cottage chair , originally uploaded by kimberlyannryan.

Shabby Chic Furniture Find

Don’t you just love this chair? Such a delicate duck egg blue and gorgeous hand painted roses! It comes from Kimberley Ryan, the very talented newest member of our Shabby Chic Furniture Group on Flickr.
Kimberley paints all these wonderful roses freehand!

You can see more of her work on her web site :Shabby Rose Studio and on her blog
Such talent we have in the Shabby Chic Furniture group now!

BRAMLEY DRESSER
New Shabby Chic furniture almost seems like a contradiction in terms. Still, not everyone has the patience or the time to scour the junk shops and lovingly restore their own pieces. Summer can be a good time of year for grabbing a few new pieces at a reasonable price.

My favourite Shabby Chic range at the moment is from Laura Ashley. Their Bramley range is rather gorgeous. The range includes a charming dresser, 2 door armoire, chests of drawers, dining table, choice of chairs and other items. All of them come in either a distressed creamy white or a lovely faded green. I first spotted them as I wandered past their shop window in Richmond the other week and thought “Yum!” It’s more faux than fake unlike some of the ‘new’ cottage style furniture I’ve been seeing recently. They’ve recreated the style and finish of old shabby chic furniture without trying too hard. They would look gorgeous in a Shabby Chic kitchen.

The best news though is that they’ve got a summer offer on. There’s 25% off the Bramley range! Can you think of a better reason to indulge yourself?

BRAMLEY 2 DOOR ARMOIRE

right part of my living room, originally uploaded by cottonblue.

Do you remember the gorgeous White Shabby Chic Livingroom I posted a few weeks ago? Well, our treat today is to see the other end of that room.
There’s much more colour here with the olive painted shelves and their colourful contents. I think the effect works well, with the Shabby Chic shelves and cupboards adding interest.
I would have been reluctant to line up three large pieces of furniture in this way but I really think it looks good! I like the feeling of space that she’s created in such a small room. It could easily have looked overcrowded but the central space avoids that impression.
Cottonblue says:

I have no idea where should i put those 3 big shelves, therefore just line them together.

What do you think? Is it too much or do you love it?
BTW if you think she’s got great taste you really must check out her Cottonblue Etsy shop!

Vitrine in meiner Küche, originally uploaded by jasna.janekovic.

This gorgeous vintage shabby chic kitchen cabinet sits really well in Jasna’s mainly modern kitchen. She seamlessly blends old and new by adopting a Swedish palate of ivories and off white paint finishes.

All kitchens once had free standing units like this one rather than the fitted look we’ve all become so used to. Personally I think there is much to recommend free standing cabinets and appliances. Especially if you have space for a table as Jasna shows in this picture of the rest of her lovely kitchen:

Here’s the long awaited second part of my occasional series on Shabby Chic furniture painting techniques….

(Don’t forget to read Preparing wooden furniture for painting Part 1)

So now you’ve got your beautifully clean, smooth, piece of furniture ready to paint. But first you have to prime it. Otherwise your Shabby Chic paint won’t stick to the surface. Primer is sometimes called ‘wood sealer’ and that’s exactly what it does. It stops the bare wood sucking up your paint and, in the case of pine, it also stops resins oozing out of the wood and spoiling your finish.

Primers can be water based or oil based. It’s best to choose a lead free one, for your own health and for any toddlers who might just decide to teeth on your precious piece of furniture Some all-in one-primers are combined with an undercoat. You can use these but they are probably not needed for the Shabby Chic look.

Do not just use emulsion paint! Despite what some web sites and books might suggest I’ve never found it gives a good finish and you don’t want to see your good work ruined

Where to do it?

You need to work in a well ventilated space, especially if you are using an oil-based primer. You need to be somewhere that wind blown dust isn’t going to be an issue while the primer is drying and somewhere that little fingers (yours included!) won’t be tempted to touch too soon “Just to see if it’s dry yet” - it isn’t!

In a garage with the back door open on a nice day is ideal

Put down plenty of newspaper and wear comfortable, old clothes and shoes. Tie you hair back and wear a hat if you can.It’s no fun having to get primer out of your hair or peeling hairs off your otherwise perfect paint job!

You Need

First get everything you need for the job ready. There’s nothing worse than suddenly realising you’ve forgotten something

• A few old, clean, t-shirts or other soft cotton lint-free cloth
• Wood Primer
• Selection of paint brushes (2″, 3″ or 4″)
• Foam paint roller (optional)
• Wire wool

Instructions

1. Wrap the t-shirt round your hand and gently go over the surfaces to make sure they are absolutely smooth. If not it’s back to the sand-paper till the piece passes this test!
2. Cover the whole piece with a coat of primer. You can use a 3″ or 4″ brush for this to give texture to the finished piece. For a smooth effect use a small foam roller. Personally I’d use the roller till I knew what I was doing.
3. Allow to dry for several hours. It’s hard to be precise about this, it depends on moisture conditions on the day. It is much better to leave it too long than try to rush things! I’d leave it overnight (8 hours) even longer if you live somewhere damp or it’s in a cold garage.
4. Once it is totally dry (not before!) lightly rub the surface with the steel wool.
5. Wipe the dust off with another old, clean t-shirt.

Nearly Ready to Paint?

It’s nearly time to decide exactly what you want the finished piece to look like. There are many possibilities. Do you want to use a technique like decoupage? Will you want a crackled paint finish or a plain one? Are you going to distress a top coat of paint to reveal an underlying colour?

Next Time

For the next part of this process I’m going to assume you are going for a simple plain colour paint with no effects beyond a little distressing round the edges. This will give your furniture the Shabby Chic feel with the least work on your part. So soon you’ll have your very own unique piece of hand painted Shabby Chic furniture.