Using Hemp Oil on Chalk Paint

I decided to try MMS Hemp Oil as a finish on a chalk painted dresser.  I have used the oil on wood that needed reviving such as inside drawers but I have never actually put it over paint.  Hemp oil is an all natural product that has no VOCs and has a mild, nutty odour.  Read Miss Mustard Seed’s explanation about the oil here.  Having used oils such as Tung, Danish and wipe-on poly on wood that I re-finished, I knew that Hemp oil would be easy to apply  but I wasn’t sure about durability.  This, after all, is a food-grade oil.  Apparently, it sinks into a porous surface like milk or chalk paint and binds the paint.  That’s essentially what wax was does to chalk paint and like wax, hemp oil has a 30 day cure period.  You can add an extra coat of hemp oil to the surface if you want more protection or you can put on a coat of wax.

So, what are the pluses to using it?  Number 1 has to be the ease of use.  You rub it in with a cloth or a natural bristle brush and wipe off the excess.  That’s it.  The second bonus is the the appearance-it leaves a flat even surface.  Anyone who has used wax knows the frustration of uneven waxing.  I’m pretty sure that waxing is the number 1 topic of discussion among chalk painters. Finally, if you are at all sensitive to solvents like those in wax, then you won’t be breathing in chemicals with Hemp oil.   The downsides?  Well, it doesn’t feel as nice as wax since wax gives a slippery touch to a piece.  It also feels a bit oily until it cures.

Neither wax nor hemp oil are totally water-resistant, so in that regard they are similar.  I painted this small dresser in AS French Linen with a bit of pure white and some gilding paste.  I love the way the Hemp oil looks on the piece.  After 24 hours, it didn’t mark when I put something on the top and the paint did not rub off anywhere when I tried to scratch it.

If you want to read more about Hemp oil, here is a link to Homestead  House paints who manufacture it.  They explain how natural oils like Tung and Hemp work.

 

 

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A Whimsical Dresser

I bought this vintage maple dresser knowing that I wanted to try something like this zig-zag pattern on it. The dresser is probably about 50 years old, solid maple, even the drawers, and not very big. Its size makes it perfect for a child’s room. I have seen dressers painted like this online and wanted to give it a try.

Creating a pattern is really trial and error.  I used chalk to draw the lines and then began taping.  There are some very reliable methods of creating a clean line when using tape: you can see one of them here.  This video uses painter’s caulk; another method is to use tape and paint the base coat over the tape then the new colour.  Both methods work but I couldn’t figure out how to do them with so many lines and different colours.  So, I taped then painted one colour, waited for it to dry, then did a different colour.  This method requires that you remove the tape, wax ( so that the new paint won’t peel off ) and re-tape for the new colour.  Time-consuming and not fool-proof-I had to do a lot of touch-ups where the paint bled under the tape.

Orignally, I painted the pattern in a colour-block pattern:

But, I realized that the middle 2 drawers were the same size, so after I painted them, I decided to see what they looked like when they were switched.  The effect is more of a zig-zag pattern and I prefer it.

The paint is all Annie Sloan Chalk paint but most of the colours have been mixed to create the tones that you see.  Only the Old White and the Graphite are unmixed.  One of the wonders of chalk paint is how easy it is to create new colours.

The wooden handles are original to the dresser.  I stripped them and left them in their natural state.  I think this dresser will look lovely in a child’s room.

 

 

 

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Making Broken Beautiful | No. 34

 

 

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Figured Maple

When I bought this vintage desk, the owner told me it was maple and I had no reason to disbelieve him as it is very heavy and it was covered with a thick red/brown stain. This was a popular stain in the 1940’s-50’s for maple furniture but it is not the honey-brown that we usually see on such pieces  I forgot the before photo of the desk so it looked something like this dresser:

It was impossible to see the grain of the wood underneath the opaque stain which was almost like paint.  After stripping it, I was delighted to discover figured maple.  Figured maple also known as flamed, curly, ripple and bird’s eye is a feature of maple in which the wood fibres are distorted in an undulating chatoyant pattern.  It is quite distinctive and doesn’t look like ordinary maple.

 

You can see in the photo that the grain is very pronounced and resembles something like oak.  I went for a darker colour stain and mixed Dark Walnut with Jacobean.  On a wood like walnut or mahogany this would have come out much darker but maple is difficult to stain and I highly recommend wood conditioner that acts as a sealer and helps the wood to absorb the stain evenly.  I prefer standard oil-based stains because they allow you to see the full beauty of the wood.  If you are going to spend hours stripping and sanding, it seems a shame to cover it up with gel stain.

I painted the base in a 50/50 mix of Country Grey and Greek Blue.  I love watery blues and this is a blue/green/grey hue.

I had thought of staining the knobs like the top but instead I painted them and added gilding  to make them a bit more feminine.  I am quite happy with the result.

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Ikea Hack

I recently bought a roll of lovely wallpaper at a thrift store for .99 and since I wanted to try putting in on a dresser, I purchased a used Ikea Hemnes.  Most people consider Ikea to be poorly made and it certainly is inexpensive but it tends to sell really quickly here in Ottawa online.  People will pay close to the new price for these pieces.  This is how it looked when I bought it.  The owner was swamped with calls about it and I just happened to be first.  It is all wood, even the drawers, which makes it quite heavy.

I painted it white then applied the wallpaper to the drawer fronts.  This video is really helpful about how to do that  https://youtu.be/4zPTsi4qk1Q.  The video uses spray adhesive but because I don’t like spraying things, especially in the house, I used Mod Podge.  I brushed it on the drawer fronts, let it dry then applied the paper to it.  I put a piece of parchment paper over the wallpaper and ran an iron over that.  The heat from the iron melts the glue and also helps to prevent the wrinkles you often get when using Mod Podge.  I later applied more glue to the edges that didn’t quite seal.   I then applied a few coats of Liquitex varnish to the top to protect the paper.

I added square glass knobs which work well with the dresser’s shape.

The wallpaper has given it a completely feminine look, so different from the original pine.

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Just for Kids

I recently painted a dresser for a 2-year old named Henry who was changing rooms because of his new little brother, Alfie.  Aren’t those cute names?  Henry’s parents had me paint this dresser for his nursery 2 years ago.  It’s an old farmhouse style  that they wanted in red:

They are keeping it which doubles as a change table for baby Alfie and bought a small tallboy for Henry.

It’s maple and very heavy with solid wood drawers that weigh a ton.  I covered the whole thing with a coat of shellac because I have learned that that reddish stain used before poly finishes bleeds through paint, even latex.  Henry’s mum wanted 3 colours: navy, yellow and cream.  I was influenced by the wonderful furniture painted at Poppyseed Creative Living ( she is very talented) and created a colour-block effect.

The colours are Annie Sloan’s Arles, Cream and Napoleonic Blue.  I copied the colour-block on a few of the knobs and added the larger red knobs painted in Burgundy for an extra punch.  The hardest part was getting the lines straight.  I started with the drawers in the dresser and taped through the middle of the drawer where the holes are.  Then I lined up the lines on the side.  This required a measuring tape and marking with a pencil.  I do not have a straight eye, so I will tape on a slant without markings. When using light and dark colours, I would recommend painting the light one first then the dark overtop.  With this design there is a fair amount of overlapping.

In retrospect, I might have mixed the Arles with English Yellow to get less gold but I am happy with the result.  It has a wax finish which I like the look of better than poly and which is durable after it is cured, especially on something like a dresser.  I tend to use poly on table or desk surfaces but have found that wax  has worn well on all the pieces that are in my house.

 

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Spool Legs and Graphite Chalk Paint

Spool furniture, also known as Bobbin Furniture, originated in the 17th century.  The shaped legs often looking like sewing bobbins were turned on a lathe.  The popularity of this leg goes in and out of fashion but we generally associate it with older furniture.  Who doesn’t love those spool beds that were common 60-70 years ago, such as this one found on Pinterest:

I found this unique dresser in a thrift store and was attracted to the legs and its different shape.  It was made by the North American Furniture Co. which manufactured furniture in Owen Sound, ON in the early 20th century.  The knobs on the piece seem incongruous with its age, so I am not sure that they are original.  The dresser had been stained a reddish-brown and given a shiny poly coat.  I decided to paint it in Annie Sloan’s Graphite- a great colour for a rustic, old look.  Graphite is not pure black but more charcoal and it looks good with dark wax and a bit of distressing.

I originally painted the knobs gold but they were too bright so I added copper gilding paste on top .  Now they have a bronze look.  The insides of the drawers were stained and dry looking.  I sanded them a bit and put some oil on them to revive the wood.  I could have painted them to freshen them up but decided to put paper inside.  I really like  wrapping paper that is made out of butcher’s paper; it’s easy to work with because it isn’t slippery but is still pretty.

What I like about the dresser besides its shape, is that it can be used in multiple places.  It’s small enough for a hallway or would look good in a dining room.

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Waterfall Dressers

 

These are two waterfall dressers that I have recently painted. The term Waterfall is given to a style of furniture produced from the 1920’s through the 40’s.  The shape of the pieces has a rounded horizontal edge usually with ridges that resemble a waterfall.  The wood has a rich warm look and the handles are Art Deco in design, often a combination of Bakelite and brass.  These are good examples:

You can see the rounded waterfall edge, the great handles and the book matched veneer on the drawers.  The veneer was usually stained mahogany and had a spray shellac finish that was glossy but vulnerable to water and perfume marks. There is a lovely waterfall used as a bathroom vanity from Houzz.com but it must have had a urethane coating put on it because of the water.  You can see it here.

A lot of people mistakenly believe that because of the style and the shiny, interesting wood pattern that waterfall dressers are fine furniture and valuable but except for some that were initially made as more expensive pieces, waterfalls were actually mass-produced with cheaper materials.  A closer look will show that the frame is plywood and that the drawers, though heavy and dovetailed are also plywood.  Plywood was a new material in the 1920’s and it allowed furniture makers to create curves in wood that beforehand were only the work of fine craftsmen. Waterfall funiture has all the hallmarks of the Art Deco movement which began in France in the early 20th century but really gained popularity in the 1920’s.  Its emphasis was on streamlined symmetrical shapes and geometric design; it was influenced by popular culture such as the discovery of King Tut’s tomb which created a craze for all things Egyptian and cubism in art.  The materials used were modern such as aluminum, stainless steel and Bakelite.  Many of the skyscrapers built in New York during this time period have Art Deco motifs such as the Chrysler building which has a pryamid shaped roof and a tomb-like lobby.  These pictures are good examples of Art Deco design:

You probably have seen one of these waterfall dressers in your grandmother’s or your parents’ house; we had a vanity that broke into two end tables in our basement when I was growing up.  According to Jitterbuzz.com, waterfalls were marketed to newlyweds during the depression because most young people ended up staying in their parents’ house so all they could afford was a bedroom suite.  These sold for $19.99-39.99 and contained multiple pieces.  The two dressers that I painted were manufactured in the 1930’s by Krug Bros. , a well-known furniture maker from Bruce county Ontario.  There was nothing special about the design of the wood but they do have wonderful solid brass and Bakelite handles.  Bakelite is an early form of plastic and is highly collectible today especially in jewelry.  I bought the dressers for the handles and should have checked the veneer more closely as some of it was very warped.  I foolishly thought that I could strip off the veneer that was bad on one of the drawers when what I should have done was glue it and weigh it down.  Stripping the veneer took as long as painting and waxing the whole piece.  There is no easy way to do it- you heat up the glue by pressing an iron ( one that you will throw out) against the wood then you start lifting it with a putty knife.  The problem is that it doesn’t come off in strips and you end up chipping away at it for a long time.  And I had to do it in front of an open window ( in the middle of winter ) because there were fumes from the shellac.

I painted the two dressers in very bold colours.  I had seen a few orange ones on the internet that I liked and I knew the colour would compliment the handles.  I mixed some Emperor’s silk into the Barcelona orange to get the burnt orange colour.  As for the peacock blue one, I was inspired by Martha Leone’s waterfall that you can see here.  In her post, she explains how she was influenced by Art Deco in her choice of design.  I decided to create a diagonal free form design because I have no drawing ability.  The peacock blue was a mixture of Napoleonic blue, Antibes and Florence.  I just like the colour and I think the finished product is very attractive and easily my favourite piece that I have painted so far.  Both dressers remind me of luggage from the 1950’s which had the rounded edges that were so popular in the design of that era.

Thank you for visiting this blog post.  It continues to bring in daily visitors and I hope that I have given you some background knowledge about waterfall furniture.

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