It's been a while since the last post, but things have been just crazy busy! My mom and I have so much to do before Thanksgiving rolls around. We have so much that we are going to put out for Christmas and man!!! Our booth is FULL right now!!! We DID end up getting the WINDOW unit! (I have GOT to get some pics on here that are more recent!!!) I just finished up this coat tree the other day, and although it's all done and ready to go, it will wait with some other items that are being finished. This piece started out all rickety and loose and ugly ugly ugly dark brown. So... I decided to brighten it up a bit and totally shabby it up! You can't really see it all that great here, but you have to see the whole thing.
So... to get this look I cleaned it really good. I took it apart, which is the BEST way to clean it and prep it for paint. I lightly sanded it and then used a paint on primer (which I forgot the name and it's at my mom's house but you can use whatever brand you prefer.) I used a basic white primer that we got from Lowe's. When painting the primer, I didn't completely cover it. It was more like a quick brush over. Then I used a coral pink flat paint from Valspar (I always use Valspar because it has my name in it, lol!) and dry brushed it over the white paint. Again, I didn't coat it completely, just a quick brush over. Finally, I used Minwax Polyurethane clear coat in satin. I only used one coat but completely coated the tree and then went over some spots vigorously to rub off some of the paint down to the brown. The white turned more of an antique white color which (in my opinion) really set this piece off. I was totally in love with it and my mom didn't want to get rid of it! This was the final product.
I just LOVE this look, and the best thing about the shabby chic look is that it doesn't have to be perfect. I keep telling my mom, "The best pieces are the 'oops' pieces!"
I do have to say this... I am so bad about getting "before" pics. I should really start just taking my before pics as soon as we get the pieces. I am so sorry about not doing a better job of this blogging thing. I hope to get better.
