NEWS NOTE: I am guest posting over at THE DIYSHOWOFF today. Go check out Roeshel’s amazing DIY blog!
Happy Monday! This post is Late, Late, Late. I am still recovering from island fever, more like mainland fever, that I had to escape to an island to have cured. I am not quite back on mainland time, but getting there. Ugh, I just don’t travel and bounce back as easily as I did 10 years ago. I will share with you what I learned from laying around for a week later this week!
This is a project I completed before I left and was hoping to have it posted when I got back. At least I got half of it done! Do you remember these chairs? I got them from my sweet neighbor. They had come to her via her husband’s aunt, who smoked heavily, inside her home, with the windows shut, for 30 years…….You can guess they didn’t look or smell too good. This is how the first one came out.
If you haven’t seen this post on Spray Painting Leather, you can read about it HERE. 4 years later, this chair still looks amazing in my living room, and it does get used!
I had two more of these chairs. These were side chairs. They had acquired many more layers of dirt over the years, to help disguise the build up of tobacco smoke. Think there is no help for this situation? Think TSP and a little boy who will work for pennies.
Travis scrubbed this thing for over an hour. And there were “mauvaises odeurs” coming from the chairs as we reached the deeply imbedded Tobacco part. You can revive furniture this way. It takes patience, but TSP will pull so much of the deeply imbedded tobacco out of the furniture. If it still smells, you can seal it with a good primer, and the smell is gone forever. Thankfully, we could skip this step.
I wanted to do a layered, crackle “here and there” technique with CeCe Caldwell’s paints. I have painted fabric with CeCe Caldwell’s and have had beautiful results. I painted the entire chairs 1st with Virginia Chestnut.
Next I made up some homemade crackle with the cheapest white glue I could find. I thinned it a bit, but either it was the cheap glue, or I thinned it too much, or I should have laid the chair down because gravity was not in my favor…..
This is a work of art right? So there are supposed to be some surprises. When the glue was almost dry, but still tacky, I added my 2nd coat, “Omaha Ochre”, which I thinned slightly because I wanted to make sure the crackle and the Virginia Chestnut showed through. I love the way it added crackle in random places, just as if it had happened naturally.
Now for the final touches. I wanted some more depth in the color, but didn’t want to add more paint. This is where glaze can be your best friend in adding another color, but not really taking away from what you have painted. CeCe Caldwell’s has a wonderful 100% natural glaze on the market now, and it is fabulous. It comes untinted, so you can control the amount of pigment you put in. You can use one of their paints to tint it, or you can add a highly pigmented water based paint or colorant. I used my favorite, Modern Masters, “Tobacco Brown”. You can order it HERE from Annette Sheppard.
Once the glaze dried, it provided a nice sealant for my paint, so further coats were not necessary. I was over the top thrilled with how they turned out.
I already sold one of them a few weeks ago at Paris Flea Market, but the other one is still for sale. Next sale is November 1st-4th.
CeCe Caldwell’s paints are not just for wood, plastic, metal, etc. They really love to be put on old leather, fabric, whatever will stand still long enough for you to paint it!
Linking my (formerly) stinky chairs with these linky parties:
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Those turned out tres fab! Still love the silver one. Must be the glam part of me? Glad you had a great time and are home safe. Travis was a big help I see. Tell him “great job!!” from me
I love the transformation the chair
saludos from Chile
Angelica
I keep hearing about painting fabric (or leather) and have yet to try it! One of these days I’ll do it.
Hello there…your chairs look amazing! I’m sure the second one will sell soon! I am a quest painter at Furniture Affair in Phoenix, AZ a couple of time a month using CeCe’s paint. One of the owners, Jenifer, told me about your site and I’m so happy to be your newest follower (everywhere).
I’ll be back later this week to link up to your party with my latest chalk paint creation! Would love to have you stop by for a visit! Blessings ~ Judy
First of all, I need a small red headed boy who will do my dirty work! Do you rent him out by the hour?
Secondly, those are some fabulous chairs! That little old chain smoking lady would be proud (as she hacked all over your freshly painted chair)!
Kelly
A cute boy that will work for pennies, can you send him to the east coast for a while? Gosh those chairs are cool! They look like something from Restoration Hardware that would cost a small fortune! … Hope you had an awesome vacation!
These are totally cool Karen ~ I’ve gotta get my hands on some of this glaze!
Love what you did with the chairs, and really love the silver. Great job!
Jeannie
Is your homemade crackle like what you buy in the store? Do you use heat to make it crackle or just paint over it? How do you make crackle paint?
Rita at Cashel1916@yahoo.com
do you flea market on regular basis we have just started out I love your piece very original
come see what I shared at http://shopannies.blogspot.com
Who is selling the CeCe Caldwell glaze? I am not finding it.
And by the way, the Red Head is available. Dont worry about any child labor law
issues. We got your back.
Wow! That is amazing! Thank you for sharing this at my Make it Pretty Monday party at the Dedicated House. Hope to see your prettiness again on Monday. Toodles, Kathryn @TheDedicatedHouse
Too cool Karen! Love your helper! Thanx for partying at my place.
those are great chairs. I painted the fabric on a chair a while back, but this painting on leather was really daring. The do looks so good though.
Hi Karen! Featuring your chair tonight at the highlight party! Thanks so much for sharing them at Project Queen.
WOW! Gorgeous woman! You are a master of paint!