New Painted Furniture

 If it is April and May it is time for me to be painting furniture.  Last spring was the first serious furniture painting that I did and I sent out SOS to friends for info on painting furniture tips.  I got lots of help and I especially want to thank Pamela Allen and Janice Paine Dawes.  This top vase is mine curtsey of my middle daughter, Victoria.  She purchased it at a Salvation Army thrift store in Sheridan, Wyoming and decided she didn't need it after all and gifted it to me.  In all these pieces I used both painting and fabric decoupage.  

 I thought it was finished at this stage but decided that perhaps it needed something else.  The flowers are fabric

 As you can see I added green polka dots.  I really am pleased with the finished lamp.  I just need to get a lampshade and decorate it to go with the lamp.

 The second piece I did was this table that belonged to my grandmother and Mama.  It was not in good shape.  My Partner In Crime took off the top veneer which was cracked. It originally had a glass top.  Of course it is long gone.

 Here is the start of the design process.  Most of the paint used on these furniture pieces were sample jars of paint I purchased from Home Depot. I find it is a inexpensive way to audition a lot of varieties paint colors.   I also used some craft paint for smaller details.  You can see fabric strips. I drew in the grid lines with chalk.

 This was the finished piece, I thought.  I decided I wasn't totally happy with it. 

                       I played around with some other flower placements. 

 I ended up deciding that I liked this.  You can see the beginning of the black and white tendrils that I added. This was the scary part.  I thought the design needed black and white to tie everything together, but I knew that once I started the process, there was no going back.

 Side view of table.  Painting all the black and white checks free hand on these furniture pieces took most of the time.  My Mama would be very happy with the finished piece and would be thrilled that I made this worn out piece fun and funky and that I am going to be using it instead of storing it.

 This is the final piece.  A wardrobe that came from my husband's family. 

 The top of the wardrobe.  This came easy.  The rest of the design was more difficult.

                              Side view of the wardrobe in process.

 I decided to add stripes to fill the negative space and add interest.

 Here I am playing with the design.  My Partner in Crime helped pick out the vase colors.  I used blue painters tape to tape up my design. I used Liquitex Mat Medium to adhere the fabric pieces.  I used water based Varathane for the varnish and have been very happy with how it has worked.

                                             One finished side

                                          Second finished side

Finished front.  I absolutely love this piece.  My Partner In Crime would walk around this and say how much he loved it.  Good thing since this piece is in our bedroom and he will be seeing it all the time.  I already have my pieces selected to paint next spring. I really enjoy this process.  It is so much fun and the results are wonderful.  My opinion of course !!!!!!