Might the thought of “Why on earth would you put makeup on Furniture?” be running through your head as you read the title of this post? The van Gogh chalk paint collection has this super fun line of finishing products for your pieces that are insanely easy to use. I know there are plenty of people who read this blog and aren’t near a van Gogh Paintologist (what we call our retailers) so I’ll be doing a series of posts as I finish pieces to highlight the products in the collection and hopefully give you some inspiration to give them a shot.
A few weeks ago I hit an estate sale with a friend of mine and picked up this dresser…
(my apologies for the iPhone picture)
It needed a LOT of TLC…
I let it sit for a while and waited until it “spoke” to me about what to do with it. Crazy, right? Have a look at the finished product and you tell me what you think….
I pulled all the drawers and cleaned them off. I filled in some of the larger dents and dings all over and gave it a good washing- it was SUPER dirty. I just use warm water. If there’s some sticky spots, I may add a very small bit of soap or a very light sand. (I have used TSP in the past and it seems to retard the paint adhesion on the edges and corners… which is ok, if you plan to distress, I just wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with this one yet. If you do use TSP to clean it, wash it down REALLY WELL with warm water after cleaning to remove leftover residue and you’ll probably be fine.)
Once I washed it down, I was hearing whispers of “feminine” which you may say “DUH!” Initially, I was thinking wild, maybe even some animal print on the drawers fronts or zebra stripes. Not this time…
Subtle was the name of the game with this one and she started screaming for shine. I threw two coats of “Compassion” on the drawers and “First Kiss” on the body. Fully intending to deeply distress the body of the piece and leave the drawers pristine. I wasted to try something new.
Glass Knobs were the topic of discussion one day among the Paintologists and the more I looked at this dresser, the more I heard her shout “me, Me, try them on ME!!” ok, let’s give it a shot.
I went on a search and took a shot in the dark with some I found online. I looked at a lot of different colors and decided clear was probably the best bet to highlight the finish I was finally seeing in my mind. Once all the pieces were dry I taped out the ridges on the drawers.. TAPED?! I know.. for those who know me, I am a L.A.Z.Y. painter (I prefer to think of it as busy…). I do not care to take the time to tape as I want to paint, and I have lots of things on my mental list. Being forced to slow down and focus on a straight line is crazy.. I’ll admit it, this time I taped. <hangs head in shame>
Can you hear me? I’m whispering… “i think it was worth it…“
I pulled out the Luminous Eye Shadow from the Furniture Makeup line. Have you seen it? When you open the container it looks like this:
Kathy van Gogh refers to it as “Metallic Champagne Gorgeousness” and I tend to agree. It can give a bit of a pearl-y glow to lighter colors as well. I was going for something in the middle.
The product is a little thick. Thick is perfect when you want a heavier application, to run it through a stencil, or trowel it on for some texture. (On a bit of a side note, I just think it’s great when products have multiple uses, don’t you?) I decided to thin it a bit to control the intensity.. I was going for subtle. I took a bit of it out of the jar and transferred it to a small sample container I had. It has a lid too so I can screw it on tight if I make more than I need now and use it later. I thinned it to the consistency I wanted and used the van Gogh chalk paint collection 1″ synthetic brush to apply. Once it dried, I decided one coat wasn’t shining enough so I added a second, perfection! I told myself I would wait until all the pieces were completely finished to put it together. (I hadn’t even started the mirror at this point)
Then the knobs came in the mail… once opened, I had to see them on. H.A.D. to.
I think if you’re still reading this, you deserve a sneak peek…
Are you starting to feel it too? I got SO excited I NEEDED to finish this one… quickly. I grabbed the mirror off the front porch. (Don’t you store your extra projects there? If you’ve had a peek at the photo on my facebook page, you KNOW there isn’t room in my garage)
A quick consult with my 16-year-old daughter on color & makeup placement and I went to town. I took the glass out to avoid shadowing (seeing the paint in the mirror reflection or worse- the old finish) and completed that baby in record time.
Here’s a few shots of the finished product:
and the whole thing in the foyer of my house…
What do you think? Ready to give some Luminous Eye Shadow a try?
8 Comments
Shannon
April 25, 2013 at 12:47 PMOh she is purdy in Pink! I use my paint as makeup (war paint) why wouldn’t it be vice versa 🙂
scottiev
April 25, 2013 at 12:54 PMexactly!
coolmama72
April 25, 2013 at 1:24 PMLove it! It’s gorgeous! The glass knobs are awesome.
scottiev
April 25, 2013 at 2:36 PMThank you! I agree, those knobs made the whole piece- I can’t wait to find something else to order more for!
Robin
April 25, 2013 at 2:20 PMI must say “Stunning”… I love this as well. Amazing work…
scottiev
April 25, 2013 at 2:44 PMThank you Robin, and nice to meet you!
Vanessa maykish
June 8, 2013 at 2:37 PMOmg! I love everything you do! I need to learn more about the products you use
scottiev
June 8, 2013 at 3:06 PMWell thank you Vanessa, I’m flattered! Feel free to ask me any questions about what you see. I can send you an email with some other contact info too if you like?