MuchoCrafts: MY OWN PLASTER PAINT RE- DONES

Chalk-paint, Mud-Paint, Milk-Paint, Baking soda-Paint and now...

Plaster-Paint too!!

Paint is paint, is paint, or so they say..

I say, paint alone is boring!!

When re-doing furniture was complicated and somewhat monotonous, we used to hire experts in the field whom by applying their meticulous techniques they achieved perfect results, that was called refurbishing or refinishing.. nowadays, painting furniture is done in a more relaxed manner. Mixing paint with household items have given us the versatility to achieve unique and fun finishes with little to no prep work.. yes, no stripping, not even sanding!!

last month, my good friend (jack of all trades) Stephanie called me to lend her a hand on the making of her new and AMAZING photography Studio, Willow Run II.

She purchased several vintage pieces from an internet auction, most had obvious French Provincial features that needed enhancement. She knew I was excited to "experiment" with my own Plaster-Paint recipe and offered to let me work on her pieces, so I did...

I tried documenting my steps by taking pictures of every move I made but I tend to get so into my projects that at times I forget and I skeep, sorry! otherwise, hence your Tutorial..

*1st Piece: French Provincial in honey tone solid wood.

Top was removed but it is solid marble.

I like to tape the inside of my pieces just to give them a more finished look. I removed to heavy, marvel top just to have a better view and manageability and the hardware too.

I didn't sanded, not a bit but I did clean the entire piece with a damped cloth to remove dust and sticky spots, tat's all.

I painted a first coat thinly with my plaster mixture, recipe here .

Then I sanded lightly only to remove impurities, nothing major just a little bit.When sanding plaster paint, even if is a little bit of sanding, remember to wear a mask and if you're very responsible, wear eye protection too!!...

plaster paint gets very dusty when dried, of course, and inhaling it may cause respiratory distress in people with asthma.

I then painted the second coat and this time I used a little bit more paint, a thicker a coat would make it easier to work with when ready to do the "serious" sanding work to achieve that stress look we all want when doing French Country furniture re-doings.

Then , I sanded, I sanded every detail I could find, every corner, everywhere where a wear-out would naturally appear due to use, edges and crevices, I sanded with excitement and anticipation, I sanded with all I had because I knew sanding this piece will turn it in to a glorious, majestic eye-popping, sexy, French Provincial Buffet piece that will make everyone sigh over.

(I sighed too)

I painted and sanded the hardware too, of course..

I had so much fun making this piece I felt it was too easy and too little work for the impressive result. Here it is...

Pretty, uh?!!!

Well, the fun actually, didn't stop there.

After dressing the star of the show up with delicate french speaking accessories, I continued working on the other contenders...

Done the exact same manner, this English piece was substantially larger and had a vast amount of drawers to tackle so I made a fresh batch of paint and I coloured it in a darker shade of grey to contrast with the rest of the room and I kept the hardware intact for even more contrast.

The wood in this piece was shinier that the first and the paint mixture came out thicker so it didn't go as easy as i thought it would and I felt it needed a little more time to dry but after it did (well, almost did)
I sanded every corner like I did with my sexy french piece and I noticed it came off differently, not worse, just differently.. it kinda peeled off in some areas, I didn't mind but I wasn't expecting it, overall, I LOVED THE OUTCOME!

Nice, uh?!!!

My next piece was unusual the say the least..

yes, a genuine brass chandelier!!

I removed all the knickknacks that came with and proceeded to paint it with the same mixture I used on my French White buffet piece, off white, recipe here.

I placed the chandelier on a tall bucket because I'm short and it made it easy to reach ever corner of it.

I painted two coats, it went really smoothly, almost too easy to be painting over metal!

I let it dry for an hour or so and then I sanded..

To my surprise, the sanding revealed a beautiful almost colorless, shimmery golden tone that I really, really loved.

so beautiful!

yeah, the chandelier too...

I didn't want to stop there so I run home to get some of my glass tear gems I've been collecting for years now, I knew this chandelier deserved that kind of enhancement.