Vintage Yellow Distressed Painted Bedside Tables

They're done, finally!

Yellow painted vintage bedside tables.

Sometimes a piece just seems to take a long time to complete. These are an example of that. I suppose because it's actually two pieces it just seems to take that much longer. To paint these gorgeous little tables I used a couple of coats of Zinnser Smart Primer followed by Taubmans Calabash which is somewhere between a bright and a pastel colour but not specifically in either of those categories! The colour has proven quite hard to photograph, however- you'll notice in some pictures it looks lighter and in some darker- it seems to change a little depending on the light.

I really felt as soon as I saw these that they would come up better in colour than they looked in their natural timber state or in white because they are a pretty bold piece of furniture on their own with a great shape and lots of natural personality!

Just so you can compare, here's a picture of them before...

The tables before- notice that our grass has been cut since?! Love freshly cut grass!

I kept the original hardware but painted the handles black which looks great against the yellow and complements the dark distressed wood exposed underneath. Here's what that looks like up close.

Detail of the vintage handles and distressed paintwork.

Finally, I don't often do this, but here is a 'blooper' pic- can you spot the fault?

whoops!

Yep, I took about 10 photos of the tables then noticed that one looked a bit funny- then realised I had put the handle on upside down!

What do you think? I would love your feedback- please leave a comment below. Want to buy them? Contact me via email or Facebook- you'll find me here! Don't forget to like my page and share this post!
Happy Painting!

French country provincial style white and timber coffee table- cute as a button!

French Provincial coffee table, cute, no?

I never intended this coffee table to be a French Provincial style table. I bought it off eBay intending to make a twin of my own coffee table this turquoise and whitewash one which I just love so much.
When I picked up the coffee table though, it was a bit smaller than I had anticipated- my fault, the dimensions were listed and I ignored them due to my very poor spatial awareness skills and lack of any ability to visualise an item when given dimensions! I'm not sure why, but white was just calling out to me for this one. So white it ended up, not blue. Don't be sad, though, just this morning I picked up a Queen Anne style coffee table that I fully intend to paint my favourite aqua colour!

This is a little coffee table, perfect for a two seater sofa or a smaller lounge room. I think it has come up really well. The stained timber top is beautifully smooth and the timber itself has lots of lovely knots.

I thought I might also include a shot of the leg detail- last post my dog was photo-bombing, this time it's the cat's turn!

For those of you who love a before shot, here it is!

Before photo.... and time to cut the grass!

Yes, it is for sale- check it out on my items of sale page, complete with dimensions!
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Vintage Record Player Cabinet Painted Pink!

Last time I wrote I promised that I would do a write up of the other piece of furniture that I picked up from my gorgeous friends' grandparent's home. It was this:

Before photo of this cute vintage cabinet. Yes that is my dog photo-bombing in the background!

A piece with lovely Queen Anne style legs, cute hardware and nice and solid but made in that funny streaky timber. I immediately loved it and wanted it all for myself. I have been on the hunt for somewhere to store our many DVDs without having to have them out in the open for all to see as they used to be. Also, I have a very adorable 7 month old son who is on the cusp of crawling. I could just envision him pulling down the whole tower and having them all fall on his little head! So the towers had to go.

I wanted colour for this piece. As I've mentioned many many times I love furniture painted bright colours. This is quite new for me. When I first started buying my own furniture I always went for the dark wood look, however when we bought our home I realised it was such a dark house with quite small rooms that the furniture was claustrophobic being so dark. That's where my hobby began- painting furniture for my own home to make it look brighter and more open. It has definitely helped- I am much happier in my home now!

But back to this piece... I undercoated the whole thing then mixed my own shade of paint using Dulux Orchid Orange as a base. I actually started painting in the straight colour but as I was looking at it it seemed too dark so I lightened it up with more white. Here is the 'After' photo.

My biggest problem was with the handles. They couldn't come off as they were not screwed on, but rather adheased with glue or something and I was scared I would do irreparable damage to the piece if I tried to get them off. So I tried to cover them off with masking tape and paint around them but due to the intricate nature of them this was just impossible. So I decided to go with the shabby chic look and sort of lightly paint them but do a really shoddy job of it so you could still see the black underneath! They actually look great in real life, but they haven't shown up all that well in photos. Here's a photo anyway...

I love it! It holds all of our DVDs (only just- we are going to have to stop buying new ones) and looks oh so cute with the photos from our wedding, my grandparents' wedding and our little keepsake box which has just the right shade of pink in it too!

Does anyone else have a great piece that hides all their DVDs?

If you like reading about furniture refurbs please like my Facebook page Retro Vintage Love. You can also find me on Pinterest pinning all types of inspiring photos and you can sign up to my blog via email or Bloglovin'. Til next time xx

French Grey Antique Vintage Style Chest of Drawers

A little while ago you might have noticed that I asked the question on my Facebook page (Retro Vintage Love- please 'Like' my page if you like my work!) whether I should paint this little chest a coral colour or grey. It was almost 50-50, but grey just won out.


Luckily for my fellow colour lovers, the coral is coming, I promise!

Here's what the chest of drawers looked like before. As you can see it was pretty poorly. The handles don't look too bad in pictures, but they were actually horrible plastic things, and one was missing, so they had to go, and the exterior was pretty chipped up and rough.

I sanded the whole thing back completely, which was a pretty horrible job due to the age of the varnish, then gave the whole thing a couple of coats of undercoat.

For the colour, I went with a Dulux colour called Moxa which is in the same range as the Ashville that I used to paint these chairs, however it is a bit darker, because I mixed the colour myself with some white enamel paint to make the finish more durable.

Here's a pic of the drawers after....

I bought new handles from Riverclay in Eltham. They have a lovely selection of handles and knobs. For the record, Bunnings do not. These were brass, I lightly sprayed them with black paint, there is still a little of the old brass visible, which I love.

Think you could give it a home? Contact me via Facebook or on my email- retrovintagelovefurniture@gmail.com

Painting Furniture White - The Vintage Dresser

There's no doubt about it, one of the most popular make-overs for old furniture is to paint it white. And it's easy to see why it is so popular- white is fresh but elegant and fits with nearly every decor style, whether that be retro (my personal favourite), shabby chic, French Provincial, vintage, farmhouse, coastal.... you get the idea.

Here's my latest white makeover. It is simply gorgeous. It's amazing how fresh an old piece can look with a fresh coat of paint.

I must admit, I found the prospect of this project quite daunting- but was pleasantly surprised. Even though there's a lot of detail in the woodwork, it sanded reasonably easily due to the age of the piece. And the smooth surface made painting easy too- time consuming due to the size of the piece, but not too challenging.

 

I used my trusty British Paints 4 in 1 Primer and British Paints Enamel White in Semi Gloss (only a tiny amount of shine- just enough to look fresh) 

 

Here are some before and after pics to compare:

 

 

I love this dresser for the little details too- in the top drawers of the dresser I found this gorgeous drawer lining paper. Pink paper with flowers and butterflies- you can't get much more shabby chic than that!

And check out the handles- so intricate and detailed, with just the right amount of ageing.

Also, the detail in the legs and bars that hold the mirror just make this piece so special.
Yep, I love it and could go on and on!

Do you have any pieces that you would like to paint white? Please share your own projects!

 

 

 

Little Blue Shabby Lamp Table

My Shabby Chic table after some Retro Vintage Love!

I cannot describe how much I love this little piece. I love the colour- I knew I wanted to do something blue after seeing some similar furniture in Revenge. See the gorgeous blue desk in the background?




Emily's furniture on Revenge. A shabby chic Hamptons dream!

Love it! I must admit, I am constantly distracted when I watch Revenge because I love both Emily and Victoria's furniture. And I'm not alone... read here for a whole Blog dedicated to Emily's house on Revenge. I have the same issue with A Place to Call Home. Gorgeous 1950s furniture everywhere.

Anyway, back to my latest piece. No long post about the process for painting this one as it was a very straight forward piece. The colour? I cheated! Remember my ombre chest of drawers? I had a heap of left over paint, in various shades of aqua which I mixed together to make this lighter colour.

I love this little hall table for it's natural distressed look. The original piece was a little worn down in parts, it had a few cracks and tiny holes which remained even when painted. All I had to do was distress it a little further after the paint had dried.

Love it too? Of course it's for sale! Check out my sales page for the link.

And just for those interested- the before and after shots.
Happy painting!