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

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

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

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

Another Jack from a Trashed Nightstand

Day 3 at the Mount Shasta Mall. So glad that is over. Had a very productive weekend there painting, but wow did it drag on...and on...and on.........

Mrs. Smith's dad - Marshal, picked up this trashed nightstand. He didn't get a picture of it before he worked on it, but you can see that he used some glue and putty to get it in painting condition.

So I had in mind to paint it in CeCe Caldwell's Portland Rose (a very light pink). I thought it would be a cute girl's nightstand. Mrs. Smith asked that I paint it Maine Harbor Blue - so what do you think I did? ...Maine Harbor Blue...

So having all kinds of time Saturday - I decided to go one step further and paint a Union Jack flag on the top. I used Traverse City Cherry and Simply White.

I noticed that the drawer split just a bit, so I had to take it home to TheSmithGarage and glue it overnight.

Here is is finished with one of Mrs. Smith's little chicks and a mustache man postcard. Very fun and very fast. Freehand painting now since I have done a few before. just used brush widths. Hope you enjoy, Follow and come back for a few more finished pieces from the weekend. And something extra special coming soon - Mrs. Smith paints her first piece with CeCe Caldwell's paint - and it turns out to be incredible! You will want to see it.

Mr. Smith

Linked to:
Kammy's Korner Trash 2 Treasure Tuesday
Domestically Speaking
Primitive and Proper Power of Paint Party
Beyond the Picket Fence (under $100 - yeah - way under $100)
Shabby Creek Cottage - Transformation Thursday
Redoux
Decorating Insanity

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

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

Linked to:
Kammy's Korner Trash 2 Treasure
Miss Mustard Seed
Decorating Insanity
Redoux
Primitive and Proper

Ombre 3-Drawer Nightstand

It has been a week since I have shared a piece with you - my readers - and any visitors. This last weekend Mrs. Smith and I took part in Roses and Rust Home and Garden Market. Leading up to that event, I had worked on this little nightstand and wanted to create something different from my normal refinishing.

Here is a glance at what it looked like before the paint began. I could not find a better picture before, but this gives you an idea of the hardware and color of the wood.

The top was peeling away, so I used the "tower of power" and a little wood glue to keep the top where it should be.

So I have been wanting to do an "ombre" piece - and this had just the 3 drawers I needed to have a little fun. One drawer was a little dirty, so I decided to paint the drawers with CeCe Caldwell's Simply White. That really cleaned them up and created a finished look on the entire piece.

I used Georgia Clay as a color for the bottom drawer, then reduced down for each drawer by using Vintage White. The middle drawer was one part Georgia Clay and a half part Vintage White, and the top drawer and structure of the piece is one part Georgia Clay and 2 parts Vintage White. It created an almost "pink" tone to the piece. I can't say I love it, but I hope someone else will.

Please tell me what you think. I do appreciate the feedback. New pieces are bound to surprise. If you find the blog fresh and new - please follow along and I will be sure to "intrigue".

Mr. Smith