The Shabby Chic furniture group on Flickr is happy to welcome a new member. This gorgeous furniture and the matching lamps are the work of the very talented Dan. He gives us more details on the lamps and table:

this hall console set with mirror is given a finishing touch by adding a pair of hurricane lamps, also finished in my lacquer and distressed. The colors are the same, but the lamps are given a very subtle glaze that tints them slightly more amber. The mirror and table are the same finish, to match, with no glaze. In this way we can finish objects with identical matching finishes, giving the impression they are original as a set. Or we can add objects of the same color with tint variation, to give a harmonized impression of decorating with found objects of the same color theme

Dan says:

Friends have long told me to join Flickr, but I’m just not the type who does personal photos. It never dawned on me I could find ’shabby friends’ here
My name is Dan, but I have been dubbed the Sheik of Shabby- this is as much due to my profession as it is a jab at my corny sense of humor.
My business is Kitsch-n-Kaboodle.com, and I have made a career out of furniture restoration, specializing in high-end shabby finishes and custom restorations. I have one of the top used furniture stores on ebay, and I paint furniture year-round. I take custom-orders and ship globally. I am out to change the world of cottage decorating. My finish is as sleek and smooth as a baby’s bottom. I use no latex paint, only oil-based paints, lacquers, and varnishes. I offer customers over a dozen color choices including varying shades of white and others. I started as a wood refinisher and apply that knowledge and standard to furniture in paint colors. I treat my shabby furniture like any other wood restoration, and I fix anything & everything. If you need some tips on creating accessories out of old parts, applique work, where to get supplies, carving & veneer repairs, rebuilding chairs & other things, I am your go-to man.

We’ll be checking in with Dan for more great painting tips I can see! But Dan doesn’t like everything Shabby Chic. Like many men he’s not too keen on the overblown rosy cottage look:

Don’t take offense, but I don’t like roses…. I prefer the fun flapper and exuberant Gatsby looks of the 1920s. The occasional blossom is ok, but I tend to keep them to a minimum, unless a customer asks otherwise. But hey, I have an excuse- I’m a guy! Lately I am interested in taking distressed furniture into new territory- I have plans for some outsider-art decorated pieces, hallway stands made from old headboards and doors, and I’m painting some Heywood Wakefield black!! I call it ‘Urban-Chic’. Looking forward to sharing….

Well, Dan, I like all sorts of Shabby Chic stuff and I’m quite fond of a bit of Outsider Art too so we’re going to get along fine
Dan has an ebay store which you can find at Kitschnkaboodle.com

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.

Ready to Paint?

It’s  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?

You are on your own now as you have prepared your furniture for painting.

I’m going to post a two part series about preparing wooden furniture for painting over the next few weeks. Here’s Part One:

Preparation

If the piece of furniture is unpainted or maybe varnished:

1. Remove any dirt and grease.
2. Wash it down with hot water and sugar soap. Wear rubber gloves! That stuff is bad for delicate skin
3. Give it a stiff brush over to get rid of anything loose or flaking
4. You can fill small holes and cracks with wood filler.

Warning: Do not use ordinary household spray cleaners! They can stop the new paint from keying (sticking) to the surface.

If the piece is has already got a fairly OK coat of paint, or a light varnish, you may get away with just rub down with fine sandpaper to give the new paint a key. If you are just adding a finish, like crackle, you could just wipe it with sugar soap applied with a sponge

How to use sandpaper

Wooden furniture usually has any serious roughness already removed. Still, to get a good finish you need to use sand-paper There’s is a right and a wrong way of doing this and it makes a big difference to your results.

So long as the surface of the furniture feels only slightly rough, a medium followed by a fine sandpaper will do the job. Hold it perfectly flat against the surface. You can buy special blocks of cork to wrap your sandpaper round and these are definitely worth using. It makes sure your paper is kept in even contact with the wood.

• Maintain even pressure (otherwise you can make lumps and bumps )
• Never rub across the grain of the wood (or you can get uneven uptake of paint, dark patches etc ).
• Sandpaper is graded from very fine to coarse – start with medium & move to fine
• Finish with black emery paper (called ‘wet-and-dry’) use it with water for a very fine finish.

Sourcing the finishing touches

When you are planning a piece of painted wooden shabby chic it is really important to have a vision of what you want to achieve. Decide on they style you are aiming for, be it New England, European or even Gothic and plan you colour scheme. Then look for fittings to enhance your vision. Occasionally you’ll know as soon as you see the furniture what you will do with it, other times it can sit around for ages waiting for you to be inspired. You can go as far as this preparation stage and then get really stuck!

Sometimes finding the perfect fittings can help.