Monday 4 April 2016

April Projects


Somehow the end of March and the beginning of April's transition got a little lost on me, as here we are already the 4th of April!


I ended March and started April with a fun project; a side table entirely made of all sorts of reclaimed wood. The idea started when a friend gave me the table feet you see here above on the right.
With the idea of using that foot, boat wood for the top and driftwood for the other two legs I started to search for pieces.


Mum suggested to use this old wooden tray for more stability on the top and for a little more prettiness.


So now I had this whole pile of wood, weather was gorgeous so I started right away on putting the pieces together.


At the end of the day I had a table!


I then looked through my acrylics for the colors that were present in the boat wood to paint the tray so that it would match the top. I wanted a distressed paint job but never had done that before.


I looked on Pinterest for distressed paint work and found of course a great number of sources. I looked through several posts to get the idea and grabbed the ideas I liked of several sources. From one I got the idea to start with the lightest color paint and add the layers from light to dark, with some sanding in between to let different colors peek out. I started with the white and by the time everything had a layer white I just continued with my next color without waiting for it to dry (it was mostly dry).


Another blogger said to use a pretty rough brush and to be sure to not cover the wood entirely but just roughly applying the paint, ignoring all the normal rules of applying paint. I loved it! Not thinking about neatness was super liberating and I had a lot of fun, I guess that is why I continued to 'work' till almost midnight :)
From a third blogger I got the idea to use also a metal brush to rough up the paint, I liked that result a lot, and used it more than sandpaper, it was also great to let two colors blend in together.


The table top I did the next day, finding the perfect pieces, then sawing them to size and sanding both sides to give smooth corners. I used boat wood and driftwood for this, love the peeled layers of paint and the rusty details!


Those little pieces will eventually also become something, don't know yet what.


I am so happy with the result! Love the fact that everything used had a life before and get a second chance now. The wood pieces of the table top are both glued and nailed, I used a lot of reinforcement to make it stable.


At almost last minute I decided to also paint the leg that got this all started, it looked too plain and new, compared to the other pieces of wood.


The table is available in our StarHomeStudio shop, I am definitely planning to make more of this kind, I enjoyed it a lot!


I also finally started working on the two chairs that I have been procrastinating for the past few months. The amount of staples to be removed was the reason that I so much looked up to it, and I was right, but slowly there will be progress. The fact that both mum (kidney stones) and I (back and neck) got some health issues this week is not helping to speed it up, but eventually these too will become pretty :) Now that the weather is good I hope to spent a lot of time on the balcony and cleaning these two up!

Do you have any plans/ projects for this month?

7 comments:

  1. WoW, that's really cool. Girls you are just versatile artists, talented in so many ways.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow, another lovely piece.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is another delightful piece.
    My project for April...I'd like to make clothes for dolls again, I had a cool idea but still have to find time to make it!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Gorgeous table! The idea to use the tray was great!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I really like to follow your projects. Decoration of furniture is my first love and you make me think to a beautiful period of my life spent in Rome to learn restoration and decoration of furniture. Congrats you are so talented!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Lovely new project! I am practically hooked up on your furniture revival posts!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I *love* reclaimed wood furniture!!! This one is just perfect!

    ReplyDelete