A Never-ending Paint Job......

Ho Kay Kampers!!!!!

Let's continue with 

Betsy's Bodacious Behavior in the Bowels of her Basement!!!!!!

Last we met, I had noted that I would be showing off my new paint job on my niece Miriam's 

(and her hubby Ross's...) new/old chifferobe.

WELL.....

My bidness partner, Kris, corrected me, as she is wont to do.....

A chifferobe has an area for hanging and a place for drawers.

This here piece of furniture that I found on Craig's List, just has drawers,

sooooooo.....

It is a linen press.....

OK Kris????? Are you now happy???

(Jesh, everyone's an expert.....)

Well.....

Here she is!!!!

Tada!!!!!

This shot of it, is obviously still in my basement, so the styling and lighting are #$%, but it's too heavy to carry upstairs by myself, and my family is MIA.

And now....

As is my style...

I will show you in exhausting and mind numbingly boring detail how I did this!!!!

I started with it in it's original finish that had turned an unattractive greeny color that is hard to see in the picture.

Sooooo, I am sure some of you will be sharing how I ruined the piece....

Wellllll.....

It's going against a blue wall in a room with white slip-covered furniture, so this incarnation is better for the overall design of the space where it will be living.

So there.....

Here's the before, in the ad on Craig's List.

(remember, the camera lies, the finish sucked....)

Soooo.

I don't know what happened to the tassel!!!!

I think the seller kept it!!!!!

Anyway, 

first I did a test spot on the top to see if the tannins would bleed through the paint,

boy was I happy that they didn't!!!!

Sooooo....

I then painted a coat of old white chalk paint all over this sucka!!!

Then a second coat of Old White...

Then I stood back and scratched my head....

what to do...

what to do....

I saw a chest on a TV show that I liked, (the chest, not the show) so I paused the TV, and ran and got my camera, and took a picture of the picture on the TV!!!

But I didn't want to do all that criss crossing......

Miriam likes color and detail.

Soooooo.....

I whipped out my artist pad and did some doodles..

I tend to think with a pencil....

(OK wiseguys, I think with my brain box too.....)

I started seeing something I would like.

Only problem.....

how to draw a nice oval.

Oh yeah,

and how to do the monograms for Ross and Miriam....

Sooooo....

what do you do when you don't know what to do?????

GOOGLE!!!!!

I found a YouTube tutorial here.....

which showed me how to do what I wanted to do just when I wanted to do it!!!

I computed what I wanted in size for my ovals using a high tech gizmo called my brain, and this piece of paper.

And I cut me out an oval!!!!!

Then I had to figure out the fonts.....

Last Tuesday was our annual condominium association meeting.....

I took my ipad to it so I wouldn't get bored.....

as my eyes started to glaze over during the financial reports.....

I started surfing the web for a font I would like!!!!

I found this website....

http://www.fontspace.com/

and I found this font I liked....

http://www.fontspace.com/kimberly-geswein/janda-stylish-script

So, I copied the letters to a word document and resized them to make them  larger.

And then....printed them out.

But...first I had to finish painting the body of the linen press....

I didn't want it just old white, but I wanted it to be a light color because the room it's going in is dark, and this would take up a good chunk of wall.

So I used Chalk Paint color Cream for the second hue, and French Linen for the detail lines.

I painted the drawers, side panels and recessed door panels in the light yellow color.

Then I added some striping to the front legs, the circle at the bottom of the skirt, as well as the little gallery backsplash.

I need to tape things off, as my hands are not steady, and I am clumsy...

Now it was time to paint the ovals and monograms...

I was afeared!!!!!

I taped the ovals and letters to the doors, to see how it would look.....

I like it, so I forged ahead....

First I taped the ovals to the doors and used them to draw an outline around the outside of the thick paper stock.

Then I got out my striping tape, I got it years ago and it can be curved around curves that are curvy.....

It's from Finesse Pinstriping 

and I outlined the oval.....

(what a pain in the butt.....)

And started painting in the lines in French Linen....

Then I carefully pulled off the tape......

And danced around my basement crowing about how brilliant I is!!!!

Here's a closer shot.....

And closer!!!!!

BETSY PAINTED HER FIRST OVAL!!!!!

Then I taped off the drawers for the striping.

I used the smaller pinstriping tape for the outside because it was smaller and allowed for the stripe to be closer to the edge of the drawers.

I was pretty happy with the way the drawers looked after the stripe went on.

I was getting really sick of this piece by this time and didn't want to bother, but I knew it would be worth it.

Now it was time for the letters......

oy oy oy oy oy oy oy oy oy.......

gulp.

I wanted them to be a little darker than the grey of the French Linen, so I mixed some Graphite in with the French Linen and made a darker grey color.

I scribbled all over the backs of the paper with my

 special, super duper number two pencil!!!!!

taped the letters where I wanted them, and traced over the outline with a ballpoint pen.

(I darkened the shot below to show the pencil line, so it made the oval look black.....well it ain't....it be grey....)

Then I had to hand paint in between the lines.....

I am a crappy painter, and needed to use a wet paper towel to clean up my boo boos.

It took me forever!!!!!

Closer shot....

Then it was time for the distressing.....

the part where I have been known to go too far, and can't take it back.....

Still too much, but I'm getting better.

Then it was time for waxing.

(would this never end?????)

I added some mixed dark and natural wax in the corners and some edges, where dirt would naturally collect.....

I was happy with the distressing by the keyhole, I'm finally getting the hang of this thingy.

Here are some of the fabrics from Miriam's living room, so you can see why I painted this piece.

Soooooo.....

I am finished.

Now someone just has to get the damn thing out of my basement!!!!!

On that note.....

Latah, Gatah

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