You will be mine, you will be mine, all mine.

Friday, December 7, 2012

You will be mine, you will be mine, all mine.

I have gone on and on about my love for empire-style furniture, right? On and on. Do I personally own a piece? Why, yes, FINALLY!

All my painted empire furniture has gone off to other homes. That's because I have done large pieces that I don't have room for.

Enter the Low Boy. I saw this little beast in the dark basement of a consignment shop and paid too much money for it, meaning I couldn't paint it and sell it, except to just break even. No. This one would be mine. MINE!

I thought I would refinish it and paint the trim Old White but in the light of day I saw all the flaws I didn't see in the dark. Yikes. This one would get painted. Eventually.

Finally, weeks later I was walking by and thought "Hey, I have some free time." I grabbed paint and went about experimenting with brush stroke and layering technique.

I don't have a 'before' picture but you've seen enough tattered furniture to know what it looked like.

I decided to keep it really rustic. That meant brush strokes going willy-nilly and lots of paint mixing. Followed by lots of sanding. Followed by "Ewww." Followed by more painting. And so on and so on until the end. Or until I tackle it again. Who knows.

The wood was split a couple places but that's character, right?

And whatever happened to this veneer?

I experimented with different browns and sanding techniques. I have to say, I love water and scotch-brite.

And the same with white paint. Paint sand wax paint sand wax paint sand wax. Repeat.

I have an extremely fragile and broken stained glass window that I've kept but couldn't really use. It now graces the top of the low boy and I really like it there. I'll paint the frame ... eventually. I have a sheet of glass set in over the leaded glass, to keep it safe. I need to get a piece cut for underneath so the window is supported.