry for the mess, but as in all my blog posts - this is a "garage" scene. This will go to TheSmithHotel side of the house, and Mrs. Smith will pretty it up in her booth space. I will leave you with a parting shot - The bike and the dresser....

Time for a ride...

Mr. Smith

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Cycling Fan - Tour de France Dresser

I am a cycling fan. I have been known to ride over 100 miles in a day, and I love old bikes too. Here is one I have had for some months, and I just was able to add some new whitewall tires today.

This is a Schwinn Spitfire 24", and it has been saved from a scrap heap. It is ready to ride for some little girl (just not Drama Queen since she is not fond of rust).

But you are looking at the title and your thinking - what about the dresser? And this is a Schwinn, not a French bike.

Well, the Tour de France is coming up shortly. I will not be watching it on the tele, but I will follow it on-line most days. Boy Wonder has been dying to get another "flag" dresser. He cleaned out one of his "wood-colored" dressers today and brought it out to the living room - in hope of a transformation. He asked for the Swiss flag, but in a strange turn of events, I mentioned France and he said YES! Which brings us back around to my tribute to the Tour de France.

Here is the plain-Jane dresser prior to it's transformation...

We picked this up second-hand some time ago. I think it may be a Target dresser - not real hardwood or anything, just particle board and laminate stickers to make it look like wood. Here comes the beauty of painting with CeCe Caldwell's paint. It sticks to anything, plastic, steel, wood, stickers, and apparently furniture upholstery. Notice at the time of this photo I had only Simply White and Traverse City Cherry on top of the dresser. Of course this was when we were thinking Swiss (Red with a white cross). So throw some Maine Harbor Blue in the mix, and you've got yourself a French flag...

As you can see, the wax is still curing. Once it sits overnight - sometime after church on Sunday - I will buff it out to give it a shine, and back into his room to take on a few more years of growing. Sorry for the mess in the background - but you do get to see inside TheSmithHotel instead of the normal "garage scene".

Here it is back in Boy Wonder's room - decor by him, not me.

I wanted to get this out there tonight, because I am about to get pretty busy on TheSmithGarage. I have a lot of furniture to get painting on - including a PIANO!

This is a big job ahead of me, but I am totally excited. I am going to have a piano guy come out and check it out before I get too deep into it. If it doesn't work out, you will see some of this wood going into other projects. If it does turn out to be a workable project, you will see this beauty upcycled back to life - and some lucky customer will love it.

Make sure you come back around to see what we have in store for the next few weeks as we prepare for a great new adventure this Fall.

Mr. Smith

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Piano Ready for Paint!

I am so excited and I don't even play the Piano!

Come back to see what we are planning for this Upright Grand Piano with CeCe Caldwell's Paint.

Mr. Smith

CeCe Caldwell Display Piece

It has been a few months since I worked on this, but I don't believe I have had the chance to share it with you. Knowing that we would start carrying CeCe Caldwell paints, I started to dream of how we could display the paints, and keep them safe overnight instead of bringing them in every morning and setting up. I came across this 70s octagonal side cabinet - something you might find in a family room of the Partridge Family.

So this is how I picked it up, It was painted of course with an off white, and antiqued with some dark stain on the door carving. Can you see the white knobs on the door here - they blend right in. Wait until you see what Drama Queen does with the doors. Here is another picture of the inside.

This was a great start - as it takes up limited floorspace (always precious when you are trying to sell everything you have at a show). Many shows that we attend, we get a 10 x 15 or even as small as a 10 x 10. We end up stacking much of our furniture, so my thoughts went to HEIGHT. I also came across an old mercury-vapor streetlamp that would top off this piece with some interest. Then my plan came together. I could affix a steel pipe to the base of the cabinet, drill a hole through the top that would stabilize the pipe. I cut out two oak rounds to use as shelves (and use pipe attachments to attach the shelves). I had to buy a few conversion pieces to get from the pipe size to the size of the mercury lamp hole. Of course - no pictures of all this happening, but really - it did happen.

Drama Queen did a great job helping me paint the bottom octagonal piece. Because of it being a display piece, I tried to use several CeCe colors in creating the piece. Here are the colors that were used - Maine Harbor Blue, Vintage White, Simply White, Omaha Ochre, Spring Hill Green, Kissimmee Orange, Carolina Sun Yellow, Mesa Sunset, Memphis Blue, Santa Fe Turquoise, Georgia Clay, Pittsburg Gray, and Seattle Mist. So here it is - the reveal - a few pictures from different shows.

See the detail that Drama Queen put into the door.

A very small footprint indeed. I also added a lock to the the door so I can store items below.

And here it is full of CeCe Caldwell's paint. Lots of fun doing this one. Once again - a piece destined for the dump is restored and used again. If you are interested in trying out CeCe Caldwell's paint for furniture, stop by the shop at www.thesmithhotelboutique.com or see us upstairs at Oregon Street Antique Mall.

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CeCe Simply White Oak Side Table

Always wanting to try something new that I haven't yet had the chance to do. Mrs. Smith and her dad (Marshal) picked up a pair of Oak Side Tables. They look like the big Oak pedestal tables, only mini... Here is a picture of one before I started in.

As you can see by the pictures - I worked on this while I was at the Mall still - I think this one was Sunday, since Mrs. Smith picked it up on Saturday. Not bad shape - it was a bit dried out, like it had been left outside in the sun or rain, no major damage, although you can see that one toe was missing...

Mrs. Smith has been wanting me to "pickle" an oak piece - especially an oak table. We picked up a full-size oak pedestal a few weeks back, but I wanted to practice before doing that. So to the best of my knowledge, and from reading a few blogs, and from seeing what she wanted in a few pictures...I set out to impress her with my talents.

I watered down some CeCe Caldwell's Simply White (it is the brightest white) and applied it somewhat thinly. I wanted the paint to get into the grain of the wood, but not cover the wood completely. After it dried - here is what it looked like.

Well covered from this picture, but ready for some sanding to get the majority of the paint off. I used a combination of 100 grit and 150 grit to get down to the wood color, but leaving the white that had soaked into the grain of the wood. It actually polished it up pretty nicely. A thin coat of CeCe Clear wax over the entire piece. I apply the wax with a 2" chip brush from Harbor Freight - nothing fancy, just a natural bristle brush does the trick. After letting it sit around for about 2 hours, I buffed and polished the wax into the piece. It comes out with a very high luster finish. Here it is happily displayed for mall walkers to see for the last few hours of the show.

Mrs. Smith was very happy with the finish, "...as am I". The plan, finish the other one with the same finish to have a matching pair to sell. That will probably get finished up this weekend. Then on to bigger and better things - the large oak pedestal table (with a leaf). Be looking for that in a future post. As for this one, we picked this table up for $3 - don't tell our customers - great deal hugh? Just wait until someone sees a pair of these babies in the booth...

Don't forget to be checking Mrs. Smith's blog as well - TheSmithHotel - she actually needs to get a blog post on the "other" table in the first picture and second picture above. (Updated - here it is - Mr.Smith finally let me paint ).

And here is an updated shot of both tables - stacked high in our booth.

...And Mrs. Smith's table at the bottom of the stack (only because it is the largest).


See you next time...this post is linked to...

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Mr. Smith

Lion's Head Nightstand - Destin Gulf Green

Another day at the Mount Shasta Mall - wow these mall shows are brutal - 9am to 9pm. I will have to say I can do quite a few painting demonstrations in 12 hours. I worked on 3 pieces (maybe 4), but I will blog on one tonight - since it's late and I have to get up and go back to the mall in the morning.

Here is the piece - it has a great lion's head brass pull on it.

Great legs, huh? So Mrs. Smith wanted me to paint with Destin Gulf Green (DGG) first, then with Simply White and sand it back so the DGG comes through (totally forgot to take a picture of the DGG). Here it is after the Simply White...

Just then - I had one of our very good customer's (Ms. Tony - we call her Tony, but I wanted you to know she was a she and not a he). Well Tony really liked the piece, but she wanted more of the DGG to come through then what was appearing. So - I went back and painted over the Simply White with the DGG, leaving lots of white...

Not sure I like it - little too "beachy" for me, but I sure hope Tony likes it when she comes back. I had one other person really like it that came by and she was sending her friend back the next day. So we will see who shows up first on Sunday morning. I hope it's Tony and I really hope she likes it.

Here it is under some different light - looks a little more green...

Please let me know what you think - too beachy OR way cool - I want it!

Mr. Smith

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Antiquing an Antique with CeCe Caldwells Paint

TheSmithHotel (a.k.a. TheSmithGarage) is doing yet another show this weekend, but it is a little less involved with a lot less stuff. In fact - here is what is there...

This is a promotional show at The Mount Shasta Mall in Redding, CA - specifically to get the word out that TheSmithHotel is selling (and using) CeCe Caldwell's paint. One of the great things about this show - is I get to demonstrate the ease of painting with CeCe Caldwell's paint throughout the entire weekend. I selected a piece for this afternoon that Marshal (Mrs. Smith's dad) picked up and used glue and wood-putty to get it back together. Problem is - I didn't get a good before picture - totally forgot. I zoomed in to pick up at least the top - and here it is...

It's the unfinished piece in the middle - with the putty hole from what used to be a lamp stand. I believe this was a reading table (with a lamp) that you might put next to your couch or recliner. So to get the perfect antique look that I was looking for - I started with a base coat of Santa Fe Turquoise.

Then...I added a little Spring Hill Green...a little...

I'm sure the old guy on the couch was thinking..."What is this guy doing to to this antique?" So I had to move fast - only the next part was the slowest part - painting the intricate sides white, then finishing off the rest with white - I used Simply White.

So now the fun starts. I sanded with some 40 grit sandpaper. That was strong enough to get through the Simply White to bring out some of the Santa Fe Turquoise and Spring Hill Green. Then I sanded with 150 grit to get a smooth finish. Then I added Clear Wax, then rubbed in some Valspar Antiquing Glaze.

The finished piece turned out really nice - WOW! I really like it. It took some time, but the time invested really turned out a nice piece - that looks really old and worn.

Do you see my new (well, really old) box that I will be using to carry my paint. I am working on getting some of every color on the box. It fits 20 Quarts, and some paintbrushes. Looking forward to taking this case more places for future demonstrations. Come on out to Mt. Shasta Mall and see what we have.

And come back to see what piece of furniture we do tomorrow...

Mr. Smith

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French Inspired Coffee Table - Young Kansas Wheat

It has been a few weeks since my last post. Dealing with a few things around the house - along with some fun travel times at work. About a month ago, we found out that Mrs. Smith's dad (Marshal) has esophageal cancer. He is now undergoing treatment and we continue to pray for God's work and healing. Marshal is a great father-in-law, and we are all in the journey with him.

The show season is winding down - one more outing this upcoming weekend at the Mount Shasta Mall . There have been several pieces completed, just haven't had time to get them in a blog form.

So I have a coffee table that I picked up a while ago for FREE - it was a post on Craig's List. It was about 10 miles from our home, so with the price of fuel, I figured it cost me about $3 in gas to go grab it.

The white dresser behind was transformed into the Subway Masterpiece and the black dresser is still awaiting a transformation. I had just received some new colors of CeCe Caldwell's paint, so I was dying to try some of them out on our furniture. I have seen lots of two-tone pieces using the natural wood, so I decided this one would have a natural top and painted legs. I really like the Young Kansas Wheat color - it has a tan/beige look.

So I am trying to find some photos of this table completed. We moved it into the shop right after I finished it, but everywhere we have had it it has been covered up with stuff. Here are some photos I did find with the finished table.

Can you see it down there? It's behind that little white window on the floor. We had a trunk on top of it with a bunch of frames and mirrors stacked (this was at The Burlap Harlot Show).

Here is a shot at the booth upstairs at Oregon Street Antique Mall, I pulled back the burlap runner that mostly covered it. This weekend at The Mount Shasta Mall, I will not have ALL the stuff, just furniture. I will be doing furniture painting demonstrations throughout the weekend. Make sure to stop in if you are local and see how easy it is to paint your worn out and tired furniture to give it fresh new life with CeCe Caldwell's paint. I will have paint on hand and will give you some pointers on application and finish.
Until next time....

Mr. Smith

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Spring Hill Green Child's Chair

This chair would have gone great with the miniature Spring Hill Green Tablethat I finished back in March. Mrs. Smith picked up this sad little chair at a local thrift store for me to repair, and she had in mind that I paint it in Spring Hill Green from the beginning. Here is a before picture, just as I am gluing it back together with some Elmer's Wood Glue.

So, I painted this chair very lightly with CeCe Caldwell's Spring Hill Green. I wanted the oak to come through in the finished product. After getting the finish just right, I waxed it with CeCe Caldwell's Clear wax. I decided to wax it before sanding so that I would not lose as much paint when distressing the piece. It does gum up the sandpaper, but it keeps a heavy hand from sanding through all the paint. The sandpaper also creates a polished look after going over the piece. Here are a few shots of the finished piece out in the sunlight.

and a close up...

So - one more saved piece of furniture to add to TheSmithHotel. We'll bring this to TheVintage Barn Sale on June 2nd in Anderson at the Ponderosa Ranch. I'm sure it will sell there, so better get out to snatch it up if you like it...

Mr. Smith

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Art & Antiques at The Mount Shasta Mall

A new adventure awaits TheSmithGarage June 8th, 9th & 10th as I partner with local Redding Artist Dave Anderson at The Mount Shasta Mall. I guess there is an annual Antique Show to start out the Summer. Dave Anderson and I will partner up and have demonstrations throughout the weekend. Dave is a talented artist with several mediums. You may be familiar with some of his work from The Burlap Harlot Show. The elephant head at the front was one of his works.

He also painted the Ringling Bros. Tiger Poster/painting at the front next to TheSmithHotel booth.

Not being an "artist" myself - I wasn't sure what I could add, but Dave is a great talker - and he talked me into partnering with him at this event. So I will showcase furniture painting with CeCe Caldwell's paint, and Dave will showcase some of his work while I take a break. Sounds like a fun, LONG, weekend. Please come out and stop by our spot if you happen upon the mall that weekend. I don't know what I will have in store - but I am bound to bring a bunch of junk furniture and ceate masterpieces.

And I will have the CeCe Caldwell "Tower of Paint" on hand for paint purchases.

As I write this, I am working on a child's chair in Spring Hill Green as Mrs. Smith wants it finished for the Vintage Barn Sale next weekend. I am taking pictures and will get it on the blog when I have completed it.

Until next time.....

Mr. Smith

Traverse City Cherry Console

This is a piece that I have not had a chance to share with my blog friends. We have been very busy with Spring shows, and I have been painting furniture on weekends - at least some of them. Last weekend I gardened - we are supposed to plant in our zone on Mother's Day weekend (or when the snow has melted on Shasta Bally), well, both happened and the garden didn't get planted.

But - on Mother's Day Weekend we had a two-day show - The Burlap Harlot. And I actually decided to paint a piece at the show because I was tired of the dingy white, and I had a new CeCe Caldwell color - Traverse City Cherry!

The white console right-center in this picture is the before picture.

It's a nice piece, but there is not much character to it. It has been in our booth at Oregon Street Antique Mall for quite some time, and we really thought it would go quickly at the price we were asking - $60. It has  4 shelves inside, looks like it was a canning console/cabinet.

So, I was itching to paint something in my new Traverse City Cherry (Traverse City is in Upper Michigan, and they have a national cherry festival - thus the name of the CeCe Caldwell color).

I painted it during the show, and it really only took me about 2 hours to paint, sand (distress), and wax/polish. I am sure some people were amazed by the transformation. Almost had it sold, but the gal didn't want to wait around. I told her if it didn't sell that we would have it at the next two shows. I did however sell a quart of Traverse City Cherry to someone wanting to paint their front door the same color - so it was a hit.

I really liked the way the color turned out on this piece. Here is a picture of it at the show in Willows - The Vintage Country Flea Market.

As you can see, we have some other fine pieces of furniture in this shot. Doesn't that color just POP? We might just have to raise the price on that now. It has been fun trying out new colors. I just got a couple of others that I will be trying in the coming weeks - Pickerington Violet, Portland Rose, and California Gold. Come back by to see what's new at TheSmithGarage. And if you like the colors and what to give them a try yourself - check out our shop at www.thesmithhotelboutique.com.

Mr. Smith

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