70s 6-drawer Credenza - Roadside Find

This is not technically "My" roadside find, however, it was indeed a roadside free furniture piece that one of my NEW customers found. The previous owner helped her load it in her truck, and then it found its way into her garage. She happened across Jindra's Antiques and saw some of our painted furniture, and that is how it happened into TheSmithGarage. Here are some before shots of the credenza.

It was blonde wood with some bluish gray wash over it. It was missing two doors, but all the drawers were in working condition. She is redoing her she asked that I paint it a light gray / almost white. So I made up a new color from CeCe Caldwell's Simply White (3 parts) and Seattle Mist (one part). I painted one drawer to see if it was the color she wanted.

Here it is against our white entertainment center and a piece of driftwood the customer had. She was happy with the color and dropped of the piece last weekend. It is a beast - solid wood.

It took about 7 oz. of my special brew to paint this. It is 6' long so you can imagine the presence this gives in a living or dining room. This picture is after it was painted, lightly sanded (220 grit), and waxed with CeCe Caldwell's Clear Wax (Tea Time!). I will leave the decorating to mt customer, but here are a few more shots of the finished  piece.

So happy to save this one from the fireplace. I trust my customer is happy with how it turned out. She has a table she may want me painting when she gets to her dining room remodel.

Mr. Smith

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

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 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...

Funky Junk Interiors Saturday Night Special
Domestically Speaking Power of Paint Party
Primitive and Proper
Beyond The Picket Fence under $100
Miss Mustard Seed
Redoux

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

Linked to:
Funky Junk Interiors
Coastal Charm Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Primp

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

Linked to:

Redoux

Miss Mustard Seed Furniture Feature Friday

Decorating Insanity

Coastal Charm - Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

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

Simple French Side Table

This is a story about a Simple French Side Table. Here is the table I received from a friend. Mrs. Smith and I bought a few pieces from her, but this was one of those - "You can have that, or it will go in the dumpster."

Well, this is the latest picture I could find before painted. You see, I had to add quite a bit of wood filler to the plywood top as the layers had begun peeling and chipping away from each other.

As I have begun painting with CeCe Caldwell's paint, I have been trying out some different styles with the many colors I have to work with - examples for customers to The Smith Hotel. While in Seattle with Mrs. Smith, we stopped in a few shops that lent me some inspiration. One place we happened upon (actually Mrs. Smith sought it out) was Watson Kennedy. We actually got to meet Ted. He had some great pieces in the First & Spring Store. Another store we visited was Salt & Sea Vintage Home on Bainbridge Island. So from these two stores, I decide I needed a two tone piece that looked old and weathered. I didn't want to try it on a large piece since I wasn't sure how it would turn out - so why not a free small table - a simple table.

I chose a Seattle Mist and Alaskan Tundra Green. I felt they would go on light and I could do some distressing and throw some glaze into my wax to make it look older. But I did want to also keep the table simple, something you might find in a cottage on the outskirts of Paris.

So here it is after the paint - a mere 30 minutes to get both colors on. Wow - CeCe Caldwell's paint is very easy to apply and clean up is simple as well (rinse the brush with warm water). In trying some different things with a new paint, I have sanded prior to waxing and sanded after waxing. I have found both to be fairly easy with this paint and wax. Either way, I have found that sanding polishes the paint slightly, but gives it a great look wherever the brush stokes have remained. One thing that I will say is that if you sand after waxing, the sand paper gums up pretty quickly. Sanding prior to wax renders more "dust", but I can use the same piece of sandpaper on the whole piece of furniture. I am all about cheap - so I sanded this one prior to waxing.

Did I mention the CeCe Caldwell's wax smells like honey? Maybe some tea with those crumpets?

After waxing, I used some Valspar Antiquing Glaze on the wax before it cured. I spread it out as thin as possible - trying to get an aged look, but not too dark. Here is what we came out with.

I added a simple brass ball pull for the hardware. There is no drawer, but the pull adds a little something that finishes the piece. Here are some other shots (thank you sun for coming out for one day).

So there you have it. Please tell me what you think - do you like the look? Is it simple? Would you put it in your French countryside cottage?

Until next time....

Mr. Smith

Linking to:
Primitive and Proper
Domestically Speaking

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!