Tag: chalk paint

Life

Lucketts Spring Market

Jessica Smith

I should have spent Sunday finishing the door project we started last week, but instead I drove to Virginia with my friend Carrie and her family to do a day of shopping at the Lucketts Spring Market. I’d never been to The Old Lucketts Store before, but this seemed to be the right weekend to visit. They were hosting the annual Lucketts Spring Market with 150 vendors on site selling amazing stuff (refinished furniture, vintage finds, cool accessories, etc.). Carrie’s husband and son dropped us off to have a daddy-son day of their own, so Carrie and I got to walk around for a few hours perusing each of the booths. Man, there was some cool stuff!

I walked away with a milk crate and Carrie got a handwriting sample poster for her new playroom. I was half tempted to spell out “Smith” in old printing press letters, but they were way too pricey for my taste. Oh well! If you ever get the opportunity to visit the market, definitely go — and go early! We had no traffic issues, but when we left there was a huge line of cars sitting in traffic to get in.

Even if you don’t buy anything, it is worth it just to walk around and see the amazing amount of creativity in one space.

Furniture, Thrift Store Finds

Before & After: Navy Dresser

Jessica Smith

I fell in love with this little beauty the moment I set eyes on it in a thrift store. I had to convince my thrift store buddy of its worth, but me, I saw the vision immediately. The lines are beautiful, the handles are awesome, but the old wood in chipping condition… not so hot.

Dresser Before

I knew when I bought this piece that I wanted to paint it navy. I thought the brassy handles would pop beautifully off of a navy facade. So I used Paint Minerals and some dark navy paint to turn this….

.

Cruddy table corner
Drawers painted and drying
Shell of the dresser

… into this!

Navy Dresser Complete

I opted to coat the whole piece in Varathane polyurethane. This isn’t typically recommended for chalk-like paints, but since this dresser will likely have stuff resting on the top I wanted it to hold up well. Now most bloggers will tell you to use polycrylic versus polyurethane when going over paint, but not me. I hate HATE hate polycrylic. I’ve ruined two projects using polycrylic and I don’t intend to ever use it again over paint. Not everyone has this same experience and maybe I’m doing something wrong, but it does not work for me. I definitely recommend using the Varathane brand of polyurethane because it dries beautifully.

Enough of my polyurethane spiel… After everything dried, I put the hardware back on. I love the result. Can’t believe I got this beauty from a thrift store for less than $10!

Furniture

Before & After: Sewing Stool

Jessica Smith

I’ve got some really exciting news to share today: I am starting to sell my furniture pieces at a local store in Howard County called A Slap of Paint!  #HoCoArts

A Slap of Paint is located in the Savage Mill, a historic textile mill turned into boutique shopping mall and basically one of my favorite places ever.

I cannot even express how excited I am for this opportunity. SO EXCITED! I have been a crazy lady on a mission to find pieces in need of some love and boy have I found some gems.

Take this lovely sewing stool, for example. This piece was too cool to pass up, but was a hot mess. The vinyl top was a goldenrod yellow with a big ole black stain on the top.

Here’s the before:
Stool_Before

After some white and teal paint (I mixed flat white paint with Paint Minerals for a chalk paint finish– this stuff is awesome!) and some gold fabric paint, I turned the ugly-duckling stool into this beauty.

After:

Stool