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

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.

Linked to:
Decorating Insanity
Redoux
Mr. Smith

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

Linked to:
Primitive and Proper
Domestically Speaking
Beyond The Picket Fence
Primp

Metal Madness with Pittsburg Gray

This is a quick, but important post for those that are learning about the truly wonderful CeCe Caldwell's paint. It covers rust and metal with ease - one coat. I found this piece at a friends place - Junk n Treasures - for about $10. Okay - it was $10. Hopefully our customers over at Oregon Street Antique Mall haven't started following my blog yet.

It had some light rust on it, some of the paint was chipping away, and it was squeaky. The chrome on the hardware was still in excellent condition, and the Formica top with aluminum border was in great shape. Oh yes, the drawer lining needed to go and that took a little razor blade action.

So out came the wire brush, gotta love the wire brush in TheSmithGarage with an old Volkswagen Bus. That wire brush comes in handy. With a few swipes to brush off the rust and flaky paint, it was time to shake up a can of Pittsburg Gray CeCe Caldwell's paint. I have to admit, I wasn't sure how it would do. I wanted a very light coat of paint to appear that it was in original condition - didn't want brush strokes showing up.

Well, with very little time, this piece of old hospital furniture was in great shape. NO brush marks, NO sanding! Just a little WD40 on the drawer rollers got rid of the squeak.

Look at the results!

And inside...

Beautiful! And under that Formica...

It looks like it was spray painted!

But no...I did use CeCe Caldwell's Paint. It is all the rage from what I hear. And we are selling it at TheSmithHotelBoutique and at Oregon Street Antique Mall. So whether you are across the US or in our hometown of Redding, CA - you can get this very paint. It doesn't take a lot to go a long way. I hope I don't sound too "salesy" - after all I am a salesman by profession.

Let me know if you have any questions about this project or any other. Love to hear your feedback and answer questions.

Linking to:

The Shabby Creek Cottage

Decorating Insanity

Funky Junk Interiors

Domestically Speaking Power of Paint Party

Primitive and Proper

Beyond The Picket Fence

 

Here is how the paint looks at the booth.

Until next time....

Mr, Smith

Beach House Buffet - Destin Gulf Green

Mrs. Smith and I picked up this buffet in the Winter, but it has been taking up space in TheSmithGarage for long enough. Got to move this on to someone who will enjoy it - maybe in their Beach House! We do live in California, and everyone in California has a Beach House, right? At least they did before the housing bubble popped! I know, I know - sarcasm is killing the moment, just had to go there. We actually live about 2 1/2 hours from the closest Beach Houses, but people do come to Redding to furnish their homes on the Northern California Coast - so here is a great piece that will fit in your Beach House.

I chose Destin Gulf Green by CeCe Caldwell because I wanted to go BIG with color on this buffet. It had some damage on it when we picked it up, so wood filler was necessary to make it house-worthy. I also decided to primer this one, because whomever painted it prior to us receiving it had some horrible peely paint on it, and instead of having the paint fall off during the project, I decided it best to get some consistency in the coverage before applying my precious paint. Here it is before the primer - I actually used it as a workbench when I was working on the Italian Hand Carved "Map" Desk.

And below after it is primed and ready for paint.

Now CeCe Caldwell's paint does not require primer before painting. It will stick to nearly everything. I chose to prime this project first because of the finish I was looking for.

I sanded this after painting just a little, which gave it some texture from the brush strokes, and also helped to polish the clay and chalk in the paint. I waxed only the top, to give it a little more protection, but also for the look I was going for. You can notice that waxed, the Destin Gulf Green appears just a little richer. I spent some money on the hardware again for the look. I felt like the piece needed some large drawer pulls and I wanted a nickle finish to stand out, yet look clean and polished. The ball shaped pulls for the doors have a spiral carved in - almost giving them a fossil-like feel.

I left the inside white - no changes there. I can't believe how fast this went on once I finally got to it. It is now in the car waiting for delivery to OSAM (I'm just going to start using this term - it's what we say around here, so you will have to get used to it). So if you like it and you're local - stop in and check it out - and buy it! We like re-creating furniture that people will love.

It has been a very busy weekend - several projects going at one time, trying to get paint on furniture so we can show off our colors. Paint is already selling, so if you want some - we are ready for you. I hope you get a chance to try out CeCe Caldwell's so you can see how easy it is for yourself.

Until next weekend...

Mr. Smith

Linking to:
I Should Be Mopping The Floor
My entry into Domestically Speaking’s Power of Paint Party is sponsored by Appliances Online and the Bosch Washing Machines.
Primitive and Proper
Shabby Creek Cottage
The Vintage Farmhouse
Miss Mustard Seed

No Fear Chest - Kissimmee Orange

Well, sorry it has taken me a while to get another post to you all. I was on a great weekend away with my honey - Mrs. Smith. We celebrated 20 years together last week on March 14th, so we got away to Seattle without the kiddos. Good times.

Back in the garage - Drama Queen was looking to help me paint - and she wanted to paint something bright and cheery for Spring. Remember that old broken down wooden chest that a friend of ours here in Redding gave me a month ago? It was in pretty bad shape - here is a before picture when I got it home -

Somewhat chippy paint - and wood - and a few screws that had fallen loose. And no handles. But hey - it was free, I just had to pick it up and take it away!

Don't mind that shelving unit down below, we'll get to that later. This chest is ready to paint - with none other than CeCe Caldwell's Kissimee Orange. Here is the Drama Queen herself - painting away - as she puts it, "...painting is my contribution to the family business."

So we spent some quality time together listening to Air-1 and painting. We talked about our ideas for that shelving unit that will display our CeCe Caldwell's paint in the booth at Oregon Street Antique Mall . After I get the basic structure painted, Drama Queen is going to paint some creative items on the shelving unit in the different colors that we have to sell.

Here is a shot after the outside of the chest was completed.

So Drama Queen picked out the colors for this piece, including the inside. We both agreed it needed something to tone down the color just a tad, and also make it look a little cleaner inside. She picked Pittsburg Gray.

Sorry for the stuff on the side - this is after all TheSmithGarage. So from free to something of value - I would say. Not only the value of the sale, but the value of spending time with my wonderful daughter, teaching her some painting techniques - and her I.

Now a sneak peak on another great upcycled piece. Here it is during the curing process (wax). Drama Queen still has to paint her artwork on it, but it will make a great display for our paint at Oregon Street Antique Mall .

For a full update on this piece, come back this weekend and I will show you start to finish on this one.

For more on ordering CeCe Caldwell paint from TheSmithHotel - see our website at www.thesmithhotelboutique.com and visit the Carriage House.

Linking to:
Between Naps on The Porch
I Should Be Mopping The Floor
DIY Home Sweet Home
Domestically Speaking
Coastal Charm
Kammy's Korner
Primitive & Proper
{Primp}
Shabby Creek Cottage
Beyond The Picket Fence
My Repurposed Life
The Shabby Nest
French Country Cottage
Until next weekend...

Mr. Smith

Nightstand Gets Renewed Life

Here is a story of another piece of furniture - destined for certain death, but given a second chance right here in TheSmithGarage. It was quite unhappy and a little chippy on top. Picked this up at a thrift store several weeks back, and I have been searching for what to do with it. I actually hoped to save it for another few weeks and give it a treatment of CeCe Caldwell's Paint, but I am so impatient, I needed to get in the garage this weekend and do something. So this little guy got his lucky day with some ASCP Provence Blue. Here is what he looked like before any work got started.

And I used a bit of sanding on top to remove some of the chippy paint/stain/lacquer that was on top. Looking back now, I should have removed it all, now I know. I had to apply a few extra coats of paint to build up the top enough to get a smooth finish.

You might be able to tell from the pictures this is 80s furniture. It has a rolling slider drawer, which is nice, but it was badly mistreated when it comes to the finish. So - as I mentioned before - I still have some of my ASCP $40 paint in TheSmithGarage, so why not use it if I need to repair and save an old piece. Provence it is.

This is a picture taken just after I applied some CeCe Caldwell's clear wax. Did I tell you before it smells like honey. I actually was tempted to slap a bit of it on some toast and give it a try. The wax is very nice and smells great, but it does take a night to cure, even with the sunlight.

So after a good nights sleep, and a little work with the buffer - I chose a simple old brass pull to add a bit of elegance to this piece. Of coarse I painted it with my VW muffler silver (AKA - nickel).

The finished piece -

Do you love it? I hope someone does - it already went to TheSmithHotel at Oregon Street Antique Mall. I know it's not an antique, but it is something that folks are looking for at antique malls. It's funny, our many of our thrift stores in town have started raising their prices so high, that people are looking in Antique stores for furniture now. It's kind of ridiculous that a place like Salvation Army ("doing the most good" is their slogan) could charge retail prices for used beat-up furniture, but they do. So if you are local and looking for clean, quality, redone furniture for reasonable prices - come to Oregon Street Antique Mall and you just might be surprised at what you find - make sure you come upstairs and visit our space at TheSmithHotel.

On another exciting note - my shipment of CeCe Caldwell's Paint will be here this week. Can't wait to have my first "paint party" for my friends here in town.

Linking to:
Between Naps on the Porch
I Should Be Mopping The Floor
DIY Home Sweet Home
Domestically Speaking
Primitive and Proper
{Primp}
Shades of Amber
The Shabby Creek Cottage
Beyond the Picket Fence - under $100
Decorating Insanity
Miss Mustard Seed
Until next time ...

Mr. Smith

TheSmithHotel Booth and Website

Well, I am out and about this week - cross-country in Louisiana. So I thought I would show you some shots that are on my database from the past few weeks at TheSmithHotel booth at Oregon Street Antique Mall . They are not with the new camera, so please forgive the fuzziness.

Henry Link Bamboo Dresser in CeCe Caldwell's Carolina Sun Yellow

French 9-Drawer Louis XV Style Dresser in ASCP Pure White

Antique Italian Hand Carved Desk in CeCe Caldwell's Carolina Sun Yellow

AND

Union Jack Dresser Revisited

70s Nightstand Redo

AND

Child's Dresser in ASCP Provence

So there is a summary of the past - wait until you see what's coming up.

One more thing - Mr. Smith just "soft opened" her new website - www.thesmithhotelboutique.com - please check it out and sign her guestbook. Do some shopping if you like the stuff - she would be totally happy to see some new customers from accross the country.

Mr. Smith

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{Primp}

The Pile Gets Bigger

For those of you that are looking for an update...the pile gets bigger! I have been quite busy with my real job - working very hard on gaining customers for our company in states across the Midwest and the Southeast. I made a trip to MN, and I an heading to LA (Louisiana) this next week. In between I have been diligently calling, emailing, and sending out correspondence as this is the key time to gain customers in our industry (mystery remains).

Meanwhile, TheSmithGarage has been strategically piling up with furniture projects. You ask - what is strategic about furniture projects piling up? Well...I am anxiously awaiting a shipment of CeCe Caldwell's paint to arrive - I think it will ship in the next few days. I will be receiving several colors in this shipment (15 variations) and I want to try all the colors on different pieces. So I have compiled some pictures so you can know what to look for in the coming weeks when I get back in the garage and start working on these projects.

This is a steel bookshelf with sliding doors - a guy's garage shelf. I would like to go with a racing theme on this one - maybe red with a racing strip. Needs a little body work on the left side there - and some rust removal.

A very nice heavy mirror that Mrs. Smith found - think it needs a little color!

This is a tough one - give me some ideas.

Nice little end-table - needs a refreshing color.

This great little antique piece will love a new coat of paint - looking for inspiration on this one.

This was a free pickup - well, it cost me about $4 in gas. Can't wait to see what it turns out to be.

If you would like to see the other items ready for painting - take a look at my earlier post - Summary of Upcoming Projects. So I wait, and collect. Mrs. Smith has a plan for all of these items - many will go to Oregon Street Antique Mall - upstairs, and some will go to Mrs. Smith's Spring shows. But all will get a coat or two of CeCe Caldwell's paint. Really looking forward to receiving the paint in the next few weeks.

I hope you have something to say - I could use some inspiration on colors for these pieces. Please leave your comments - and come back to see the finished product!

Sandwich Board Sign

Well here is a bit of a twist. Mrs. Smith has a booth at the Oregon Street Antique Mall in Redding, CA. It is upstairs and has quite a variety of vintage finds and a few new items. The Antique Mall is well established, but they are always looking for ways to appeal to new customers. For the longest time, we have had this little fold-up sign that was really quite pitiful, but it still worked a few times.

I do not consider myself an artist, but I did offer up my services to create something to draw in a few more customers. I saw a few signs in a booth at the store that I thought would give the sign a vintage look, so I asked the owner of the signs if I could trace a stencil of them - and with her agreement, I began my journey. Cayse - the owner of Oregon Street Antique Mall, gave me the supplies I needed - so it was up to me to get the sign together.

Here is what it looked like after the first coat of paint, and putting the hardware together.

And after some stenciling and spray paint. A little sanding and some wax.

And below is what it looks like on the street - make sure you stop in if you live in Redding.



So until next time. Thank you for stopping by.

Mr. Smith

A Summary of Upcoming Projects

My day job has been keeping me quite busy, and I have nothing on the slate at TheSmithGarage to be finished anytime soon, but I thought I would peak your interest to come back and see some of these fabulous pieces that will progress over time. We always have new furniture - haha - furniture in need of work - coming in. Mostly from weekend garage sales or maybe a piece or two from thrift stores, and we love getting free stuff. Here are a few projects that will have to come under a title of their own at some point in the near future.

This is an Oak Finished TV Console Mrs. Smith and I have had for many years. Boy Wonder had it in his room until he decided a few months ago he didn't want the "giant" tv anymore - remember he wanted the Union Jack Dresser . So the tv was sold and he put the money in savings for a flat screen at some point in the future. This TV Console on the other hand - went to TheSmithGarage for me to work on and make it into something "sellable" for more than $20. That's the going rate for these on Craigslist .



So my neighbor stopped by the other day while taking his evening walk with his two Cocker Spaniels and mentioned how he restructured theirs to make it work with a newer flatscreen tv. My idea was to cut it in half - make the bottom a console and the top a desk. My neighbor said he took the top of and placed it right over the bottom part, then used the oak sides for other projects. Sounded like a really good plan, plus it would cover any hack-job my saw would do to the oak bottom. So here it is primed and ready for a nice coat of fresh paint.

Amazing, huh? You may ask why I use a primer if I plan on using any type of clay or chalk paint. Well, Some pieces of furniture just need a good base to start. I'm not sure what color this piece will get, but I thought it would be nice to have a lighter base before applying a final coat. I want this piece to have a very smooth/polished finish. Enough on this for now - so what happened to those oak sides?

Enter - two really rough "waterfall" vanity sides. Yep, that's all Mrs. Smith found sometime last Summer while garage sale hunting. The structure was sound, but much of the veneer is falling off. Here they are before I started working on them a few weeks back.



A few weekends, some wood putty, some pieces of oak from an old tv console, and some other scrap wood from a train table that boy wonder had as a child - and -

Now I know some of you are shouting - COOL! Yeah - that's what I thought too. Wood and furniture that some would have discarded for a landfill or co-gen power plant - Mr. Smith has made a masterpiece! See - I have some skill - and some might call me an artist. We really do like upcycling whatever we can. So you can see there is quite a bit of putty on this, I want to get a fairly smooth finish - and I still have a lot of sanding to do on this yet. I will not be using primer on this piece - mainly because this will be our display piece at Oregon Street Antique Mall for our CeCe Caldwell's Paints . With clay and chalk paints - you don't always need a primer on bare wood. I like to do it when I have a lot of wood putty or if the piece has been resurrected from total destruction, but I won't primer this piece to make a point to how good CeCe Caldwell's paint is. I will most likely paint several colors on this piece, then have someone script the color name over the color, so folks get to see the colors right on the display shelf. Great idea - eh?

Here is another project awaiting paint. This is a "dumpster dive" dropleaf table. Now I may have mentioned this in passing a few weeks back. I didn't actually dive in myself - although I would have if I saw this in there. A friend of mine from church called Mrs. Smith about it when she was getting her nails done at the shop where I also get my hair cuts. Mrs. Smith in turn called me and said I needed to go pick up a table. So as the story goes, they get a lot of folks dumping stuff in their dumpster since it is not locked up. The nail person saw table legs sticking out of the dumpster and pulled the table out. Noby wanted it at the shop, but Mrs. Smith's friend knew she would want it. So here it is -

 It is actually a pretty old farm table. It has flat steel screws and square nuts holding the legs on.






I had to replace one of the leaf holders underneath, but other then that - it was in pretty good shape. It even has an original glass knob on the little drawer. This table is really cool, can you believe someone threw this out?

And the last piece I will cover today is that buffet you see off to the left above. We paid a little more for this one, but it is a large buffet that will surely sell for top dollar when completed. It also had a lot of damage on the drawer, and sides - plus it had some really chippy latex paint that comes off in chunks

So - please sign up to follow along on TheSmithGarage blog so you can see how these and other  upcycled pieces of furniture turn out in the near future. We are sure to see more exciting pieces come through. And if you want to purchase any of them - let me know and you can buy them next door at TheSmithHotel .

I really do want to hear from you - so let me know what color you think would go well on these pieces. Pick from the CeCe Caldwell's color chart . And sign up to come back and see them. You won't want to miss the finished products.

Mr. Smith