Showing posts with label TheSmithGarage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TheSmithGarage. Show all posts

Saturday, June 23, 2012

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

Linked to

Miss Mustard Seed
Primitive and Proper
Coastal Charm
Domestically Speaking
Redoux
Decorating Insanity
I Should Be Mopping The Floor

Friday, June 8, 2012

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