Remembering “Antiquing” Kits from the 1960’s

Up-cycling is nothing new…Americans have been doing it forever (and trust me 55 years seems like forever).  Does anyone remember the old “antiquing” kits from the 1960’s?

I realized recently that I had about 55 years ago, what was probably my first experience with up-cycling furniture.. A friend sent me a pic of a piece of furniture her grandmother “antiqued” around then. Look closely and you’ll see little flecks of paint.

table

Small table “antiqued” 55 years ago

It reminded me of an old vanity my mom bought for our cabin on the river and an antiquing kit. She probably bought the kit at our local Davis Paint store. I was just a kid, but remember helping to paint this vanity one summer.  I even remember where we put it to paint it. It was outside by the tire swing. Crazy things you remember. You first painted a base coat, which was off white. Then you somehow distressed it with this really, really ugly green. The final touch was putting the green on a toothbrush and flicking little dots strategically all over. I think that was to represent worm holes maybe. I just remember it looking like mold on a piece of off white furniture. That vanity would bring big bucks now. I’m sure I  have a pic of it somewhere. May have to look sometime. It had drawers on both sides of a lower shelf and a mirror of some kind attached.  It looked a little like this one, but not near so fancy.  At that time, it would NOT have been considered an antique, just an old vanity no one wanted and I’m sure my mother paid next to nothing for it.  It was for the cabin!

antique vanity

I wish the vanity we had looked as nice as this one.

It made me realize that, as a family, we’ve been into painting, upcycling, and refinishing, making things old new again for a long time. Mom and Dad went on to really refinishing furniture. They did a lot of really nice things. Kathy and I are still using furniture they refinished. Kathy remembers them mixing up some kind of concoction with linseed oil and a sealer of some kind. Beautiful wooden pieces like that, I would keep as is. But give me something that needs a new life and I’m ready to paint! So, maybe I should be advertising on SharSum Paint that I have over 50 years experience upcycling furniture. : ) Dad even made, by hand, bookcases for Kathy and me. We still have these. We can’t bear to part with them…they are not attractive at all, and not very sturdy, but he lovingly fashioned them for us out of the lumber from the outhouse  when he bought the rights to tear down the cabin and the outhouse from the Corps of Engineers. : ) Yes, he was quite the jokester.

Projects Painted and Sold Using Missouri Limestone Chalk-based Paint

It’s been awhile since I added sold projects, so thought I’d update and add a few.

This has to be my favorite piece I’ve sold. It was shipped all the way to Virginia. This was a watercolor technique I came up with, staining the wood with a paint wash. Read all about the Rags to Riches story of Sir Albert on my blog!

The unassembled parts of a hutch we recently finished for a client. Too big to put back together in my house. Don’t you just love the decoupaged knobs and drawer sides?

This dining room set is one of my favorite ones we’ve painted and sold.

Another favorite set.

We even paint and sell jewelry boxes.

Yes, this pink one is really a jewelry box.

This one was actually a gift. It is a memory box I made for my sister with a vintage photo of my mom and her sisters decoupaged on the top. Have a photo of your own? We have more jewelry boxes. We can copy your photo and make one for you!

This client owned set was just what she was envisioning. We even painted books to go in the basket we painted for one of the nightstands.

We paint and sell smalls, too. Like these vintage sewing machine drawers.

We have turned several Queen Ann captain chairs into colorful, whimsical works of art. This one we donated to my grandson’s kindergarten classroom.

Love how this one turned out!

We had fun with this set. Client purchased it to donate to a heart charity auction.

We painted a bunch of these cute little vases. Can paint these with your color choices. I love filling mine with fresh blooms from my yard.

This is a cute little cabinet we reinvented with a farmhouse look, custom painted with client color choice. We can do that. Just ask!!

This was a little bench I painted with Missouri Limestone Psint Company’s January and Crepe Myrtle. Stencils were cut using my Silhouette Portrait machine and contact paper.

This is another piece I really hated selling.  I was so wishing I had a 4 season room.  I would have kept this little table set in a heartbeat.

a4tablechairs

This 1880’s sofa table is very long.  It really needed a paint job so we gave it one.  I distressed this piece with vaseline.  : )

1880sofatable

The original use for this spool was for electrical wiring a Lowe’s.  We transformed this into a little table, just perfect for a beach house.  I called a friend who had just purchased a beach house as a second home.  She thought so, too.  It is now happily content in its new home.  : )

spooltable

I had this waterfall set and custom painted it for a customer.  She wanted the dresser to be gray with some of the wood still showing.  The wardrobe’s inspiration was from a piece she saw on Pinterest.  We even found the same exact vinyl design on Amazon.

dresserfinishedwardrobefinishedwardrobefinished1

Another Steam Punk look for a customer that loves the look.  The middle piece of marble was broken on this coffee table and had been replace by a piece of glass.  We covered a thin board with this map fabric from Jo-Ann’s and it fit perfectly under the glass.  Gave it a black paint job and sealed it with poly.

steampunktable

This was such a fun project!  This dated wooden nautical clock was blah, until I turned it into a Steam Punk look with a little black paint and wax.

nautical-clock

Love Pinterest.  That’s where we got the idea to take chairs and turn them into a bench.  The bench is 3 chairs put together.  We used the back legs of the 4th chair to create the sides.  This bench sold with a table and chair set my friend was selling. Love how it all turned out.

bench-12

bench-1

This is one of my first “restoration hardware” looks I did.  I really enjoy trying out different painting techniques.

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I loved painting the gray ombre desk so much, I painted the dresser that matched it the same way. The lady that bought the desk snatched up the dresser right away.ombredresser

I didn’t sell this one.  This is my front door, and my wrought iron furniture I have in my front yard.  The door is metal.  I did this about 3 months ago and still haven’t sealed it.  I’m not sure I will.  It is holding up well.

frontdoorplantstanddoorandfurniture

This hutch and desk was a drab, yellowish color and had seen better days.  Painting it with varying shades of pink made all the difference in the world.

pinkblushdeskhutch

This is one of my all time favorite pieces.  I would have kept this one if I had the room in my house.  finalpicfinalpicatnightdeskhutch3

We had another client who had 6 chairs that needed painting.  We took that project on and delivered them back home this past week.  They look gorgeous with the dining room table that was handcrafted by the husband.  A beautiful set at the fraction of what a new one would cost.

chairspaintedforclient

Painted chairs – Missouri Limestone Paint – January


This little vanity table was a family heirloom.  It had been “antiqued” by the client’s grandmother back in the 1960’s.  Read more about that here.  The client had admired the Ombre desk I had completed and so the vanity has the same type of look, with the addition of a stencil to give it a french-style look.


desk set

Ombre Desk Set – painted in varying shades of gray – Missouri Limestone’s Chalk-based Paint – Winter Gloves, Sunday Silver and Gray Goose. Lamp is painted with Indigo.

desklamp_indigo

Desk Lamp – Painted with Indigo


ombredesk_finalhome

Ombre Desk in it’s new home – 9 year old owner is said to be very excited. : )

bench

Piano/Storage Bench – painted with Trading Post

pet bed

Pet Bed – upcycled from a drawer – Painted with Coal Shovel

Lamp painted with Vintage Coral.

Lamp painted with Vintage Coral.

Spigot Planter

Spigot Planter – painted with “Clothesline”

Easter Candy Jars

Easter Candy Jars

fliptoptable

Small Tilt Table – Painted with Grannie’s Lace

cupboard green_memories

Memories Photo holder – painted with Coal Shovelv

sharsum_spigot1

Spigot towel rack painted with “Clothesline”

sharsum_smtable

Small Detailed Cabinet – painted with Dark Roast on top (with poly sealer)  and Zinc on bottom (with clear wax and dark wax in detail area)

smalltable_finalhome

The small table is sitting happily in its new home. Looks like the colors go perfectly with the decor in the home.

Paint tip – keep chalk-type paint and brush from thickening when working on a project

When working with chalk-based paint, it will tend to thicken the longer it is exposed to air. I like to pour the amount I think I’m going to use in a small container. This is helpful for two reasons:  it keeps from you from contaminating the jar of paint with your brush and if you drop it you don’t have to clean up as big a mess. Just sayin’. 

So, as you are waiting for one coat to dry before applying another, you need to make sure to cover your brush and paint. It doesn’t take but 15 or 20 minutes for a coat to dry so you don’t want to bother with putting everything away. This tip comes from a participant in one of our classes. I liked it so  much I’m passing it on. 

Just wet a paper towel (not dripping wet) and lay it over the brush and container. The wet towel will surround them with moist air, thus keeping the paint from thickening. 

   
 

April 16, 2016 “Make & Take It Class

SharSum Paint’s April 16 class was so much fun!  It was held at Gift Emporium and Cafe‘ in Sullivan. The projects everyone brought in to paint were just perfect.  Participants were able to paint and wax/seal their projects in the 4 hour class.  In between drying times, they learned painting, distressing, waxing, and sealing tips, talked, ate, laughed, and enjoyed seeing each other’s projects and all the colors of paint being used.

Interested in learning more about chalk-based paint and tips on applying it and the best way to seal it?  These people and others who have taken the class will tell you it really isn’t hard to do and the transformation is amazing!  To learn more about our classes, which are usually kept to 6-8 participants, visit SharSum Paint’s Painting Class page.

Update:  Our May 16, 2016 class is now full.  See our Painting Class page link above for more details on our classes.

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Let the painting begin!

plant stand

Donna’s plant stand and…..hard to see…..but a concrete bird partially (hidden by the drink tumblers), painted in “Something Blue”.

bird

Here’s a better view of Donna’s concrete bird – he will get no wax or seal. Outside items do not need it. The sun and heat will cure the paint.

waxing

Christina brought in this beautiful claw foot bench. Painted, distressed just a bit, and waxed, she is thrilled with it and it is now going from basement storage to a prime spot in her entry way.

inspecting

Inspecting her wax application.

bench

This bench is just gorgeous!

lampshade

Megan is painting a fabric lampshade. Yep! Works great!

lamp

Paint a metal lamp to go with that shade? Why not? This color “Chicory” (first coat) is just beautiful. It was named for the little periwinkle color flower that grows along Missouri roads. You will see them usually sticking out of the asphalt. It looks like Danny is taking 5. : )

finished lamp

Beautiful final project – went from a yard sale reject to a prominent place in a little girl’s bedroom.

chair

Megan also painted this cute child chair “Something Blue”. Her kids use in their bathroom for reaching the sink. She used a poly seal on it for durability. Next up for her – painting kitchen and bathroom cabinets!

cabinet door

Danny is drying Mallory’s practice cabinet door so she can see how the Varathane polyurethane works and will look. She’s now going to paint her kitchen cabinets.

bathroom vanity door

Watching paint dry on Roxanne’s bathroom vanity door, which doesn’t take long at all. This picture shows it looking gray, but it is really a dark brown “French Roast”. With a light distressing showing the golden oak door underneath, this truly has that Pottery Barn look to it. She is now going to paint the rest of her vanity. Sure glad she liked the look or her vanity might have ended up with one dark brown door. : )

shelf

Wendy brought in this small shelf to transform.

Final look - After painting this shelf with "January, she did a light wash with "French Roast".  This gave it a little bit of a vintage look and broke up the pure white look of the shelf.

Final look – After painting this shelf with “January, she did a light wash with “French Roast”. This gave it a little bit of a vintage look and broke up the pure white look of the shelf.

A great time was had by everyone.  All the projects turned out great.  It was so much fun to see them coming to life.