Stripes

There are about a million things going on around here and I will tell you soon!

But to tide you over, I thought I would show you my latest custom piece. A family was working with an interior designer and they contacted me to make over several pieces they have. One of them was this dresser.

This was going to be a statement piece and they were looking for black and white stripes. When we started discussing it, we decided on three inch stripes. And we were hoping to tie in a little pink.  I loved the old pulls and we talked the owner into keeping them, and then decided on a single pin stripe (after a little suggestion from me) instead of through each black line. I think it definitely makes a statement!

I taped off the drawers and used 3 inch blue tape to tape the lines. I started on each edge knowing that as long as I stayed there it would be straight. I then did the next few stripes by measuring three inches from the previous stripe. It wasn’t a perfect fit as far as math goes, but really, can you tell?

I first primed it, then sprayed the front gloss white. Taped it off and then sprayed the entire thing in gloss black. You HAVE to take the tape off right away or the tape sticks and it will pull up the paint with it. DON’T think that waiting will help. As soon as you know you have covered the area, get that tape off.

But we’re not done yet! We wanted the pulls to be an antiqued silver, so I sprayed them metallic silver and then antiqued them with some stain. After that a clear coat of spray poly to protect them.

After the black dried I taped everything off except a tiny section in the first stripe. I just off centered it a little. Then covered the dresser in newspaper and tape so I didn’t have to worry about over spray.

See that skinny black line between all the blue? That will be pink in just a minute.

While I was painting that pink line, my nearly 3 year old did this:

That’s wet dog food….

Awesome.

The pulls went on and the finished product looks absolutely amazing.

If you’ve followed me, you’ll know I rarely measure, I NEVER (okay hardly ever) paint in black and I NEVER use high gloss. To say this was out of my comfort zone is an understatement. But, sometimes you have to go out of your comfort zone. It’s a must in life. And I am so glad I did.

This is going to make a serious statement in their living room. It’s bold. It’s out there. It’s not for everyone, but man, it is soooo cool.

Oh, there were a couple spots of overspray, so here’s my trick for that. Wait for all paint to dry completely. Then take the spray paint of the color that needs to be touched up and spray it on a clean plate, let it pool a little. Then take a small flat artist brush and dab it in there. It works a little better if you have a good amount on there. Then just slowly and carefully brush it on. I have essential tremors, so I hold my left had with my right hand and that keeps things steady. Nothing is perfect, but darn, if you can find the flaws I’ll buy you a lottery ticket. (You know it’s nearly half a billion dollars!)

Let’s look again:

Before:

After:

Happy Thursday! I think I’ll share this. Sharing with Miss Mustard Seed Furniture Feature Friday.

Kirsty